News releases
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.
Greenland ice sheet carries evidence of increased atmospheric acidity
Research suggests rising atmospheric acidity is probably why levels of the isotope nitrogen-15 in Greenland ice samples dropped around the time of the Industrial Revolution.
December 6, 2012
Moths wired two ways to take advantage of floral potluck
Moths are able to enjoy a pollinator’s buffet of flowers because of two distinct “channels” in their brains, scientists have discovered.
December 4, 2012
Crowdsourcing the cosmos: Astronomers welcome all to identify star clusters in Andromeda galaxy
Astronomers are inviting the public to search Hubble Space Telescope images of the Andromeda galaxy to help identify star clusters and increase understanding of how galaxies evolve. The new Andromeda Project, set to study thousands of high-resolution Hubble images, is a collaboration among scientists at the University of Washington, the University of Utah and several…
Scientists find oldest dinosaur – or closest relative yet
Researchers have discovered what may be the earliest dinosaur, a creature the size of a Labrador retriever, but with a five foot-long tail, that walked the Earth about 10 million years before more familiar dinosaurs.
December 3, 2012
Russian Far East holds seismic hazards that could threaten Pacific Basin
The Kamchatka Peninsula and Kuril Islands, long shrouded in secrecy by the Soviet government, are a seismic and volcanic hotbed with a potential to trigger tsunamis that pose a risk to the rest of the Pacific Basin.
November 30, 2012
Electrically spun fabric offers dual defense against pregnancy, HIV
Electrically spun cloth with nanometer-sized fibers show promise as a cheap, versatile platform to simultaneously offer contraception and prevent HIV. New funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will further test the system’s versatility and feasibility.
November 29, 2012
Rules devised for building ideal protein molecules from scratch
These principles could allow scientists to custom-make, rather than re-purpose, protein molecules for vaccines, drugs, and industrial and environmental uses.
International study provides more solid measure of shrinking in polar ice sheets
Climatologists have reconciled their measurements of ice loss in Antarctica and Greenland during the past two decades. A second article looks at how to monitor and understand accelerating losses from the planet’s two largest continental ice sheets.
November 28, 2012
Harmful protein-coding mutations in people arose largely in the past 5,000 to 10,000 years
The spectrum of human genetic diversity today is vastly different than what it was only 200 to 400 generations ago.
Hungry salmon a problem for restoration efforts
Food webs needed by young salmon in the Columbia River basin are likely compromised in places, something that should be considered when prioritizing expensive restoration activities.
November 21, 2012
UW rates gold in sustainability assessment, strongest performer in Pac-12
The UW has the strongest sustainability performance in the Pac-12 according to a new rating system.
November 19, 2012
Mutations in genes that modify DNA packaging result in form of muscular dystrophy
Studying the molecular basis of progressive muscle weakness may lead to therapies to prevent or reduce symptoms.
November 14, 2012
Power, work struggles in Bangladesh households linked to domestic violence
In Bangladesh as elsewhere, women are empowered by working outside the home. But new research from the University of Washington shows such work can also increase the threat of domestic violence for some Bangladeshi wives. The study brings to light how the South Asian nation is seeing a change in relations within the household, with…
November 13, 2012
Roots of deadly 2010 India flood identified; findings could improve warnings
UW researchers find the flash flood was set off by a string of unusual weather events similar to those that caused catastrophic U.S. floods in the 1970s.
November 9, 2012
UW Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics named for William E. Boeing
The UW Board of Regents yesterday approved a name change to the William E. Boeing Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics, recognizing the shared history of UW aeronautics and The Boeing Company, and honoring the man who launched them both.
November 8, 2012
Extra chromosome 21 removed from Down syndrome cell line
The approach could lead to cell therapy treatments for some of the blood-forming disorders that accompany the common genetic condition.
UW commemorates Veterans Day with ceremony, first-time award for alumni veteran
The University of Washington will commemorate Veterans Day with a ceremony at 11 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 11 near the Medal of Honor Memorial at the foot of Memorial Way.
Pamela Mitchell receives American Heart Association’s highest nursing award
Mitchell, honored for her work with stroke survivors, is involved in improving the lives of cardiovascular disease patients who have depression.
November 5, 2012
Home sales, median prices up in Washington; affordability slips
Washington state’s housing market continued to improve during the third quarter of 2012 as median selling prices and the number of homes sold both increased, according to the Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies at the University of Washington. Existing home sales increased 3.4 percent from the second quarter, to seasonally adjusted annual rate of…
October 29, 2012
Early autism intervention improves brain responses to social cues
An autism intervention program that emphasizes social interactions improves cognitive skills and brain responses to faces, the first demonstration that an intensive behavioral intervention can change brain function in toddlers with autism.
October 25, 2012
Students win $100K for 3-D printer to turn waste plastic into composting toilets, rainwater harvesting systems
Three undergraduates won $100,000 to form a company that will work with partners in Oaxaca, Mexico, to build machines that can transform waste plastic into composting toilets and pieces for rainwater harvesting systems.
October 22, 2012
Friendship 2.0: Teens’ technology use promotes sense of belonging, identity
A new study from the University of Washington shows that digital media helps teens reach developmental milestones, but raises questions about whether digital connectedness might hinder the development of an autonomous sense of self.
October 18, 2012
President Young launches new initiative to lead change in higher education and address major societal issues
University of Washington President Michael K. Young today announced a new initiative aimed at advancing the university’s teaching, research and service to meet the major challenges of the 21st century. The initiative, called “Tomorrow’s University Today,” will focus on three key areas: leading change in public higher education, addressing critical societal problems like sustainability, health…
2012 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry Brian Kobilka will speak at UW Oct. 23
The Stanford University faculty member will talk about a group of cell membrane receptors that are crucial for emotion, behavior, memory, vision, motion and many other activities. About 40 percent of medications act via these receptors.
October 17, 2012
Scientists building crowdsourced encyclopedia to further Puget Sound recovery
Representatives of the Encyclopedia of Earth and the Encyclopedia of Life will be on the University of Washington campus Wednesday, Oct. 24, for the public launch of an encyclopedia unique to Puget Sound.
Living Voters Guide adds fact-checking by Seattle librarians for 2012 election
The Living Voters Guide, created by the UW and presented with Seattle’s CityClub, just won a regional award and has been updated for the 2012 election. This year the guide has expanded to include a California edition, and the Washington guide will include fact-checking of selected points by Seattle Public Library staff.
October 16, 2012
Marriage, education can help improve well-being of adults abused as children
Researchers investigating the long-term consequences of child abuse have identified some protective factors that can improve the health of victims during their adulthood.
October 11, 2012
UW research ranks fourth among world universities
Rankings released by National Taiwan University places the UW fourth among the world’s universities and first among American public universities in scientific research.
Mug handles could help hot plasma give lower-cost, controllable fusion energy
New hardware lets engineers maintain the plasma used in fusion reactors in an energy-efficient, stable manner, making the system potentially attractive for use in fusion power plants.
October 8, 2012
‘Food deserts’ abound in King County for those without cars, UW study shows
King County has no substantial food deserts, provided one has a car. Take away the car, however, and food deserts — areas where low-income people have limited access to low-cost, nutritious food — appear to fill the county map. New research from the University of Washington, published in the American Journal of Public Health, shows…
October 2, 2012
Sticky paper offers cheap, easy solution for paper-based diagnostics
Global health researchers are working on cheap systems like a home-based pregnancy test that might work for malaria, diabetes or other diseases. A new chemical technique makes medically interesting molecules stick to regular paper — a possible route to building such paper-based diagnostics from paper you could buy at an office-supply store.
UW scientists team with Coast Guard to explore ice-free Arctic Ocean
UW scientists are teaming with the U.S. Coast Guard to study the new frontier in the Arctic Ocean opened up with the melting ice.
‘A-game’ strategies for parents, coaches in youth sports
Parents typically are the biggest headaches for coaches in youth sports. In two new books, UW psychology professors share strategies to help parents and coaches work together to help kids get more out of sports.
Previous page Next page
