Skip to content

The latest news from the UW

News releases | Research | Social science

August 17, 2016

Study finds bias, disgust toward mixed-race couples

Interracial marriage has grown in the United States over the past few decades, and polls show that most Americans are accepting of mixed-race relationships. A 2012 study by the Pew Research Center found that interracial marriages in the U.S. had doubled between 1980 and 2010 to about 15 percent, and just 11 percent of respondents disapproved of interracial marriage. But new research from the University of Washington suggests that reported acceptance of interracial marriage masks deeper feelings of discomfort —…

Engineering | News releases | Research | Science | Technology

Interscatter communication enables first-ever implanted devices, smart contact lenses, credit cards that ‘talk’ Wi-Fi

“Interscatter” communication developed by UW engineers allows power-limited devices such as brain implants, contact lenses, credit cards and smaller wearable electronics to talk to everyday devices such as smartphones and watches.

News releases | Research | Science

UW research backs up ongoing efforts to protect the enigmatic Nautilus

University of Washington biologist Peter Ward’s body of research has helped policymakers recognize the impact nautiluses have on ocean ecosystems, as well as how they can — and cannot — replenish their numbers in the face of unrestricted, unregulated fishing. At a CITES meeting in September, Ward and his team hope nautiluses will get much-needed protections from trade and harvesting.

Engineering | News releases | Research | Science

Unearthing trackers of the past: UW computer scientists reveal the history of third-party web tracking

At the USENIX Security Conference in Austin, Texas, a team of University of Washington researchers on Aug. 12 presented the first-ever comprehensive analysis of third-party web tracking across three decades and a new tool, TrackingExcavator, which they developed to extract and analyze tracking behaviors on a given web page. They saw a four-fold increase in third-party tracking on top sites from 1996 to 2016, and mapped the growing complexity of trackers stretching back decades.

Arts and entertainment | For UW employees | Learning | Politics and government | UW and the community | UW News blog

August 12, 2016

‘Hilloccio’ vs the ‘gas giant’: Suzzallo Library exhibit features powerful editorial cartoons from campaign 2016

The editorial cartoons filling a ground floor exhibit in Suzzallo Library through November are hard-hitting, but they fairly depict the wild campaign of 2016, and the serious issues the year has brought as well.

For UW employees | UW News blog

August 5, 2016

Employee open forums Aug. 15, 17 to report on UW HR/Payroll Integrated Service Center

University of Washington employees are invited to attend an open forum either Monday, Aug. 15, 1:30-2:30 p.m. in Odegaard 220 or Wednesday, Aug. 17, 1:30-2:30 p.m. in the HUB, Room 250, to learn more about the design of the HR/Payroll Integrated Service Center.   The goal of the center is to provide a single point of contact to effectively support faculty, staff and student employees with their human resources, academic human resources and payroll-related questions and service needs. Data input sessions last winter garnered more…

Engineering | Environment | Health and medicine | Honors and awards | Research | Science | Social science | UW News blog

August 1, 2016

Twelve UW faculty elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences

A dozen scientists and engineers from the University of Washington have been elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences. According to a statement released by the organization, the new members were selected for “their outstanding record of scientific achievement and willingness to work on behalf of the academy in bringing the best available science to bear on issues within the state of Washington.” Three of the new members from UW were chosen because they had been elected recently to…

For UW employees | UW and the community

July 31, 2016

President’s statement on shootings in Mukilteo

The following is a statement from University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce on the shooting of four individuals in Mukilteo this weekend, three of whom – Anna Bui, Jordan Ebner, and Jake Long – were killed, and one of whom – Will Kramer – was wounded and is at Harborview Medical Center. Bui was a student at UW Bothell, while Kramer is a student on the UW’s Seattle campus. “Words are inadequate to address the bloodshed that occurred this…

News releases | Politics and government | Research | UW and the community

July 28, 2016

Runstad Center report: Addressing condo construction defect liability may help promote affordable housing in Seattle

A new study from the UW’s Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies suggests that Seattle and Washington state could invite development of more affordable housing by easing the legal risk — or the appearance of risk — in condominium development, construction, liability and insurance.

Engineering | Environment | News releases | Research | Science | Technology

July 27, 2016

Carbon-financed cookstove fails to deliver hoped-for benefits in the field

A study of the the first clean cookstove intervention in India financed through the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism found expected benefits from newer, more “efficient” stoves — based on their performance in lab tests — did not materialize in the field.

Environment | Learning | Science | Technology | UW and the community | UW News blog

Middle schoolers build underwater robot in science summer camp

Middle school students tried their hands at designing and building underwater robots this week during a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration science summer camp in Seattle. The ROV workshop was a joint project by UW-based Washington Sea Grant, NOAA and Atlantis STEAM.

News releases | Politics and government | Research | Social science | UW and the community

July 25, 2016

Minimum Wage Study: Effects of Seattle wage hike modest, may be overshadowed by strong economy

The lot of Seattle’s lowest-paid workers improved following the city’s minimum wage increase to $11 in 2015, but that was more due to the robust regional economy than the wage hike itself, according to a research team headed by the UW Evans School.

Administrative affairs | News releases | Research | UW and the community

July 21, 2016

University of Washington sets new record with $542.4 million in private support and contributions in FY 2016

The University of Washington received a record $542.4 million in the 2016 fiscal year, ending June 30, breaking the previous record of $482.5 million set in 2013-14. The funds came in the form of private gifts and grants earmarked by individuals, corporations and foundations for specific areas of research, labs, faculty, and student scholarships and programs.

Research | Social science | UW News blog

From crop-raiding monkeys to political unrest: UW’s Randy Kyes embarks on 100th field course

A chance meeting with a fellow scientist 27 years ago forever changed Randy Kyes’ life — catapulting him from North Carolina to Indonesia and beyond. As the founding director of the University of Washington’s Center for Global Field Study and head of the Division of Global Programs at the Washington National Primate Research Center, Kyes has spent almost three decades leading field courses on environmental and global health in a dozen countries. Often accompanied by students from the UW and…

Engineering | News releases | Research | Technology

Imaging software predicts how you look with different hair styles, colors, appearances

A personalized image search engine developed by a University of Washington researcher lets a person imagine how they would look a with different a hairstyle, if they lived in a different time period or any other appearance change that can be synthesized with internet photos.

Environment | News releases | Research | Science

UW oceanographers grow, sequence genome of ocean microbe important to climate change

A University of Washington team has shed new light on a common but poorly understood bacteria known to live in low-oxygen areas in the ocean. By culturing and sequencing the microbe’s entire genome, the oceanographers found that it significantly contributes to the removal of life-supporting nitrogen from the water in new and surprising ways.

News releases | Research | Social science

July 14, 2016

Study: Perceived threats from police officers, black men predict support for policing reforms

At a time of intense national attention on law enforcement and race, a new University of Washington study suggests that racially based fear plays a role in public support for policing reforms. The research, conducted by UW postdoctoral researcher Allison Skinner and published online July 12 in the open-access journal Frontiers in Psychology, used a series of experiments to gauge participants’ level of support for policing reforms in relation to whether they felt threatened by police officers or black men….

Environment | News releases | Research | Science

Cougars could save lives by lowering vehicle collisions with deer

A research team including University of Washington’s Laura Prugh has found that within 30 years of cougars recolonizing the Eastern U.S., large cats could thin deer populations and reduce vehicle collisions by 22 percent — each year preventing five human fatalities, 680 injuries and avoiding costs of $50 million.

Education | News releases | Social science

July 13, 2016

New UW program aims to foster better education for Native learners

At meetings with Native American community leaders, educators in the University of Washington’s College of Education repeatedly heard the same question — what can be done to improve educational outcomes among Native learners? Those discussions led to the creation of the UW’s new two-year Native Education Certificate program, which launches in August. The 10-unit curriculum mixes online learning with hands-on projects in participants’ communities, with the goal of providing more meaningful and culturally relevant education for Native students. “There is…

UW and the community | UW News blog

July 12, 2016

UW historian selects 1971 prison death for Time’s ’25 Moments That Changed America’

When editors at Time magazine compiled a list of expert picks for “25 Moments that Changed America,” UW Bothell’s Dan Berger was among the historians they reached out to for a contribution. An assistant professor in Bothell’s School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, Berger was asked to choose a “moment” — trends and social movements were not allowed — and write something brief about it. The article ran on June 28 on the Time’s website and in its many social…

Arts and entertainment | Education | Learning | News releases | Research | UW and the community | UW News blog

‘Excitations’: Summer Institute in the Arts to explore energy

“Excitation” is not just a scientific term or perfect Beach Boys lyric, it’s also the topic of this year’s cross-disciplinary Summer Institute in the Arts and Humanities, an intensive summer research program for undergraduate students.