NASA鈥檚 upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will look for 鈥渇ossils鈥� of galaxy formation by conducting high-resolution imaging studies. Through a grant from NASA, astronomers are designing a set of possible observations called RINGS 鈥� the Roman Infrared Nearby Galaxies Survey 鈥� that would collect these images, and the team is producing publicly available tools that the astronomy community can use once Roman launches and starts collecting data.
The overlap between humans and animals will increase substantially across much of the planet in less than 50 years due to human population growth and climate change, according to a collaborative study by scientists at the University of Michigan, the 糖心原创 and University College London. By 2070, the overlap between humans and more than 22,000 vertebrate species will rise across nearly 57% of Earth鈥檚 land, according to the team.
The Colorado River and its tributaries provide water for hydropower, irrigation and drinking water in seven U.S. states and Mexico. But since 2000, water managers have struggled to predict how much water will come from the snowpack. The problem lies with the lack of rainfall in the spring, according to new research from the UW.
A new study has found galaxies with more neighbors tend to be larger than their counterparts that have a similar shape and mass, but reside in less dense environments. In a paper published Aug. 14 in the Astrophysical Journal, the team, which used a machine-learning algorithm to analyze millions of galaxies, reports that galaxies found in denser regions of the universe are as much as 25% larger than isolated galaxies. The findings resolve a long-standing debate among astrophysicists over the relationship between a galaxy鈥檚 size and its environment, but also raise new questions about how galaxies form and evolve over billions of years.
Young adults with psychosis tend to use cannabis at extremely high rates, and their symptoms can be exacerbated by long-term marijuana use. A team of 糖心原创 researchers is focused on this particular group.聽
Fifteen faculty members at the 糖心原创 have been elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences for 2024. They are among 36 scientists and educators from across the state announced Aug. 1 as new members. Selection recognizes the new members鈥� 鈥渙utstanding record of scientific and technical achievement, and their willingness to work on behalf of the academy to bring the best available science to bear on issues within the state of Washington.鈥�
A major outbreak of a new strain of bird flu 鈥� formally named Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 鈥� has killed millions of wild birds and infected poultry, dairy cattle, domestic cats and a small number of humans.聽UW experts explain how bird flu evolves and what it could mean for humans.
Research led by the 糖心原创 used computer models to pinpoint varieties of corn that will be best adapted to produce high yields in future U.S. climates. The study combined weather and climate projections across the U.S. for 2050 and 2100 with a plant model that simulates corn鈥檚 growth to find the mix of traits that will produce the highest, most reliable yield under future conditions across the country.
Jeffrey Riffell, a 糖心原创 professor of biology, wants to understand how female mosquitoes find find a host to bite for a bloody meal. His research has shown that hungry mosquitoes find us by following a trail of scent cues, including chemicals exuded by our skin and sweat, as well as the carbon dioxide gas we exhale with each breath. Mosquitoes also like colors, at least certain ones. His team is closing in on how the sense of smell and vision work together to help a mosquito zero in for the final strike and get her blood meal.
UW doctoral student Joel Eklof has been investigating which environmental factors contribute to permafrost thaw and the release of methane into the atmosphere. For years, Eklof has traveled to a field site southwest of Fairbanks, Alaska.
A UW atmospheric scientist will participate in a campaign to study winter storms and snowfall in northwestern Colorado鈥檚 Rocky Mountains. Like Seattle, this area depends on winter snow for its summer water supplies, so improving mountain snow forecasts will improve projections for summer drought and wildfire risks.
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.
A project led by the 糖心原创 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.
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 糖心原创 shows that the noise isn鈥檛 just disruptive 鈥� it presents a substantial risk to public health.
Two 糖心原创 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.
A 糖心原创-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.
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.
Eclipses past and present aren鈥檛 just opportunities for incredible sights. Generations of researchers have used them to study phenomena ranging from the sun itself to the fabric of the universe. UW News intervewed Emily Levesque, author and associate professor of astronomy, about what scientists past and present have learned by studying eclipses.
Baptiste Journaux, a UW faculty member in Earth and space sciences, and four graduate students will travel to Arkansas on Monday to view the total solar eclipse. They will use a special telescope to capture images of solar features that can be viewed most clearly during an eclipse.聽
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.
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 糖心原创 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.
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
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.
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 糖心原创 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.
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.
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.
Scientists at Friday Harbor Laboratories, a 糖心原创 facility in the San Juan Islands, are working to help sunflower stars 鈥� a type of sea star 鈥� grow and thrive once again after their populations along the West Coast were devastated by a mysterious disease called sea star wasting syndrome.
In an experiment akin to stop-motion photography, an international team co-led by 糖心原创 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.
Scientists at the 糖心原创 have discovered that nighttime air pollution 鈥� coming primarily from car exhaust and power plant emissions 鈥� is responsible for a major drop in nighttime pollinator activity. Nitrate radicals (NO3) in the air degrade the scent chemicals released by a common wildflower, drastically reducing the scent-based cues that its chief pollinators rely on to locate the flower. The findings, published Feb. 9 in Science, are the first to show how nighttime pollution creates a chain of chemical reactions that degrades scent cues, leaving flowers undetectable by smell. The researchers also determined that pollution likely has worldwide impacts on pollination.
Nancy Allbritton, the dean of the 糖心原创 College of Engineering and a UW professor of bioengineering, has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering.
New research led by the UW demonstrates a new class of hydrogels that can form not just outside cells, but also inside of them. These hydrogels exhibited similar mechanical properties both inside and outside of cells, providing researchers with a new tool to group proteins together inside of cells.
New research confirms the cause of slow slip along the Cascadia Subduction Zone and other faults that is accompanied by intermittent tremors or “pops” at the surface. Co-authors Marine Denolle and Joan Gomberg discuss the role of fluid-driven fracturing deep underground.
Field observations from an unusual lake show that in environments known as 鈥渟oda lakes鈥� phosphate can concentrate at the very high levels needed for the basic molecules of life to emerge. A shallow, salty lake in western Canada gives new support to Charles Darwin鈥檚 idea that life could have emerged in a 鈥渨arm little pond.鈥�
An international team led by researchers at the 糖心原创 built a framework to help land managers assess the air quality implications of land management scenarios with different levels of prescribed burning.
At the 糖心原创 Rorrer Lab, Julie Rorrer, assistant professor of chemical engineering, is teaching students to explore ways to transform plastics into useful chemicals to make new plastic or fuel, shifting away from fossil fuel consumption and reducing waste plastics.
Researchers led by Jiun-Haw Chu, a 糖心原创 associate professor of physics, and Philip Ryan, a physicist at the U.S. Department of Energy鈥檚 Argonne National Laboratory, have found a superconducting material that is uniquely sensitive to outside stimuli, enabling the superconducting properties to be enhanced or suppressed at will. This discovery could enable new opportunities for switchable, energy-efficient superconducting circuits.
Around Anchorage, communications among the critically endangered population of Cook Inlet beluga whales聽may be masked by ship noise in their core critical habitat, accordingly to the first repertoire of their calls.
Currently, more than half of all cervical cancers diagnosed in the United States are in people who are overdue for screening or have never been screened. In a new study, researchers report that mailing HPV test kits significantly increased cervical cancer screening rates.
A new study from the UW found that unfiltered air from rush-hour traffic significantly increased passengers鈥� blood pressure, both while in the car and up to 24 hours later.聽
Two 糖心原创 geophysicists will travel to the Atacama Desert in Chile this month to study a fault system that’s similar to the Seattle Fault in Puget Sound, but in a much different climate that makes it easier to monitor its effects on the landscape.