UW News
The latest news from the UW
January 25, 2017
‘Protective’ DNA strands are shorter in adults who had more infections as infants
New research indicates that people who had more infections as babies harbor a key marker of cellular aging as young adults: the protective stretches of DNA which “cap” the ends of their chromosomes are shorter than in adults who were healthier as infants.
Tag(s): College of Arts & Sciences • Dan Eisenberg • Department of Anthropology • genetics & DNA
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation boosts vital work of the UW’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) announced today the foundation’s commitment to invest $279 million in IHME to expand its work over the next decade.
January 24, 2017
Prized fossil find — the oldest, most complete iguanian in the Americas — illuminates the lives of lizards in the Age of Dinosaurs
Paleontologists picking through a bounty of fossils from Montana have discovered something unexpected — a new species of lizard from the late dinosaur era, whose closest relatives roamed in faraway Asia.
Tag(s): Burke Museum of Natural History & Culture • College of Arts & Sciences • David DeMar • Department of Biology • dinosaurs • evolution • Gregory Wilson Mantilla • paleontology
Predator or not? Invasive snails hide even when they don’t know
The specific cues that trigger an animal’s natural defense vary depending on the species and its history in the ecosystem, a new University of Washington study finds.
Tag(s): College of Arts & Sciences • College of Engineering • Department of Biology • Emily Grason • Washington Sea GrantJanuary 20, 2017
Statement from UW President Ana Mari Cauce on shooting incident during protest in Red Square
A statement from University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce following an incident in which a man suffered a gunshot wound in the abdomen during a large protest in Red Square
January 18, 2017
Arts Roundup: Maple and Vine, a dance faculty concert, and Russian music of the 1960s
This week in the arts, take a trip in time with Maple and Vine, view choreography by nationally and internationally recognized faculty, and hear collaborative musical works at Meany Hall. Maple and Vine January 17 through January 22 | Jones Playhouse Written by Jordan Harrison and directed by Sean Ryan, this darkly funny and provocative investigation of…
Tag(s): Department of Dance • Meany Center for the Performing Arts • Meany Hall for the Performing Arts • School of Music • UW Drama
Listen to the Earth smash another global temperature record
The year 2016 was officially the hottest in recent history, beating previous records in 2014 and 2015. UW scientists let you hear the data speak for itself.
Tag(s): climate change • College of the Environment • Dargan Frierson • Department of Atmospheric Sciences
Climate change prompts Alaska fish to change breeding behavior
A new University of Washington study finds that one of Alaska’s most abundant freshwater fish species is altering its breeding patterns in response to climate change, which could impact the ecology of northern lakes that already acutely feel the effects of a changing climate.
Tag(s): College of the Environment • Daniel Schindler • Rachel Hovel • School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences
Vitamin B-12, and a knockoff version, create complex market for marine vitamins
Vitamin B-12 exists in two different, incompatible forms in the oceans. An organism thought to supply the essential vitamin B-12 in the marine environment is actually churning out a knockoff version.
Tag(s): Anitra Ingalls • College of the Environment • marine microbiology • oceanography • School of OceanographyJanuary 17, 2017
Conditions right for complex life may have come and gone in Earth’s distant past
Conditions suitable to support complex life may have developed in Earth’s oceans — and then faded — more than a billion years before life truly took hold, a new University of Washington-led study has found.
Tag(s): Astrobiology Program • College of the Environment • Department of Earth and Space Sciences • Roger Buick
Three unique pieces comprise 2017 Dance Faculty Concert Jan. 20-22
The UW Dance Program will team with the “vertical dance company” BANDALOOP for part of its annual Dance Faculty Concert, to be held Jan. 20 – 22 in Meany Hall.
Tag(s): Bruce McCormick • Dance Faculty Concert • Department of Dance • Jennifer Salk • Rachael Lincoln
Diversification key to resilient fishing communities
Fishing communities can survive ― and even thrive ― as fish abundance and market prices shift if they can catch a variety of species and nimbly move from one fishery to the next, a new University of Washington study finds.
Tag(s): College of the Environment • Daniel Schindler • Ray Hilborn • School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences
When it comes to mating, fruit flies can make rational choices
In a paper published Jan. 17 in the journal Nature Communications, researchers report that fruit flies — perhaps the most widely studied insect in history — show signs of rational decision-making when choosing a mate.
Tag(s): College of Arts & Sciences • Daniel Promislow • Department of Biology • Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology • genetics & DNA • School of MedicineJanuary 12, 2017
UW law professor leads group defending ‘aural tradition’ of creativity in famous ‘Blurred Lines’ copyright case
UW School of Law professor Sean O’Connor has filed a brief in the famous “Blurred Lines” music copyright case, arguing for full composition credit for those who worked in the “aural tradition” and did not use traditional musical notation.
Tag(s): Blurred Lines • School of Law • Sean O'Conn
Big data to help homelessness: Topic of UW, City of Seattle event Jan. 17
Using big data to address human services ― including health, foster care and the challenges of homelessness ― will be the focus of a workshop next week at Seattle City Hall hosted by the University of Washington and City of Seattle along with MetroLab Network, a recent White House initiative to improve cities through university-city partnerships.
Tag(s): eScience Institute • Urban@UW
Ocean acidification to hit West Coast Dungeness crab fishery, new assessment shows
The acidification of the ocean expected as seawater absorbs increasing amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere will reverberate through the West Coast’s marine food web, but not necessarily in the ways you might expect, new research shows.
Tag(s): College of the Environment • School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences • Tim Essington
LATTICE connects women engineers in early academic careers with peers, support
A new national program at the UW — LATTICE — aims to diversify the national engineering faculty population by building supportive communities during the critical transition from graduate studies to permanent tenure-track positions.
Tag(s): ADVANCE Center for Institutional Change • College of Engineering • Eve RiskinJanuary 11, 2017
Arts Roundup: UW Tower exhibits, a lecture-recital, and a Littlefield Organ performance
This week, two new exhibits featuring local artists are on display in the UW Tower through March, a lecture-recital at Brechemin Auditorium, and a UW vocal performance highlighting scenes from Mozart’s operas. UW Tower Exhibit: Don Silverstein January through March 2017 | UW Tower The illustrative work and abstract paintings of prolific artist Donald Silverstein will be on display…
Tag(s): Meany Center for the Performing Arts • School of Music
UW oceanographer dropping robotic floats on voyage to Antarctica
Autonomous floating sensors built at the UW are being deployed to track conditions in the waters surrounding Antarctica.
Tag(s): College of the Environment • oceanography • polar science • School of Oceanography • Stephen RiserJanuary 10, 2017
Two UW professors win Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers
Two University of Washington professors have received the 2017 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor given by the U.S. government to early career scientists and engineers.
Tag(s): Catherine Karr • College of Arts & Sciences • College of Engineering • Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences • Department of Pediatrics • Department of Statistics • Emily Fox • Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering • School of Medicine • School of Public Health
Rapid Arctic warming has in the past shifted Southern Ocean winds
Ice core records from the two poles show that during the last ice age, sharp spikes in Arctic temperatures triggered shifts in the winds around Antarctica.
Tag(s): climate • College of the Environment • Department of Earth and Space Sciences • Eric Steig • polar science
Zillow Group pledges $5 million for new UW Computer Science & Engineering building
Zillow Group, the Seattle-based company that houses real estate and home-related brands on mobile and web, has committed $5 million toward the development of a second Computer Science & Engineering (CSE) building on the UW Seattle campus.
Tag(s): College of Engineering • Ed Lazowska • Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & EngineeringJanuary 5, 2017
UW President Ana Mari Cauce on board first West Coast commercial flight to Havana
UW President Ana Mari Cauce, the first Cuban-born president of a major American university, was on board the first West Coast commercial flight to Havana on Thursday. Cauce left Cuba with her family when she was 3 years old. “I’m thrilled at this new spirit of openness and the opportunity for us to build greater ties…
Tag(s): Ana Mari Cauce
Arctic sea ice loss impacts beluga whale migration
A new study led by the University of Washington finds the annual migration of some beluga whales in Alaska is altered by sea ice changes in the Arctic, while other belugas do not appear to be affected.
Tag(s): Applied Physics Laboratory • College of the Environment • Donna Hauser • Harry Stern • Kate Stafford • Kristin Laidre • Polar Science Center • School of Aquatic and Fishery SciencesJanuary 4, 2017
Arts Roundup: ArtVenture, JACK Quartet, and Louis Lortie
This week, bring the whole family for an ArtVenture at Henry Art Gallery to discover how Paul McCarthy transformed small objects into giant sculptures, or catch performances from JACK Quartet and pianist Louis Lortie. ArtVenture: Toy Transformation! With Michelle Hagewood 1 p.m., January 8 | Henry Art Gallery How do toys reflect who we are? Bring a…
Tag(s): Henry Art Gallery • Meany Center for the Performing Arts
Eelgrass in Puget Sound is stable overall, but some local beaches suffering
Eelgrass, a marine plant crucial to the success of migrating juvenile salmon and spawning Pacific herring, is stable and flourishing in Puget Sound, despite a doubling of the region’s human population and significant shoreline development over the past several decades.
Tag(s): College of the Environment • Phil Levin • Puget Sound Institute • Tessa Francis • UW TacomaJanuary 3, 2017
Songbirds divorce, flee, fail to reproduce due to suburban sprawl
New research finds that for some songbirds, urban sprawl is kicking them out of their territory, forcing divorce and stunting their ability to find new mates and reproduce successfully, even after relocating.
Tag(s): College of the Environment • John Marzluff • School of Environmental and Forest Sciences
University of Washington-led study shows new global evidence of the role of humans, urbanization in rapid evolution
A new multi-institution study led by the UW shows more clearly than ever that urbanization is affecting the genetic makeup of species that are crucial to ecosystem health and success.
Tag(s): College of Built Environments • Department of Urban Design and Planning • John Marzluff • Marina Alberti • School of Environmental and Forest Sciences • Urban Ecology Research Lab • Victoria HuntDecember 27, 2016
Year in review: 2016 news from the University of Washington
The research happening here at the University of Washington — across all three campuses — is exceptional and selecting only a handful of stories to feature from the hundreds, if not thousands, that came out this year is a monumental task. Using UW Today’s page view data, social media reach and news coverage, we have narrowed it down to these highlights showcasing the impact and ambition of the UW’s work regionally and around the world — listed here in chronological order.
Tag(s): Year in reviewDecember 22, 2016
New UW law course focuses on presidential power in the Trump era
Donald Trump’s promises on the campaign trail have generated confusion and consternation around the country, as many wonder not only what the president-elect actually intends to do, but what is within his power to accomplish. Will Trump follow through on his threat to deport millions of undocumented immigrants? Could he pull the U.S. out of…
Tag(s): Donald Trump • Kathryn Watts • Sanne Knudsen • School of LawDecember 21, 2016
Documents that Changed the World: Sir Ronald Fisher defines ‘statistical significance,’ 1925
Joe Janes’ latest Documents that Changed the World podcast is about Sir Ronald Fisher, the man who set the mark of “statistical significance” for ages afterward at 5 percent, no more no less.
Tag(s): Documents that Changed the World • Information School • Joe Janes
Study: Children can ‘catch’ social bias through nonverbal signals expressed by adults
Most conscientious adults tend to avoid making biased or discriminatory comments in the presence of children. But new research from the University of Washington suggests that preschool-aged children can learn bias even through nonverbal signals displayed by adults, such as a condescending tone of voice or a disapproving look. Published Dec. 21 in the journal…
Tag(s): Allison Skinner • Andrew Meltzoff • bias & discrimination • I-LABS • Kristina OlsonDecember 20, 2016
Researchers model how ‘publication bias’ does — and doesn’t — affect the ‘canonization’ of facts in science
In an article published Dec. 20 in the journal eLife, researchers present a mathematical model that explores whether “publication bias” — the tendency of journals to publish mostly positive experimental results — influences how scientists canonize facts. Their results offer a warning that sharing positive results comes with the risk that a false claim could be canonized as fact. But their findings also offer hope by suggesting that simple changes to publication practices can minimize the risk of false canonization.
Tag(s): Carl Bergstrom • College of Arts & Sciences • Department of BiologyDecember 19, 2016
UW researcher pursues synthetic ‘scaffolds’ for muscle regeneration
Miqin Zhang, a professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Washington, is looking for ways to help the body heal itself when injury, disease or surgery cause large-scale damage to one type of tissue in particular: skeletal muscle. Her goal is to create a synthetic, porous, biologically compatible “scaffold” that mimics the normal extracellular environment of skeletal muscle — onto which human cells could migrate and grow new replacement fibers.
Tag(s): College of Engineering • Department of Materials Science & Engineering • Miqin Zhang • Q&A
Investing in fisheries management improves fish populations
Research published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that successful fisheries management can be best achieved by implementing and enforcing science-based catch or effort limits.
Tag(s): College of the Environment • Michael Melnychuk • Ray Hilborn • School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences
$5 million will expand UW-developed technology to help West Coast children and families
Technology developed at the University of Washington to improve service delivery in child welfare, foster care and homeless youth systems will soon be expanded to other states through $5 million in new funding. The grant will allow Oliver — a social service management solution developed by Partners for Our Children, an organization in the UW…
Tag(s): Partners for Our Children • School of Social WorkDecember 16, 2016
What makes influential science? Telling a good story
Researchers from the University of Washington have found that scientific papers written in a more narrative style were more influential among peer-reviewed studies in the climate change literature. Their results were published Dec. 15 in the journal PLOS ONE.
Tag(s): College of the Environment • Ryan Kelly • School of Marine and Environmental Affairs • Terrie KlingerDecember 15, 2016
Underwater volcano’s eruption captured in exquisite detail by seafloor observatory
The cracking, bulging and shaking from the eruption of a mile-high volcano where two tectonic plates separate has been captured in more detail than ever before. A University of Washington study published this week shows how the volcano behaved during its spring 2015 eruption, revealing new clues about the behavior of volcanoes where two ocean…
Tag(s): College of the Environment • earthquakes & seismology • Ocean Observatories Initiative • oceanography • School of Oceanography • William WilcockDecember 14, 2016
In Stockholm ceremony, UW professor emeritus David Thouless receives Nobel Physics Prize
On Dec. 10 in Stockholm, David James Thouless, University of Washington professor emeritus of physics, received the Nobel Prize in Physics from King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.
Tag(s): awards • College of Arts & Sciences • David Thouless • Department of Physics
Dozens of projects aimed at efficiency are on track as part of the Transforming Administration Program
Provost Jerry Baldasty kicked off the Transforming Administration Program in Spring 2015 with a key goal of creating one administration, one university with an enhanced culture of service ultimately serving faculty and staff to achieve the University of Washington’s teaching, research and service missions. The program aims to make administrative departments more efficient and effective, and eliminate silos.
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