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Public Health | Research | UW News blog

July 23, 2021

Older workers needed for UW study on worker safety during COVID-19 pandemic

Public health researchers have learned a lot about how the pandemic affected workers and exacerbated existing health disparities that exist in many communities. However, there’s still a lot we don’t know about the experience of workers deemed essential in the food industry and who were at higher risk of contracting COVID-19, such those working in grocery stores, restaurants, delivery and factories. To find out how food workers were or were not protected and how they can be better protected going…

Environment | News releases | Research | Science

July 20, 2021

New 3D images of shark intestines show they function like Nikola Tesla’s valve

For more than a century, researchers have relied on flat sketches of sharks’ digestive systems to discern how they function — and how what they eat and excrete impacts other species in the ocean. Now, researchers have produced a series of high-resolution, 3D scans of intestines from nearly three dozen shark species that will advance the understanding of how sharks eat and digest their food.

Engineering | Environment | Health and medicine | Honors and awards | Population Health | Science | UW News blog

July 16, 2021

20 UW researchers elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences for 2021

Twenty scientists and engineers at the University of Washington are among the 38 new members elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences for 2021, according to a July 15 announcement. New members were chosen for “their outstanding record of scientific and technical achievement, and their willingness to work on behalf of the Academy to bring the best available science to bear on issues within the state of Washington.”

Arts and entertainment

ArtSci Roundup: Will Rawls: Everlasting Stranger Performance, Northwest Modernism: Four Japanese Americans, and More

Through public events and exhibitions, connect with the UW community every week! This week, attend gallery exhibitions, watch recorded events, and more. While you’re enjoying summer break, connect with campus through UW live webcams of Red Square and the quad. Many of these online opportunities are streamed through Zoom. All UW faculty, staff, and students have access to Zoom Pro via UW-IT.  Will Rawls: Everlasting Stranger Performance July 24, 12:00 PM – 3:00 PM | Henry Art Gallery In Everlasting Stranger, New York-based choreographer…

Engineering | Expert quotes | UW News blog

July 9, 2021

‘We need to be patient’ — UW’s Dawn Lehman on the collapse of the Champlain Towers South

While there is currently no explanation for why the Champlain Towers South building collapsed, Dawn Lehman, a University of Washington professor of civil and environmental engineering, has been studying photographs, videos, drawings, reports and permits to investigate this tragedy to understand what happened. UW News asked her to help us understand why buildings fail.

News releases | Politics and government | Public Health

Study model explores impact of police action on population health

A specific police action, an arrest or a shooting, has an immediate and direct effect on the individuals involved, but how far and wide do the reverberations of that action spread through the community? What are the health consequences for a specific, though not necessarily geographically defined, population? The authors of a new UW-led study looking into these questions write that because law enforcement directly interacts with a large number of people, “policing may be a conspicuous yet not-well understood…

Honors and awards | Technology | UW and the community | UW Notebook

Faculty/staff honors: Early career honor in communication, distinguished service award in theoretical computing

Recent honors and achievements by UW faculty include an early career award for study of family communication and a distinguished service award for decades in support of theoretical computing.

Arts and entertainment

July 6, 2021

ArtSci Roundup: Will Rawls: Everlasting Stranger, Grit City Think & Drink: Global Themes in World History since 1500 in Five Images, and More

Through public events and exhibitions, connect with the UW community every week! This week, attend gallery exhibitions, watch recorded events, and more. While you’re enjoying summer break, connect with campus through UW live webcams of Red Square and the quad. Many of these online opportunities are streamed through Zoom. All UW faculty, staff, and students have access to Zoom Pro via UW-IT.  Will Rawls: Everlasting Stranger July 17 – August 15 | Henry Art Gallery In Everlasting Stranger, New York-based choreographer and writer Will…

News releases

Last ice-covered parts of summertime Arctic Ocean vulnerable to climate change

The region north of Greenland and the Canadian Arctic has been termed the Last Ice Area, where sea ice will remain the longest in summertime, providing a refuge for ice-dependent Arctic species. But conditions last summer show that parts of this region are already experiencing less summer ice due to climate change.

UW and the community | UW Notebook

June 29, 2021

From the Jackson School: Endowed scholarship for India study, book on angels in ancient Jewish culture

Recent news from the Jackson School of International Studies includes a new endowed scholarship for study of India made possible by two alumni, and a book on angels in ancient Jewish culture by Jewish Studies professor Mika Ahuvia.

Environment | Interactive | News releases | Research | Science

Air pollution from wildfires impacts ability to observe birds

Researchers from the University of Washington provide a first look at the probability of observing common birds as air pollution worsens during wildfire seasons. They found that smoke affected the ability to detect more than a third of the bird species studied in Washington state over a four-year period. Sometimes smoke made it harder to observe birds, while other species were actually easier to detect when smoke was present.

Arts and entertainment

June 28, 2021

ArtSci Roundup: Serious Tings, Sonolocations: A Sound Works Series, and More

Through public events and exhibitions, connect with the UW community every week! This week, watch a UW alum on NBC’s Making It, attend a discussion hosted by the Henry Art Gallery, and more. While you’re enjoying summer break, connect with campus through UW live webcams of Red Square and the quad. Many of these online opportunities are streamed through Zoom. All UW faculty, staff, and students have access to Zoom Pro via UW-IT.  Serious Tings: Wayne Chen in Conversation with Steve…

Arts and entertainment

June 21, 2021

ArtSci Roundup: Indigenous Walking Tour, Sonolocations: A Sound Works Series, and More

Through public events and exhibitions, connect with the UW community every week! This week, attend several museum exhibitions, the Indigenous walking tour, and more. While you’re enjoying summer break, connect with campus through UW live webcams of Red Square and the quad. Many of these online opportunities are streamed through Zoom. All UW faculty, staff, and students have access to Zoom Pro via UW-IT.  Indigenous Walking Tour Online Owen Oliver, who graduated from the University of Washington with a double major…

Environment | News releases | Research | Science | UW and the community

Researchers discover yessotoxins, produced by certain phytoplankton, to be a culprit behind summer mass shellfish mortality events in Washington

Back in the summers of 2018 and 2019, the shellfish industry in Washington state was rocked by mass mortalities of its crops. Now, researchers think they have figured out why: high concentrations of yessotoxinss, which are produced by blooms of certain phytoplankton. The researchers’ findings were published last month in the open-access journal Harmful Algae.

UW News blog

‘An occasion for unapologetic Black joy, community connection, and reeducation’: UW’s LaTaSha Levy discusses Juneteenth

LaTaSha Levy, assistant professor of American ethnic studies at the University of Washington, discusses Juneteenth, the myths and omissions in telling its story, and the ongoing importance of fighting for, and celebrating, Black freedom.

Environment | Honors and awards | Politics and government | UW and the community | UW Notebook

UW Ocean Voices program, seeking equity in ocean science, gets key approval from United Nations

Ocean Voices, a program of the UW Nippon Foundation Ocean Nexus Center to advance equity in ocean science, has been named among the first group of actions taken in a United Nations-sponsored, decade-long program of ocean science for sustainable development.

Health and medicine | News releases | Population Health | Public Health

Drug rebates for insurers tied to higher costs for patients, especially the uninsured

Federal agencies that regulate drug pricing and healthcare insurance are concerned that an industry practice of using rebates to lower drug costs for insurers has led to increases in list prices and out-of-pockets costs for patients. To investigate whether patients with or without insurance were paying more because of rebates to insurers, researchers led by the University of Washington examined cost and price data on more than 400 branded drugs. The study found that rebates were associated with increases in…

Arts and entertainment

ArtSci Roundup: Elaine Cameron-Weir: STAR CLUB REDEMPTION BOOTH, Cruisin’ Around Washington, and More

Through public events and exhibitions, connect with the UW community every week! In addition to celebrating our graduates this week, attend several museum exhibitions, watch recorded events through ArtsUW On Demand, and more. While you’re enjoying summer break, connect with campus through UW live webcams of Red Square and the quad. Many of these online opportunities are streamed through Zoom. All UW faculty, staff, and students have access to Zoom Pro via UW-IT.  Cruisin’ Around Washington Through October 31 | The Burke…

News releases

June 14, 2021

Communication technology, study of collective behavior must be ‘crisis discipline,’ researchers argue

Our ability to confront global crises, from pandemics to climate change, depends on how we interact and share information. 

Social media and other forms of communication technology restructure these interactions in ways that have consequences. Unfortunately, we have little insight into whether these changes will bring about a healthy, sustainable and equitable world. As a result, researchers now say that the study of collective behavior must rise to a “crisis discipline,” just like medicine, conservation and climate science have done, according to a new paper published June 14 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Arts and entertainment | Honors and awards | Science | UW Notebook

Faculty/staff honors: Humanitarian award, early career research support, literary journal guest editor

Recent honors and achievements for UW faculty include an award for humanitarian contributions to computer science, early career research recognition and support, and the guest-editing of a new anthology of Black American literature.

Environment | News releases | Research | Science

June 11, 2021

Edge of Pine Island Glacier’s ice shelf is ripping apart, causing key Antarctic glacier to gain speed

Satellite images show that from 2017 to 2020, Pine Island Glacier’s ice shelf lost about one-fifth of its area, mostly in three dramatic breaks. This caused the glacier to speed up by 12%, hastening its downward motion and boosting its contribution to rising seas.

Engineering | Health and medicine | Research | Science | UW News blog

Smartphone camera can illuminate bacteria causing acne, dental plaques

Researchers at the University of Washington have developed a method that uses smartphone-derived images to reveal potentially harmful bacteria on skin and in oral cavities. Their approach can visually identify microbes on skin contributing to acne and slow wound healing, as well as bacteria in the oral cavity that can cause gingivitis and dental plaques.