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The latest news from the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ

January 15, 2025

Office of Civil Rights concludes Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ investigation with resolution agreement, no finding of liability or wrongdoing

The U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights announced the conclusion of its investigation into complaints alleging that the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ discriminated against students on the basis of shared ancestry by failing to respond to incidents of harassment consistent with the requirements of Title VI. The resolution agreement “does not constitute an admission of liability, non-compliance or wrongdoing by the University,â€� and the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ has agreed to five actions that will strengthen its commitment to timely and effective responses to complaints filed by students, faculty and staff.  

January 8, 2025

A smart ring with a tiny camera lets users point and click to control home devices

Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ researchers have developed IRIS, a smart ring that allows users to point and click to control smart devices. The prototype Bluetooth ring contains a small camera which sends an image of the selected device to the user’s phone. The user can control the device by clicking a small button or — for devices with gradient controls, such as a speaker’s volume — rotating the ring.

January 6, 2025

Q&A: How a Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ teaching professor adds the context behind the science in her chemical engineering courses

Alex Prybutok, Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ assistant teaching professor of chemical engineering, studies anti-racism, diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in engineering education.

January 3, 2025

The carbon in our bodies probably left the galaxy and came back on cosmic ‘conveyor belt’

Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ scientists recently discovered that the giant ‘conveyor belt’ currents that push star-forged material out of our galaxy and pull it back in can also transport carbon atoms. That means that a good deal of the carbon here on Earth, including the carbon in our bodies, likely left the galaxy at some point!

December 19, 2024

ArtSci Roundup: January 2025

From campus to wherever you call home, we welcome you to learn from and connect with the College of Arts & Sciences community through public events spanning the arts, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences. We hope to see you this January. Featured: Global Connections Through January | Teamsters, Turtles, and Beyond: The Legacy of the Seattle WTO Protests — MOHAI exhibit (History) January 9 | Global Sport Lab: What Worlds Does Soccer Imagine? (Jackson School) January 15 | Autopsy…

December 18, 2024

Video highlights: From sea stars to sound waves, a look back at an eventful 2024 at the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ

Magical moments and memorable events — from a baby sea stars to a cherry trees blooming — happen all year round at the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ, and our videos help people understand what it looked like, what happened and who was involved. Here’s a glimpse at 2024 from around the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ and beyond.

Q&A: New AI training method lets systems better adjust to users’ values

Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ researchers created a method for training AI systems — both for large language models like ChatGPT and for robots — that can better reflect users’ diverse values. It predicts users’ preferences as they interact with it, then tailors its outputs accordingly.

December 16, 2024

Ahmad Ezzeddine named Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ Vice Provost for Global Affairs

Ezzeddine comes from Wayne State University in Detroit, his alma mater, where he is the senior vice provost for partnerships, workforce and international initiatives. He fills the position vacated when Jeffrey Riedinger retired and became professor emeritus at the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ School of Law.

December 13, 2024

In the Field: Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ oceanographers and undergrads pursue tiny viral prize in Puget Sound waters

Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ oceanographer Robert Morris and a collaborator at UCLA are going out with students to collect the most abundant bacteria in the oceans to understand how its relationship with marine viruses changes depending on the place or the season. They leave Dec. 16 aboard Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ School of Oceanography’s small research vessel, the RV Rachel Carson.

December 12, 2024

Surveys show full scale of massive die-off of common murres following the ‘warm blob’ in the Pacific Ocean

Colony surveys of common murres, an Alaskan seabird, show the full effects of the 2014-16 marine heat wave known as “the blob.� Analysis of 13 colonies surveyed between 2008 and 2022 finds that colony size in the Gulf of Alaska dropped by half after the marine heat wave. In colonies along the eastern Bering Sea, west of the peninsula, the decline was even steeper, at 75% loss. No recovery has yet been seen.

December 10, 2024

Social media highlights: Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ News 2024

This year, the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ News social media team shared the inspiring stories of work being done by the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ community with reporters, news outlets and our social media followers. We also shared special events happening around campus with our community. National Championship Game 2024 started off with the NCAA National Championship game between the Washington Huskies and the Michigan Wolverines. Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ News was there while fans in Houston, Texas cheered on the Huskies and we spoke with Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ…

December 6, 2024

More than 10,000 supernovae counted in stellar census

Since 2018 the Zwicky Transient Facility, an international astronomical collaboration based at the Palomar Observatory in California, has scanned the entire sky every two to three nights. As part of this mission, the ZTF’s Bright Transient Survey has been counting and cataloguing supernovae — flashes of light in the sky that are the telltale signs of stars dying in spectacular explosions. On Dec. 4, ZTF researchers — including astronomers at the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ — announced that that they have identified more than 10,000 of these stellar events, the largest number ever identified by an astronomical survey.

Record-low Antarctic sea ice can be explained and forecast months out by patterns in winds

Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ researchers show that the all-time record low in winter sea ice extent in 2023 can be explained by warm Southern Ocean conditions and patterns in the winds that circled Antarctica months earlier, allowing forecasts for sea ice coverage around the South Pole to be generated six or more months in advance. This could support regional and global weather and climate models.

December 5, 2024

That’s no straw: Hummingbirds evolved surprisingly flexible bills to help them drink nectar

Hummingbird bills — their long, thin beaks — look a little like drinking straws. But new research shows just how little water, or nectar, that comparison holds. Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ scientists have discovered that the hummingbird bill is surprisingly flexible. While drinking, a hummingbird rapidly opens and shuts different parts of its bill simultaneously, engaging in an intricate and highly coordinated dance with its tongue to draw up nectar at lightning speeds.

December 4, 2024

Video: Talking about climate and weather with the Office of the Washington State Climatologist

From a base at the southwest corner of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ’s Seattle campus, the Office of the Washington State Climatologist’s Guillaume Mauger and Karin Bumbaco provide expertise, tools and resources on “all things climateâ€� to partners and communities across the state.

November 25, 2024

RETRACTED AND REPLACED: Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ-led research links wildfire smoke exposure with increased dementia risk

An analysis of the health care records of 1.2 million Southern California residents found that higher long-term smoke exposure was associated with a significant increase in the odds that a person would be diagnosed with dementia. Exposure to non-wildfire PM2.5 also increased a person’s risk of dementia, but to a much lesser degree.  

November 21, 2024

Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ among best universities in the world for interdisciplinary science

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ was ranked No. 15 in the world for interdisciplinary scientific research, according to a new list published earlier this month by the U.K.-based Times Higher Education. The Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ placed in the top 10 among U.S. institutions. Among U.S. public institutions, the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ placed fifth.

ArtSci Roundup: December 2024

From campus to wherever you call home, we welcome you to learn from and connect with the College of Arts & Sciences community through public events spanning the arts, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences. We hope to see you this December. Open Exhibits Henry Art Gallery Through March 2025 | Overexposures: Photographs from the Henry Collection This focused presentation features a selection of photographs from the Henry’s collections that explore the uses of light to obscure, obliterate, and alter…

Fewer than 7% of global hotspots for whale-ship collisions have protection measures in place

A new study led by the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ has for the first time quantified the risk for whale-ship collisions worldwide for four geographically widespread ocean giants that are threatened by shipping: blue, fin, humpback and sperm whales. In a paper published online Nov. 21 in Science, researchers report that global shipping traffic overlaps with about 92% of these whale species’ ranges. Only about 7% of areas at highest risk for whale-ship collisions have any measures in place to protect whales from this threat. These measures include speed reductions, both mandatory and voluntary, for ships crossing waters that overlap with whale migration or feeding areas.

Q&A: Promises and perils of AI in medicine, according to Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ experts in public health and AI

Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ News sat down with experts in public health and AI to discuss AI could enhance health care, what’s standing in the way, and whether there’s a downside to democratizing medical research.  

November 20, 2024

Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ addresses USDA inspection report findings at WaNPRC

A routine inspection of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµâ€™s animal care and use program conducted by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) on Oct. 8 identified issues that the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ had self-reported and corrected before the inspection took place.

In the ‘Wild West’ of AI chatbots, subtle biases related to race and caste often go unchecked

Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ researchers developed a system for detecting subtle biases in AI models. They found seven of the eight popular AI models they tested in conversations around race and caste generated significant amounts of biased text in interactions — particularly when discussing caste. Open-source models fared far worse than two proprietary ChatGPT models.

Q&A: A new medical AI model can help spot systemic disease by looking at a range of image types

Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ assistant professor Sheng Wang discusses BiomedParse, an AI medical image analysis model that works across nine types of medical images to better predict systemic diseases. Medical professionals can load images into the system and ask the AI tool questions about them in plain English.

AI headphones create a ‘sound bubble,’ quieting all sounds more than a few feet away

A team led by researchers at the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ has created a headphone prototype that allows listeners to hear people speaking within a bubble with a programmable radius of 3 to 6 feet. Voices and sounds outside the bubble are quieted an average of 49 decibels, even if they’re louder than those in the bubble.

November 11, 2024

Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ recognizes Veterans Day with ceremonies and events

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµâ€™s annual Veterans Day ceremony, held on Monday at the Medal of Honor Memorial near Parrington Hall, honored those who have served and featured music by the Husky Marching Band. The Monday ceremony kicked off a number of events during Veteran Appreciation Week at Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ. Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ alum Dr. Dana Covey, ’84, U.S. Navy, was honored with the Distinguished Alumni Veteran Award by Provost Tricia Serio. Covey is considered one of the world’s leading authorities on battlefield care…

November 8, 2024

Miniature backpack-like tags offer insight into the movement of hummingbirds

A team led by scientists at the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ and the University of Aberdeen attached tiny “backpackâ€� trackers to hummingbirds in the Colombian Andes to learn more about their movements. As they report in a paper published Oct. 10 in the journal Ecology and Evolution, the tracking system will aid conservation efforts in this region by revealing the previously hidden movements of hummingbirds and other small animals.

November 5, 2024

Reconstructing ancient Andean climate provides clues to climate change

As Earth faces unprecedented climate change, a look into the planet’s deep past may provide vital insights into what may lie ahead. But knowledge of the natural world millions of years ago is fragmented. A 15-year study of a site in Bolivia by a joint U.S.-Bolivia team has provided a comprehensive view of an ancient ecosystem when Earth was much warmer than it is today, and changed how we look at the Andes.

November 4, 2024

NASA funds effort to study effects of the space environment on living organisms

NASA has awarded a five-year, $2.5 million grant to establish a regional scientific consortium based at the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ, in partnership with Washington State University and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The consortium will use an interdisciplinary approach to explore how the space environment — both in low-Earth orbit and beyond — affects living things.

Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ President, Provost commit to new processes, policies, training and more in response to antisemitism and Islamophobia task force reports

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ on Monday announced several improvements and new practices to address concerns of antisemitism and Islamophobia that were raised in a recent climate assessment and associated task force reports.

October 31, 2024

AI tools show biases in ranking job applicants’ names according to perceived race and gender

Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ researchers found significant racial, gender and intersectional bias in how three state-of-the-art large language models ranked resumes. The models favored white-associated names 85% of the time, female-associated names only 11% of the time, and never favored Black male-associated names over white male-associated names.

October 30, 2024

Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ researcher reveals ‘everything you (n)ever wanted to know’ about parasites in new children’s book

Chelsea Wood, a Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ associate professor of aquatic and fishery sciences, has an upcoming children’s book titled “Power to the Parasites! Everything You (N)ever Wanted to Know Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ the Creepy Crawlies Hidden in Your Home, Your Food, Your Pets – and Maybe Even in You!” The book introduces kids to the world of parasitism.

Report: Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ drives nearly $21 billion, 112,000 jobs to help support Washington’s economy

Across its three campuses, the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ generated a total impact on the state’s economy of $20.9 billion in fiscal year 2023, according to an economic contribution analysis released today. The study further concludes that the economic activity of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ system supported or sustained 111,951 jobs statewide. 

October 29, 2024

Estate of Stan and Alta Barer makes transformational gift to Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ School of Law to support global sustainable development program

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ on Tuesday announced a transformational gift from the estate of Stan and Alta Barer to the School of Law, expanding the couple’s namesake institute: The Barer Institute for Leadership in Law & Global Development. The gift will support the recruitment of additional international fellows, increase scholarships, endow faculty positions and create more global impact.