November 26, 2014
The holiday season is officially upon us and the arts host a lineup of events to get you in the festive spirit. The School of Music paves the way with performances ranging from the Percussion Ensemble to CarolFest. If you’re looking for an exhibition to explore, the Burke Museum’s recently opened “Here & Now: Native Artists Inspired” will be the perfect option after the Thanksgiving bustle.
“Militarized Policing and Public Protest: From the WTO Protests to Ferguson” is the topic of a documentary video screening and panel discussion at the University of Washington on Tuesday, Dec. 2. The event, from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Samuel E. Kelly Ethnic Cultural Center, starts with a screening of “This Is What Democracy Looks Like.” The 72-minute documentary was made from footage shot by more than 100 “media activists” during the 1999 World Trade Organization protests in Seattle….
November 25, 2014
Surprisingly, the diversity of birds in suburban areas can be greater than in forested areas, according to John Marzluff’s new book “Welcome to Subirdia.”
November 24, 2014
UW faculty and staff have until Dec. 5 to contribute to this year’s UW Combined Fund Drive, part of Washington state’s workplace giving campaign. Donors can choose from more than 4,000 nonprofits operating locally and globally. You can give a one-time donation or give all year through payroll deduction. Donations are tax-deductible. The UWCFD has raised $1,885,617 so far, and organizers hope to surpass $2.2 million in pledges this year. From local food banks to environmental causes to UW departments…
Dan Berger, assistant professor in the UW Bothell School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, discusses his new book, “Captive Nation: Black Prison Organizing in the Civil Rights Era.”
University of Washington historian Michael Honey learned about folk singer and union organizer John Handcox through a mutual friend whose name might be familiar: Pete Seeger. Honey tells of the 1985 meeting, and of “Sharecropper’s Troubadour,” the book he came to write about Handcox (with Seeger penning the foreword), in an article in Smithsonian Folkways Magazine. UW Today wrote about Honey’s book in January, 2014. In 1940, Woody Guthrie joined Seeger and folklorist Alan Lomax in collecting Handcox’s work into…
The U.S. economy has long been powered in part by the nation’s ability to attract the world’s most educated and skilled people to its shores. But a new study of the worldwide migration of professionals to the U.S. shows a sharp drop-off in its proportional share of those workers – raising the question of whether the nation will remain competitive in attracting top talent in an increasingly globalized economy. The study, which used a novel method of tracking people through…
Disintegrating sea stars – a process described as melting, with the arms detaching and crawling away from each other – is being caused by a virus that’s been detected in West Coast waters for more than 70 years. That’s according to new findings published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by 24 co-authors including the University of Washington’s Carolyn Friedman, a professor of aquatic and fishery sciences, and Colleen Burge, who earned her bachelor’s and…
November 21, 2014
Three University of Washington professors will join a congressman, a mountain climber, inventors, architects, advocates, an astronaut and even a barista at this year’s TEDxRainier event, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 22, at Marion Oliver McCaw Hall at Seattle Center. The independently run, one-day event is in its fifth year in Seattle, modeled after the popular TED Talks. The 2014 local event brings together Seattle-area thinkers and innovators to share ideas on the theme “The Known and the…
A new tool developed at the UW displays real-time ocean acidification data for the open ocean and protected bays, helping shellfish growers and scientists see changes in water chemistry.
November 20, 2014
A Washington family of four must spend 46 percent more on average to make ends meet today than 13 years ago, according to a new report from the University of Washington. The Self-Sufficiency Standard for Washington State 2014, released Thursday (Nov. 20), provides a sobering look at how much it costs individuals and families statewide to meet basic needs — and how far short they’re falling. The study found that Washington families with two adults, a preschooler and a school-aged…
From starting his own company – and recruiting 11 friends to join him – and running a successful nonprofit to doing research in the lab and taking a full course load, engineering undergraduate student David Coven is an expert schedule juggler.
November 19, 2014
Have you ever considered the implications of privacy around art and cultural institutions? Then don’t miss the three-day symposium “Surveillance and Privacy: Art, Law and Social Practice” hosted by the Henry Art Gallery and the Center for Digital Art and Experimental Media (DXARTS).
Do you know an outstanding University of Washington employee, alumnus, student or retiree who contributes to the richness and diversity of the university community? Honor that person with an Awards of Excellence nomination. Nominations are due beginning in November and continuing in succeeding months for the 2015 University of Washington Awards of Excellence categories. Details of awards and nomination procedures follow. Alumnus Summa Laude Dignatus Award The highest honor bestowed upon a UW graduate recognizes an outstanding alumnus or alumna, distinguished for service…
We Homo sapiens and our energy-gobbling technologies are changing the very ecology of the Earth. But even as these human-caused changes unfold, some wonder whether we have doomed ourselves to extinction. In a new paper in the journal Anthropocene, University of Washington astronomer Woodruff Sullivan and co-author Adam Frank, a University of Rochester astrophysicist and a UW alumnus, suggest this might not be the first time “where the primary agent of causation is knowingly watching it all happen and pondering…
November 18, 2014
As you might guess from the name, dark matter is quite elusive. Its particles make up about one-quarter of the mass of the universe and as much as 85 percent of all matter. But it apparently does not interact with light or other matter and so it’s never been directly observed. In a webcast Thursday, Nov. 20, three scientists including University of Washington physicist Gray Rybka will discuss how close we are to actually identifying dark matter. They will talk…
November 17, 2014
A scientist looking at MRI scans of human brains noticed a large fiber pathway that seemed to be part of the network that processes visual information. He just couldn’t couldn’t find it in any of the modern textbooks.
The latest in the Seattle Arts & Lectures SAL U series will look at technologies that could help repair a person’s cognitive or sensory-motor functions. “Brain-Computer Interfaces: Building the Bionic Man” is at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 19, in Kane Hall room 110. The speaker is Rajesh Rao, a UW professor of computer science and engineering and director of the Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering. Rao’s research involves understanding computational principles in the brain’s ability to learn, process and store information, then…
Scientists using a microbe that occurs naturally in eastern cottonwood trees have boosted the ability of willow and lawn grass to withstand the withering effects of the nasty industrial pollutant phenanthrene.
November 14, 2014
The UW Astronomy Department’s Mobile Planetarium visits Sammamish High School in Bellevue, where students give their own planetarium presentations.
Daniel Schindler, a University of Washington fisheries ecologist who explores aquatic ecosystem dynamics, has been named the 2015 Frank Rigler Award recipient. The award is the highest honor given by the Society of Canadian Limnologists and recognizes major achievements in the field of limnology by Canadians or those working in Canada, the society says. Schindler, born in Ontario, holds dual U.S. and Canadian citizenship. His father David Schindler won the Rigler award in 1984, the first year it was given…
In the third quarter of 2014, home sale prices increased, but sales themselves were fewer in Washington state. The statewide median sales price for a single family home stood at $277,100 according to the Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies in the University of Washington’s College of Built Environments. This is an increase of 2.3 percent from the second quarter and a 5.2 percent increase over the $263,400 median resale price recorded in the third quarter of 2013. Conversely, while the seasonally…
November 12, 2014
The Spokane City Council on Monday night formally approved the lease of the former Spokane Visitor Information Center to the University of Washington, which will use the space for many purposes, including business outreach, alumni activities and student admissions. The site will also help support the UW’s efforts to expand its existing medical school in Spokane. The city of Spokane sought tenants for the roughly 2,550-square-foot space and the UW submitted its lease proposal on Oct. 2, 2014. The space…
In the wake of a 2011 study that found black applicants for National Institutes of Health grants were significantly less likely to receive funding than their equally qualified white counterparts, the health agency began to look at ways to uncover and address bias in how it awards research funding. The agency launched a contest last spring to detect bias and boost fairness in how it reviews grant applications. The “Most Creative Idea for Detection of Bias in Peer Review,” went…
The University of Washington Sephardic Studies Program and the Stroum Center for Jewish Studies will host the second annual celebration of International Ladino Day with an event at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 4, in Kane Hall room 130. The event is free and open to the public but advance registration is recommended. International Ladino Day was begun Dec. 5, 2013, by Israel’s National Authority for Ladino to celebrate Ladino as a living language for the first time since 1492. Also…
University of Washington electrical engineers have developed a way to automatically track people across moving and still cameras by using an algorithm that trains the networked cameras to learn one another’s differences.
It’s a packed week in the arts, with a diverse array of options to suit any fancy. The UW World Series has a music-themed weekend with Jon Kimura Parker on Friday night and Touré-Raichel Collective the next. Also, don’t miss the last film in the Climate Change and Nuclear Risks: A Speaker & Film Series presented by the Burke.
November 10, 2014
The November issue of Seattle Magazine includes a list of 51 local people who made 2014 what it was. Along with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and the Seahawks team’s “12th man” fans, it includes UW glaciologist Ian Joughin, whom the magazine dubs the “ice breaker.” The magazine notes: “In the face of global warming, it’s people like Ian Joughin—a glaciologist and affiliate professor of earth and space sciences at University of Washington, researching the surface motion and topography of ice…
Instead of carbon dioxide, or CO2, creating a blanket that slowly warms the planet, long-term warming happens because a darker surface and more moist air can absorb more of the incoming rays.
The UW and other Washington schools hog half the spots on a new list of the West Coast’s 10 best-landscaped colleges, with the UW coming in at No. 4. The amount of green space, unique landscaping and attention to lawns earned the UW its ranking. The list was created by inspecting hundreds of photos, interviewing students, alumni and faculty, and scanning message boards. The accompanying website shows an image of the Quad and says: “University of Washington, a ‘public ivy’…
November 7, 2014
The Board of Regents will hold their Regular Meeting at 12:45 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 13, in the Petersen Room of Allen Library. The full schedule and agendas are available online.
Undergraduates this week were among the first people to try the latest in seafloor mapping technology — and use it to image a shipwreck on Seattle’s urban lake.
November 6, 2014
Public Notice University Of Washington Pursuant to the provisions of WAC 197-11-460 & 510 and WAC 478-324-140, the University of Washington hereby provides public notice of the: Availability of final environmental impact statement (FSEIS*) Project Name: Animal Research and Care Facility Proponent: University of Washington — Seattle Campus Description of Proposal: Construction of a below grade two story structure totaling approximately 90,000 square foot (approximately 43,000 square feet on each level, plus an additional 4,000 square feet for the expanding…
The University of Washington landed in a three-way tie for No. 14 in U.S. News & World Report’s first ranking of Best Global Universities – a new ranking that is separate from its annual Best Colleges list. The publication released world rankings, it said, in recognition of the fact that more students are looking beyond their own borders for higher education options and universities are competing worldwide for the best students. The new U.S. News rankings, released last week, were…
Within weeks of publishing surprising new insights about how zebrafish get their stripes, University of Washington researchers now explain how to “erase” them.
November 5, 2014
This week in the arts features an array of film, exhibitions, music and musical theater to enjoy—one of the highlights being “Sweet Charity,” the debut production of the new Musical Theater program.
Classroom décor may seem relatively unimportant, but it can play a surprisingly big role in influencing student learning and achievement. That’s among the key findings in a new paper co-authored by University of Washington researchers. Published this week in the inaugural issue of Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, the paper finds that classroom features such as light, temperature and décor can profoundly influence learning. Students exposed to more natural light perform better, the analysis found, but research…
Well-informed precautions are being taken to protect the UW community and the public.
More diverse voices could help break a deadlock gripping the conservation community, say 238 co-signatories – including a dozen from the University of Washington.
University of Washington researchers have successfully replicated a direct brain-to-brain connection between pairs of people as part of a scientific study following the team’s initial demonstration a year ago.