October 14, 2014
Psychological studies of children who began life in Romanian orphanages shows that institutionalization is linked to physical changes in brain structure. The thinning of the cortex leaves a lasting legacy that can explain impulsivity and inattention years later.
Sometimes a document can be devastating — can ruin lives and change history — even if it doesn’t really exist.
October 13, 2014
The workload and time crunch were comparable to pulling two all-nighters, but you wouldn’t guess that from the energy in the room. Fifteen students, all wearing matching grey t-shirts, buzzed around the Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering Monday morning (Oct. 13), clearly excited to show off their designs. They had just finished a 36-hour weekend hackathon, a first for the National Science Foundation-funded center headquartered at the University of Washington. Their mission was to work as teams of three to…
The new Pronto Cycle Share system launched Monday around the U-District, downtown, South Lake Union and Capitol Hill. Pronto is Seattle’s cycle-sharing system featuring 500 bikes at 50 stations, with bikes available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Check out the station map to see all the Seattle locations. Campus stations are at the IMA, the Engineering Library, Meany Hall, Condon Hall, McCarty Hall, the Burke Museum and the Medical Center. Each station has a touchscreen kiosk, station map, helmets, and…
Frances McCue discusses “Mary Randlett Portraits,” a new book from University of Washington Press she created with the well-known Northwest photographer.
A campus landscape framework – meant as a starting point for planning how the UW’s outdoor environment might look in 10, 20, even 50 years – will be unveiled in draft form Oct. 20 as part of a regional symposium on campus landscape planning and design.
Michael Honey, professor of interdisciplinary arts and sciences at UW Tacoma, has written books about Martin Luther King — now he is blogging about King as well. His writings can be found on the Beacon Broadside, a blog written by authors with Beacon Press, an independent publisher of serious nonfiction founded in 1854. Honey said Beacon asked him to blog about how he got involved with King and the role of the Unitarian Church in civil rights work in the…
October 10, 2014
A group of University of Washington engineering students are winners of the 2014 Ford College Community Challenge, a competition that awards $25,000 per team to student-led groups at 10 universities to fund projects that help build sustainable communities. The UW team’s project is StopInfo, which integrates with the OneBusAway app and provides specific information on location, safety features and stop closures for each bus stop in King County. OneBusAway was developed at the UW and uses real-time data to track when…
The UW Combined Fund Drive raised more than $2 million last year for 1,788 nonprofits. This year’s effort kicks off with a charity fair and silent auction on Thursday from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
The University of Washington’s College of Engineering 2014 fall lecture series will feature faculty researchers in engineering and medicine who are improving cardiac medical care with new technologies.
Better integration of citizen science into professional science is a growing consideration at the UW and elsewhere.
October 9, 2014
Measuring universities on their scientific research productivity, impact and excellence, National Taiwan University named the University of Washington fifth best in the world, and the top public institution in the United States, in its 2014 Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for World Universities released Thursday. The NTU Ranking is based on the production and impact of universities’ scientific papers, intended to objectively measure their contributions in the advancement of scientific innovation. “This is yet another international ranking that places the…
It’s impossible not to make this awkward, but here’s our best shot: Welcome to the new UW Today blog. For years, UW Today in various incarnations has provided the news of the University of Washington – from groundbreaking scientific research and awe-inspiring student projects, to ranking updates, awards and roundups of arts events that can be found on campus. So, why start a blog now? To put it simply: Because there’s just too much good stuff happening at the UW…
Tiny animals migrating from the ocean’s surface to the sunless depths helps shape our oceans. During the daylight hours below the surface the animals release ammonia, the equivalent of our urine, that plays a significant role in marine chemistry, particularly in low-oxygen zones.
October 8, 2014
Fall is a busy time for the arts on campus, with a dizzying array of performances and exhibitions to take advantage of.
The University of Washington’s Jackson School of International Studies has received funding from the U.S. Department of Education for all eight of its Title VI centers — with grants of more than $16 million to be awarded over four years.
The UW Chamber Dance Company presents restaging of well-known dances by choreographers Nacho Duato, Susan Marshall, Danial Shapiro and Joanie Smith in “On the Edge,” Oct. 9-12 in Meany Hall.
University of Washington engineers have designed a concept for a fusion reactor that, when scaled up to the size of a large electrical power plant, would rival costs for a new coal-fired plant with similar electrical output.
October 7, 2014
UW researchers have found that children as young as 15 months can detect anger in other people’s social interactions and then modify their own behavior.
October 3, 2014
SPOKANE, Wash. – Leadership at the University of Washington and Washington State University today announced they have reached an agreement that will mutually dissolve their WWAMI partnership and provide a pathway to pursue separate solutions to address the state’s medical education needs and physician shortage. In order to provide the greatest benefit to the state and to meet the significant demand for more physicians, leaders from both universities agree that UW and WSU will independently pursue their respective proposals to…
The Board of Regents will hold meetings Thursday, Oct. 9, in the UW Tower Board Room, 22nd floor. The full schedule and agendas are available online.
Using evolutionary biology is one way to try to outwit evolution where it is happening too quickly and to perhaps find accommodations when evolution occurs too slowly.
October 2, 2014
Resat Kasaba, director of the Henry M. Jackson School director, discusses goals and mission of the school’s new International Policy Institute.
Jeffrey Heer, a University of Washington associate professor of computer science and engineering, has received an award from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to develop new theories, tools and techniques for data visualization that help scientists see and understand big data.
October 1, 2014
Compiled by the Office of News and Information.
Fall quarter has started, which means the weekly arts roundup is back in action. This week, the Burke is hosting The Big Draw and Grammy Award-winning saxophonist Branford Marsalis performs at Meany Hall on Oct. 4.
Justin Wadland of the UW Tacoma Library discusses his book “Trying Home: The Rise and Fall of an Anarchist Utopia on Puget Sound.”
September 30, 2014
The UW is one of 16 schools invited to participate in the U.S. Department of Energy and General Motors Co. EcoCAR 3 competition that spans four years with stand-alone contests each spring. Their challenge in this next competition is to convert a Chevrolet Camaro into a hybrid-electric car.
September 24, 2014
From exploring American citizenship to encouraging women in technology, the 2014-15 school year brings a wealth of new classroom experiences for UW students.
September 23, 2014
The UW in August introduced a Commute Concierge service to help riders with personalized commute plans.
Using a songbird as a model, scientists have described a brain pathway that replaces cells that have been lost naturally and not because of injury.
Celebrities have fascinated the public for centuries — but why? And how does the spotlight affect those on whom it shines? This year’s Performing Arts Lecture Series, presented by the School of Drama, explores the power of celebrity from unique perspectives in three evening lectures.
September 22, 2014
Geologists have long debated when and how the Tibetan Plateau reached a 14,000-foot-plus elevation, but new UW-led research shows it once was probably even higher.
Through new degree programs starting this fall, students will learn architecture from a liberal arts perspective, complete social sciences degrees online, become expert in the teaching of science, and much more.
The University of Washington and Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a new search algorithm that improves a robot’s ability to find and navigate to tagged objects.
September 19, 2014
UW students have had a unique experience off the coast of Washington and Oregon helping scientists and engineers complete construction of the world’s largest deep-ocean observatory.
University of Washington engineers have developed a new form of low-power wireless sensing technology that lets users “train” their smartphones to recognize and respond to specific hand gestures near the phone.
September 18, 2014
The number of Washingtonians living in poverty jumped by more than 50,000 from 2012 to 2013, and the state poverty rate rose as well, according to new U.S. Census Bureau data released Thursday.
A study by the UW and the United Nations finds that the number of people on Earth is likely to reach 11 billion by 2100, about 2 billion higher than widely cited previous estimates.
September 16, 2014
Health Sciences Digest: Wearable Artificial Kidney safety testing to begin, low-wage workers value employer wellness initiatives, cells simply avoid chromosome errors