News Releases

Landslides linked to plate tectonics create the steepest mountain terrain

New research shows some of the steepest mountain slopes in the world got that way because of the interplay between terrain uplift associated with plate tectonics and powerful streams cutting into hillsides, leading to large landslides.

Mathematicians can conjure matter waves inside an invisible hat

Mathematician Gunther Uhlmann and colleagues have devised an amplifier to boost light, sound or other waves while hiding them inside an invisible container. The findings are published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Engineered microvessels provide a 3-D test bed for human diseases

Bioengineers have developed the first structure to grow small human blood vessels, creating a 3-D test bed that offers a better way to study disease, test drugs and perhaps someday grow human tissues for transplant.

It's in the genes: Research pinpoints how plants know when to flower

Scientists believe they've pinpointed the last crucial piece of the 80-year-old puzzle of how plants "know" when to flower. Understanding how flowering works in a simple plant should lead to a better understanding of how the same genes work in more complex plants such as rice and wheat.

Academic-industry partnership forms for drug development

The School of Pharmacy and pharmaceutical companies will study the body's drug transporters to map interactions and individualize therapy.

Long-distance training teaches proper technique for asthma test

The virtual teaching of health professionals translates to better asthma care for patients.

Inaugural Conservation Remix aims to foster creative thinking about environment

Conservation Remix, a daylong event June 2 organized by UW staff with Conservation Magazine and biology, offers an eclectic mix of topics for discussion – from designing superefficient buildings that generate their own energy to controlling invasive species by eating them.

Slew of rare DNA changes following population explosion holds clues to common diseases

Scientists try to find which single-letter switches in the genetic code influence health risks.

Gaydar automatic and more accurate for women's faces, psychologists find

After seeing faces for less than a blink of an eye, college students have accuracy greater than mere chance in judging others’ sexual orientation.

Insulin nasal spray therapy shows memory improvement in Alzheimer’s patients

A year-long, multi-site clinical trial of insulin nasal spray has been called a significant step forward in measuring the safety and effectiveness of a promising treatment.

New undergraduate summer certificate programs teach career skills

The University of Washington is offering three new undergraduate summer certificate programs this year covering topics including business essentials, database management and localization.

Nearly one-tenth of hemisphere's mammals unlikely to outrun climate change

A safe haven could be out of reach for 9 percent of the Western Hemisphere's mammals, and as much as 40 percent in certain regions, because the animals just won't move swiftly enough to outpace climate change, according to new research from the UW School of Environmental and Forest Sciences.

Portable diagnostics designed to be shaken, not stirred

A textured surface mimics a lotus leaf to move drops of liquid in particular directions. The low-cost system could be used in portable medical or environmental tests.

First quarter home sales surge, while prices languish

Washington's housing market in the first quarter of 2012 saw the highest seasonally adjusted sales since the first-time buyer tax credit program expired in 2010, according to the UW's Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies.

UW to collaborate on biodefense drug development

The $8.1 million grant will fund work on new drugs against some of the world's most deadly infectious diseases.

Unconscious racial attitudes playing large role in 2012 presidential vote

After the 2008 election of President Barack Obama, many proclaimed that the country had entered a post-racial era. But a new large-scale study by UW psychologists shows that racial attitudes have already played a substantial role in 2012, during the Republican primaries.

New research brings satellite measurements and global climate models closer

UW researchers have discovered a problem with a climate record that is often cited by climate change skeptics.

Human brain evolution tied to partial gene copy that blocks original

A brain-development gene incompletely duplicated about time of the transition of pre-human to more human-like beings.

Increasing speed of Greenland glaciers gives new insight for rising sea level

Changes in the speed that ice travels in more than 200 outlet glaciers indicates that Greenland's contribution to rising sea level in the 21st century might be significantly less than the upper limits some scientists thought possible, a new study shows.

Handful of heavyweight trees per acre are forest champs

Big trees three or more feet in diameter accounted for nearly half the biomass measured at a Yosemite National Park site, yet represented only 1 percent of the trees growing there.

 


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