Science
September 30, 2013
UW engineers invent programming language to build synthetic DNA
A team led by the University of Washington has developed a programming language for chemistry that it hopes will streamline efforts to design a network that can guide the behavior of chemical-reaction mixtures in the same way that embedded electronic controllers guide cars, robots and other devices.
September 19, 2013
Mantas, devil rays butchered for apothecary trade now identifiable
Dried filters from the mouths of filter-feeding rays started appearing in apothecary shops in recent years, but there’s been no way to know which of these gentle-natured rays was being slaughtered. Now scientists have discovered enough differences to identify the giant manta and eight devil rays using the dried filters.
September 18, 2013
Cables, instruments installed in the deep sea off Pacific Northwest coast
In a seven-week cruise this past summer, oceanographers and students laid 14 miles of extension cable and installed about a dozen instruments for a historic deep-sea observatory.
September 17, 2013
Stronger winds explain puzzling growth of sea ice in Antarctica
Despite warming temperatures, Antarctic sea ice is on track to hit a record high. A new study suggests stronger polar winds can explain the recent increase in Southern Hemisphere sea ice.
September 16, 2013
Depletion of ‘traitor’ immune cells slows cancer growth in mice
Scientists at the University of Washington have developed a strategy to slow tumor growth and prolong survival in mice with cancer by targeting and destroying a type of cell that dampens the body’s immune response to cancer.
September 13, 2013
Neighborhoods and UW team up to measure diesel exhaust pollution in South Seattle
The residents of the Georgetown and South Park neighborhoods in Seattle’s Duwamish Valley now know how much diesel exhaust they are exposed to. A report on findings from an air pollution study comparing these neighborhoods to Beacon Hill and Queen Anne was published today, Sept. 13.
September 12, 2013
Initial positive results reported on vaccine to treat genital herpes
The vaccine is the first to significantly reduce the frequency of viral shedding — the surfacing of herpes virus on the genitals — and appears to activate T cell immune responses to the virus.
September 11, 2013
UW engineers to make cookstoves 10 times cleaner for developing world
University of Washington engineers have received a $900,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to design a better cookstove, which researchers say will use half as much fuel and cut emissions by 90 percent.
September 10, 2013
Two common drugs may help treat deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome
A combination of interferon-alpha 2b and ribavirin, drugs routinely given for hepatitis C, may be an effective treatment for the coronovirus that causes this new disease.
September 9, 2013
Gene for most common childhood cancer identified
In children with this form of leukemia, damage to chromosome 9 removes part of a normal copy of the gene in question, and leaves the mutated copy unopposed.
Nearly half of state’s distracted drivers are texting
In our state, texting on a hand-held device diverts drivers’ attention more than any other distraction.
Breaking deep-sea waves reveal mechanism for global ocean mixing
Oceanographers for the first time recorded an enormous wave breaking miles below the surface in a key bottleneck for global ocean circulation.
September 4, 2013
Pico-world dragnets: Computer-designed proteins recognize and bind small molecules
Computer-designed proteins that can recognize and interact with small biological molecules are now a reality. Scientists have succeeded in creating a protein molecule that can be programmed to unite with three different steroids.
Researchers hope to protect against another HIV-like outbreak
Researchers examining virus transmission from monkeys to humans in Bangladesh found some people are infected with multiple strains of simian foamy virus.
August 30, 2013
New ocean forecast could help predict fish habitat six months in advance
UW researchers and federal scientists have developed the first long-term seasonal forecast of conditions for the Northwest ocean ecosystem.
August 27, 2013
Researcher controls colleague’s motions in 1st human brain-to-brain interface
University of Washington researchers have performed what they believe is the first noninvasive human-to-human brain interface, with one researcher able to send a brain signal via the Internet to control the hand motions of a fellow researcher.
August 26, 2013
Microneedle patch could replace standard tuberculosis skin test
A team led by University of Washington engineers has created a patch with tiny, biodegradable needles that can penetrate the skin and precisely deliver a tuberculosis test. The researchers published their results online Aug. 26 in the journal Advanced Healthcare Materials.
August 21, 2013
Physicists pinpoint key property of material that both conducts and insulates
UW scientists have made the first-ever accurate determination of a solid-state triple point, the temperature and pressure at which three different solid phases can coexist stably.
August 19, 2013
Magma can survive in upper crust for hundreds of millennia
Research shows reservoirs of silica-rich magma, which causes the most explosive volcanic eruptions, can persist in Earth’s upper crust for hundreds of thousands of years without erupting.
August 14, 2013
Scientists want a detailed picture of Mount St. Helens’ plumbing
Earth scientists are laying plans for a two-year study designed to develop a better understanding of how Mount St. Helens gets its supply of volcanic magma.
Earth orbit changes were key to Antarctic warming that ended last ice age
New ice core research shows that the warming that ended the last ice age in Antarctica began at least 2,000 years earlier than previously thought.
August 12, 2013
Progress made in linking some forms of epilepsy to genetics
Some epilepsy patients who have both seizures and speech abnormalities share something else in common — mutations on the same gene.
August 8, 2013
Ocean acidification center another example of state leading the nation
Washington’s governor and state legislators in the last session created a hub at the University of Washington to coordinate research and monitoring of ocean acidification and its effects on local sea life such as oysters, clams and fish.
August 7, 2013
Regulating electron ‘spin’ may be key to making organic solar cells competitive
UW researchers have discovered a high-performance polymer that could make inexpensive, organic solar cells competitive with silicon-based cells.
UW researchers report on genome of aggressive cervical cancer that killed Henrietta Lacks
Henrietta Lacks was the subject of bestselling book on the HeLa immortal cell line, the most used of its kind in labs around the world. The UW scientists are the first to publish under new policy, established through agreement with Lacks’ family.
August 1, 2013
Brain chemistry changes in children with autism offer clues to earlier detection and intervention
Between ages three and 10, children with autism spectrum disorder exhibit distinct brain chemical changes that differ from children with developmental delays and children with typical development.
Burnt sugar-derivative reduces muscle wasting in fly and mouse models of muscular dystrophy
A trace substance in caramelized sugar, when purified and given in appropriate doses, improves muscle regeneration in insect and animal models of Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Scientists review the ecological effects of sea ice loss
A UW atmospheric scientist is co-author of a review paper, published this week in the journal Science, looking at the ecological consequences of sea ice decline.
July 30, 2013
Fifty years of ecological insights earn UW biologist international award
Biologist Robert Paine has been awarded this year’s International Cosmos Prize that carries a cash award of about $408,000 and has previously gone to well-known conservationists such as David Attenborough and the leaders behind the Census of Marine Life project.
Santa’s workshop not flooded – but lots of melting in the Arctic
Widespread media reports of a lake at the North Pole don’t hold water — but scientists who deployed the monitoring buoys are watching closely as Arctic sea ice approaches its yearly minimum.
July 29, 2013
Planetary ‘runaway greenhouse’ more easily triggered, research shows
It might be easier than previously thought for a planet to overheat into the uninhabitable “runaway greenhouse” stage, according to new research.
Natural affinities – unrecognized until now – may have set stage for life to ignite
It might not have been just happenstance that caused components of RNA and the earliest “cell” membranes to be in the right place at the right time to spark life.
July 23, 2013
Pain of artificial legs could be eased by real-time monitoring
University of Washington engineers have developed a device that tracks how much a person’s limb swells and shrinks when inside a prosthetic socket. The data could help doctors and patients predict how and when their limbs will swell, which could be used to build smarter sockets.
July 22, 2013
Geochemical ‘fingerprints’ leave evidence that megafloods eroded steep gorge
For the first time, scientists have direct geochemical evidence that the 150-mile long Tsangpo Gorge, possibly the world’s deepest, was the conduit by which megafloods from glacial lakes, perhaps half the volume of Lake Erie, drained catastrophically through the Himalayas when their ice dams failed during the last 2 million years.
July 19, 2013
Nighttime heat waves quadruple in Pacific Northwest
Nighttime heat waves — events where the nighttime low is unusually hot for at least three days in a row — are becoming more common in western Washington and Oregon.
July 18, 2013
A warmer planetary haven around cool stars, as ice warms rather than cools
In a bit of cosmic irony, planets orbiting cooler stars may be more likely to remain ice-free than planets around hotter stars. This is due to the interaction of a star’s light with ice and snow on the planet’s surface.
July 15, 2013
Ecological forces structure your body’s personal mix of microbes
Researchers hope to build a predictive model of the human microbiome to study what affects this massive biological system and to design ways to manipulate the microbiome to achieve desired clinical outcomes.
July 14, 2013
Some volcanoes ‘scream’ at ever-higher pitches until they blow their tops
Swarms of small earthquakes before a volcanic eruption can come in such rapid succession that they create a signal called harmonic tremor. A new eruption analysis from Alaska’s Redoubt Volcano shows the harmonic tremor glided to higher frequencies, then stopped abruptly just before six eruptions in 2009.
July 10, 2013
Julia Parrish speaks at White House about citizen science
Julia Parrish was one of 12 “champions of change” invited to share their ideas on public engagement in science and science literacy June 25 at the White House.
Functional genomics lab to predict potential AIDS vaccines efficacy and find protection markers
Funded by the NIH at $15 million over five years, the lab will be a national resource to evaluate candidate vaccines from studies around the country.
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