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The latest news from the UW

January 29, 2019

ArtsUW Roundup: Call for singers to perform with Tanya Tagaq, recital with Craig Sheppard and Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir, and more

This week in the arts, perform on stage with Tanya Tagaq at the Meany Center for the Performing Arts, experience Beethoven for cello and piano at a faculty recital, attend a lecture with New York-based Artist Amy O’Neill,  catch one of the last performances of Rutherford and Son, and more!   Faculty Recital: Craig Sheppard, piano, and Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir, cello January 31, 7:30 PM | Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater Faculty colleagues Craig Sheppard, piano, and Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir, cello, conclude their cycle…

Organizations come together to show support for suicide prevention

Community impact and public health solutions are the focus of the Forefront Suicide Prevention Education Day, to be held Feb. 11 at the Washington Capitol in Olympia. Forefront, based at the UW School of Social Work, is leading the event, a series of speakers and events aimed at raising awareness, providing training and pushing for change.

UW’s Stroum Center affiliates present on Holocaust, Ladino archives and more at 50th anniversary Jewish studies conference

The Stroum Center for Jewish Studies, in the UW Jackson School of International Studies, was well represented at the 50th annual conference of the Association for Jewish Studies Dec. 16-18 in Boston.

First-of-its-kind center hosts tools to analyze the effects of natural disasters

A center housed at the University of Washington offers a new way for scientists to get their hands on state-of-the-art equipment to study the effects of natural disasters. The RAPID Facility, which is the first of its kind in the world, contains over 300 instruments that are available for researchers around the world to use.

January 22, 2019

ArtsUW Roundup: Opening of Rutherford and Son, Faculty Dance Concert, and more.

This week in the arts, attend a lecture about Asian porcelain near the Red Sea in the early eighteenth century, catch the first night of Rutherford and Son, listen to the UW Symphony and Seattle Symphony together at Benaroya Hall, and experience the Faculty Dance Concert, featuring choreographers Brian Brooks and Etienne Cakpo, plus four new works by UW dance faculty. Opening: Rutherford and Son January 23 to February 3 | Floyd and Delores Jones Playhouse London, 1912: Rutherford and Son, a…

UW books in brief: Healthy travel, Hebrew in America, principals supporting teachers and more

  Recent notable books by University of Washington faculty members explore the importance of Hebrew to modern America, remember the 1919 Seattle General Strike and look at issues in education, among other topics. Practical advice for healthy travel, near or far A new book by Dr. Christopher Sanford offers simple, practical recommendations for those traveling near or far, short or long term, for work or recreation, to “destinations ranging from rural areas to large cities, in both developing and industrialized…

Forefront, UW Tacoma receive Boeing grants for veteran career services, suicide prevention

Boeing has awarded $300,000 to Forefront Suicide Prevention and University of Washington Tacoma for work with veterans. Forefront, at the UW School of Social Work, received $205,000 to expand veteran-specific outreach, and UWT received $95,000 for career services for veterans.

January 16, 2019

Three awards from US Department of Energy to fuel UW solar cell research

Three teams led by University of Washington researchers — Scott Dunham, Hugh Hillhouse and Devin MacKenzie — have received competitive awards totaling more than $2.3 million from the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office for projects that will advance research and development in photovoltaic materials, which are an essential component of solar cells and impact the amount of sunlight that is converted into electricity.

ArtsUW Roundup: Guest Artist Recital, Preview and Opening of Rutherford and Son, and more

This week in the arts, partake in an exhibition opening with Danny Giles, the 2019 Jacob Lawrence Legacy Resident, attend the preview of a School of Drama production, and more! Guest Artist Recital Tony Cho, Piano and David Bowlin, Violin January 17, 7:30 PM| Brechmin Auditorium Oberlin Conservatory colleagues Tony Cho, piano, and David Bowlin, violin, perform duo arrangements of chamber music repertoire. Cho, a former piano student of UW professor Craig Sheppard, completed a DMA in piano performance at the…

January 15, 2019

Esports Arena & Gaming Lounge to open at University of Washington

Esports — the phenomenally popular world of competitive video games — soon will have a home at the University of Washington.

This spring, the UW’s Husky Union Building (HUB) will officially open the doors to the HUB Esports Arena & Gaming Lounge – a full-service, state-of-the-art gaming center that supports both casual and competitive gaming and virtual reality. The 1,000 square-foot space will serve as the epicenter between student communities, business communities and gaming culture in the Northwest.

Seattle bike share programs show infrequent helmet use, little disparity in access to bikes among neighborhoods

People riding free-floating bike share rentals in Seattle are wearing helmets infrequently, according to a new analysis conducted by University of Washington researchers. Only 20 percent of bike share riders wore helmets in the study, while more than 90 percent of cyclists wore helmets while riding their own bikes.

Different research on the free-floating bike share systems showed that bikes were usually available in all Seattle neighborhoods across economic, racial and ethnic lines. However, more bikes were located in more-advantaged neighborhoods.

January 10, 2019

Astronomers find signatures of a ‘messy’ star that made its companion go supernova

On Jan. 10 at the 2019 American Astronomical Society meeting in Seattle, an international team of astronomers announced that they have identified the type of companion star that made its partner in a binary system, a carbon-oxygen white dwarf star, explode. Through repeated observations of SN 2015cp, a supernova 545 million light years away, the team detected hydrogen-rich debris that the companion star had shed prior to the explosion.

Evans School researchers study options for possible Washington public bank

If Washington state were to establish a public bank, what type of bank might work best? One that can provide targeted products and services to local governments across the state, says a new report by UW researchers from the Evans School of Public Policy & Governance.

January 9, 2019

ARTSUW Roundup: Alonzo King Lines Ballet, Indigo Mist with Special Guest Bill Frisell, and more

This week in the arts, attend the first Critical Issues Lecture with Maria Nordman, go to a performance by UW Music faculty band, Indigo Mist, with renowned guitarist Bill Frisell, and more! Critical Issues Lecture Series: Maria Nordman January 10, 7:00 PM| Henry Art Gallery Maria Nordman, a German-American sculptor and conceptual artist, will deliver the first lecture of the Critical Issues Lecture Series, brought to you by the School of Art + Art History + Design with assistance from…

Minority Ph.D. students in STEM fare better with clear expectations, acceptance

Women and underrepresented minorities in STEM fields are more likely to advance professionally, publish more research and secure postdoctoral and faculty positions if their institutional culture is welcoming and sets clear expectations, according to a study of hundreds of Ph.D. students at four top-tier California research universities.

January 7, 2019

UW study: Long-term breastfeeding sheds light on whether an infant becomes right- or left-handed

Bottle feeding infants is associated with left-handedness, according to a new study from the University of Washington. The study found that the prevalence of left-handedness is lower among breastfed infants as compared to bottle-fed infants. This finding was identified in about 60,000 mother-infant pairs and accounted for known risk factors for handedness.

The number of single male Magellanic penguins is rising at this breeding colony. Here’s why.

Female Magellanic penguins are more likely to die at sea as juveniles, which has caused a skewed sex ratio of nearly three adult males to every female, as well as population decline of more than 40 percent since 1987 at one of their largest breeding colonies — Punta Tombo in Argentina.

How economic theory and the Netflix Prize could make research funding more efficient

In a paper published Jan. 2 in PLOS Biology, two scientists at the University of Washington and North Carolina State University use the economic theory of contests to illustrate how the competitive grant-application system has made the pursuit of research funding inefficient and unsustainable — and that alternative methods, such as a partial lottery to award grants, could relieve pressure on professors and free up time for research.

December 24, 2018

New global migration estimates show rates proportionally steady since 1990, high rate of return migration

Two University of Washington scientists have unveiled a new statistical method for estimating migration flows between countries. They show that rates of migration are higher than previously thought, but also relatively stable, fluctuating between 1.1 and 1.3 percent of global population from 1990 to 2015. In addition, since 1990 approximately 45 percent of migrants have returned to their home countries, a much higher estimate than other methods.

UW Evans School study of Fauntleroy ferry service proposes improvements to technology, engagement

Suggested upgrades to technology, training and communication — and funding them appropriately — lie at the heart of recommendations to the state from UW Evans School researchers after a study of service at the Fauntleroy Ferry Terminal in West Seattle.