UW News


December 31, 2012

News Digest: Honor: Daniela Witten

Headsot of Daniela Witten

Daniela Witten named one of Forbes’ rising stars


Study shows naloxone kits cost-effective in preventing overdose deaths

Giving heroin users kits with the overdose antidote naloxone can help save lives. Efforts are under way to make similar kits available for prescription opioid users.


In rain and snow at home, Seahawks much more likely to win

The Seahawks win four times as many home games as they lose when the weather is inclement, compared to less than two to one when it’s not.


Baby genome listed in top 10 discoveries in 2012


Sayonara to sopping year — with one big dry spell

Clouds reflected at Seattle's central waterfront.

December 28, 2012

Husky alums influence Northwest wine industry

grapes

Surgery establishes penile sensation in men with spina bifida

The new procedure may improve the quality of life for men with spinal cord lesions or injuries.


December 27, 2012

Academic medicine has major economic impact on the state and the nation

The Association of American Medical Colleges reports that its member medical schools and teaching hospitals had a combined economic impact of more than $587 billion in the United States in 2011


December 26, 2012

Piranha kin wielded dental weaponry even T. rex would have admired — with video

Head, teeth and ribs of a piranha skeleton

Taking into consideration size, an ancient relative of piranhas weighing about 20 pounds delivered a bite with more force than prehistoric whale-eating sharks or – even – Tyrannosaurus rex.


For New Year’s resolutions to stick, plan ahead

List of resolutions

This year, for sure, you will lose weight, quit smoking, drink less, learn a new language, get a better job, and travel to exotic lands. And of course you’re going to eat better, stress less and create (and stick to) a household budget – all while spending more time with the family. It’s gonna happen!…


December 24, 2012

Dentistry sculpture winners named

Wire, rubber bands and dental acrylics are fashioned into sculptures for the annual Department of Orthodontics contest.


December 21, 2012

Training Xchange puts UW research advances into practitioners’ hands

The UW is expanding its Training Xchange initiative to help researchers transmit innovations in healthcare and other fields to professionals locally and beyond the Northwest.


UW Bothell biologist wins teaching honor from Science

Rebecca Price holds the skull of a chimpanzee.

December 20, 2012

Mild brain cooling after head injury prevents epileptic seizures in lab study

EEG superimposed over images of a brain.

Traumatic head injury is the leading cause of acquired epilepsy in young adults, and at present there is no treatment to prevent or cure it.


UW geneticist gets the Hollywood treatment

Marcy-Claire King and Helen Hunt.

December 19, 2012

American Academy of Pediatrics issues policy statement on pesticide exposure in children

A child picks and admires a flower during outdoor play.

Chronic low levels of pesticides are detrimental to children’s health: evidence suggests they may induce neurodevelopmental and behavioral problems, birth defects, asthma and cancer.


Lost and Found Films: ‘Governor’s Day, 1941’

Cadets and a 150 mm gun.

The University of Washington prepares for war in “Governor’s Day,” the latest installment of the Lost and Found Films series.


Composting confusion rampant in UW waste bins, study finds

students sort trash

A study of waste bins at the University of Washington’s Seattle campus revealed that 88 percent of the contents in trash bins could have been recycled or composted. Most – 72 percent – of what didn’t belong in trash bins turned out to be compostable items, such as food, carry-out containers and paper coffee cups.


December 18, 2012

Eerie photos show ‘flowers’ made of Arctic ice

Arctic frost flowers.

Burke Museum exhibit explores the impact of plastics

A juxtaposition of the convenience of plastics and their impact on the environment.

Ecological avatars predict species invasions

An invasive zebra mussel.

Delta Dental/Washington Dental Service gives $1.15 million to transform education of dentists

Dec. 14 Dentistry Retreat 2012

Under new dean Dr. Joel Berg the school has launched a plan to revamp its clinical education and curriculum.


December 17, 2012

Plumes across the Pacific deliver thousands of microbial species to West Coast

Mount Bachelor observatory.

Microorganisms – 99 percent more kinds than had been reported in findings published just four months ago – are hitching rides in the upper troposphere from Asia.


Aging, end-of-life expert offers advice for coping with holiday blues

A sorrowing old man in the painting "At Eternity's Gate" by Vincent van Gogh.

The holidays can be a time of sadness and loneliness, and UW’s Wendy Lustbader has advice on how to deal with these issues.


December 14, 2012

Jewish condition, ‘new’ anti-Semitism observed in Edward Alexander’s ‘The State of the Jews’

Edward Alexander, professor emeritus of English, discusses his new book, “The State of the Jews: A Critical Appraisal.”


U-Village’s glassybaby assists UW Medical Center cancer patients

Art business owner created White Light Fund to defray incidental costs, like car fare, for people receiving cancer treatment.


December 13, 2012

Energy Dept. funds UW project to turn wasted natural gas into diesel

ARPA-E logo

The U.S. Department of Energy this month awarded $4 million to a team, led by UW chemical engineers, that aims to develop bacteria to turn the methane in natural gas into diesel fuel for transportation.


Arts Roundup: Medieval music and ‘Plastics Unwrapped’ at the Burke

Burke Museum exhibit "Platics Unwrapped'

Medieval chanting in Mary Gates Hall and a major new exhibit on plastics at the Burke Museum come to campus this week.


Massive shifts reshape the health landscape worldwide


Giving library pests the cold shoulder

UW librarian Stephanie Lamson stands in doorway

UW librarians acted quickly to eliminate bedbugs in books last August.


Dark Ages scourge enlightens modern struggle between man and microbes

Discoveries reported today help explain how the stealthy agent of Black Death avoids tripping a self-destruct mechanism inside germ-destroying cells.


December 12, 2012

Intracranial pressure monitoring for traumatic brain injury questioned

Researchers in United States and Latin America re-examine standard of care for severe head injury.


News Digest: Parties go green, share of Race to Top money, Honor: Anna Karlin, Early Entrance info session, Saturday classes for K-8 students and teachers

Garbage can says "I hate going to parties alone"

Going green at holiday parties || Dream Project named in $40 million federal Race to the Top grant || Anna Karlin new fellow || Early Entrance info session Jan. 10 || Registration opens Jan. 7 for Saturday classes for K-8 students, teachers


Award recognizes UW oceanographer’s talent for engaging public

Drumheller Fountain and Gerberding Hall on the UW campus.

The American Geophysical Union has presented its top prize for engaging the public in science to UW’s John Delaney.


December 11, 2012

Documents that Changed the World: ‘Robert’s Rules of Order’

Cover of the 1867 Robert's Rules of Order.

Joe Janes of the UW Information School visits the arcane world of parliamentary procedure in the latest entry to his Documents that Changed the World podcast series.


December 10, 2012

Armbrust shares $35 million to investigate tiniest ocean regulators

statue of George Washington on UW campus

Oceanographer Ginger Armbrust has received a multi-million dollar award to spend as she wishes on her research into ocean microbes and their role in regulating ocean environments and our atmosphere.


Do we live in a computer simulation? UW researchers say idea can be tested

A graphical representation of two theoretical views of our universe.

A British philosopher once suggested the possibility that our universe might be a computer simulation run by our descendants. A team of physicists at UW has devised a potential test to see if the idea has merit.


December 7, 2012

UW Bothell celebrates opening of sports and recreation complex – with video

Catcher and mascot behind homeplate of new field

UW Bothell celebrated the grand opening Thursday of the $3.3 million, 2.5 acre sports and recreation complex.


Crowdsourcing site compiles new sign language for math and science

Richard Ladner and students

The ASL-STEM Forum is a crowdsourcing project, similar to Wikipedia or the Urban Dictionary, that creates a new sign language for the latest scientific and technical terms.


Greenland ice sheet carries evidence of increased atmospheric acidity

Research suggests rising atmospheric acidity is probably why levels of the isotope nitrogen-15 in Greenland ice samples dropped around the time of the Industrial Revolution.



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