2019 | UW News

January 31, 2019

Iguana-sized dinosaur cousin discovered in Antarctica, shows how life at the South Pole bounced back after mass extinction

An illustration of a forest in Antarctica 250 million years ago, showing reptiles that lived there.

Scientists have just discovered a dinosaur relative that lived in Antarctica 250 million years ago. The iguana-sized reptile’s genus name, Antarctanax, means “Antarctic king.”

January 30, 2019

UW-based group launches national challenge to recreate first moon landing — with drones and Lego robots

A UW-based group is launching a national student challenge to mark the 50th anniversary of the historic Apollo moon landing.

Renée Cheng, new dean of the UW College of Built Environments, joined the UW on Jan. 1. This is a QA story with the new dean.

UW News talks with Renée Cheng, new dean of the UW College of Built Environments, about her background and plans for the college. Cheng joined the UW on Jan. 1.

January 29, 2019

ArtsUW Roundup: Call for singers to perform with Tanya Tagaq, recital with Craig Sheppard and Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir, and more

This week in the arts, perform on stage with Tanya Tagaq at the Meany Center for the Performing Arts, experience Beethoven for cello and piano at a faculty recital, attend a lecture with New York-based Artist Amy O’Neill, catch one of the last performances of Rutherford and Son, and more! Faculty Recital: Craig Sheppard,…

Mock headstones outside the State Capitol mark the number of people who died by suicide in Washington in one year. Forefront Suicide Prevention, based at the University of Washington, places the headstones as part of its annual Education Day event in Olympia. Photo of hundreds of headstones on the lawn in front of the State Capitol building.

Community impact and public health solutions are the focus of the Forefront Suicide Prevention Education Day, to be held Feb. 11 at the Washington Capitol in Olympia. Forefront, based at the UW School of Social Work, is leading the event, a series of speakers and events aimed at raising awareness, providing training and pushing for change.

January 28, 2019

Even a one-hour ‘planting party’ can lift spirits, build skills among women in prison, study shows

Exposure to nature, even through a brief gardening activity, can improve well-being among women in prison, a UW Tacoma-led study finds.

The Stroum Center for Jewish Studies, in the UW Jackson School of International Studies, was well represented at the 50th annual conference of the Association for Jewish Studies Dec. 16-18 in Boston.

bicyclist riding through the quad on a sunny day

The University of Washington has been recognized as one of the most sustainable higher education institutions in North America, according to the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System.

January 23, 2019

One year into the mission, autonomous ocean robots set a record in survey of Antarctic ice shelf

yellow instrument with ice in background

A team of ocean robots developed at the UW is the first group of self-guided ocean instruments to travel under an ice sheet and come back to report long-term observations.

A center housed at the University of Washington offers a new way for scientists to get their hands on state-of-the-art equipment to study the effects of natural disasters. The RAPID Facility, which is the first of its kind in the world, contains over 300 instruments that are available for researchers around the world to use.

January 22, 2019

ArtsUW Roundup: Opening of Rutherford and Son, Faculty Dance Concert, and more.

This week in the arts, attend a lecture about Asian porcelain near the Red Sea in the early eighteenth century, catch the first night of Rutherford and Son, listen to the UW Symphony and Seattle Symphony together at Benaroya Hall, and experience the Faculty Dance Concert, featuring choreographers Brian Brooks and Etienne Cakpo, plus four new…

Recent notable books by University of Washington faculty members explore the importance of Hebrew to modern America, remember the 1919 Seattle General Strike and look at issues in education, among other topics. Practical advice for healthy travel, near or far A new book by Dr. Christopher Sanford offers simple, practical recommendations for those traveling…

Forefront Program Coordinator Brett Bass joins fellow veterans to build awareness about the Save Homes, Suicide Aware program. Photo of Brett talking to two veterans.

Boeing has awarded $300,000 to Forefront Suicide Prevention and University of Washington Tacoma for work with veterans. Forefront, at the UW School of Social Work, received $205,000 to expand veteran-specific outreach, and UWT received $95,000 for career services for veterans.

January 16, 2019

Three awards from US Department of Energy to fuel UW solar cell research

Three teams led by University of Washington researchers — Scott Dunham, Hugh Hillhouse and Devin MacKenzie — have received competitive awards totaling more than $2.3 million from the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office for projects that will advance research and development in photovoltaic materials, which are an essential component of solar cells and impact the amount of sunlight that is converted into electricity.

This week in the arts, partake in an exhibition opening with Danny Giles, the 2019 Jacob Lawrence Legacy Resident, attend the preview of a School of Drama production, and more! Guest Artist Recital Tony Cho, Piano and David Bowlin, Violin January 17, 7:30 PM| Brechmin Auditorium Oberlin Conservatory colleagues Tony Cho, piano, and David Bowlin, violin,…

A new study has found that since the early 1980s, a pattern of ocean temperatures and atmospheric circulation has offset most of the impact of warming on the West’s mountain snowpack.

The University of Washington today opened the doors to Othello-UW Commons, a new multifunctional partnership space in the heart of Southeast Seattle’s Othello neighborhood.

January 15, 2019

Esports Arena & Gaming Lounge to open at University of Washington

Esports — the phenomenally popular world of competitive video games — soon will have a home at the University of Washington.

This spring, the UW’s Husky Union Building (HUB) will officially open the doors to the HUB Esports Arena & Gaming Lounge – a full-service, state-of-the-art gaming center that supports both casual and competitive gaming and virtual reality. The 1,000 square-foot space will serve as the epicenter between student communities, business communities and gaming culture in the Northwest.

A University of Washington-led study finds that children who socially transition to the gender "opposite" their sex at birth also demonstrate strong "cross-gender" identities before the transition. Photo of two children in silhouette.

A new University of Washington study suggests that the children most apt to socially transition to the gender “opposite” their sex at birth are those who already demonstrate the strongest “cross-gender” identities, and that the transitions don’t appear to alter a child’s gender identity or preferences.

January 14, 2019

UW, partners reach milestone in program using robots to monitor world’s oceans

The UW is part of an international program that has revolutionized ocean measurements. This fall, the program made its 2 millionth measurement, reporting temperature and salinity in the top mile of the world’s oceans.

The Labor Archives of Washington, housed in UW Libraries, will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 1919 Seattle General Strike with a series of events in coming weeks, as well as a new library exhibit on campus.

People riding free-floating bike share rentals in Seattle are wearing helmets infrequently, according to a new analysis conducted by University of Washington researchers. Only 20 percent of bike share riders wore helmets in the study, while more than 90 percent of cyclists wore helmets while riding their own bikes.

Different research on the free-floating bike share systems showed that bikes were usually available in all Seattle neighborhoods across economic, racial and ethnic lines. However, more bikes were located in more-advantaged neighborhoods.

January 10, 2019

Astronomers find signatures of a ‘messy’ star that made its companion go supernova

An image of a galaxy in outer space, with a bright supernova visible at its outer edge.

On Jan. 10 at the 2019 American Astronomical Society meeting in Seattle, an international team of astronomers announced that they have identified the type of companion star that made its partner in a binary system, a carbon-oxygen white dwarf star, explode. Through repeated observations of SN 2015cp, a supernova 545 million light years away, the team detected hydrogen-rich debris that the companion star had shed prior to the explosion.

Justin Marlowe, professor in the UW Evans School and co-author of new state-commissioned study about possibility of a cooperative state bank in Washington.

If Washington state were to establish a public bank, what type of bank might work best? One that can provide targeted products and services to local governments across the state, says a new report by UW researchers from the Evans School of Public Policy & Governance.

January 9, 2019

ARTSUW Roundup: Alonzo King Lines Ballet, Indigo Mist with Special Guest Bill Frisell, and more

This week in the arts, attend the first Critical Issues Lecture with Maria Nordman, go to a performance by UW Music faculty band, Indigo Mist, with renowned guitarist Bill Frisell, and more! Critical Issues Lecture Series: Maria Nordman January 10, 7:00 PM| Henry Art Gallery Maria Nordman, a German-American sculptor and conceptual artist, will deliver…

Women and underrepresented minorities in STEM fields are more likely to advance professionally, publish more research and secure postdoctoral and faculty positions if their institutional culture is welcoming and sets clear expectations, according to a study of hundreds of Ph.D. students at four top-tier California research universities.

Second Chance uses sonar to monitor someone's breathing rate

UW researchers have developed a smartphone app that uses sonar to monitor someone’s breathing rate and sense when an opioid overdose has occurred.

January 8, 2019

Triangulum Galaxy shows stunning face in detailed Hubble portrait

As part of a University of Washington-led project, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has produced a stunningly detailed portrait of the Triangulum Galaxy, displaying a full spiral face aglow with the light of nearly 25 million individually resolved stars.

January 7, 2019

UW study: Long-term breastfeeding sheds light on whether an infant becomes right- or left-handed

Bottle feeding infants is associated with left-handedness, according to a new study from the University of Washington. The study found that the prevalence of left-handedness is lower among breastfed infants as compared to bottle-fed infants. This finding was identified in about 60,000 mother-infant pairs and accounted for known risk factors for handedness.

January 2, 2019

UW mourns the death of Blake Nordstrom

Statements from University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce, director of athletics Jennifer Cohen and men’s rowing head coach Michael Callahan

A curious Magellanic penguin looking into the camera lens

Female Magellanic penguins are more likely to die at sea as juveniles, which has caused a skewed sex ratio of nearly three adult males to every female, as well as population decline of more than 40 percent since 1987 at one of their largest breeding colonies — Punta Tombo in Argentina.

Husky football players, including Myles Gaskin and JoJo McIntosh, mentor teens each week as part of a program hosted by the Yesler Community Center in Seattle.

In a paper published Jan. 2 in PLOS Biology, two scientists at the University of Washington and North Carolina State University use the economic theory of contests to illustrate how the competitive grant-application system has made the pursuit of research funding inefficient and unsustainable — and that alternative methods, such as a partial lottery to award grants, could relieve pressure on professors and free up time for research.