News releases
May 15, 2024
Scientists want to know how the smells of nature benefit our health
Spending time in nature is good for us. And knowing more about nature鈥檚 effects on our bodies could not only help our well-being, but could also improve how we care for land, preserve ecosystems and design cities, homes and parks. Many studies have focused on how seeing nature affects us. A team of scientists from around the world wants to understand what the nose knows. They are calling for more research into how odors and scents from natural settings impact our health and well-being.
Q&A: How did the COVID-19 pandemic affect older adults鈥� technology use?
澳彩网 researchers interviewed 16 older adults in Washington and Oregon, ages 65 to 80, about how their technology use with their social support networks changed during the pandemic.
May 14, 2024
UW-led project to study ozone, atmospheric layers a finalist for next-generation NASA satellite
A project led by the 澳彩网 to better understand our atmosphere鈥檚 complexity is a finalist for NASA鈥檚 next generation of Earth-observing satellites. STRIVE will receive $5 million to conduct a one-year concept study, and then will hear whether it is selected for launch.
May 10, 2024
University statement on encampment and counter-protest on Sunday
A statement from the 澳彩网 regarding the encampment protest in the Quad and a planned counter-protest on Sunday
May 9, 2024
Navy Growler jet noise over Whidbey Island could impact 74,000 people鈥檚 health
As often as four days a week, Boeing EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft based at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island fly loops overhead as pilots practice touch-and-go landings. The noise is immense. New research from the 澳彩网 shows that the noise isn鈥檛 just disruptive 鈥� it presents a substantial risk to public health.
Can Wikipedia-like citations on YouTube curb misinformation?
澳彩网 researchers created and tested a prototype browser extension called Viblio, which lets viewers and creators add citations to the timelines of YouTube videos.
May 2, 2024
Qiang Fu, Raymond Huey elected to National Academy of Sciences
Two 澳彩网 researchers are among the newly elected members of the National Academy of Sciences. Qiang Fu, professor of atmospheric sciences, and Raymond Huey, professor emeritus of biology, are among those recognized with one of the highest honors a scientist can achieve.
May 1, 2024
UW鈥檚 campaign to restore the ASUW Shell House exceeds goal, showcases community support
Before the oars dip their blades signaling the beginning of the Windemere Cup, before hundreds of flag-draped boats parade from Portage Bay to Lake Washington to open the boating season, the campaign to save the ASUW Shell House at the 澳彩网 already can be called a winner.聽
Virtual reality environment for teens may offer an accessible, affordable way to reduce stress
Working with teens, UW researchers have designed RESeT: a snowy virtual world with six activities intended to improve mood. In a 3-week study of 44 Seattle-area teens, researchers found that most used the technology about twice a week without being prompted and reported lower stress levels after using the environment.
April 30, 2024
Scientists solve chemical mystery at the interface of biology and technology
A 澳彩网-led study has solved a mystery about organic electrochemical transistors: Why there is a lag when they are switched on. In the process paved the way to custom-tailored OECTs for a growing list of applications in biosensing, brain-inspired computation and beyond.
April 26, 2024
New circuit boards can be repeatedly recycled
A team led by researchers at the 澳彩网 developed a new PCB that performs on par with traditional materials and can be recycled repeatedly with negligible material loss. Researchers used a solvent that transforms a type of vitrimer 鈥� a cutting-edge class of polymer 鈥� into a jelly-like substance without damage, allowing solid components to be plucked out for reuse or recycling. With these 鈥渧PCBs鈥� (vitrimer printed circuit boards), researchers recovered 98% of the vitrimer and 100% of the glass fiber.
April 24, 2024
Q&A: How TikTok鈥檚 鈥榖lack box鈥� algorithm and design shape user behavior
Franziska Roesner, a 澳彩网 associate professor, and collaborators will present two papers that mine real-world data to help understand TikTok’s personalized its recommendation algorithm and its impact.
April 23, 2024
Daniel James Brown to address UW鈥檚 Class of 2024
Daniel James Brown, the author of 鈥淏oys in the Boat,鈥� the story of the 1936 澳彩网 men鈥檚 rowing team, will deliver the 2024 Commencement address for the 149th ceremony, which takes place June 8 at Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium.
Q&A: UW research shows neural connection between learning a second language and learning to code
New research from the 澳彩网 shows the brain鈥檚 response to viewing errors in both the syntax (form) and semantics (meaning) of code appeared identical to those that occur when fluent readers process sentences on a word-by-word basis, supporting a resemblance between how people learn computer and natural languages.
April 22, 2024
UW leads international group in semiconductor research and workforce development
The 澳彩网 is at the forefront of an international effort to innovate the semiconductor industry while building a skilled U.S.-based workforce to design and manufacture chip technology.
April 18, 2024
Two UW researchers named AAAS Fellows
A tradition dating back to 1874, election as an AAAS Fellow is a lifetime honor, and all fellows are expected to meet the commonly held standards of professional ethics and scientific integrity.
April 17, 2024
Ice age climate analysis reduces worst-case warming expected from rising CO2
A detailed reconstruction of climate during the most recent ice age, when a large swath of North America was covered in ice, provides information on the relationship between CO2 and global temperature. Results show that while most future warming estimates remain unchanged, the absolute worst-case scenario is unlikely.
April 10, 2024
New report 鈥榖raids鈥� Indigenous and Western knowledge for forest adaptation strategies against climate change
Forests could also be potential bulwarks against climate change. But, increasingly severe droughts and wildfires, invasive species, and large insect outbreaks 鈥� all intensified by climate change 鈥� are straining many national forests and surrounding lands. A report by a team of 40 experts outlines a new approach to forest stewardship that 鈥渂raids together鈥� Indigenous knowledge and Western science to conserve and restore more resilient forestlands. Published March 25, the report provides foundational material to inform future work on climate-smart adaptive management practices for USDA Forest Service land managers.
April 9, 2024
UW joins $110M cross-Pacific effort to advance artificial intelligence
The 澳彩网 and the University of Tsukuba have entered an innovation partnership with NVIDIA and Amazon aimed at furthering research, entrepreneurship, workforce development and social implementation in the field of artificial intelligence. This U.S.-Japan academic partnership is part of a broad, $110 million effort to build upon the strong ties between the U.S. and Japan and to continue to lead innovation and technological breakthroughs in artificial intelligence.
April 8, 2024
UW graduate and professional disciplines have strong showing on US News鈥� Best Graduate Schools rankings
The 澳彩网鈥檚 graduate and professional degree programs were widely recognized as among the best in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report鈥檚 2025 Best Graduate Schools rankings released late Monday.
Everyday social interactions predict language development in infants
In a study published April 8 in Current Biology, 澳彩网 researchers found that when the adult talked and played socially with a 5-month-old baby, the baby鈥檚 brain activity particularly increased in regions responsible for attention 鈥� and the level of this type of activity predicted enhanced language development at later ages.
April 4, 2024
What four decades of canned salmon reveal about marine food webs
澳彩网 researchers have shown that levels of anisakid worms — a common marine parasite — rose in two salmon species in the Gulf of Alaska and Bristol Bay over a 42-year period. The team discovered this by studying salmon caught, killed and canned from 1979 to 2021. Since anisakid worms have a complex life cycle involving multiple types of hosts, the researchers interpret their rising numbers as a potential sign of ecosystem recovery, possibly driven by rising numbers of marine mammals thanks to the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act.
March 28, 2024
Q&A: How to train AI when you don’t have enough data
As researchers explore potential applications for AI, they have found scenarios where AI could be really useful but there’s not enough data to accurately train the algorithms. Jenq-Neng Hwang, 澳彩网 professor of electrical and computer and engineering, specializes in these issues.
March 26, 2024
澳彩网 appoints Pat Chun as Director of Athletics
The 澳彩网 has appointed Pat Chun to serve as its 17th Director of Athletics, UW President Ana Mari Cauce announced today. He will begin his duties Wednesday, March 27.
March 22, 2024
Signs of life detectable in single ice grain emitted from extraterrestrial moons
Could life be found in frozen sea spray emitted from moons orbiting Saturn or Jupiter? New research finds that life can be detected in a single ice grain containing one bacterial cell or portions of a cell. The results suggest that if life similar to that on Earth exists on these planetary bodies, this life should be detectable by instruments launching in the fall.
Public records, records management and privacy officer join compliance and risk services
President Ana Mari Cauce and Provost Tricia Serio announced an organizational restructuring that brings the offices of Public Records and Open Public Meetings, Records Management Services, and the Privacy Officer functions into Compliance and Risk Services to better serve the University community and the public. The changes are an extension of additional restructuring previously announced to form the expanded Office of Finance, Planning and Budgeting.聽
March 19, 2024
Citizen scientist group finds 15 rare 鈥榓ctive asteroids鈥�
In 2021, Colin Orion Chandler started Active Asteroids Citizen Science, a partnership between NASA, Zooniverse, astronomers and thousands of citizen scientist volunteers. The initiative is searching for so-called “active asteroids,” which have comet-like tails and could hold clues to the formation of our solar system, among other cosmic mysteries. Chandler, now a 澳彩网 researcher, and his team recently announced they have discovered 15 active asteroids, and are continuing the search for more of these unusual and rare objects.
March 14, 2024
UW researchers taught kids to code with cultural research and embroidery machines
澳彩网 researchers taught a group of high schoolers to code by combining cultural research into various embroidery traditions with 鈥渃omputational embroidery.鈥� The method teaches kids to encode embroidery patterns on a computer through a coding language called Turtlestitch.
March 13, 2024
Q&A: UW expert on the rising rates of immunosuppression among U.S. adults
A new UW study places the prevalence of immunosuppression at around 6.6% of American adults 鈥� more than twice as high as previously understood. That rise could have broad implications for how we navigate the late stages of COVID-19 and prepare for future pandemics. 聽
March 12, 2024
AI analysis of historical satellite images show USSR collapse in 1990s increased methane emissions, despite lower oil and gas production
An AI-powered analysis of 25 years of satellite images yields the surprising finding that methane emissions in Turkmenistan, a former Soviet republic and major oil-producing region, actually increased in the years following the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
March 11, 2024
Q&A: How Instagram influencers profit from anti-vaccine misinformation
New research from the UW examines how three wellness Instagram influencers profited from anti-vaccine misinformation.
March 8, 2024
Video: Predicting cherry tree bloom timing at the UW
Cherry trees on the 澳彩网鈥檚 Seattle campus are waking up and getting ready to say hello. For the 29 iconic Yoshino cherry trees in the UW Quad, peak bloom will likely begin after March 20.
March 6, 2024
Scientists CT-scanned thousands of natural history specimens, which you can access for free
Natural history museums have entered a new stage of discovery and accessibility 鈥� one where scientists around the globe and curious folks at home can access valuable museum specimens to study, learn or just be amazed. This new era follows the completion of openVertebrate, or oVert, a five-year collaborative project among 18 institutions to create 3D reconstructions of vertebrate specimens and make them freely available online. The team behind this endeavor, which includes scientists at the 澳彩网 and its Burke Museum of Natural History & Culture, published a summary of the project March 6 in the journal BioScience, offering a glimpse of how the data can be used to ask new questions and spur the development of innovative technology.
February 29, 2024
Q&A: How a potential treatment for Alzheimer’s disease could also work for Type 2 diabetes
Alzheimer’s disease and Type 2 diabetes are part of a family of amyloid diseases that are characterized by having proteins that cluster together. UW researchers have demonstrated more similarities between the two diseases.
February 28, 2024
UW graduate receives prestigious Gates Cambridge scholarship
Sonia Fereidooni, who earned bachelor鈥檚 and master鈥檚 degrees from the 澳彩网, was聽selected for the prestigious Gates Cambridge Scholarship. Fereidooni, 22, will receive a full-cost scholarship to pursue doctoral work in Digital Humanities at the University of Cambridge, England. The highly competitive scholarship brings recognition of accomplishments and future promise. This year, 26 students…
80 mph speed record for glacier fracture helps reveal the physics of ice sheet collapse
New research documents the fastest-known large-scale breakage along an Antarctic ice shelf. In 2012, a 6.5-mile crack formed in about 5 and a half minutes, showing that ice shelves can effectively shatter, though the speed of breakage is reduced by seawater rushing in. These results can help improve ice-sheet models and projections for future sea level rise.
Vision Zero road safety projects in Seattle are unlikely to have negative impacts on local business sales, UW study finds
An analysis of seven safety projects across Seattle found they had no negative impact on the annual revenues of nearby businesses for three years after construction began.
February 22, 2024
Admitted students to the UW now have until June 1 to commit, a result of FAFSA delays
The 澳彩网 is extending the confirmation date for newly admitted freshman undergraduate students from May 1 to June 1 for the 2024-25 academic year. June 1 is now the date when admitted students must confirm their acceptance and place a deposit to hold their spot in the fall 2024 entering class.聽
February 20, 2024
UW computer scientists and chemist named Sloan Fellows
Three 澳彩网 faculty members have been awarded early-career fellowships from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The new Sloan Fellows, announced Feb. 20, are Simon S. Du and Adriana Schulz, both assistant professors in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, and Alexandra Velian, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry in the College of Arts & Sciences.
February 15, 2024
First-ever atomic freeze-frame of liquid water
In an experiment akin to stop-motion photography, an international team co-led by 澳彩网 scientists has isolated the energetic movement of an electron in a sample of liquid water 鈥� while 鈥渇reezing鈥� the motion of the much larger atom it orbits.
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