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The patient is Mr. Jones. His chart says he’s a 28-year-old male with a nail embedded in his foot. The students are told to ready him for general anesthesia. Mr. Jones has been through this before. He is a computerized, full-size mannequin, programmed to respond to treatment. As in life, he pulls through his ordeals just fine most of the time.

They spent their summer working in the lab instead of enjoying the sunshine, studying everything from cloning and protective coatings to mosquito control. On Friday, they will get their reward. At a reception at the University of Washington’s Kane Hall, 50 undergraduates will be honored for their summer research sponsored by the Washington Space Grant Consortium.

Among its many salutary effects, estrogen seems to protect the brain against the ravages of Alzheimer’s disease: numerous clinical studies support that finding. But how does it accomplish this feat? Researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle are involved in a number of basic-science studies that are beginning to provide answers.

Small sea creatures that have lain in pristine condition for eons have given a University of Washington researcher the clearest evidence yet that about 80 million years ago a southern landmass began migrating to the north. And what today are rainy British Columbia and chilly southern Alaska were once the sunny climes of Baja California.

Small sea creatures that have lain in pristine condition for eons have given a University of Washington researcher the clearest evidence yet that about 80 million years ago a southern landmass began migrating to the north. And what today are rainy British Columbia and chilly southern Alaska were once the sunny climes of Baja California.

The University of Washington’s Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking and Technology Program, which has enlisted scientific luminaries such as British physicist Stephen Hawking to encourage teenagers with disabilities to pursue careers in technical fields, has won a 1997 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring.

Doctors needing chemical analyses such as blood tests to make life-saving diagnosis and treatment decisions soon won’t have to lose precious time waiting for results to come back from the lab. New hand-held sensor technology developed at the University of Washington will allow physicians to bring a sophisticated “laboratory” directly to their patients for instant, on-site chemical analysis.