UW News

The latest news from the UW


September 4, 2015

September launch could give UW team rare measurements of ‘dusty plasmas’

Researchers from the University of Washington are awaiting the launch an over 50-foot-long rocket from a launch site in Norway into the upper reaches of the atmosphere to observe and measure a puzzling phenomenon.

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Poplar trees are best bet for biofuel in UW-led research project

A five-year, $40 million study is laying the foundation for a Pacific Northwest industry that converts sustainably produced poplar feedstock into fuels and chemicals. The research, led by the University of Washington, will seed the world’s first wood-based cellulosic ethanol production facility.

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Climate change could leave Pacific Northwest amphibians high and dry

A new model for snow-fed mountain wetlands projects that the extremely dry conditions seen this year could be commonplace by the 2070s, affecting mountain species.

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Grant will help Native American undergraduates attend first scientific meeting

Two professors from the University of Washington and Oklahoma State University have been awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation to bring six Native American undergraduate students to their first scientific meeting. The students will attend the Jan. 2016 annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology in Portland, Oregon. Known commonly…

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September 3, 2015

Earth observations show how nitrogen may be detected on exoplanets, aiding search for life

Observations of nitrogen in Earth’s atmosphere by a NASA spacecraft 17 million miles away are giving astronomers fresh clues to how that gas might reveal itself on faraway planets, thus aiding in the search for life.

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September 1, 2015

UW professor Marsha Linehan to receive National Alliance on Mental Health award

University of Washington psychology professor Marsha Linehan has been chosen to receive the 2015 Scientific Research Award from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). The award, given annually since 2005, honors excellence in research for mental illnesses. Linehan, who is also an adjunct professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the UW, is the…

August 31, 2015

UW students put data science skills to use for social good

They could easily spend their days poring over statistical methods for a genetic study or sorting through data about consumer behavior on the other side of the globe. But this summer, data scientists at the University of Washington’s eScience Institute took a break from their typical work helping researchers and professors to incorporate cutting-edge technologies…

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August 27, 2015

Evans School’s Justin Marlowe pens second installment of guide to public finance

Government finance is a bit like Italian opera, writes Justin Marlowe, professor in the Evans School of Public Policy & Governance: It’s beautiful and elaborate, sure — but it’s also in a foreign language full of “traditions, customs and unspoken rules most casual fans don’t understand.” And though local, county and state government officials don’t…

August 26, 2015

Lab experiments question popular measure of ancient ocean temperatures

The membranes of sediment-entombed archaea are an increasingly popular way to determine ocean surface temperatures back to the age of the dinosaurs. But new results show that changing oxygen can affect the reading by as much as 21 degrees C.

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New Bering Sea climate change project focuses on fish, management strategies

As a subarctic, seasonally ice-filled ocean that produces about 40 percent of the nation’s annual fish catch, the Bering Sea is of particular interest to researchers as the climate changes and forces wildlife and fishing practices to adapt. The UW is a partner in a new effort to understand how changes to the Bering Sea’s…

August 25, 2015

UW among Campus Pride’s Top 25 LGBTQ-friendly colleges and universities

The University of Washington is among the 2015 Campus Pride Top 25 LGBTQ-Friendly Colleges & Universities list released Monday. For seven years, the list has highlighted the most LGBTQ-inclusive colleges and universities around the country. But this is the first year Campus Pride has released a Top 25 list based on new higher LGBTQ benchmarks…

Study: Mixed-race couples with black partners more likely to live in poor neighborhoods

Though the number of mixed-race couples in the United States has nearly quadrupled since 1980, relatively little research has been done about where those couples live — and specifically, the level of poverty within their neighborhoods. That dearth of data prompted Ryan Gabriel, a doctoral student in sociology at the University of Washington, to look…

Rare nautilus sighted for the first time in three decades

In early August, biologist Peter Ward returned from the South Pacific with news that he encountered an old friend, one he hadn’t seen in over three decades. The University of Washington professor had seen what he considers one of the world’s rarest animals, a remote encounter that may become even more infrequent if illegal fishing…

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August 24, 2015

UW remains No. 7 in Washington Monthly ranking; named ‘best bang for the buck’ among universities in the west

For the second consecutive year, the University of Washington held the No. 7 spot in the nation in Washington Monthly’s annual College Guide, which rates universities on students’ social mobility, civic engagement and research. Washington Monthly also rates colleges that are doing the best job of helping lower-income students attain marketable degrees at affordable prices,…

To get girls more interested in computer science, make classrooms less ‘geeky’

Women lag behind men in the lucrative computer science and technology industries, and one of the possible contributors to this disparity is that they’re less likely to enroll in introductory computer science courses. A new study of 270 high school students shows that three times as many girls were interested in enrolling in a computer…

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Power lines restrict sage grouse movement in Washington

Transmission lines that funnel power from hydroelectric dams and wind turbines across Eastern Washington affect greater sage grouse habitat by isolating fragile populations and limiting movement, a new study finds.

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Blacks hit hardest by public-sector job losses during recession, study finds

The public sector has long served as an equalizer in American society, a place where minority workers could find stable employment that offered advancement and a reliable path to a middle-class life. But the Great Recession wiped out many of those jobs, as tax revenues declined and anti-government sentiment added to a contraction that continued…

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August 20, 2015

Hunger drives unethical acts, but only in the quest for food

Ever been so hungry that you can’t think of anything but finding food? Research from the UW Foster School of Business finds that the single-mindedness that results from hunger makes people more likely to commit unethical acts to satisfy that hunger — but less likely to lie, cheat or steal for reasons that don’t address the immediate physiological need.

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Notice of possible rule making preproposal statement of inquiry

Subject of Possible Rule Making: Chapter 478-168 WAC, Admission and Registration Procedures for the University of Washington Statutes Authorizing the University to Adopt Rules on This Subject: RCW 28B.20.130. Reasons Why Rules on This Subject May Be Needed and What They Might Accomplish: Chapter 478-160 WAC needs a complete review to bring the chapter up…

Maltreated children’s brains show ‘encouraging’ ability to regulate emotions

Children who have been abused or exposed to other types of trauma typically experience more intense emotions than their peers, a byproduct of living in volatile, dangerous environments. But what if those kids could regulate their emotions? Could that better help them cope with difficult situations? Would it impact how effective therapy might be for…

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Crime writer Ann Rule to be remembered in public Kane Hall gathering Aug. 23

A public celebration of the life of writer Ann Rule will be held at 5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 23, in Room 130 of Kane Hall on the University of Washington campus. The gathering, under the title “Ann Rule, Our Tribute to a Life Well Lived,” will feature friends and colleagues remembering the writer’s life and…

August 19, 2015

UW political scientist Megan Francis looks at philanthropy and racial inequality

Protecting African-Americans from state-sanctioned violence remains “an unmet challenge for civil rights groups committed to racial equality,” writes Megan Ming Francis, UW assistant professor of political science, in a much-read post at HistPhil, a blog launched in June to cover the history of philanthropy. Why is preventing racial violence not a higher priority? In part…

August 18, 2015

Thanks and pass the candy: Feelings of gratitude increase the consumption of sweets

Gratitude is universally considered a social good, but gratitude can have a dark side. It can impel us to eat more sweets, according to new research by Ann Schlosser, professor of marketing at the UW Foster School of Business.

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August 17, 2015

UW holds steady at No. 15 in world university ranking

The University of Washington remained No. 15 on the 2015 Academic Ranking of World Universities, conducted by researchers at the Center for World-Class Universities of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, which was released Monday. The UW again ranked 13th among U.S. universities and fourth among public institutions worldwide. The ranking considers several indicators of academic or research…

Washington state housing market stays strong in second quarter of 2015

Washington state’s housing market remained strong in the second quarter of 2015 with home sale prices, home sales and new building permits up compared to one year ago, according to the UW’s Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies.

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UW researchers model tsunami hazards on the Northwest coast

Recent press and social media coverage have reminded residents of the Pacific Northwest that they live in a seismically active region. Stretching offshore from northern California to British Columbia, the Cascadia subduction zone could slip at any time, causing a powerful earthquake and triggering a tsunami that would impact communities along the coast. Scientists from…

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UW historian William Rorabaugh explores ’60s counterculture in ‘American Hippies’

William Rorabaugh, UW professor of history, looks at the flower power culture of the 1960s in his latest book, “American Hippies.”

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August 13, 2015

Documents that Changed the World: Charles Richter’s seismic scale, 1935

A scale of simple numbers — the Richter Scale — unnerves us when we think about earthquakes, as Pacific Northwest residents have been prone to do lately. But who was Richter, and how did it all come about? Joe Janes takes a look for an installment of his Documents that Changed the World podcast series.

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‘Scarface,’ an ancient cousin to mammals, unearthed in Africa

A team of scientists has identified a new species of “pre-mammal” based on fossils unearthed in Zambia’s Luangwa Basin in 2009. The ancient, Dachshund-sized creature lived some 255 million years ago, in a time just before the largest mass extinction in Earth’s history. Its discoverers include Christian Sidor, professor of biology at the University of…

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Lessons from Australia: Understanding public support for carbon pricing

A new study finds that acceptance of a policy is an important process through which people’s beliefs and economic ideologies influence their support for putting a price on carbon emissions, but general acceptance doesn’t always lead to support. A University of Washington researcher led a study looking at views towards a carbon pricing policy before…

From protein design to self-driving cars: UW researchers win AI prize for new optimization approach

UW machine learning researchers have developed a new approach to optimization – a key step in predicting everything from election results to how proteins will fold – that won a top paper prize at the world’s largest artificial intelligence conference.

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August 12, 2015

CO2 emissions change with size of streams and rivers

Researchers have shown that CO2 appears in streams by way of two different sources — either as a direct pipeline for groundwater and carbon-rich soils, or from aquatic organisms releasing the gas through respiration and natural decay.

August 11, 2015

Behaviors linked to adult crime differ in abused girls and boys, study finds

The signs that an abused child might later commit crimes might not be obvious — that boisterous playground behavior from a third-grade boy, for example, or the 10-year-old girl who seems a little anxious or withdrawn. But new research from the University of Washington suggests that troubling behaviors exhibited by abused children can be predictors…

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August 7, 2015

UW scientists explore recently erupted deep-sea volcano (with video)

When University of Washington oceanographers visited the deep-ocean Axial Volcano in late July, parts of the seafloor were still warm. The team knew to expect changes in the mile-deep volcano 300 miles off the Oregon coast. This spring, seafloor seismometers connected to shore by a new Internet cable showed that Axial Volcano, a 3,600-foot-tall underwater…

Washington state climatologist provides weekly drought updates

This year’s pathetic snow season wasn’t just a problem for skiers. Now that it’s summer, salmon are struggling because there’s not enough snowmelt to feed streams, and water managers are worried by lack of snowpack or summer rains to feed water supplies until the fall. When Gov. Jay Inslee first declared a drought in April,…

Information School’s Michelle Carter explores our ‘IT identities’

Oh no — you’ve lost your smartphone. Anxiety spikes as you check pockets and bags. But wait — there it is and your worries vanish. All is well, and you feel yourself again, whole again. What’s up with that? Michelle Carter, an assistant professor in the University of Washington Information School, has studied and given…

August 6, 2015

Abusive men put female partners at greater sexual risk, study finds

Abusive and controlling men are more likely to put their female partners at sexual risk, and the level of that risk escalates along with the abusive behavior, a UW study found. Published in the Journal of Sex Research in July, the study looked at patterns of risky sexual behavior among heterosexual men aged 18 to…

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August 5, 2015

How makerspaces can be accessible to people with disabilities

UW researchers have released new guidelines to make MakerSpaces more accessible to people with disabilities, as more communal spaces with soldering irons, 3-D printers, sewing machines and other “making” tools pop up on campuses and neighborhoods nationwide.

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August 4, 2015

UW workshop to explore Big Data solutions for science

At a University of Washington workshop this week, a hundred graduate students from around the country will explore a question that everyone is asking these days: What can data science do for me? To land an invite to the Data Science 2015 workshop on Aug 5 – 7, they were asked to identify a single…

‘How We Spent It’: UW infographic designs get attention from Seattle Police Department

When UW design professor Karen Cheng collaborated with students to create an infographic from publicly available City of Seattle data and published it in a local design magazine, the result was so good they were invited to present their work to the Seattle Police Department. Cheng, professor in the School of Art + Art History…

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