Mosquitoes are increasingly becoming resistant to current insecticides, leading to a pressing need for new methods to prevent mosquito bites — and the potential transmission of disease. New research by an international team, including researchers at the UW, reveals that Aedes aegypti mosquitoes use a specific sensory receptor to detect and avoid borneol (pronounced “bor-nee-ohl”), an organic compound found in several aromatic plants, including camphor trees, rosemary and other aromatic herbs.
Researchers tracked ravens and wolves in Yellowstone National Park for two and half years to show that ravens do not follow wolves to scavenge their prey but instead remember where wolves often kill and monitor these sites for fresh meat.
An oddly-behaving star led two UW astronomers to capture rare evidence of a collision between two planets in a distant solar system. The discovery could aid scientists in their search for worlds similar to our own.
Spring is here, which in Seattle, means cherry blossoms. The UW’s iconic display — featuring 29 Yoshino cherry trees — is set to peak around March 20 this year. Check out the cherry blossom visitors’ website to learn more.
Researchers at UW and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are simulating something in the lab that they hope will rarely happen in the wild: a collision between underwater turbines and marine animals.
Forest managers in the eastern Cascades selectively thin forests to promote wildfire resilience. New research from the UW shows that the same process can also increase seasonal snowpack, providing some relief to drought-prone areas throughout central Washington.
A new study examining 13 years of ground motion data from sites near the Cascadia Subduction Zone shows that the entirety of the fault may not be as tightly locked as researchers thought, which could change our understanding of how a big earthquake might hit the Pacific Northwest.
A team led by University of Washington researchers has created DopFone, a system that uses an off-the-shelf smartphone’s existing speaker and microphone to accurately estimate fetal heart rate. The phone mimics a Doppler ultrasound, emitting a tone and listening for the subtle variations in its echo caused by fetal heart beats. A machine learning model then estimates the heart rate.
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory has issued its first real-time alerts of changes in the night sky. The ultrafast alerting system, developed at the UW, will eventually detect up to seven million changes in the cosmos every night and notify scientists around the world.
The peer review process in scientific publishing has reached a critical point where there are too many manuscript submissions and not enough peer reviewers. UW News asked Carl Bergstrom, University of Washington professor of biology, and Kevin Gross, North Carolina State University professor of statistics, to describe this self-perpetuating cycle and potential interventions.
Last December was the warmest on record for Washington, according to the Washington State Climate Office. Now many plants in our gardens are beginning to bud, even though it’s only February. UW News asked Takato Imaizumi, UW professor of biology, to talk about the mechanisms behind blooming and how warmer winters might impact flowering plants.
A recent documentary about the breeding habits of antelopes in India includes the story of how engaging with artists and local communities can help researchers share the importance of their work. UW News asked Vivek Hari Sridhar, a UW assistant professor of biology and one of the leaders of the project, for details about the project and the documentary.
NASA announced on Thursday last week that both the University of Washington STRIVE team and the UW-affiliated EDGE team were selected to lead satellite missions to better understand Earth and improve capabilities to foresee environmental events and mitigate disasters.
A University of Washington study shows that existing models underestimate methane loss in the stratosphere and generate uncertainty in the global methane budget — a key metric for tracking climate change.
UW News spoke with Lauren Buckley, University of Washington professor of biology, to learn about “functional resurvey” experiments and what they can tell us about how organisms change over time.
A UW and Ai2 research team built OpenScholar, an open-source AI model designed specifically to synthesize current scientific research. In tests, OpenScholar cited sources as accurately as human experts, and 16 scientists preferred its response to those written by subject experts 51% of the time.
New research supported by Yingjie Cheng, a University of Washington postdoctoral researcher in astronomy, uncovered a contender for one of the earliest observed spiral galaxies containing a stellar bar — a notable visual feature that can play an important role in the evolution of a galaxy.
A new smart glove from the UW Wearable Intelligence Lab could help physical therapy patients track progress and train robotic hands to grasp.
A team led by University of Washington astronomers has discovered the fastest-ever spinning asteroid with a diameter over half a kilometer.
Lucas Meza, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Washington, started his lab to build a new generation of tough and light nanomaterials inspired by natural materials like wood, shell and bone. Instead, he discovered “big gaps” in our basic understanding of what makes a material tough or brittle. Meza spoke to UW News about his strange and surprising journey into the nano realm.
University of Washington researchers show that wildfire is increasingly impacting lands managed under the Northwest Forest Plan, a seminal measure enacted in 1994 to preserve habitat for endangered species.
Rivers cover more than 4 million miles of the U.S., but protections for rivers are piecemeal, accounting for less than 20% of total river length and varying widely by region, shows a new study co-led by the University of Washington.
UW researchers analyzed the checkout data from the last 20 years of the 93 authors included in the post-1945 volume of “The Norton Anthology of American Literature,” which is assigned in U.S. English classes more than any other anthology. Sci-fi was especially popular.
The American Geophysical Union honored five University of Washington faculty and researchers from the departments of Earth and space sciences and atmospheric and climate science this week for their valuable researcher contributions.
More than a decade ago, data from the Cassini mission to Saturn suggested that the planet’s largest moon, Titan, had a vast ocean of liquid water below its frozen surface. In a new study, UW researchers teamed up with NASA scientists to show that the interior is likely composed of slushy layers instead.
New research led by the University of Washington suggests that two different climate transitions millions of years ago fueled the diversification of carnivoran body plans.
New research from the UW and the Toyota Research Institute explores how drivers trade off between cognitive tasks, driving and using the vehicle’s touch screen. Researchers placed participants in a driving simulator and had them complete memory tests while interacting with the simulator’s touch screen.
The WIC program provides families food in specific categories. New research finds that households who redeem more of their benefits in the most popular food categories are more likely to remain in the program long-term.
A new University of Washington study suggests that AI could learn cultural values by observing human behavior, similar to how children learn by watching and interacting with adults. Researchers had AI systems observe two cultural groups playing a video game. The AI systems were able to learn each group’s degree of altruism and apply this to a new situation.
Researchers at the UW have developed AI-powered headphones that automatically isolate conversation partners in a noisy soundscape. The system employs AI models that listen for the back-and-forth pattern of conversation and mute voices that aren’t following the established rhythm.
Research led by the University of Washington and Kaiser Permanente Southern California sheds new light on how the 2025 Los Angeles fires affected people’s health, and how people navigated the health care system during an emergency.
In a new study, University of Washington researchers collected salmon DNA in air filters near a stream, showing that eDNA can move between air and water, a possibility scientists hadn’t accounted for that opens new avenues for monitoring aquatic species.
“The Memory of Darkness, Light and Ice” — a documentary film featuring Eric Steig, a UW professor of Earth and space sciences — tells the story of a U.S. military and research base established in Greenland during the Cold War, and how the samples collected there are driving modern climate science. The film is now available on YouTube, Apple TV and Amazon Prime.
A new study from Abhinav Gupta, professor of management in the University of Washington Foster School of Business, reveals that traumatic events can significantly dampen organizational risk-taking.T he findings challenge the long-standing view that decision-makers are largely rational, emotionless actors. The research instead shows that emotional experiences in the broader community can spill over into the workplace.
The green hermit hummingbird, which lives primarily in mountain forests of Central and South America, fights to win a mate. New research found that these fights have shaped the species’ evolution, yielding significant differences in bill shape for male and female green hermits.
The Northeastern Pacific Ocean is becoming more acidic faster than other oceans as the water absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and natural processes feed carbon dioxide up from the deep. The rate of CO2 accumulation is outpacing atmospheric rises and driving acidity to new extremes.
In a new UW study, 528 participants worked with simulated AI systems to select job candidates. The researchers simulated different levels of racial biases for resumes from white, Black, Hispanic and Asian men. Without suggestions, participants’ choices exhibited little bias. But when provided with recommendations, participants mirrored the AI’s biases.
A new University of Washington-led study shows that space dust sandwiched between layers of sediment tells scientists where and when ice covered the Arctic, and what happened to marine life when it disappeared.
In mid-pregnancy, exposure to any smoke was associated with an elevated risk of preterm birth, with that risk peaking around the 21st week of gestation. In late pregnancy, elevated risk was most closely associated with exposure to high concentrations of wildfire PM2.5, above 10 micrograms per cubic meter.
In the wake of One Ocean Week Seattle, participating University of Washington researchers share highlights, connecting the week’s events to ongoing efforts to understand and protect marine ecosystems and coastal communities.