Science
March 20, 2012
Web tool, phone app pinpoint tsunami dangers, quick getaway routes
A new online portal and smartphone app lets Washington and Oregon residents enter the addresses of their homes, schools, workplaces or kids’ day care centers to check if they’re in harm’s way should a tsunami hit. The tool, being publicized on the heels of the one-year anniversary of the Tohoku tsunami, was developed by researchers at the Applied Physics Laboratory.
March 19, 2012
D.C. cherry trees: Blooms won’t wait in warming world, UW research finds
Cherry trees in full bloom in our nation’s capital could be as much as four weeks earlier by 2080 depending on how much warming occurs. So says an analysis conducted at the University of Washington that relied on the UW’s own cherry trees as one test of a computer model used in the project.
March 14, 2012
Some mammals used highly complex teeth to compete with dinosaurs
New research shows that at least one group of small mammals, the multituberculates, actually flourished in the last 20 million years of dinosaurs reign and survived their extinction.
March 12, 2012
Bellingham roadway with recycled toilets is world's first official 'Greenroad'
Greenroads, a rating system developed at the University of Washington to promote sustainable roadway construction, awarded its first official certification to a Bellingham project that incorporates porcelain from recycled toilets.
March 6, 2012
One year later: Japan quake, tsunami a cautionary tale for Pacific Northwest
On the one-year anniversary of Japan’s great Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, UW scientists said the devastating event has some important lessons for the Pacific Northwest – most notably, that a similar event will happen here, and this region is much less prepared than Japan.
UW played major role in telling story of Japan quake
From Seattle to Japan, University of Washington faculty had an important role in providing information about the aftermath of the March 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami.
March 1, 2012
UW students to design alternative-fuels vehicle for EcoCAR 2 competition
Over the next three years, a team of UW students will convert a 2013 Chevy Malibu into a fuel-efficient, low-emissions vehicle that still meets consumer demands for a driver-friendly car. The UW is one of 15 schools participating in the EcoCAR 2 contest, sponsored by General Motors and the U.S. Department of Energy.
February 24, 2012
Kids can explore icy worlds with scientists at Polar Science Weekend (with video)
Learn about polar bears and penguins. Center a two-foot tusk on your forehead and imagine youre a narwhal exploring your icy-ocean home. For these activities and more, grab the kids and head for Polar Science Weekend, March 1 to 4, sponsored by the UW’s Applied Physics Laboratory and Pacific Science Center.
February 23, 2012
Stop putting the squeeze on tiger territory, says UW alum, now chief scientist with World Wildlife Fund
The plight of the tiger – none of the worlds 350 protected areas in the tigers range is large enough to support a viable population – is the subject of the UWs “Sustaining our World” lecture March 1. Eric Dinerstein, the World Wildlife Funds chief scientist and a UW alum, will speak on “All Together Now: Linking Ecosystem Services, Endangered Species Conservation and Local Livelihoods” at 6 p.m., in Kane 220.
February 22, 2012
AAAS Notebook: Faculty views range across natural world, human health, more
Last weeks American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Vancouver, BC, included 11 speakers from the University of Washington on topics including marine protected areas, the myth of black progress, womens reproductive health and how undergraduates learn best.
AAAS Notebook: Elephant toothpaste as catalyst to engage public in science
Schoolchildren came in droves for the popular Family Science Days Feb. 18-18 during the American Association for Advancement of Science meeting in Vancouver, BC. UW faculty and students were there offering hands-on demonstrations at the National Science Foundations booth .
February 21, 2012
Design eye for the science guy: Drop-in clinic helps scientists communicate data
The Design Help Desk offers scientists a chance to meet with a student who can help them create more effective figures, tables and graphs. This visual equivalent of a Writing Help Desk is also a study on how to teach data visualization.
February 17, 2012
Models underestimate future temperature variability; food security at risk
Climate warming caused by greenhouse gases is very likely to increase summer temperature variability around the world by the end of this century, new UW research shows. The findings have major implications for food production.
February 9, 2012
UW’s David Stahl elected to National Academy of Engineering
David Stahl, a UW professor of civil and environmental engineering, has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering. Also elected are UW affiliate professor Henrique Malvar and UW alumnus Peter Farrell.
February 2, 2012
Scientists coax shy microorganisms to stand out in a crowd
University of Washington scientists have advanced a method that allowed them to single out a marine microorganism and map its genome even though the organism made up less than 10 percent of a water sample teeming with many millions of individuals from dozens of identifiable groups of microbes.
January 30, 2012
Ferroelectric switching discovered for first time in soft biological tissue
The walls of the aorta, the largest blood vessel carrying blood from the heart, exhibits a response to electric fields known to exist in inorganic and synthetic materials. The discovery could have implications for treating human heart disease.
January 26, 2012
Commentary in Nature: Can economy bear what oil prices have in store?
The economic pain of a flattening oil supply will trump the environment as a reason to curb the use of fossil fuels, say two scientists, one from the University of Washington and one from the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, in the Jan. 26 issue of the journal Nature.
January 25, 2012
Injecting sulfate particles into stratosphere wont fully offset climate change
New UW research demonstrates that one suggested method of geoengineering the atmosphere to deal with climate change probably would have limited success.
January 20, 2012
‘Beyond the Ivory Tower offers latest on communicating science
A panel discussion Monday on “Broader Impacts: What do Funders Really Want?” is the first of six presentations on sharing University of Washington research with the general public.
January 12, 2012
Surgical robots to provide open-source platform for medical robotics research
Seven identical robots created and built at the UW will be flown to campuses across the country, where they will provide the first common research platform to develop the future of surgical robotics. The robots will be display Friday at an open house.
January 11, 2012
Hubble spies old stars that shed their skins to look younger
A UW-led team has peered deep into the neighboring Andromeda galaxy to find unusual ultra-blue stars.
January 4, 2012
Russian river water unexpected culprit behind Arctic freshening – with video
A powerful combination of data from NASA satellites and traditional sampling has led to the discovery of a new pathway of freshwater in the Arctic Ocean. Jamie Morison, Applied Physics Laboratory, is lead author of paper in this weeks Nature.
December 21, 2011
To turn up the heat in chilies, just add water
Hot chilies growing wild in dry environments produce substantially fewer seeds than non-pungent plants, but they are better protected against a seed-attacking fungus that is more prevalent in moist regions.
December 19, 2011
Upper atmosphere facilitates changes that let mercury enter food chain — with video
New research shows that the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere work to transform elemental mercury into oxidized mercury, which can easily be deposited into aquatic ecosystems and ultimately enter the food chain.
December 15, 2011
Nitrogen from humans pollutes remote lakes for more than a century
Nitrogen derived from human activities has polluted lakes throughout the Northern Hemisphere for more than a century and the fingerprint of these changes is evident even in remote lakes thousands of miles from the nearest city, industrial area or farm.
December 7, 2011
Device promises nutrition diagnosis in minutes
A new plasma pencil promises to give nutrition status in minutes that used to take 24 hours, and could improve health in developing world.
December 6, 2011
Tropical sea temperatures influence melting in Antarctica
New research shows accelerated melting of two fast-moving glaciers that drain Antarctic ice into the Amundsen Sea Embayment is likely in part the result of an increase in sea-surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean.
November 29, 2011
$2M grant could make early earthquake warning a reality in the Northwest
A grant to the University of Washington from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation could pave the way for a system to provide a warning seconds to minutes in advance of a major offshore earthquake in the Northwest.
November 22, 2011
Big step forward for safety of bionic contact lenses
Bionic eye steps closer to reality.
November 17, 2011
UW engineers help team with nano discovery
Nano discovery could lead to lower-power memory in the future
November 14, 2011
Lightning network helps get a handle on volcanoes
A UW-based alert system using real-time data on lightning flashes around the world is helping to keep tabs on erupting volcanoes.
November 9, 2011
Carbon mitigation strategy uses wood for buildings first, bioenergy second
Pacific Northwest trees grown and harvested sustainably can both remove existing carbon dioxide from the air and help keep the gas from entering the atmosphere in the first place. Thats provided wood is used primarily for such things as building materials, instead of cement and steel, and secondarily that wood wastes are used for biofuels.
November 2, 2011
Wavechasers condemn gummy bears to crushing ocean depths
Follow the serious science – and the development of novel “Will it crush?” segments inspired by the YouTube hit “Will it blend?” – as University of Washington Wavechasers work in the South Pacific near Samoa.
October 19, 2011
Beyond ecological insubordination: Speaker urges us to rethink invasive species
Ignoring the potential beneficial roles of non-native species is no longer a valid option, says UWs Julian Olden. His public talk Oct. 25, “Invasive Species: Exonerating Crimes to Envision a New Global Future,” is the annual deans lecture from the College of the Environment.
Spiral arms indicate possible planets in a star's gas-and-dust disk — with video
A new image of a gas-and-dust disk around a sun-like star is the first that scientists, including a UW astronomer, have seen that displays structures that could hint at the presence of still-unseen planets around the star.
Fiery volcano offers geologic glimpse into land that time forgot — with video
The first scientists to witness exploding rock and molten lava from a deep sea volcano, seen during a 2009 expedition, also collected boninite, a rare lava that accompanies the formation of Earths subduction zones. Current subduction zones are continually evolving but most formed 5 million to 200 million years ago.
October 13, 2011
Improving the physics of grocery store display cases to save energy
Aeronautical engineers are devising ways to boost the efficiency of open-air refrigerated cases, which are increasingly common in supermarkets. Results could lower the energy use of existing cases by up to 15 percent — potentially saving $100 million in electricity costs each year.
October 12, 2011
Bioblitz volunteers to catalog living things in arboretum Oct. 21-22
Naturalists, kayakers and other volunteers – including University of Washington students, faculty and staff – are needed to look for as many birds, plants, insects, mammals and fungi as possible during the 24-hour Bioblitz 2011 at the Washington Park Arboretum.
September 28, 2011
NW biofuels coming of age with $80 million in separate projects led by UW, WSU
The University of Washington and Washington State University are leads for two separate grants of $40 million each that will use Pacific Northwest woody biomass to expand whats been a Midwest-centric biofuels industry into Washington, Oregon, Idaho, western Montana and northern California.
September 20, 2011
Proton-based transistor could let machines communicate with living things
Materials scientists at the University of Washington have built a novel transistor that uses protons, creating a key piece for devices that can communicate directly with living things.
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