Environment
July 3, 2013
Great ape genetic diversity catalog frames primate evolution and future conservation
A model of great ape history during the past 15 million years has been fashioned through the study of genetic variation in a large panel of humans, chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans.
July 1, 2013
Work this summer extends reach of cabled deep-ocean observatory
A UW research vessel leaves July 2 for six weeks at sea, during which oceanographers will install miles of cable for a new type of deep-sea observatory.
June 25, 2013
Clearing up confusion on future of Colorado River flows
Leading experts on water issues in the Western U.S. have come together to establish what is known about the future of Colorado River water, and to understand the wide range of estimates for future flows.
June 21, 2013
Airborne gut action primes wild chili pepper seeds
Seeds gobbled by birds and dispersed across the landscape tend to fare better than those that fall near parent plants. Now it turns out it might not just be the trip through the air that’s important, but also the inches-long trip through the bird.
June 19, 2013
Detour ahead: Cities, farms reroute animals seeking cooler climes
In the first broad-scale study of its kind, UW led research finds half a dozen regions that could provide some of the Western Hemisphere’s more heavily used thoroughfares for mammals, birds and amphibians seeking cooler environments in a warming world.
June 7, 2013
Treks reveal distinctive forests of Cascade Mountains — with photo gallery
In “Spring Comes to the Cascades,” students don’t just read about the forests – they hike and snowshoe through them.
June 6, 2013
Pollution in Northern Hemisphere helped cause 1980s African drought
Air pollution in the Northern Hemisphere in the mid-20th century cooled the upper half of the planet and pushed rain bands south, contributing to the prolonged and worsening drought in Africa’s Sahel region. Clean air legislation in the 1980s reversed the trend and the drought lessened.
June 5, 2013
A walking revolution helps older adults get and stay active
Older adults are assessing their neighborhoods to make them more amenable to a favorite physical activity: walking.
June 4, 2013
Two wheels, four days: UW hosts international symposium on bicycling
The UW will become the global capital of bicycling when scores of scholars, policymakers, analysts and activists come to campus for the Bicycle Urbanism Symposium, June 19-22.
May 30, 2013
Transportation fuels from woody biomass promising way to reduce emissions
Two processes that turn woody biomass into transportation fuels have the potential to exceed current Environmental Protection Agency requirements for renewable fuels.
May 29, 2013
Traffic air pollution turns good cholesterol bad
Exposure to diesel exhaust undermines one of the body’s protections against heart and blood vessel disease.
May 24, 2013
‘The Return’ illustrates Native American environmental health story
“The Return,” a dreamlike account of a Native woman and her baby, is an allegory for passing environmental health values to the next generation.
May 22, 2013
New documentary on cabled ocean observatory airs on UWTV
A new half-hour documentary about a UW research expedition to Axial Seamount, an underwater volcano off the Washington coast, airs tonight at 9:30 p.m. on UWTV.
May 20, 2013
Amazon River exhales virtually all carbon taken up by rain forest
A study published this week in Nature Geoscience shows that woody plant matter is almost completely digested by bacteria living in the Amazon River, and that this tough stuff plays a major part in fueling the river’s breath.
May 13, 2013
New report released on health impacts of Duwamish River cleanup
The UW report recommends ways to protect the health of Native American tribes and others affected by the cleanup.
Using earthquake sensors to track endangered whales
Oceanographers are using a growing number of seafloor seismometers, devices that record seafloor vibrations, to carry out inexpensive and non-invasive studies of endangered whales.
May 8, 2013
News digest: Recyclemania results, professor speaks on career journey, Honor: Rodney Ho
UW outcompetes PAC-12 schools in Recyclemania || MIT engineering professor to speak on research, career journey || Pharmaceutical science association recognizes Rodney Ho
May 6, 2013
UW research vessel Clifford A. Barnes marks its 1,000th cruise
This week marks the 1000th cruise for the UW’s Clifford A. Barnes research vessel, a converted tugboat that has spent decades exploring Puget Sound and Pacific Northwest waters and is now reaching the end of its UW career.
April 29, 2013
Dinosaur predecessors gain ground in wake of world’s biggest biodiversity crisis — with photo gallery
Newly discovered fossils reveal a lineage of animals thought to have led to dinosaurs taking hold in Tanzania and Zambia, many millions of years before dinosaur relatives were seen in the fossil record elsewhere on Earth.
Grocery delivery service is greener than driving to the store
New University of Washington research shows it’s much more environmentally friendly to leave the car parked at home and opt for groceries delivered to your doorstep.
April 25, 2013
Keeping beverages cool in summer: It’s not just the heat, it’s the humidity
Drops forming on the outside of your drink don’t just make the can slippery. Experiments show that in hot, humid weather, condensation heats a drink more than the surrounding air.
April 23, 2013
A greener concrete? UW-led coalition seeks to reduce concrete’s carbon footprint
Concrete is used to build streets, bridges, buildings, dams and driveways — and it lasts a very long time — but what if concrete could be made with a 50 percent smaller carbon footprint?
April 22, 2013
News Digest: Husky Green Awards, oceanbound on Earth Day, join Trash-in Wednesday, spring-clean your inbox
Husky Green Awards announced at kick-off || Expedition oceanbound on Earth Day || Annual ‘UW Trash-In’ event Wednesday || Tips to spring-clean your inbox
April 15, 2013
Preparing to install the world’s largest underwater observatory
Engineers at the UW’s Applied Physics Laboratory are under pressure to build and test parts for installation this summer in the world’s largest deep-ocean observatory off the Washington and Oregon coasts.
April 12, 2013
Tsunami debris could be found in Washington’s annual beach cleanup
The annual beach cleanup may turn up new items from the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan more than two years ago and sent objects to the Washington coast.
April 11, 2013
Space-age domes offer a window on ocean acidification
At Friday Harbor Labs, students are conducting a three-week study on the effects of ocean acidification using a strategy that’s midway between a controlled lab test and an open-ocean experiment.
April 10, 2013
Burke Museum Herbarium launches new wildflower app
The “Washington Wildflowers” app, out this week, includes information for more than 870 common wildflowers, shrubs and vines.
April 3, 2013
UW group part of national report, meeting on adaptation to climate change
The UW’s Climate Impacts Group is part of a national report and first-ever national meeting on adapting to the effects of a changing climate.
April 2, 2013
Book focuses on 1969 fight to save America’s premier fossil beds
Book Q and A: To allow buildings on 34 million year-old fossils would be like using the Dead Sea Scrolls to wrap fish in, proclaimed the lawyer defending land that would eventually become Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument.
March 28, 2013
Volunteers use historic U.S. ship logbooks to uncover Arctic climate data
A volunteer project enlists citizen scientists to transcribe climate observations buried in historic logbooks of U.S. ships that spent time in the Arctic.
March 20, 2013
Some Alaskan trout use flexible guts for the ultimate binge diet
The stomach and intestines of certain Dolly Varden trout double to quadruple in size during month-long, salmon-egg-eating binges in Alaska each August. It’s the first time researchers have documented such fish gut flexibility in the wild.
March 18, 2013
UW students create, harvest fog in campus ‘hoop house’
University of Washington students have been testing low-cost materials capable of harvesting water from fog.
March 11, 2013
Long-term relationships, access to data drive sustainability institutions’ success
Successful sustainability initiatives need to be grounded in long-standing relationships among scientists, local communities and decision-makers, UW’s Lisa Graumlich told a session on sustainability science at AAAS.
Remote clouds responsible for climate models’ glitch in tropical rainfall
One of the most persistent biases in global climate models is due to poor simulation of cloud cover thousands of miles to the south.
March 7, 2013
Tracking sediments’ fate in largest-ever dam removal
Any day now, the world’s largest dam-removal project will release a century’s worth of sediment . For geologists, it’s a unique opportunity to study natural and engineered river systems.
March 5, 2013
News Digest: UW students speak at Town Hall, nominations due, celebrate Philosophy in Schools program, tobacco cessation help
UW Science Now kicks off at Town Hall tonight || Celebrating UW Women nominations due March 11 || Nominations sought for fourth annual Husky Green Awards || Grade-school students take on philosophy in panel discussion || Hall Health Center expands tobacco cessation program
March 4, 2013
‘True grit’ erodes assumptions about evolution
New work in Argentina where scientists had previously thought Earth’s first grasslands emerged 38 million years ago, shows the area at the time covered with tropical forests rich with palms, bamboos and gingers. Grit and volcanic ash in those forests could have caused the evolution of teeth in horse-like animals that scientists mistakenly thought were adaptations in response to emerging grasslands.
February 28, 2013
Changes in cloud distribution explain some weather patterns
Regional cloud changes may be as important for climate change as the overall amount of cloud cover.
February 27, 2013
Contaminated diet contributes to phthalate and bisphenol A exposure
People are exposed to these endocrine-disrupting chemicals even if they eat an organic diet and do not store, prepare or cook in plastic containers.
Bundle up for Polar Science Weekend at Pacific Science Center
The annual Polar Science Weekend, featuring many UW students and faculty, takes place tomorrow through Sunday at Pacific Science Center.
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