The Peace Corps today announced that University of Washington ranked No. 2 among large schools on the agency’s 2018 Top Volunteer-Producing Colleges and Universities list. There are 74 UW alumni currently volunteering worldwide.
February 21, 2018
The latest news from the UW
February 20, 2018
University of Washington is a top producer of Fulbright scholars
The University of Washington ranked second in the country in producing Fulbright Scholars. Fulbrights were awarded to 11 researchers at UW’s Seattle campus, and to three faculty members at UW Bothell.
Beluga whales dive deeper, longer to find food in Arctic
Reductions in sea ice in the Arctic have a clear impact on animals such as polar bears that rely on frozen surfaces for feeding, mating and migrating. But sea ice loss is changing Arctic habitat and affecting other species in more indirect ways, new research finds. Beluga whales that spend summers feeding in the Arctic are diving deeper and longer to find food than in earlier years, when sea ice covered more of the ocean for longer periods, according to…
Using a laser to wirelessly charge a smartphone safely across a room
Engineers at the University of Washington have for the first time developed a method to safely charge a smartphone wirelessly using a laser.
February 15, 2018
Five UW scientists awarded Sloan Fellowships for early-career research
Five faculty members at the University of Washington have been awarded early-career fellowships from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The new Sloan Fellows, announced Feb. 15, include Maya Cakmak, assistant professor of computer science and engineering; Jiun-Haw Chu, assistant professor of clean energy and physics; Arka Majumdar, assistant professor of electrical engineering and physics; Jessica Werk, assistant professor of astronomy; and Chelsea Wood, assistant professor of aquatic and fishery sciences.
February 14, 2018
Arts Roundup: Cole Porter’s Anything Goes, Jerusalem Quartet, and Feathers of Fire: A Persian Epic
This week in the arts, aboard the S.S. American with the Musical Theater Program’s “Anything Goes,” listen to the Jerusalem Quartet’s warm, full sound, and see a Persian epic portrayed on stage with music and shadow-puppetry.
February 13, 2018
‘Supply Chain’: New book of poems from UW’s Pimone Triplett
Pimone Triplett, UW associate professor of English and creative writing, has released “Supply Chain,” her fourth book of poems.
February 12, 2018
Tissue paper sensors show promise for health care, entertainment, robotics
University of Washington engineers have turned tissue paper – similar to toilet tissue – into a new kind of wearable sensor that can detect a pulse, a blink of an eye and other human movement.
Hybrid optics bring color imaging using ultrathin metalenses into focus
In a paper published Feb. 9 in Science Advances, scientists at the University of Washington announced that they have successfully combined two different imaging methods — a type of lens designed for nanoscale interaction with lightwaves, along with robust computational processing — to create full-color images.
February 9, 2018
Research uncovers the mysterious lives of narwhals
New findings could help scientists understand a little more about the elusive narwhal and how these marine mammals might fare in a changing climate.
February 8, 2018
Simple rules can help fishery managers cope with ecological complexity
A team of ecologists and economists is the first to test whether real-life ecological interactions produce economic benefits for the fishing industry. The results were published online Jan. 29 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
February 7, 2018
Arts Roundup: Dance Majors Concert, Modern Music Ensemble, Intersections Pre-Concert Lecture, and more
This week in the arts, experience modern dance from a fresh and youthful perspective, hear UW’s modern music ensemble and top auditioned choirs, listen to a pre-show lecture by UW Germanics professor, see British pianist Imogen Cooper perform her classical repertoire, and aboard the S.S. American with the Musical Theater program’s performance of “Anything Goes!”
Ice core shows North American ice sheet’s retreat affected Antarctic weather
A study from the University of Colorado Boulder and the University of Washington finds that the retreat of the ice sheet covering North America made Antarctic weather more similar from one year to the next.
Fruit bat’s echolocation may work like sophisticated surveillance sonar
High-speed recordings of Egyptian fruit bats in flight show that instead of using a primitive form of echolocation, these animals actually use a technique recently developed by humans for surveillance and navigation.
February 6, 2018
University of Washington, other leading research universities form international coalition to speed local climate action
The University of Washington joins 12 other leading North American research universities in the new University Climate Change Coalition, or UC3, a group committed to leveraging its research and resources to help communities accelerate climate action.
UW astronomer Woody Sullivan assists in renovation of Olympia’s Territorial Sundial
After six months of repair and restoration — assisted by UW astronomer and sundial expert Woody Sullivan — Olympia’s iconic Territorial Sundial is back in place.
February 5, 2018
UW atmospheric scientists flying through clouds above Antarctica’s Southern Ocean
UW atmospheric sciences faculty and graduate students are in Tasmania studying how clouds form over Antarctica’s Southern Ocean.
Watery worlds: UW astronomer Eric Agol assists in new findings of TRAPPIST-1 planetary system
A team of astronomers including Eric Agol of the University of Washington has found that the seven Earth-sized planets orbiting the star TRAPPIST-1 are all made mostly of rock, and some could even have more water — which can give life a chance — than Earth itself. The research was led by Simon Grimm of the University of Bern in Switzerland, and published Feb. 5 in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics. Agol is among about two dozen co-authors. The scientists…
February 1, 2018
Arts Roundup: 12 Ophelias (a play with broken songs), Music of Today, and Faculty Recital with Craig Sheppard
This week in the arts, discover a re-imaged world of Hamlet as part of the School of Drama’s mainstage season, listen to new music by emerging artists, and hear the chair of the UW piano program perform a fugal composition.
UW’s large research vessel, R/V Thomas G. Thompson, gets back to work
After an “extreme makeover” that went from stem to stern on five decks of the ship, the R/V Thomas G. Thompson is ready to get back to work exploring the world’s oceans. The University of Washington’s School of Oceanography, part of the College of the Environment, operates the 274-foot ship, which arrived on campus in 1991. In summer 2016, with funding from the U.S. Office of Naval Research, the National Science Foundation and the UW, the vessel headed to a…
January 31, 2018
University of Washington, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory team up to make the materials of tomorrow
The Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the University of Washington announced the creation of the Northwest Institute for Materials Physics, Chemistry and Technology — or NW IMPACT — a joint research endeavor to power discoveries and advancements in materials that transform energy, telecommunications, medicine, information technology and other fields.
Reconstructing an ancient lethal weapon
Archaeologists are a little like forensic investigators: They scour the remains of past societies, looking for clues in pottery, tools and bones about how people lived, and how they died. And just as detectives might re-create the scene of a crime, University of Washington archaeologists have re-created the weapons used by hunter-gatherers in the post-Ice Age Arctic some 14,000 years ago. Looking for clues as to how those early people advanced their own technology, researchers also considered what…
January 30, 2018
Official notice: Action on UW Bothell/Cascadia College Campus Master Plan
Notice is given under SEPA, RCW 43.21C.080, that the University of Washington Board of Regents, to the action described below on Jan. 11, 2018. Any action to set aside, enjoin, review or otherwise challenge such action on the grounds of noncompliance with the provisions of Chapter 43.21C RCW (State Environmental Policy Act) shall be commenced on or before Feb. 13, 2018. Description of agency action: Approval by the Board of Regents of the 2017 UW Bothell and Cascadia College Campus…
Depression, anxiety affect more than one-fourth of state’s college students
Nearly one-third of Washington college students have experienced depression in the last year, and more than 10 percent have had thoughts of suicide, according to a new survey of young adults attending schools around the state. The survey of more than 10,000 students at 13 of Washington’s two- and four-year institutions shows the need for mental health services on campus, advocates say, especially as the state Legislature considers two bills that would fund suicide-prevention resources in higher education and…
January 26, 2018
School of Music’s Laila Storch republishes biography of renowned oboist, teacher Marcel Tabuteau
A biography of world-renowned oboe performer and teacher Marcel Tabuteau by the UW School of Music’s Laila Storch has been republished in paperback by Indiana University Press.
January 25, 2018
Dan Berger discusses excesses of incarceration in new book ‘Rethinking the American Prison Movement’
Dan Berger, associate professor in the UW Bothell School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, discusses his new book, “Rethinking the American Prison Movement.”
If you swat mosquitoes, they may learn to avoid your scent
In a published Jan. 25 in Current Biology, University of Washington researchers report that mosquitoes can learn to associate a particular odor with an unpleasant mechanical shock akin to being swatted. As a result, they’ll avoid that scent the next time.
January 24, 2018
Arts Roundup: Watch performances by Garrick Ohlsson, Danish String Quartet, 12 Ophelias, Jazz Innovations, and revisit memories through craft sculptures at ArtVenture
This week in the arts, revisit important memories through craft sculptures, see a re-imagined and contemporized Hamlet, hear a collection of Nordic folk music or student ensembles playing original progressive jazz compositions, and listen to a Seattle favorite return to Meany, bringing piano masterworks to life.
A new ‘atmospheric disequilibrium’ could help detect life on other planets
A University of Washington study has found a simple approach to look for life that might be more promising than just looking for oxygen.
#MemoriesInDNA Project wants to store your photos in DNA for the benefit of science – and future generations
Researchers from the Molecular Information Systems Lab at the University of Washington and Microsoft are looking to collect 10,000 original images from around the world to preserve them indefinitely in synthetic DNA manufactured by Twist Bioscience. DNA holds promise as a revolutionary storage medium that lasts much longer and is many orders of magnitude denser than current technologies.
January 22, 2018
Lab-made hormone may reveal secret lives of plants
By developing a synthetic version of the plant hormone auxin and an engineered receptor to recognize it, University of Washington biology professor Keiko Torii and her colleagues are poised to uncover plants’ inner workings, raising the possibility of a new way to ripen fruits such as strawberries and tomatoes.
Small hydroelectric dams increase globally with little research, regulations
University of Washington researchers have published the first major assessment of small hydropower dams around the world — including their potential for growth — and highlight the incredibly variability in how dams of varying sizes are categorized, regulated and studied.
January 19, 2018
University Faculty Lecture to highlight screening newborns for genetic diseases
For this year’s University Faculty Lecture, University of Washington chemistry professor Michael Gelb will discuss the science behind screening newborns for treatable — but rare — genetic diseases.
UW, TheDream.US announce new scholarship partnership to benefit undocumented students
The University of Washington and TheDream.US announced a new partnership this week that will provide scholarships to qualified undocumented students who graduate from two-year colleges and transfer to the UW.
January 18, 2018
Temporary ‘bathtub drains’ in the ocean concentrate flotsam
An experiment using hundreds of plastic drifters in the Gulf of Mexico shows that rather than simply spread out, as current calculations would predict, many of them clumped together in a tight cluster.
Q&A: Forgotten fish illustrator remembered through first publication
More than three centuries ago, a French monk made thousands of drawings of plants and animals, traveling under the authority of King Louis XIV to the French Antilles to collect and document the natural history of the islands. These drawings were often the first ever recorded for each species and were completed in remarkable detail. The illustrations were nearly lost forever during the tumultuous French Revolution, and the volumes compiled by Father Charles Plumier were discovered by chance, found serving…
How the Elwha dam removals changed the river’s mouth
A new study in the Journal PLOS ONE details what removing the two dams on the Elwha River meant for the nearshore marine ecosystem.
Civil War-era U.S. Navy ships’ logs to be explored for climate data, maritime history
A new grant will let a University of Washington-based project add a new fleet to its quest to learn more about past climate from the records of long-gone mariners. The UW is among the winners of the 2017 “Digitizing Hidden Special Collections and Archives” awards, announced Jan. 4 by the Washington, D.C.-based Council on Library and Information Resources. The new $482,018 grant to the UW, the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration and the National Archives Foundation will support “Seas…
January 17, 2018
Arts Roundup: Performances by Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, UW Symphony, Scholarship Chamber Group and more
This week in the arts, watch dancers tell a story of resilience in their final performance of an exciting trilogy, become enchanted by the UW Symphony at Benaroya Hall, and see undergraduate students perform challenging works from the piano and strings repertoire.
Scale-eating fish adopt clever parasitic methods to survive
A small group of fishes — possibly the world’s cleverest carnivorous grazers — feeds on the scales of other fish in the tropics. A team led by biologists at the University of Washington’s Friday Harbor Laboratories is trying to understand these scale-feeding fish and how this odd diet influences their body evolution and behavior.