UW News
The latest news from the UW
December 11, 2013
UW ranked 13th best value among public institutions by Kiplinger’s
The University of Washington has been ranked 13th best value among public colleges and universities for 2014 by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance.
Tag(s): RankingsDecember 10, 2013
What climate change means for federally protected marine species
As the Endangered Species Act nears its 40th birthday at the end of December, conservation biologists are coming to terms with a danger not foreseen in the 1970s: global climate change.
Tag(s): Amy Snover • climate change • Climate Impacts Group • College of the Environment • endangered species • fisheries biologyDecember 9, 2013
Communities across U.S. reduce teen smoking, drinking, violence and crime
Fewer high school students across the U.S. started drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes, committing crimes and engaging in violence before graduation when their towns used a prevention system developed by UW’s Social Development Research Group.
Tag(s): David Hawkins • School of Social Work • Social Development Research Group
Astronomers solve temperature mystery of planetary atmospheres
An atmospheric peculiarity the Earth shares with Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune is likely common to billions of planets, University of Washington astronomers have found, and knowing that may help in the search for potentially habitable worlds.
Tag(s): astronomy & astrophysics • College of the Environment • David Catling • Department of Astronomy • Department of Earth and Space Sciences • Tyler Robinson • Virtual Planetary LaboratoryDecember 6, 2013
Sounders star makes young UW dental patient’s day
Samuel Knorr didn’t like the idea of missing school for an orthodontic retainer check at the UW’s The Center for Pediatric Dentistry. When he came face to face with Seattle Sounders star DeAndre Yedlin, however, he was happy he did.
Tag(s): Center for Pediatric DentistryDecember 4, 2013
Arts Roundup: Drama, Ladino Day — and the UW Opera Theater
As fall quarter comes to a close, there’s still plenty to see and do on campus. This coming week, attend the UW Opera Theater to brush up on your “Le Nozze di Figaro,” or enjoy the final weekend of the Undergraduate Theater Society’s performance of “Woyzeck.”
Tag(s): Henry Art Gallery • School of Music • Stroum Center for Jewish Studies • Undergraduate Theater SocietyDecember 3, 2013
Signalers vs. strong silent types: Sparrows exude personalities during fights
Like humans, some song sparrows are more effusive than others, at least when it comes to defending their territories. New UW findings show that consistent individual differences exist not only for how aggressive individual song sparrows are but also for how much they use their signals to communicate their aggressive intentions.
Tag(s): College of Arts & Sciences • Department of Psychology • Michael Beecher
New book ‘Going Viral’ explores nature, impact of Internet virality
Will we of the early 21th century be remembered for Internet memes like Grumpy Cat? “Going Viral,” a new book by Karine Nahon and Jeff Hemsley of the UW Information School explores the nature of virality and impacts of virality.
Tag(s): Information School • Jeff Hemsley • Karine Nahon • social media
Project to gauge effects of Affordable Care Act in Washington state
The overall purpose of the project, called UW-SHARE, is to obtain a benchmark, pre-ACA picture of health-care use, health, health-related attitudes, and access to health insurance.
Tag(s): Anirban Basu • School of Public Health
‘Spooky action’ builds a wormhole between ‘entangled’ particles
New research indicates that a phenomenon called “quantum entanglement” could be intrinsically linked with the creation of wormholes.
Tag(s): College of Arts & Sciences • Department of PhysicsDecember 2, 2013
Last chance to donate: UW Combined Fund Drive ends Dec. 6
UW faculty and staff have until Dec. 6 to contribute to this year’s UW Combined Fund Drive, part of Washington state’s workplace giving campaign.
Tag(s): Combined Fund Drive • Human ResourcesNovember 26, 2013
MyHeartMapSeattle scavenger hunters report over 2,000 defibrillators
A city-wide contest to locate as many of Seattle’s automatic external defibrillators, or AEDs, netted far more than expected. The challenge arose from the need to map and monitor these devices, which can save the lives of people suffering an out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest.
Tag(s): Graham Nichol • heart disease
Arts Roundup: Drama, art — and the School of Music’s ‘Carolfest’
The holiday season kicks off in full force with a variety of arts events to enjoy, including the School of Music’s annual CarolFest is on Dec. 4.
Tag(s): Burke Museum of Natural History & Culture • Henry Art Gallery • School of Music • Stroum Center for Jewish Studies • Undergraduate Theater Society
Redesigned purple UW license plates now available
The newly designed University of Washington vehicle license plate is now available for sale from the state Department of Licensing.
AAAS names five UW researchers as fellows
Five University of Washington researchers are among new fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
News digest: ‘StormReady’ status, Ryan Calo blogs, green seed proposals due, ease Net access
“StormReady” status ups UW’s ability to cope with weather extremes || Ryan Calo blogs for Forbes || First Green Seed Fund proposals due Dec. 3 || Ease Net access at 5,500 institutions with “eduroam”
November 25, 2013
Study: Greenhouse gas might have warmed early Mars enough to allow liquid water
The mystery of how the surface of Mars, long dead and dry, could have flowed with water billions of years ago may have been solved by research that included a University of Washington astronomer.
Tag(s): astronomy & astrophysics • Department of Astronomy • planetary science • Tyler Robinson
Dashboards to bring culture change in strategic decision-making
New dashboards for exploring trends are bringing about a culture change in strategic decision-making at the university
Tag(s): UW-ITNovember 24, 2013
How living cells solved a needle in a haystack problem to generate electrical signals
Filtered from a vast sodium sea, more than 1 million calcium ions per second gush through our cells’ pores to generate charges
Tag(s): cell biology • Department of Pharmacology • Ning Zheng • William CatterallNovember 21, 2013
Studies to probe confluence of human, animal and environmental health in Africa
Grand Challenges Exploration Grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will allow two UW-led teams to study the health determinants people share with other living creatures.
Tag(s): Department of Global Health • Gates Foundation • School of Medicine • School of Public Health
David Barash explores science, religion and meaning of life in ‘Buddhist Biology’
David Barash, a UW psychology professor, is an evolutionary biologist, unapologetic atheist, and self-described Jewbu. In his latest book, “Buddhist Biology: Ancient Eastern Wisdom Meets Modern Western Science,” Barash examines the overlap between Buddhism and biology.
Tag(s): books • College of Arts & Sciences • David Barash • Department of PsychologyNovember 20, 2013
Board of Regents — Nov. 29 Special Meeting, Dec. Regular Meeting canceled, 2014 schedule announced
The Dec. 12 Regular Meeting of the Board of Regents has been cancelled. The Regents will hold a Special Meeting with the WSU Board of Regents on Friday, Nov. 29, at 9:30 a.m. in the Jim Houston Stadium Boardroom at Husky Stadium. The agenda is available online. The 2014 Board of Regents schedule has been…
Arts Roundup: Music, drama — and ‘Elwha: A River Reborn’
This week slows down as the campus prepares for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. However, don’t miss your last chance to see School of Drama’s “Fifth of July” or venture to the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture to explore their new exhibit “Elwha: A River Reborn.”
Tag(s): Burke Museum of Natural History & Culture • School of Art + Art History + Design • School of Drama • School of Music
Study shines light on what makes digital activism effective
Digital activism is usually nonviolent and tends to work best when social media tools are combined with street-level organization, according to new research from the University of Washington.
Tag(s): Department of Communication • Philip Howard
December deadlines approach for Awards of Excellence nominations
Nominations are due in December and coming months for this year’s University of Washington Awards of Excellence categories.
Tag(s): awardsNovember 19, 2013
Paddlers spread pump-out ‘gospel’ to recreational boaters
Washington Sea Grant’s “Pumpout Paddlers” are readying their kayaks for winter paddling to deliver more adapters so boaters have a cleaner, easier way to pump their sewage-holding tanks.
Tag(s): College of the Environment • Washington Sea GrantNovember 18, 2013
Documents that Changed the World: the Zapruder film, Nov. 22, 1963
He only came to get the iconic footage through a series of coincidences and later regretted what he had done. It was the last film Abraham Zapruder would ever shoot.
Tag(s): Documents that Changed the World • history • Information School • Joe Janes
Post-shutdown, UW Arctic research flights resume
UW researchers this month are on missions to fly above the Arctic Ocean to measure glacier melt, polar storms and Arctic sea ice.
Tag(s): Applied Physics Laboratory • Benjamin Smith • College of the Environment • Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean and Ecosystem Studies • Jamie Morison • Nick Bond
Faculty Senate chair Jack Lee charts course for year
Faculty & Staff Insider asked this year’s Faculty Senate chair, Jack Lee, professor of mathematics, to discuss some of the the issues it is likely to tackle in the coming year.
November 14, 2013
FDA-approved immune-modulating drug unexpectedly benefits mice with fatal mitochondrial defect
Rapamycin, an anti-rejection drug for organ transplant patients, has now been shown to increases survival in and delayed symptoms of Leigh’s syndrome. The drug appears to cause a metabolic switch that bypasses the mitochondrial deficiency.
Tag(s): Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology • genetics & DNA • Healthy Aging and Longevity Research Institute • Matt Kaeberlein • School of Medicine
A decline in creativity? It depends on how you look
Recent research suggests that young Americans might be less creative now than in decades past, even while their intelligence — as measured by IQ tests — continues to rise. But new research from the UW Information School and Harvard University hints that the dynamics of creativity may not break down as simply as that.
Tag(s): Information School • Katie DavisNovember 13, 2013
Arts Roundup: Music, drama — and the Hall Health Artwalk
It’s a packed week in the arts, with an event option for every day. DXARTS and the School of Music offer an electro-acoustic concert, the UW World Series presents “Café Variations” in collaboration with the School of Drama, the Burke Museum of History and Culture has its Meet the Mammals day, and more.
Tag(s): Burke Museum of Natural History & Culture • Meany Center for the Performing Arts • School of Art + Art History + Design • School of Drama • School of Music
2014-2015 Faculty Senate Vice Chair Nominations
Nominations for Vice Chair of the Faculty Senate are being sought.
Snow melts faster under trees than in open areas in mild climates
University of Washington researchers have found that tree cover actually causes snow to melt more quickly in warm, Mediterranean-type climates. Alternatively, open, clear gaps in the forests tend to keep snow on the ground longer into the spring and summer. Their findings were published this fall in Water Resources Research.
Tag(s): College of Engineering • Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering • Jessica Lundquist • Susan Dickerson-LangeNovember 12, 2013
Grant will support interdisciplinary, data-intensive research at UW
The UW, along with the University of California, Berkeley, and New York University, are partners in a new five-year, $37.8 million grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation that aims to accelerate the growth of data-intensive discovery across many fields.
Tag(s): Bill Howe • Center for Statistics and the Social Sciences • Ed Lazowska • eScience InstituteNovember 8, 2013
Board of Regents — Nov. 14 Meeting Announcement
The Board of Regents will hold a Regular Meeting on Thursday, Nov. 14, at 1 p.m. in the UW Tower Board Room (22nd Floor).
Forest fires and fireside chats: UW students learn about management challenges
An intensive two week field course helped 20 University of Washington students learn firsthand about the challenges of managing dry, fire-prone forests of the Pacific Northwest.
Tag(s): College of the Environment • ecology • School of Environmental and Forest SciencesNovember 7, 2013
Cost-effective method accurately orders DNA sequencing along entire chromosomes
The method may help overcome a major obstacle that has delayed progress in designing rapid, low-cost — but still accurate — ways to assemble genomes from scratch. It also may validate certain types of chromosomal abnormalities in cancer.
Tag(s): Department of Genome Sciences • genetics & DNA • Jay Shendure • School of Medicine
Arts Roundup: Music, lectures — and the School of Drama’s ‘Fifth of July’
This week there is a smattering of events with a highlight being the School of Drama’s “Fifth of July,” directed by Professor Valerie Curtis-Newton. Also, if Mongolian music suits your fancy, you’re in luck because the vibrant young ensemble, AnDa Union makes their Seattle debut on the Meany stage. JewDub Talks 7 p.m., Nov. 7…
Tag(s): Henry Art Gallery • Meany Center for the Performing Arts • School of Art + Art History + Design • School of Drama • School of MusicNovember 6, 2013
Floods didn’t provide nitrogen ‘fix’ for earliest crops in frigid north
Floods didn’t make floodplains fertile during the dawn of human agriculture in the Earth’s far north. Turns out early human inhabitants can mainly thank cyanobacteria. It raises the question of whether modern farmers might reduce fertilizer use by taking advantage of cyanobacteria that occur, not just in the floodplains studied, but in soils around the world.
Tag(s): College of the Environment • flooding • plant science • School of Environmental and Forest Sciences« Previous Page Next Page »
