News releases
February 11, 2014
Data on today’s youth reveal childhood clues for later risk of STDs

Findings from UW longitudinal surveys of nearly 2,000 participants suggest that efforts to curb the spread of sexually transmitted diseases should begin years before most people start having sex.
February 10, 2014
Newly found tactics in offense-defense struggle with hepatitis C virus

People who are genetically equipped to stop hepatitis C viruses from turning off a type of interferon generally have a robust antiviral response. Findings on the mechanisms governing this ability suggest new avenues for treatment research.
February 8, 2014
UW among 19 campuses – out of 1,700 – getting nod for access, affordability, success
Only 19 universities – including the University of Washington– met the bar for access, affordability and student success set by the Center on Higher Education Reform.
February 6, 2014
UW’s James Riley elected to National Academy of Engineering

James Riley, a University of Washington professor of mechanical engineering, has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering. Election to the academy is among the highest professional distinctions accorded an engineer.
Credit card-sized device could analyze biopsy, help diagnose pancreatic cancer in minutes

University of Washington scientists and engineers are developing a low-cost device that could help pathologists diagnose pancreatic cancer earlier and faster. The prototype can perform the basic steps for processing a biopsy, relying on fluid transport instead of human hands to process the tissue.
February 4, 2014
Does caregiving cause psychological stress? Study says, it depends

The results break the longstanding belief that caregiving directly causes psychological distress, and make a case for genetics and upbringing influencing vulnerability.
Fruit flies – fermented-fruit connoisseurs – are relentless party crashers

That fruit fly appearing moments after you poured that first glass of cabernet, has just used a poppy-seed-sized brain to conduct a finely-choreographed search and arrive in time for happy hour.
Personal experience, work seniority improve mental health professionals’ outlook

One might think that after years on the job, mental health workers would harbor negative attitudes about mental illness, but a new UW study suggests the opposite.
February 3, 2014
Greenland’s fastest glacier sets new speed record

Observations of Jakobshavn Glacier from 2012 and 2013 show the fast-moving glacier has set new records for the speed of ice flowing toward the ocean.
Solving a physics mystery: Those ‘solitons’ are really vortex rings

The same physics that gives stability to tornadoes lies at the heart of new UW research and could lead to a better understanding of nuclear dynamics in studying fission, superconductors and the workings of neutron stars.
January 29, 2014
Deaths attributed directly to climate change cast pall over penguins

Climate change is killing penguin chicks from the world’s largest colony of Magellanic penguins, not just indirectly but directly because of drenching rainstorms and heat.
Neanderthal lineages excavated from modern human genomes

A fossil-free method of sequencing archaic DNA may provide insight into human evolution.
January 27, 2014
Facelift complications eased with help of new 3-D imaging technique

New imaging technology from University of Washington engineers allows scientists to analyze what happens within the smallest blood vessels during a cosmetic facelift. This finding could be used to prevent accidents during procedures and help clinicians reverse the ill effects if an injection doesn’t go as planned.
January 24, 2014
How strong of a football fan are you? There’s a test for that

UW psychologist Anthony Greenwald has developed a scientific test to measure the strength of one’s support for a football team.
January 22, 2014
Gene therapy leads to robust improvements in animal model of fatal muscle disease

The experimental treatment restored muscle function and prolonged lives in animals with a condition similar to X-linked myotubular myopathy in children
January 20, 2014
Girls frequently play soccer through concussion, study finds

Serious risks are associated with continuing game play immediately after incurring a concussion, yet University of Washington researchers found that many young female soccer players do just that.
January 17, 2014
UW seismologists expand stadium monitoring for NFC championship game

UW scientists installed a third seismograph at CenturyLink Field this week after the trial by fire of a website and new monitoring tools during last weekend’s Seahawks game.
January 16, 2014
UW commits to White House plan to help more students afford college

The University of Washington will participate in a federal initiative announced by President Obama to help more students afford and graduate from college.
Soil production breaks geologic speed record

Samples from steep mountaintops in New Zealand shows that rock can transform into soil more than twice as fast as previously believed possible.
January 15, 2014
DNA detectives able to ‘count’ thousands of fish using as little as a glass of water

A mere glass full of water from a 1.2 million-gallon aquarium tank is all scientists really needed to identify most of the 13,000 fish swimming there.
Glaciers, streamflow changes are focus of new Columbia River study

University of Washington environmental engineers are launching a new study to try to understand how climate change will affect streamflow patterns in the Columbia River Basin. The team will look at the impact of glaciers on the river system, the range of possible streamflow changes and how much water will flow in the river at hundreds of locations in future years.
January 13, 2014
Cognitive training shows some lasting effects in healthy older adults

The national, decade-long ACTIVE study showed that cognitive training can help the elderly maintain certain thinking and reasoning skills useful in everyday life.
January 10, 2014
Trial to test using ultrasound to move kidney stones

A clinical trial in Seattle is testing a technique developed at the UW that uses low-power ultrasound to reposition kidney stones.
January 9, 2014
Scientists to observe seismic energy from Seahawks’ ’12th man’ quakes

University of Washington seismologists this week installed two strong-motion seismometers at CenturyLink Field in Seattle to augment an existing station in recording shaking from “earthquakes” expected on Saturday during the NFC divisional game between the Seattle Seahawks and New Orleans Saints. The Pacific Northwest Seismic Network is preparing a special website at www.pnsn.org/seahawks for the…
Big is not bad: Scientists call for preservation of large carnivores

Despite their scary reputation, carnivores deserve credit for all kinds of ecological services when they eat grazing animals that gobble down young trees and other vegetation that could be holding carbon and protecting streams.
January 8, 2014
Astronomers measure far-off galaxies to 1 percent precision

University of Washington astronomers and colleagues have measured the distance to galaxies six billion light-years away — about halfway back to the Big Bang — to an accuracy of just 1 percent.
Despite declines in smoking rates, number of smokers and cigarettes rises

Population growth since 1980 drives increases in the number of smokers in countries including China and Russia, while Canada, Mexico, and the United States see strong declines
January 7, 2014
On-demand vaccines possible with engineered nanoparticles

University of Washington engineers hope a new type of vaccine they have shown to work in mice will one day make it cheaper and easy to manufacture on-demand vaccines for humans. Immunizations could be administered within minutes where and when a disease is breaking out.
January 6, 2014
Babbling babies – responding to one-on-one ‘baby talk’ – master more words

Common advice to new parents is that the more words babies hear the faster their vocabulary grows. Now new findings show that what spurs early language development isn’t so much the quantity of words as the style of speech and social context in which speech occurs.
‘Future of Ice’ initiative marks new era for UW polar research

The UW’s new “Future of Ice” initiative includes several new research hires, a new minor in Arctic studies and a free winter lecture series.
Book explains astrobiology for a general audience

David Catling’s new book, part of an Oxford University Press series, aims to explain astrobiology to a general audience.
January 2, 2014
El Niño tied to melting of Antarctica’s Pine Island Glacier

A new study in Science, co-authored by the British Antarctic Survey and UW authors, shows that melting of the floating Pine Island ice shelf is tied to global atmospheric patterns associated with El Niño.
December 31, 2013
Genetically identical bacteria can behave in radically different ways

When a bacterial cell divides into two daughter cells there can be an uneven distribution of cellular organelles. The resulting cells can behave differently from each other, giving them an evolutionary advantage.
December 18, 2013
Single bacterial super-clone behind world epidemic of drug-resistant E. coli

Virulent, drug-resistant forms of E. coli that recently have spread around the world emerged from a single strain of the bacteria, not many different strains, as has been widely supposed.
December 17, 2013
Hack the planet? Geoengineering research, ethics, governance explored

A special interdisciplinary issue of the journal Climatic Change includes the most detailed description yet of the proposed Oxford Principles to govern geoengineering research, and surveys the technical hurdles, ethics and regulatory issues related to deliberately manipulating the planet’s climate.
December 16, 2013
5 effective parenting programs to reduce problem behaviors in children

UW researchers evaluated about 20 parenting programs and found five that are especially effective at helping parents and children at all risk levels avoid adolescent behavior problems that affect not only individuals, but entire communities.
December 12, 2013
New state-funded Clean Energy Institute will focus on solar, battery technologies

A new University of Washington institute to develop efficient, cost-effective solar power and better energy storage systems launched Dec. 12 with an event attended by UW President Michael K. Young, Gov. Jay Inslee and researchers, industry experts and policy leaders in renewable energy.
Scientists discover double meaning in genetic code

Finding a second code hiding in the genome casts new light on how changes to DNA impact health and disease.
December 11, 2013
UW ranked 13th best value among public institutions by Kiplinger’s

The University of Washington has been ranked 13th best value among public colleges and universities for 2014 by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance.
December 10, 2013
What climate change means for federally protected marine species

As the Endangered Species Act nears its 40th birthday at the end of December, conservation biologists are coming to terms with a danger not foreseen in the 1970s: global climate change.
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