UW News
The latest news from the UW
September 13, 2023
Battery-free robots use origami to change shape in mid-air
UW researchers developed small robotic devices that can change how they move through the air by “snapping” into a folded position during their descent.
Tag(s): College of Engineering • Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering • Department of Mechanical Engineering • Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering • Vikram IyerSeptember 12, 2023
Fall snow levels can predict a season’s total snowpack in some western states
Research led by the UW found that, in some western states, the amount of snow already on the ground by the end of December is a good predictor of how much total snow that area will get.
Tag(s): College of Engineering • Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering • Jessica Lundquist • snowSeptember 11, 2023
Q&A: New book examines intersection between climate and information crises
Adrienne Russell, professor of communication at the University of Washington, examines in her new book how journalism, activism, corporations and Big Tech battle to influence the public about climate change.
Tag(s): Adrienne Russell • College of Arts & Sciences • Department of CommunicationSeptember 8, 2023
UW a lead partner on new NSF-funded earthquake research center
The University of Washington is a lead partner on a new multi-institution earthquake research center that will study the Cascadia subduction zone and bolster earthquake preparedness in the Pacific Northwest and beyond.
Tag(s): Brendan Crowell • College of the Environment • Department of Earth and Space Sciences • earthquakes • earthquakes & seismology • Harold Tobin • population health • School of OceanographySeptember 7, 2023
Video: New hives at UW Farm welcome us to ‘bee curious’
The UW Farm welcomed an addition this spring: two bee hives in an apiary on the south side of the Center for Urban Horticulture. The hives will serve as a teaching tool for students who want to know more about agriculture and the function of pollinators in the ecosystem.
Tag(s): Center for Urban Horticulture • Kurt Sahl • Perry Acworth • UW Farm
UW claims top 3 spots on ‘Best Value’ list for Washington state; UW also ranks high on national list for educational and public impact
The University of Washington has been recognized on two lists that measure impact on students and communities. The UW placed third in the nation among public universities on the Washington Monthly 2023 National University Rankings, which ranks the school’s impact on its graduates and the nation. In a separate ranking, all three UW campuses topped the state for best value, according to SmartAsset, a financial services portal.
Tag(s): Rankings • UW Bothell • UW Tacoma
UW assessment finds fentanyl and methamphetamine smoke linger on public transit vehicles
Two years ago, as life regained its rhythm and public transit once again filled with people, train and bus operators spotted a troubling trend. Some operators reported instances of people smoking drugs on their vehicles, and worried that the haze it created could linger, potentially affecting workers’ physical and mental health. Spurred by operators’ concerns,…
Tag(s): Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences • drug use • Marissa Baker • occupational health • School of Public HealthSeptember 6, 2023
A tax on menthol cigarettes would work better than statewide bans, UW study finds
New research from Simha Mummalaneni and Ali Goli, assistant professors of marketing in the University of Washington Foster School of Business, finds that a menthol cigarette tax is a preferable policy to scattered statewide bans.
Tag(s): Ali Goli • Foster School of Business • Simha Mummalaneni
Q&A: Older adults want more say in companion robots, AI and data collection
Clara Berridge, associate professor of social work at the University of Washington, discusses her research into how older adults feel about technology that’s marketed for their safety and security, such as location trackers and companion robots.
Tag(s): Clara Berridge • School of Social WorkSeptember 5, 2023
Public Notice: UWMC-Northwest Major Institution Master Plan SEPA Draft EIS
Project Name: UWMC-Northwest Major Institution Master Plan (MIMP) Proponent & Lead Agency: University of Washington Comment Period Closes: October 5, 2023 Description of Proposal: The UW Medical Center – Northwest Major Institution Master Plan will allow for space on the campus to accommodate projected population growth and corresponding increase in healthcare demands. It would also…
UW, Stanford launch resource to help health care professionals respond to climate concerns
The case studies in Medicine for a Changing Planet, collated from clinical encounters around the world, support health professionals in recognizing and treating a variety of health-related conditions that can be traced to environmental stressors.
Tag(s): Center for One Health Research • climate change • Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences • Michael Yost • Peter Rabinowitz • Population Health Initiative • School of Public Health • UW MedicineAugust 31, 2023
Study connects greenhouse gas emissions to polar bear population declines, enabling greater protections under Endangered Species Act
A new paper from the UW and Polar Bears International quantifies the relationship between greenhouse gas emissions and the survival of polar bear populations. The paper combines past research and new analysis to provide a quantitative link between greenhouse gas emissions and polar bear survival rates.
Tag(s): Cecilia Bitz • College of the Environment • Department of Atmospheric and Climate Science • polar scienceAugust 29, 2023
The University of Washington’s Presidential Scholars — investing in tomorrow’s leaders
Each year, the University of Washington reviews thousands of applications from students who want to pursue their undergraduate studies at the state’s flagship university.
Researchers prefer same-gender co-authors, UW study shows
A new study from the University of Washington and Cornell University shows researchers more likely to write scientific papers with co-authors of the same gender, a pattern that can’t be explained by varying gender representations across scientific disciplines and time.
Tag(s): Carl Bergstrom • Carole Lee • College of Arts & Sciences • Department of Biology • Department of Philosophy • Department of Statistics • Elena Erosheva • Information School • Jevin West • School of Social WorkAugust 28, 2023
UW research links wildfire smoke to increased risk of emergency room visits for people of all ages
Taken together, the two papers’ findings suggest that wildfire smoke poses a risk to people of all ages, not just young children and older adults.
Tag(s): climate change • ColLABorative on Extreme Event Resilience • Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences • public health • School of Public Health • Seattle Children's Hospital • wildfiresAugust 21, 2023
Statement from UW President Ana Mari Cauce on the departure of Jen Cohen, Director of Athletics
We’re grateful to Jennifer Cohen for her 25 years of outstanding service to the University of Washington, including the last seven years as the Director of Athletics. We wish her success in her next endeavor, and we thank her for all that she has done to make Husky Athletics a thriving program for our student-athletes and our global community of alumni, fans and supporters.
REBURN: A new tool to model wildfires in the Pacific Northwest and beyond
Researchers with the University of Washington and the U.S. Forest Service have developed a new tool, REBURN, that can simulate large forest landscapes and wildfire dynamics over decades or centuries under different wildfire management strategies. The model can simulate the consequences of extinguishing all wildfires regardless of size, which was done for much of the 20th century and has contributed to a rise in large and severe wildfires, or of allowing certain fires to return to uninhabited areas to help create a more “patchwork” forest structure that can help lessen fire severity. REBURN can also simulate conditions where more benign forest landscape dynamics have fully recovered in an area.
Tag(s): climate change • College of the Environment • Paul Hessburg • School of Environmental and Forest Sciences • Susan Prichard • wildfiresAugust 16, 2023
Q&A: As AI changes education, important conversations for kids still happen off-screen
Jason Yip, a UW associate professor in the Information School, discusses how parents and schools can adapt to new technologies in ways that support children’s learning.
Tag(s): artificial intelligence • education • Information School • Jason YipAugust 15, 2023
Ranking: UW among top 20 in the world, No. 3 in US publics
The University of Washington is No. 18 in the world — and No. 3 among U.S. public universities — on the 2023 Academic Ranking of World Universities, released Aug. 15.
Tag(s): RankingsAugust 14, 2023
These organizational changes can shake up company hierarchy
How people initially react to organizational change depends on their placement within their work groups’ status hierarchy, according to new research from Elijah Wee, assistant professor of management in the University of Washington Foster School of Business.
Tag(s): Elijah Wee • Foster School of Business
UW bioengineering researchers help create a roadmap to diversify faculty hiring
A team of biomedical researchers has developed a new method for hiring engineering professors. The primary goal is to actively recruit a more diverse group of applicants and improve the rate that doctoral students from historically excluded groups go on to become faculty members.
Tag(s): College of Engineering • Department of Bioengineering • Kelly Stevens • Patrick Boyle • School of MedicineAugust 10, 2023
Muon g-2 doubles down with latest measurement, explores uncharted territory in search of new physics
A particle physics experiment decades in the making — the Muon g-2 experiment — looks increasingly like it might set up a showdown over whether there are fundamental particles or forces in the universe that are unaccounted for in the current Standard Model. On Aug. 10, the international team of scientists behind Muon g-2 — pronounced “g minus 2” — released the world’s most precise measurement yet of the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon. Calculating the muon’s magnetic moment at a high precision will indicate whether it is interacting solely with the particles and forces known today, or if unknown particles or forces are out there.
Tag(s): Center for Experimental Nuclear Physics and Astrophysics • College of Arts & Sciences • David Hertzog • Department of PhysicsAugust 9, 2023
In the Field: UW team to spend six weeks visiting deep-ocean observatory
Twenty-five undergraduates are among the participants on a 41-day cruise off the Oregon coast aboard the UW’s large research vessel, the R/V Thomas G. Thompson. Principal investigator Deborah Kelley, professor of oceanography, answers questions about the expedition to visit and maintain the cabled ocean observatory.
Tag(s): College of the Environment • Deborah Kelley • In the Field • Ocean Observatories Initiative • oceanography • School of OceanographyAugust 4, 2023
University of Washington will join the Big Ten Conference in 2024
The University of Washington will join the Big Ten Conference, leaving the Pac-12 Conference, effective in August 2024, UW President Ana Mari Cauce announced Friday.
Tag(s): Ana Mari Cauce • UW AthleticsJuly 31, 2023
New algorithm ensnares its first ‘potentially hazardous’ asteroid
An asteroid discovery algorithm — designed to uncover near-Earth asteroids for the Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s upcoming 10-year survey of the night sky — has identified its first “potentially hazardous” asteroid, a term for space rocks in Earth’s vicinity that scientists like to keep an eye on. The roughly 600-foot-long asteroid, designated 2022 SF289, was discovered during a test drive of the algorithm with the ATLAS survey in Hawaii. Finding 2022 SF289, which poses no risk to Earth for the foreseeable future, confirms that the next-generation algorithm, known as HelioLinc3D, can identify near-Earth asteroids with fewer and more dispersed observations than required by today’s methods. That is important because, though scientists know of more than 2,000 near-Earth asteroids, they estimate that another 3,000 await discovery!
Tag(s): astronomy & astrophysics • College of Arts & Sciences • Department of Astronomy • DIRAC Institute • Mario JuricJuly 27, 2023
Q&A: UW researcher discusses just how much energy ChatGPT uses
Training a large language model, such as ChatGPT, uses on average roughly equivalent to the yearly electricity consumption of over 1,000 U.S. households, according to Sajjad Moazeni, UW assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, who studies networking for AI and machine learning supercomputing.
Tag(s): artificial intelligence • College of Engineering • Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering • Sajjad MoazeniJuly 24, 2023
With a new app, smart devices can have GPS underwater
A team at the University of Washington has developed the first underwater 3D-positioning app for smart devices. When at least three divers are within about 98 feet of each other, the app tracks each user’s location relative to the leader.
Tag(s): College of Engineering • Justin Chan • Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering • Shyam Gollakota • Tuochao ChenJuly 19, 2023
Researchers put a new twist on graphite
A team led by researchers at the University of Washington reports that it is possible to imbue graphite — the bulk, 3D material found in No. 2 pencils – with physical properties similar to graphite’s 2D counterpart, graphene. Not only was this breakthrough unexpected, the team also believes its approach could be used to test whether similar types of bulk materials can also take on 2D-like properties. If so, 2D sheets won’t be the only source for scientists to fuel technological revolutions. Bulk, 3D materials could be just as useful.
Tag(s): Clean Energy Institute • College of Arts & Sciences • College of Engineering • Department of Materials Science & Engineering • Department of Physics • Institute for Nano-Engineered Systems • Matthew YankowitzJuly 18, 2023
Q&A: UW pharmacy professor Donald Downing on the over-the-counter birth control pill
On July 13, the Food and Drug Administration approved for the first time an over-the-counter birth control pill, expected to hit shelves in early 2024. The approval of the oral contraceptive Opill could drastically expand access to birth control, which for decades has been available only through a prescription. It’s a rare victory for reproductive…
Tag(s): birth control • reproductive rights • School of Pharmacy
Eight UW professors elected to Washington State Academy of Sciences
The Academy said members are elected “in recognition of their outstanding record of scientific and technical achievement, and their willingness to work on behalf of the Academy to bring the best available science to bear on issues within the state of Washington.”
Tag(s): Betty Bekemeier • Center for Studies in Demography & Ecology • College of Engineering • Corie Cobb • Foster School of Business • Jackson School of International Studies • Jesse Bloom • Mehran Mesbahi • PacTrans • Provost Office • Sara Curran • School of Nursing • Washington State Academy of Sciences • Yinhai Wang • Yong Tan
Learning from superheroes and AI: UW researchers study how a chatbot can teach kids supportive self-talk
Researchers at the University of Washington created a new audio chatbot, Self-Talk with Superhero Zip, aimed to help children speak positively to themselves. This chatbot is “a ‘Sesame Street’ experience for a smart speaker.”
Tag(s): Alexis Hiniker • Chris (Yue) Fu • Information SchoolJuly 10, 2023
New biodegradable plastics are compostable in your backyard
A team led by researchers at the University of Washington has developed new bioplastics that degrade on the same timescale as a banana peel in a backyard compost bin.
Tag(s): biomaterials • College of Engineering • Department of Materials Science & Engineering • Eleftheria Roumeli • Hareesh Iyer
UW-developed dental lozenge could provide permanent treatment for tooth sensitivity
The solution builds new mineral microlayers that penetrate deep into the tooth to create effective, long-lasting natural protection. It could provide easily accessible relief for the millions of adults worldwide who suffer from tooth sensitivity.
Tag(s): CoMotion • Department of Materials Science & Engineering • Genetically Engineered Materials Sciences & Engineering Center • oral health • Restorative Dentistry • Sami Dogan • School of DentistryJuly 6, 2023
Marine heat waves caused mass seabird die-offs, beach surveys show
New research led by the University of Washington uses data collected by coastal residents along beaches from central California to Alaska to understand how seabirds have fared in recent decades. The paper, published July 6 in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series, shows that persistent marine heat waves lead to massive seabird die-offs months later.
Tag(s): COASST • College of the Environment • Julia Parrish • School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences • Timothy JonesJuly 5, 2023
Research led by UW undergrad shows ultrafine air pollution reflects Seattle’s redlining history
The most comprehensive study yet of long-term ultrafine particle exposure found that concentrations of this tiny pollutant reflect the city’s decades-old racial and economic divides.
Tag(s): air quality • bias & discrimination • Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences • Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering • Lianne Sheppard • pollution • SURE-EHJune 29, 2023
Statement from UW President Ana Mari Cauce on the Supreme Court’s affirmative action decisions
A statement from University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce on the United States Supreme Court decisions Thursday striking down the consideration of race in college admissions.
Tag(s): Ana Mari CauceJune 28, 2023
New faculty books: Story of oysters, Cherokee oral history, moral contradictions of religion
Three new faculty books from the University of Washington cover wide-ranging topics: oysters, the moral contradictions of religion, and Cherokee creature names and environmental relationships.
Tag(s): Christopher Teuton • College of Arts & Sciences • College of the Environment • David George Gordon • Department of American Indian Studies • Department of Political Science • Mark Smith • MaryAnn Wagner • Samantha Larson • Washington Sea GrantJune 27, 2023
Researchers make a quantum computing leap with a magnetic twist
A team led by scientists and engineers at the University of Washington has announced a significant advancement in developing fault-tolerant qubits for quantum computing. In a pair of papers published June 14 in Nature and June 22 in Science, they report that, in experiments with flakes of semiconductor materials — each only a single layer of atoms thick — they detected signatures of “fractional quantum anomalous Hall” (FQAH) states. The team’s discoveries mark a first and promising step in constructing a type of fault-tolerant qubit because FQAH states can host anyons — strange “quasiparticles” that have only a fraction of an electron’s charge. Some types of anyons can be used to make what are called “topologically protected” qubits, which are stable against any small, local disturbances.
Tag(s): Clean Energy Institute • College of Arts & Sciences • College of Engineering • Department of Materials Science & Engineering • Department of Physics • Institute for Nano-Engineered Systems • Molecular Engineering & Sciences Institute • Xiaodong XuJune 26, 2023
New report, tool suggest how Washington can better protect against extreme heat
Two years after the Pacific Northwest heat dome — the deadliest weather-related disaster in state history — a collaborative effort has drawn up recommendations for how people and groups across the state could prevent future heat-related illness and save lives. The effort involves a report led by the UW Climate Impacts Group and an interactive risk-mapping tool led by the UW Center for Health and the Global Environment,
Tag(s): Center for Health and the Global Environment • Climate Impacts Group • College of the Environment • EarthLab • Jeremy Hess • population health • School of Public HealthJune 21, 2023
An app can transform smartphones into thermometers that accurately detect fevers
A team led by researchers at the University of Washington has created an app called FeverPhone, which transforms smartphones into thermometers without adding new hardware.
Tag(s): College of Engineering • Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering • Department of Emergency Medicine • Joseph Breda • Mastafa Springston • Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering • population health • School of Medicine • Shwetak Patel« Previous Page Next Page »
