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The latest news from the UW

September 15, 1997

University of Washington scientists look for cellular clues to explain how estrogen replacement therapy may protect against Alzheimer’s disease

Among its many salutary effects, estrogen seems to protect the brain against the ravages of Alzheimer’s disease: numerous clinical studies support that finding. But how does it accomplish this feat? Researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle are involved in a number of basic-science studies that are beginning to provide answers.

Discovery of a shiny marine fossil is latest evidence that British Columbia was once part of Baja California

Small sea creatures that have lain in pristine condition for eons have given a University of Washington researcher the clearest evidence yet that about 80 million years ago a southern landmass began migrating to the north. And what today are rainy British Columbia and chilly southern Alaska were once the sunny climes of Baja California.

Discovery of a shiny marine fossil is latest evidence that British Columbia was once part of Baja California

Small sea creatures that have lain in pristine condition for eons have given a University of Washington researcher the clearest evidence yet that about 80 million years ago a southern landmass began migrating to the north. And what today are rainy British Columbia and chilly southern Alaska were once the sunny climes of Baja California.

White House honors UW program for mentoring students with disabilities

The University of Washington’s Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking and Technology Program, which has enlisted scientific luminaries such as British physicist Stephen Hawking to encourage teenagers with disabilities to pursue careers in technical fields, has won a 1997 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring.

August 29, 1997

UW sensors take chemical analysis out of lab and into the field

Doctors needing chemical analyses such as blood tests to make life-saving diagnosis and treatment decisions soon won’t have to lose precious time waiting for results to come back from the lab. New hand-held sensor technology developed at the University of Washington will allow physicians to bring a sophisticated “laboratory” directly to their patients for instant, on-site chemical analysis.

August 18, 1997

Is same-sex marriage the death-knell for matrimony?

Reports of the death of American marriage, like the famous pronouncement of Mark Twain’s early demise, may be premature. But exactly where the state of matrimony is headed in the wake of the Hawaiian same-sex marriage case is a question a University of Washington sociologist and commentator on mores will explore when she participates in a symposium at noon today (Aug. 18) in the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers.

August 1, 1997

UW smogmobile is cleaner, safer alternative to gas or electric cars

When engineers at the University of Washington set out to create a vehicle that is cleaner and safer to operate than gas or electric cars, they jokingly named it the smogmobile after a L’il Abner cartoon depicting a car fueled by air pollution. But the vehicle developed by the UW team almost lives up to its name. Running on liquid nitrogen, the smogmobile generates no harmful emissions and actually creates an opportunity for pollutants to be removed from the air as its fuel is produced.

July 31, 1997

Orcas Island Medical Center becomes a family medicine teaching site for the University of Washington School of Medicine.

What’s it like to practice family medicine on a small, rural island in Puget Sound,where the nearest hospital, on the mainland, can be reached only by sea or sky? Some University of Washington (UW) third-year medical students now have the opportunity to find out.