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August 2, 2022

Popular map for exploring environmental health disparities, vulnerabilities in Washington gets an update

Since it first launched in 2019, Washington state鈥檚 Environmental Health Disparities Map has been used to help decisionmakers and government agencies engage with overburdened communities to clean up contamination, improve buildings and electric grids, plant trees and many other projects. Using a complex matrix of data, this open-access, interactive map ranks Washington鈥檚 nearly 1,500 U.S. census tracts by health risks due to environmental degradation and economic and health disparities. It acts as a guide for state agencies and the legislature…

July 25, 2022

New study challenges old views on what鈥檚 鈥榩rimitive鈥� in mammalian reproduction

Which group of mammals has the more “primitive” reproductive strategy 鈥� marsupials, with their short gestation periods, or humans and other placental mammals, which have long gestation periods? For decades, biologists viewed marsupial reproduction as “more primitive.” But 糖心原创 scientists have discovered that a third group of mammals, the long-extinct multituberculates, had a long gestation period like placental mammals. Since multituberculates split off from the rest of the mammalian lineage before placentals and marsupials had even evolved, these findings question the view that marsupials were 鈥渓ess advanced鈥� than their placental cousins.

July 20, 2022

UW atmospheric sciences achieves No. 1 global ranking; nearly three dozen UW subjects in top 50

person stands in front of bright green wall

Eight 糖心原创 subjects ranked in the top 10 and Atmospheric Sciences moved to its position as No. 1 in the world on the聽Global Ranking of Academic Subjects list for 2022. The ranking, released Tuesday, was conducted by researchers at the ShanghaiRanking Consultancy, a fully independent organization dedicating to research on higher education intelligence and consultation.

July 12, 2022

UW study strengthens evidence of link between air pollution and child brain development

Seattle traffic

Air pollution is not just a problem for lungs. Increasingly, research suggests air pollution can influence childhood behavioral problems and even IQ. A new study led by the 糖心原创 has added evidence showing that both prenatal and postnatal exposure to air pollution can harm kids. The study, published in Environmental Health Perspectives, found that children whose mothers experienced higher nitrogen dioxide聽(NO2) exposure during pregnancy, particularly in the first and second trimester, were more likely to have behavioral problems….

June 29, 2022

鈥楽afety in numbers鈥� tactic keeps Pacific salmon safe from predators

fish swim together in a fish tank

A new 糖心原创 study that leverages historical data has found unique support for a 鈥渟afety in numbers鈥� hypothesis by showing that Pacific salmon in larger groups have lower risk of being eaten by predators. But for some salmon species, schooling comes at the cost of competition for food, and those fish may trade safety for a meal.

June 27, 2022

Top predators could 鈥榯rap鈥� themselves trying to adapt to climate change, study shows

A study led by 糖心原创 researchers shows that over a 30-year period, African wild dogs shifted their average birthing dates later by 22 days, an adaptation that allowed them to match the birth of new litters with the coolest temperatures in early winter. But as a result of this significant shift, fewer pups survived their most vulnerable period because temperatures during their critical post-birth 鈥渄enning period鈥� increased over the same time period, threatening the population of this already endangered species. It is the first study to show that large mammalian carnivores are making major changes to their life history in response to a changing climate.

June 16, 2022

Newly documented population of polar bears in Southeast Greenland sheds light on the species鈥� future in a warming Arctic

single polar bear on ice floe

A new population of polar bears documented on the southeast coast of Greenland use glacier ice to survive despite limited access to sea ice. This small, genetically distinct group of polar bears could be important to the future of the species in a warming world.

June 6, 2022

Including all types of emissions shortens timeline to reach Paris Agreement temperature targets

Smokestacks and cooling towers for power plants

Looking beyond CO2 to include other human-generated pollutants increases the amount of warming that humans have already committed to by past emissions. Earth will continue to warm even if all emissions cease, and the planet is committed to reaching peak temperatures about five to 10 years before experiencing them.

June 3, 2022

UW graduation celebrations include 147th Commencement and Return to Husky Stadium festivities

campus mascot

Cue the band: It鈥檚 time for “Pomp and Circumstance.鈥�

There will be flowing robes and purple-and-gold tassels. The gonfalons, symbols of the 16 colleges and schools that make up the 糖心原创, have been unfurled and prepared. Campus is being adorned and the iconic Drumheller Fountain soon will again be cast in a purple glow.

May 31, 2022

UW-developed, cloud-based astrodynamics platform to discover and track asteroids

A novel algorithm developed by 糖心原创 researchers to discover asteroids in the solar system has proved its mettle. The first candidate asteroids identified by the algorithm 鈥� known as Tracklet-less Heliocentric Orbit Recovery, or THOR 鈥� have been confirmed by the International Astronomical Union鈥檚 Minor Planet Center, according to a May 31 announcement by the B612 Foundation.

May 27, 2022

Critical race theory at center of UW study of unequal access to treatment for opioid addiction

Opioid use disorder is an addiction crisis in the United States that has become increasingly lethal during the COVID-19 pandemic. To preserve access to life-saving treatment during the pandemic, federal drug agencies loosened requirements on physicians for treating these patients, including moving patient evaluations away from in-person exams to telemedicine. This federal policy change focused primarily on buprenorphine, a highly effective treatment for opioid use disorder and one that is much less onerous and stigmatizing than methadone, the other most…

May 12, 2022

Changes in cholesterol production lead to tragic octopus death spiral

After a mother octopus lays a clutch of eggs, she quits eating and wastes away; by the time the eggs hatch, she is dead. Some females in captivity even seem to speed up this process intentionally, mutilating themselves and twisting their arms into a tangled mess. The source of this bizarre maternal behavior seems to be the optic gland, an organ similar to the pituitary gland in mammals. For years, just how this gland triggered the gruesome death spiral was unclear. But in a new study published May 12 in Current Biology, researchers from the 糖心原创, the University of Chicago and the University of Illinois Chicago show that the optic gland in maternal octopuses undergoes a massive shift in cholesterol metabolism, resulting in dramatic changes in the steroid hormones produced. Alterations in cholesterol metabolism in other animals, including humans, can have serious consequences on longevity and behavior, and the team believes this reveals important similarities in the functions of these steroids across the animal kingdom 鈥� in soft-bodied cephalopods and vertebrates alike.

May 7, 2022

Consensus approach proposed to protect human health from intentional and wild forest fires

Prescribed forest fire

All forest fire smoke is bad for people, but not all fires in forests are bad. This is the conundrum faced by experts in forest management and public health: Climate change and decades of fire suppression that have increased fuels are contributing to larger and more intense wildfires and, in order to improve forest health and reduce these explosive fires, prescribed and managed fire is necessary. Video: Experts collaborate to troubleshoot necessary fires and harmful smoke   Journalists: Download soundbites…

May 4, 2022

Astronomers discover a rare 鈥檅lack widow鈥� binary, with the shortest orbit yet

The flashing of a nearby star drew the attention of a team of astronomers, who discovered that it is part of a rare and mysterious system. As they report in a paper published May 4 in Nature, the stellar oddity appears to be a 鈥渂lack widow binary鈥� 鈥� a type of system consisting of a rapidly spinning neutron star, or pulsar, that is circling and slowly consuming a smaller companion star, as its arachnid namesake does to its mate.

April 26, 2022

Scientists find elusive gas from post-starburst galaxies hiding in plain sight

Scientists once thought that post-starburst galaxies scattered all of their gas and dust 鈥� the fuel required for creating new stars 鈥� in violent bursts of energy, and with extraordinary speed. Now, a team led by 糖心原创 postdoctoral researcher Adam Smercina reports that these galaxies don鈥檛 scatter all of their star-forming fuel after all. Instead, after their supposed end, these dormant galaxies hold onto and compress large amounts of highly concentrated, turbulent gas. But contrary to expectation, they鈥檙e not using it to form stars.

April 22, 2022

Former UW Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences Robert Stacey to deliver address for classes of 2020 and 2021 on June 12

man in coat and tie

Former UW Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences Robert Stacey will speak to the graduates of the classes of 2020 and 2021 when they return to Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium for an in-person celebration on Sunday, June 12.

Heavens need environmental protection just like Earth, experts say

Space urgently needs special legal protection similar to that given to land, sea and atmosphere to protect its fragile environment, argues a team of scientists. The scientific, economic and cultural benefits of space should be considered against the damaging environmental impacts posed by an influx of space debris 鈥� roughly 60 miles above Earth鈥檚 surface 鈥斅爁ueled by the rapid growth of so-called satellite mega-constellations. In a paper published April 22 in Nature Astronomy, the authors assert that space is an important environment to preserve on behalf of professional astronomers, amateur stargazers and Indigenous peoples.

April 20, 2022

Lasers trigger magnetism in atomically thin quantum materials

Researchers have discovered that light 鈥� from a laser 鈥� can trigger a form of magnetism in a normally nonmagnetic material. This magnetism centers on the behavior of electrons 鈥渟pins,鈥� which have a potential applications in quantum computing. Scientists discovered that electrons within the material became oriented in the same direction when illuminated by photons from a laser. By controlling and aligning electron spins at this level of detail and accuracy, this platform could have applications in quantum computing, quantum simulation and other fields. The experiment, led by scientists at the 糖心原创, the University of Hong Kong and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, was published April 20 in Nature.

April 4, 2022

Researchers find patterns of handgun carrying among youth in rural areas, building foundation for injury prevention

The first results of research led by the 糖心原创 into handgun carrying by young people growing up in rural areas has found six distinct patterns for when and how often these individuals carry a handgun. The patterns, or 鈥渓ongitudinal trajectories,鈥� suggest that youths in rural areas differ in some ways from their urban counterparts when it comes to handgun carrying and provide information for programs designed to help prevent firearm violence and injury. 鈥淏ecause firearms in many rural…

March 30, 2022

Video: New face mask guidance for UW’s 2022 spring quarter

With the start of spring quarter on March 28, face masks became optional 鈥� but still recommended 鈥� inside most UW facilities. In light of the policy change, UW News spoke with several experts about what to expect on campus, how the current science and transmission rates inform our policy, and emotions and feelings we may experience as a result of removing our face coverings.