UW News

College of Arts & Sciences


November 7, 2019

Team uses golden ‘lollipop’ to observe elusive interference effect at the nanoscale

An image of small golden discs and rods used in an experiment

A team led by scientists from the University of Washington and the University of Notre Dame used recent advances in electron microscopy to observe Fano interferences — a form of quantum-mechanical interference by electrons — directly in a pair of metallic nanoparticles.


November 1, 2019

ArtsUW Roundup: attend the Danish String Quartet concert, observe a Monologue Audition workshop, and more

This week in the arts, celebrate Beethoven’s 250th anniversary with Jonathan Biss, attend the Burke museum for free, catch A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and more. Jonathan Biss – Celebrating Beethoven Pt 1 November 5, 7:30 pm | Meany Center In celebration of the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth, Meany Center presents a selection of his piano sonatas…


October 31, 2019

Washington’s first student-built satellite preparing for launch

tall silver rectangle inside glass box that reads "flight hardware"

After years of preparation, a tiny satellite built by UW students is scheduled to launch early Saturday, Nov. 2, from a NASA flight facility in Virginia. The launch will be broadcast live on NASA TV.


New technique lets researchers map strain in next-gen solar cells

an image showing the surface of a solar cell, and which sections of the surface are susceptible to heat loss

Researchers from the University of Washington and the FOM Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics in the Netherlands have developed a way to map strain in lead halide perovskite solar cells. Their approach shows that misorientation between microscopic perovskite crystals is the primary contributor to the buildup of strain within the solar cell, which creates small-scale defects in the grain structure, interrupts the transport of electrons within the solar cell, and ultimately leads to heat loss through a process known as non-radiative recombination.


October 29, 2019

UW book notes: Political scientist Megan Ming Francis to edit new series on race, ethnicity, politics

Megan Ming Francis, UW political science professor, who will edit a new book series on race, ethnicity and politics

University of Washington political scientist Megan Ming Francis says there is a dearth of academic book series being published on topics of race, ethnicity and politics. Now, she will start to change that. An associate professor of political science, Francis will be the editor of a new series of books from Cambridge University Press called…


October 28, 2019

Hubble captures galaxies’ ghostly gaze

An image of a galaxy in outer space

An image captured earlier this year by the Hubble Space Telescope may look like a ghostly apparition, but it is not. Hubble is looking at a titanic head-on collision between two galaxies.


October 24, 2019

NSF invests in cyberinfrastructure institute to harness cosmic data

the stars at night

The National Science Foundation awarded the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and nine collaborating organizations, including the University of Washington, $2.8 million for a two-year “conceptualization phase” of the Scalable Cyberinfrastructure Institute for Multi-Messenger Astrophysics.


New fossil trove documents recovery of life on Earth after dinosaur-killing asteroid impact

An image of an ancient mammal that is now extinct.

Scientists have discovered an extraordinary collection of fossils that reveal in detail how life recovered after a catastrophic event: the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous Period.


October 23, 2019

ArtsUW Roundup: the Paco de Lucia Project, CabLab, Jenny Odell at Town Hall, and more

This week in the arts, kick-off School of Drama’s new season, view local artist’s work at the Center for Urban Horticulture, learn about Dakota Sioux artist Mary Sully, and more. Reclaiming our Attention in an Age of Distraction November 1, 7:30 pm | Town Hall Seattle UW Communications Leadership Program presents author and artist Jenny Odell…


October 18, 2019

ArtsUW Roundup: Music of Today, School of Art faculty lectures, and more

This week in the arts, celebrate flamenco with the Paco de Lucía Project, attend the opening reception for Irreducible Forms, tour the Henry Art Gallery with Ariel Goldberg, and more. Exhibition Opening: Irreducible Forms October 24 – November 9 | Jacob Lawrence Gallery Celebrate work by the second-year Master of Fine Arts students working in and between…


October 15, 2019

Deaf infants more attuned to parent’s visual cues, study shows

Baby looking at something not seen by the camera.

A University of Washington-led study finds that Deaf infants exposed to American Sign Language are especially tuned to a parent’s eye gaze, itself a social connection between parent and child that is linked to early learning.


UW’s Ashleigh Theberge receives Packard Fellowship for research on cell communication signals

Person looking at camera

Ashleigh Theberge, a University of Washington assistant professor of chemistry, has been named a 2019 Packard Fellow for her research on cell signaling. Every year since 1988, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation has awarded Packard Fellowships in Science and Engineering to early-career scientists to pursue the types of innovative projects that often fall outside…


Piranha fish swap old teeth for new simultaneously

ct scan of a piranha fish

With the help of new technologies, a team led by the University of Washington has confirmed that piranhas — and their plant-eating cousins, pacus — lose and regrow all the teeth on one side of their face multiple times throughout their lives. How they do it may help explain why the fish go to such efforts to replace their teeth.


October 10, 2019

ArtsUW Roundup: Visit the Burke Museum, attend a Sankai Juku performance, and more.

This week in the arts, attend a Washin Kai recital in classical Japanese, listen to the musical musings of Indigo Mist, converse over coffee, and more. Visit the Burke on Indigenous Peoples’ Day October 14, 10 am – 5pm | Burke Museum As part of Opening Weekend, celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day in the City of…


October 8, 2019

New paper explores race, representation in campaign finance

Jake Grumbach, UW political science professor with new research on race and campaign giving

In American politics, the question of “Who donates?” is linked to the crucial question of “Who governs?” Most campaign donations historically have come from white voters. But new UW-led research indicates that if more candidates of color ran for office, donations from individuals of color would likely increase as well.


Genes contribute to dog breeds’ iconic traits

A new study by a research team that included the University of Washington offers new evidence to support what scientists have long suspected about dogs: that some dog behaviors that help characterize breeds — a drive to chase, for example, or aggression toward strangers — are associated with distinct genetic differences among them.


October 4, 2019

New metasurface design can control optical fields in three dimensions

An image showing how the optical element focuses light to a specific point in 3D space above the element's surface.

A team led by scientists at the University of Washington has designed and tested a 3D-printed metamaterial that can manipulate light with nanoscale precision. As they report in a paper published Oct. 4 in the journal Science Advances, their designed optical element focuses light to discrete points in a 3D helical pattern.


October 2, 2019

ArtsUW Roundup: New Burke Opening, Marianne Stecher lectures for Scandinavian 30, Composite Gestures closing soon, and more

This week in the arts, attend a Chamber Dance Company concert, view photographs from the Henry’s collections, reflect on the race of contemporary ballet, and more. Katja Petrowskaja: A Family Story Between Memory and Forgetting October 7, 6 – 8 pm | Communications Building In conversation with Assistant Professor Sasha Senderovich (Slavic, Jewish Studies), Katja Petrowskaja will discuss her 2013…


Abigail Swann on Science News’ list of 10 young scientists to watch

woman in blue dress by tree

The University of Washington’s Abigail Swann is honored by Science News on its list of 10 promising early- and mid-career scientists.


Inspired by Northern clingfish, researchers make a better suction cup

clingfish in water

A University of Washington team inspired by the clingfish’s suction power set out to develop an artificial suction cup that borrows from nature’s design. Their prototype actually performed better than the clingfish.


September 27, 2019

ArtsUW Roundup: Lecture with Art History professors, dance performance, South Asian film symposium, and more

Start Fall Quarter artfully by attending a welcome back dance party, purchasing your tickets for Burke Opening Weekend, attending a concert, and more. Concert: Garrick Ohlsson October 1, 7:30 pm | Meany Hall – Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater Seattle favorite Garrick Ohlsson returns to Meany Center with a program of Brahms and Chopin.  Regarded as a…


September 26, 2019

Pay, flexibility, advancement: They all matter for workers’ health and safety, study shows

Food delivery cyclist

The terms and conditions of your employment — including your pay, hours, schedule flexibility and job security — influence your overall health as well as your risk of being injured on the job, according to new research from the University of Washington. The analysis takes a comprehensive approach to show that the overall pattern of…


Galaxy found to float in a tranquil sea of halo gas

A graphic showing a fast radio burst leaving its host galaxy and arriving at Earth.

An international team of astronomers has analyzed the signal from a fast radio burst — an enigmatic blast of cosmic radio waves lasting less than a millisecond — to characterize the diffuse gas in the halo of a massive galaxy.


September 25, 2019

Joel Migdal, founder of International Studies Program, to mark UW retirement with public lecture, workshop, Oct. 3

Joel Migdal retiring Jackson School professor founded the UW international studies program

Joel S. Migdal, professor in the UW Jackson School of International Studies, will celebrate retirement after 39 years at the UW on Oct. 3 with a daylong workshop featuring current and former students, followed by a lecture on “State and Society: Then and Now.”


September 20, 2019

ArtsUW Roundup: Visit Arts Buzz at Dawg Daze, buy tickets to the Burke Opening Weekend, and more

In the arts, attend an opening reception at the Jacob Lawrence Gallery, hear from School of Art + Art History + Design faculty, visit the Allen Library for a concert, and more! School of Art + Art History + Design Faculty Lectures Six faculty members will each give presentations during autumn quarter as part of the…


September 19, 2019

Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies receives $1.8M grant

The UW Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies has received a $1.8 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, which will fund four years of work at the UW around Native student support, academics, research and cultural programs.


Introducing VPLanet: A virtual planet simulator for modeling distant worlds across time

Image is illustration of several possibly habitable worlds

UW astrobiologist Rory Barnes and co-authors have created software that simulates multiple aspects of planetary evolution across billions of years, with an eye toward finding and studying potentially habitable worlds.


September 16, 2019

KATRIN cuts the mass estimate for the elusive neutrino in half

A large piece of scientific equipment being moved through a town

An international team of scientists has announced a breakthrough in its quest to measure the mass of the neutrino, one of the most abundant, yet elusive, elementary particles in our universe. At the 2019 Topics in Astroparticle and Underground Physics conference in Toyama, Japan, leaders from the KATRIN experiment reported Sept. 13 that the estimated range for the rest mass of the neutrino is no larger than 1 electron volt, or eV.


September 12, 2019

ArtsUW Roundup: Hugo House documentary, exhibition opening at the Jacob Lawrence Gallery, concert in the library, and more!

In the arts, attend a film screening about Hugo House produced by Frances McCue and directed by Ryan K. Adams, go to an exhibition opening at Jacob Lawrence Gallery, buy tickets for the New Burke Opening, and more! Hugo House documentary “Where the House Was” September 21, 7:30 pm | Northwest Film Form For almost…


September 10, 2019

Hugo House documentary ‘Where the House Was’ to debut Sept. 21 at Northwest Film Forum

“Where the House Was,” a new, 58-minute documentary produced by France McCue, UW senior lecturer in English, tells of the old location for Hugo House, the place for writer, and its subsequent demolition.


Tides don’t always flush water out to sea, study shows

Dawn in Willapa Bay in 2015, showing oysters on a tidal flat.

Researchers at the University of Washington and the University of Strathclyde report that, in Willapa Bay in Washington state, the water washing over the tidal flats during high tides is largely the same water that washed over the flats during the previous high tide. This “old” water has not been mixed in with “new” water from deeper parts of the bay or the open Pacific Ocean, and has different chemical and biological properties, such as lower levels of food for creatures within the tide flats.


September 9, 2019

Breakthrough Foundation honors UW researcher studying ‘exotic’ states of matter

Picture of Lukasz Fidkowski, assistant professor of physics at the University of Washington.

Lukasz Fidkowski, an assistant professor of physics at the University of Washington, is one of the winners of a 2020 New Horizons in Physics Prize from the Breakthrough Foundation. The prize to early-career scientists, announced Sept. 5, recognizes Fidkowski and his three co-recipients “for incisive contributions to the understanding of topological states of matter and the relationships between them.”


September 5, 2019

Study shows exposure to multiple languages may make it easier to learn one

Man writes on whiteboard.

A new study from the University of Washington finds that, based on brain activity, people who live in communities where multiple languages are spoken can identify words in yet another language better than those who live in a monolingual environment.


September 3, 2019

UW colleges, offices share three-year NSF grant to make ‘internet of things’ more secure

Several UW schools and offices will team up to research how organizational practices can affect the interagency collaboration needed to keep the “internet of things” — and institutional systems — safe and secure.


August 29, 2019

Crowdsourced archaeology shows how humans have influenced Earth for thousands of years

Regions of the map turn purple as the time-lapse counter advances, showing the spread of agriculture over time.

A new map synthesized from more than 250 archaeologists worldwide, including from the University of Washington, argues that the human imprint on our planet’s soil goes back much earlier than the nuclear age.


August 27, 2019

ArtsUW Roundup; William Morris and the Kelmscott Press Exhibition, Closing soon – Cecilia Vicuña’s About to Happen, and more

In the arts, purchase tickets for the New Burke Opening Weekend, attend a rare duet setting performance by two School of Music faculty members, view a selection of gowns from the Henry’s collection of clothing and textiles, and more! New Burke Opening October 12th Ticket sales open on September 3rd for the New Burke Museum…


August 16, 2019

ArtsUW Roundup: Creating Alternative Worlds, Bulrusher, Final Week of James Coupe: Exercises in Passivity and more!

In the arts, celebrate the accomplishments of the 2019 Summer Institute in the Arts and Humanities program’s undergraduate researchers in “Creating Alternative Worlds,” attend Bulrusher – an Intiman Theatre production directed by Valerie Curtis-Newton at the Jones Playhouse, drop into the Library for the Fourth Wednesday Concert Series featuring Brian Schappals and more! Creating Alternative…


August 13, 2019

James Webb Space Telescope could begin learning about TRAPPIST-1 atmospheres in a single year, study indicates

New research from UW astronomers models how telescopes such as the James Webb Space Telescope, will be able to study the planets of the intriguing TRAPPIST-1 system.

New research from astronomers at the UW uses the intriguing TRAPPIST-1 planetary system as a kind of laboratory to model not the planets themselves, but how the coming James Webb Space Telescope might detect and study their atmospheres, on the path toward looking for life beyond Earth.


August 12, 2019

First cells on ancient Earth may have emerged because building blocks of proteins stabilized membranes

Scientists have discovered that the building blocks of proteins can stabilize cell membranes. This finding may explain how the first cells emerged from the primordial soup billions of years ago: The protein building blocks could have stabilized cell membranes against salt and ions that were present in ancient oceans. In addition, membranes may have been a site for these precursor molecules to co-localize, a potential mechanism to explain what brought together the ingredients for life.


August 9, 2019

Scientists can now control thermal profiles at the nanoscale

Scientists have designed and tested an experimental system that uses a near-infrared laser to actively heat two gold nanorod antennae — metal rods designed and built at the nanoscale — to different temperatures. The nanorods are so close together that they are both electromagnetically and thermally coupled. Yet the team measured temperature differences between the rods as high as 20 degrees Celsius and could change which nanorod was cooler and which was warmer, even though the rods were made of the same material.



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