News releases
February 13, 2013
European satellite confirms UW numbers: Arctic Ocean is on thin 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
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
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
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.
Smartphones, tablets help UW researchers improve storm forecasts
Atmospheric scientists are using pressure readings from some new smartphones and tablet computers to improve short-term thunderstorm forecasts. A weather station in every pocket would offer an unprecedented wealth of data.
February 5, 2013
Scholars urge Supreme Court to keep Voting Rights Act provisions ensuring equal access
Political science and law scholars from the UW and elsewhere file a brief saying the Supreme Court should fully uphold the Voting Rights Act in a case out of Shelby County, Alabama.
February 1, 2013
School of Dentistry launches Center for Global Oral Health
The new center will promote collaborations in dental research and education, including faculty and student exchanges, with partners around the world.
January 31, 2013
Cyclone did not cause 2012 record low for Arctic sea ice
A huge Arctic cyclone in August was not responsible for the historic minimum seen soon after in Arctic sea-ice extent.
January 29, 2013
More sex for married couples with traditional divisions of housework
Married couples who divide chores in traditional ways have more sex than couples who share so-called men’s and women’s work.
Beer’s bitter compounds could help brew new medicines
A UW researcher has determined the precise configuration of substances derived from hops that give beer its distinctive flavor, a finding that could lead to important new pharmaceuticals.
January 24, 2013
Astronomy to go: UW readies new portable planetarium
The University of Washington astronomy department is readying a traveling planetarium to take to schools for outreach — and collaboration — in Seattle and beyond. It may look like a carnival bouncy house or an inflatable igloo, but the portable planetarium is in fact an innovative tool for teaching and spreading interest in astronomy. The…
Organic ferroelectric molecule shows promise for memory chips, sensors
A paper in Science describes an organic crystal that shows promise as a cheap, flexible, nontoxic material for the working parts of memory chips, sensors and energy-harvesting devices.
January 23, 2013
Better outlook for dwindling black macaque population in Indonesia
Hunting and habitat loss harm the critically endangered Sulawesi black macaque, but new research shows the population has stabilized in the past decade.
January 22, 2013
Brain structure of infants predicts language skills at 1 year
Researchers at UW’s Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences have found that the anatomy of certain brain areas – the hippocampus and cerebellum – can predict children’s language abilities at 1 year of age.
January 17, 2013
Early signals warn of prolonged sports concussion symptoms
Researchers found little correlation between loss of consciousness and duration of concussion symptoms.
January 16, 2013
High school athletes take lead from coaches in reporting concussive symptoms
New laws in many states require school athletes to be taught about concussion, but education alone is ineffective if it does not translate into students reporting possible symptoms.
January 15, 2013
International study: Where there’s smoke or smog, there’s climate change
A new international assessment found that soot, or black carbon, is a major contributor to global warming — second only to carbon dioxide.
January 14, 2013
Salmon runs boom, go bust over centuries
Salmon runs are notoriously variable: strong one year, and weak the next. New research shows that the same may be true from one century to the next.
Potential harvest of most fish stocks largely unrelated to abundance
Fisheries managers should sharpen their ability to spot environmental conditions that hamper or help fish stocks, and not assume that abundance translates to sustainable harvest.
January 10, 2013
Multiple sclerosis study reveals how killer T cells learn to recognize nerve fiber insulators
Misguided killer T cells may be the missing link in sustained tissue damage in the brains and spines of people with multiple sclerosis, research in immunologist Joan Goverman’s lab suggests.
Life possible on extrasolar moons
Exomoons, or moons orbiting planets outside the solar system, might be as good candidates for life as exoplanets, research shows.
January 7, 2013
University of Washington selects Azita Emami as dean of School of Nursing
Azita Emami, dean of the College of Nursing at Seattle University, will be the new dean of the UW School of Nursing.
January 2, 2013
While in womb, babies begin learning language from their mothers
Babies only hours old are able to differentiate between sounds from their native language and a foreign language, scientists have discovered. The study indicates that babies begin absorbing language while still in the womb, earlier than previously thought.
December 31, 2012
Study shows naloxone kits cost-effective in preventing overdose deaths
Giving heroin users kits with the overdose antidote naloxone can help save lives. Efforts are under way to make similar kits available for prescription opioid users.
In rain and snow at home, Seahawks much more likely to win
The Seahawks win four times as many home games as they lose when the weather is inclement, compared to less than two to one when it’s not.
December 27, 2012
Academic medicine has major economic impact on the state and the nation
The Association of American Medical Colleges reports that its member medical schools and teaching hospitals had a combined economic impact of more than $587 billion in the United States in 2011
December 26, 2012
Piranha kin wielded dental weaponry even T. rex would have admired — with video
Taking into consideration size, an ancient relative of piranhas weighing about 20 pounds delivered a bite with more force than prehistoric whale-eating sharks or – even – Tyrannosaurus rex.
For New Year’s resolutions to stick, plan ahead
This year, for sure, you will lose weight, quit smoking, drink less, learn a new language, get a better job, and travel to exotic lands. And of course you’re going to eat better, stress less and create (and stick to) a household budget – all while spending more time with the family. It’s gonna happen!…
December 21, 2012
Training Xchange puts UW research advances into practitioners’ hands
The UW is expanding its Training Xchange initiative to help researchers transmit innovations in healthcare and other fields to professionals locally and beyond the Northwest.
December 20, 2012
Mild brain cooling after head injury prevents epileptic seizures in lab study
Traumatic head injury is the leading cause of acquired epilepsy in young adults, and at present there is no treatment to prevent or cure it.
December 19, 2012
American Academy of Pediatrics issues policy statement on pesticide exposure in children
Chronic low levels of pesticides are detrimental to children’s health: evidence suggests they may induce neurodevelopmental and behavioral problems, birth defects, asthma and cancer.
December 18, 2012
Delta Dental/Washington Dental Service gives $1.15 million to transform education of dentists
Under new dean Dr. Joel Berg the school has launched a plan to revamp its clinical education and curriculum.
December 17, 2012
Plumes across the Pacific deliver thousands of microbial species to West Coast
Microorganisms – 99 percent more kinds than had been reported in findings published just four months ago – are hitching rides in the upper troposphere from Asia.
December 14, 2012
U-Village’s glassybaby assists UW Medical Center cancer patients
Art business owner created White Light Fund to defray incidental costs, like car fare, for people receiving cancer treatment.
December 13, 2012
Energy Dept. funds UW project to turn wasted natural gas into diesel
The U.S. Department of Energy this month awarded $4 million to a team, led by UW chemical engineers, that aims to develop bacteria to turn the methane in natural gas into diesel fuel for transportation.
Dark Ages scourge enlightens modern struggle between man and microbes
Discoveries reported today help explain how the stealthy agent of Black Death avoids tripping a self-destruct mechanism inside germ-destroying cells.
December 12, 2012
Intracranial pressure monitoring for traumatic brain injury questioned
Researchers in United States and Latin America re-examine standard of care for severe head injury.
December 10, 2012
Do we live in a computer simulation? UW researchers say idea can be tested
A British philosopher once suggested the possibility that our universe might be a computer simulation run by our descendants. A team of physicists at UW has devised a potential test to see if the idea has merit.
December 7, 2012
Crowdsourcing site compiles new sign language for math and science
The ASL-STEM Forum is a crowdsourcing project, similar to Wikipedia or the Urban Dictionary, that creates a new sign language for the latest scientific and technical terms.
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