ARTIFICIAL KIDNEYS
UW first clinical test site
A wearable artificial kidney powered by a battery and worn around the waist is being tested first at UW. The goal is to free patients with end-stage kidney failure from being tethered for several hours or more to a dialysis machine.
www.bit.ly/HsEltf

POLITICS OF RACE
Attitudes shape presidential preferences
UW psychologist Anthony Greenwald and colleagues surveyed eligible voters between January and April 2012 and found that those who favored whites over blacks—consciously or unconsciously—also favored Republican candidates relative to Barack Obama. This does not mean those candidates are racist, Greenwald was quick to point out.
www.hvrd.me/2gy5fm

TIME AND SPACE
Looking for extra dimensions
Research at UW’s Center for Experimental Nuclear Physics and Astrophysics is tackling the “theory of everything”—an idea that more than three dimensions exist—head on. So far, Eric Adelberger’s team can defi nitively say that there are no extra dimensions larger than 44 micrometers.
www.bit.ly/IGOTkk

INTERNAL GPS
What fruit flies might tell us
Fruit flies can navigate using cues from natural skylight and coordinating eye and brain function. By studying fruit fly navigation, UW biology professor Michael Dickinson is uncovering general principles of how brains rapidly transform sensory input into behavioral actions.
www.flyranch.org

MUSSELS LOSING GRIP
Increased acidity spells trouble
Some areas of Puget Sound are becoming more acidic. This and warmer temperatures together are causing mussels to lose their ability to cling to rocks. Marine researcher Emily Carrington and colleagues want to understand how human-caused increases in carbon-dioxide production impact marine life.
www.bit.ly/K0wMY3

BIODEFENSE DRUG
Dangerous disease solutions
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has awarded an $8.1 million biodefense grant to the UW, the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and Kineta, a Seattle biotech company. The grant will fund development of drugs to treat Ebola, plague, Japanese encephalitis and other lethal pathogens.
www.bit.ly/J2tPrs

FOOD INSECURITY
Crop yields threatened by climate warmth
UW professor of atmospheric sciences David Battisti presented research showing that greater volatility of summertime temperatures caused by climate warming will harm graingrowing regions of Europe and North and South America.
www.bit.ly/x02YOf

SUSTAINABLE TRAVEL
Funds for traffic solutions
The U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded a $3.5 million grant to a multi-university, regional transportation center led by the UW. The new Pacific Northwest Transportation Consortium led by Professor Yinhai Wang will conduct research and develop sustainable solutions for the region’s diverse transportation needs.
www.bit.ly/Jdyt5a

CHILDHOOD OBESITY
Neighborhood affects weight
Brian Saelens, UW professor of pediatrics and researcher at Seattle Children’s Research Institute, led a study that found a child’s neighborhood and access to quality parks and healthy foods affects weight. Children who live in areas with poor resources were more likely to be overweight. The findings were published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine.

RODENTS VS DINOSAURS
Mammals’ choppers eclipsed dinos
The Mesozoic Era that saw the disappearance of dinosaurs may have had a rodent survivor. A new study by UW paleontologist and biology professor Gregory P. Wilson shows that multituberculates, rodent-like creatures, outlived dinosaurs because their teeth evolved.
www.bit.ly/wVtttp