UW News

News releases


April 18, 2013

Astronomers discover five-planet system with most Earth-like exoplanet yet

Kepler 62e and 62f compared with the Earth. UW astronomer Eric Agol discovered 62f.

A University of Washington astronomer has discovered perhaps the most Earth-like planet yet found outside the solar system by the Kepler Space Telescope.


April 17, 2013

A key to mass extinctions could boost food, biofuel production

A hydrogen sulfide-treated dwarf wheat seed next to an untreated seed.

A substance implicated in several mass extinctions could greatly enhance plant growth, with implications for global food supplies biofuels, new UW research shows.


April 15, 2013

Jon Huntsman selected as UW Commencement speaker

A large 'W' is at the north entrance to the UW campus.

Jon Huntsman, who has spent more than two decades in public service, will be the featured speaker at the UW’s 2013 Commencement exercises


High glucose levels could impair ferroelectricity in body’s connective tissues

Figure shows how glucose can suppress ferroelectric switching

Researchers found that a protein in organs that repeatedly stretch and retract can lose their functionality when exposed to sugar.


April 14, 2013

Recent Antarctic climate, glacier changes at the ‘upper bound’ of normal

A sectionof the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Divide core.

In recent decades the thinning of glaciers at the edge of Antarctica has accelerated, but new UW-led research indicates the changes, though dramatic, cannot be confidently attributed to human-caused global warming.


April 12, 2013

New device could cut costs on household products, pharmaceuticals

Surfactant gel structure forms after passing through device.

A new procedure that thickens and thins fluid at the micron level could save consumers and manufacturers money, particularly for some soap products.


April 11, 2013

Space-age domes offer a window on ocean acidification

photo of dock

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.


Tuberculosis fighter and promoter reveals what’s behind its split identity

TB cording in zebrafish

Latest research findings suggest the possibility of reverting TB hyper-susceptibility to TB hyper-resistance.


April 4, 2013

Listening to the Big Bang – in high fidelity (audio)

An illustration of the cosmic microwave background.

A UW physicist has used new satellite data to update his decade-old recreation of the sound of the Big Bang at the birth of the universe.


Rocket powered by nuclear fusion could send humans to Mars

Image of a spacecraft powered by a fusion-driven rocket.

Astronauts could be a step closer to a fast journey to Mars using a unique manipulation of nuclear fusion devised by UW scientists and those at a Redmond company.


April 3, 2013

UW group part of national report, meeting on adaptation to climate change

Climate report cover

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.


Brain cell signal network genes linked to schizophrenia risk in families

illustration of hallucinations

The genetic variants disturb the functioning of the same brain signal receptors affected by hallucinogenic drugs.


Diversity programs give illusion of corporate fairness, study shows

Black and white hands clasped.

Diversity training programs lead people to believe that work environments are fair even when given evidence of hiring, promotion or salary inequities, according to findings by UW psychologists.


April 1, 2013

UW Medicine launches multi-media health and wellness initiative April 1

TV slate UW Medicine Health

In partnership with Fisher Communications, UW Medicine Health will provide information on healthy living and on the latest treatments and medical breakthroughs


March 29, 2013

Head-on collisions between DNA-code reading machineries accelerate gene evolution

Houra Merrikh Samuel Million-Weaver

Bacteria speed up their evolution by positioning specific genes along the route of expected traffic jams in DNA encoding. Collisions can result in mutations.


March 28, 2013

UW Medicine establishes Center for Interstitial Lung Diseases

Dr. Raghu and Dave Sherry

This week UW Medical Center’s pulmonary fibrosis support group celebrated its 25th anniversary and the establishment of the new center.


March 27, 2013

Federal ‘detainer requests’ for suspected immigration violators cause longer jail stays, increase cost, UW research shows

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests a suspect.

Jail stays and costs increase when federal immigration authorities request that inmates be held under what are called “detainer requests,” according to UW research.


UW announces new, low-cost online-only degree completion program in early childhood studies

children playing with hula hoop

The UW will offer a new low-cost online bachelor’s degree completion program in early childhood and family studies. Pending final approval, the program will start in the fall.


March 26, 2013

Gene therapy may aid failing hearts

Alya Red heart model

Scientists come closer to boosting heart muscle by powering its contractile machinery.


March 20, 2013

Some Alaskan trout use flexible guts for the ultimate binge diet

A dolly varden trout swims under dozens of sockeye salmon

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 19, 2013

Tenfold boost in ability to pinpoint proteins in cancer cells

Lab image of cells

New research offers a more comprehensive way to analyze a cell’s unique behavior, revealing patterns that could indicate why a cell will or won’t become cancerous.


March 13, 2013

Innocence Project Northwest wins right to DNA testing for felons serving time in community

A gavel, law book and scales of justice.

Felons who serve part of their prison sentence in the community may now have the right to publicly funded DNA testing.


UW places highly in ranking of graduate programs by US News

A large 'W' is at the north entrance to the UW campus.

US News & World Report recently published its national ranking of graduate programs.


March 11, 2013

Remote clouds responsible for climate models’ glitch in tropical rainfall

photo of cloudy sea

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

aerial photo of plume

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 4, 2013

United States lags behind many developed countries on key health measures

Dr. Christopher Murray in Tanzania

A public symposium on the Global Burden of Diseases study will be held on campus Monday, March 11.


‘True grit’ erodes assumptions about evolution

Large cliff of white ashy material surrounded by rock cliffs when two researchers working the face

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 27, 2013

Contaminated diet contributes to phthalate and bisphenol A exposure

The 3D chemical structure of bisphenol A.

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.


February 26, 2013

Michael B. Bragg selected as dean of UW College of Engineering

UW engineering buildings

Michael B. Bragg, professor and interim engineering dean at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has been selected as dean of the UW College of Engineering.


February 21, 2013

Using amount of fish caught as measure of fisheries health is misleading

An illustration of the fish population argument in Nature.

Do changes in the amount of fish caught necessarily reflect the number of fish in the sea? “No,” say UW researchers in a “Counterpoint” commentary in Nature.


February 19, 2013

UW selects Jeffrey Riedinger as vice provost for global affairs

Jeffrey Riedinger has been named vice provost for global affairs at the University of Washington


Mutant champions save imperiled species from almost-certain extinction

Gloved had holds plate with dozes of tiny wells of reddish orange hue

Species facing widespread and rapid environmental changes can sometimes evolve quickly enough to dodge the extinction bullet. UW scientists consider the genetic underpinnings of such evolutionary rescue.


Three faculty members named Sloan Research Fellows

Three faculty members named Sloan Research Fellows


February 18, 2013

Mussels cramped by environmental factors

Drawing of wave with menancing face and startled mussels on shore

The fibrous threads helping mussels stay anchored are more prone to snap when ocean temperatures climb higher than normal.


February 15, 2013

Firing range lead exposure reduced with UW workplace health expertise

UW’s Field Research and Consultation Group in Environmental and Occupational Health assess ventilation systems and airborne lead levels in firing ranges, and offer advice on lowering exposure.


February 13, 2013

European satellite confirms UW numbers: Arctic Ocean is on thin ice

Chuchki Sea ice

New satellite observations confirm a University of Washington analysis that for the past three years found accelerated declines in the volume of Arctic sea ice.


February 12, 2013

Get off my lawn: Song sparrows escalate territorial threats – with video

Song sparrow singing in his territory.

UW researchers have discovered a hierarchical warning scheme in which territorial song sparrows use increasingly threatening signals to ward off trespassing rivals.


February 11, 2013

Noisy classroom simulation aids comprehension in hearing-impaired children

Student wears hearing aid in class

A new report by a UW researcher showed about a 50 percent increase in speech comprehension in background noise when children with hearing impairments followed a three-week auditory training regimen.


February 7, 2013

Washington housing recovery strengthened in fourth quarter 2012

A house for sale.

Washington state’s housing market continued to improve during the fourth quarter of 2012, according to the UW’s Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies.


February 6, 2013

New director named for Northwest Center for Public Health Practice

Pediatrician Tao Kwan-Gett will head a center that provides training, research, evaluation and communication services to public health organizations across six states.



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