UW News

News releases


May 21, 2013

Bjong Wolf Yeigh selected as chancellor for UW Bothell

UW Bothelll campus.

Bjong Wolf Yeigh, professor and president of SUNYIT, the State University of New York Institute of Technology at Utica/Rome, has been selected as the next chancellor at the University of Washington Bothell.


The tea party and the politics of paranoia

Cover of "Change They Can't Believe In: The Tea Party and Reactionary Politcs in America"

New research argues that the tea party owes more to paranoid politics of the John Birch Society and others than traditional American conservatism. “True conservatives aren’t paranoid,” says political scientist Chris Parker. “Tea party conservatives are.”


May 20, 2013

Amazon River exhales virtually all carbon taken up by rain forest

photo on boat

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 17, 2013

Youth bullying because of perceived sexual orientation widespread and damaging

Anti-bullying poster.

Harmful effects of bullying are profound for youth struggling with identity and self-worth, and can lead to depression and thoughts of suicide.


May 15, 2013

Tropical air circulation drives fall warming on Antarctic Peninsula

A research ship off the Rothera station on the Antarctic Peninsula.

New UW research shows that, in recent decades, fall is the only time of extensive warming over the entire Antarctic Peninsula, and it is mostly from atmospheric circulation patterns originating in the tropics.


May 14, 2013

DNA analysis unearths origins of Minoans, the first major European civilization

The maternal genetic information passed down through many generations of mitochondria is still present in modern-day residents of the Lassithi plateau of Crete.


Engineered biomaterial could improve success of medical implants

Two tissue samples showing differences in collagen build-up.

University of Washington engineers have created a synthetic substance that fully resists the body’s natural attack response to foreign objects. Medical devices such as artificial heart valves, prostheses and breast implants could be coated with this polymer to prevent the body from rejecting an implanted object.


May 13, 2013

Using earthquake sensors to track endangered whales

fin whale

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

Do peppers reduce risk of Parkinson’s?

Red, yellow and green pepper.

New study suggests dietary nicotine may protect against this disorder, which results from the loss of dopamine-producing brain cells.


Affordability drives Washington housing recovery in first quarter of 2013

House for sale in West Seattle.

The UW’s Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies shows Washington state’s housing market improved in the first quarter of 2013 for the third consecutive quarter.


New ‘academic redshirt’ program to support undergraduate STEM education

Math Academy 2012 students

The University of Washington in collaboration with Washington State University is developing an “academic redshirt” program that will bring dozens of low-income, Washington state high school graduates to the two universities to study engineering in a five-year bachelor’s program.


May 6, 2013

New device can extract human DNA with full genetic data in minutes

close-up view of the device.

A new device will give hospitals and research labs a much easier way to separate DNA from human fluid samples to help with genome sequencing, disease diagnosis and forensic investigations.


April 30, 2013

Tactics of new Middle East virus suggest treating by altering lung cells’ response to infection

Coronavirus Erasmus

The Erasmus virus resets 207 genes in lung cells to hamper the cells’ ability to launch an antiviral reaction. Available drugs might correct this sabotage.


April 29, 2013

Blast concussions could cause pituitary deficiencies in war vets

IED blast Afghanistan

Low pituitary hormone levels can mimic symptoms of depression and post-traumatic stress syndrome, but are easily treated.


Dinosaur predecessors gain ground in wake of world’s biggest biodiversity crisis — with photo gallery

Lizard-like animal with stripes stands in forested area

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

Webvan.com was a one-time grocery delivery company.

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

Astronomer studies far-off worlds through ‘characterization by proxy’

A dwarf galaxy.

A UW astronomer is using Earth’s interstellar neighbors to learn the nature of certain stars too far away to be directly measured or observed, and the planets they may host.


Keeping beverages cool in summer: It’s not just the heat, it’s the humidity

Sweat on a can of Miller beer.

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?


Workers Memorial Day event takes place April 24 at HUB Lyceum

The 65 workers who died from job-related injuries or illnesses in Washington state this past year will be remembered at a UW event promoting safer workplaces.


April 22, 2013

Wayne C. Roth, president and general manager of KUOW, to retire after 30 years

Drumheller Fountain and Gerberding Hall on the UW campus.

Wayne C. Roth, president and general manager of KUOW Puget Sound Public Radio, has announced that he will retire this September.


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.



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