Research
February 24, 2024
Clean energy urgency
The UW’s Clean Energy Institute is speeding the development of next-generation technology and supporting the experts who will create it.
February 23, 2024
Mix masters
At the Concrete Materials Lab, UW students are testing ways to bring concrete into a sustainable future.
Studying modern slavery
Professor Anita Ramasastry is part of a global commission investigating the rise of forced labor.
The nature of nature
It’s no surprise that the federal government turned to the UW to head up an assessment of America's lands, waters and wildlife.
Hope against peril
A team of University of Washington researchers and scientists is helping coastal communities prepare for a tsunami and other associated risks.
November 25, 2023
1,100 years ago, double earthquake hit Seattle region, researchers prove
Solving a seismic mystery, researchers prove the Northwest was once hit with a double whammy.
November 24, 2023
Rousing research
UW leaders thought having students do research would prepare them to take on the future. It became a national model.
September 2, 2023
Compostable plastic
UW researchers have developed new bioplastics that degrade on the same timeline as a banana peel in a backyard compost bin.
May 29, 2023
Coastal meets celestial
While some universities boast of their land grants, the UW is where you’ll find cutting-edge research and education on sea and space.
May 28, 2023
Our part for the planet
A UW workshop showcases how climate change innovations on campuses can benefit surrounding communities and beyond.
February 26, 2023
Plant power
Doctoral student Natalia Guayazán Palacios works to understand how plants and microorganisms coexist.
February 25, 2023
Parasite paradox
Using specimens from the Burke Museum, a research team finds a worrisome decline.
November 3, 2022
At home on campus
Studies show that students who feel a sense of belonging are more likely to thrive in college and experience better personal wellbeing.
October 2, 2022
Turning the tide
Seattle’s waterfront is getting a major makeover — with a little help from the UW.
September 20, 2022
Let's do something about it
By supporting students, professors and research-based solutions to global problems, Leo Maddox Schneider's family is honoring his passion for learning and making a difference.
September 2, 2022
Hellish for shellfish
After an unprecedented Pacific Northwest heat wave, shellfish died at alarming rates. Tribal scientists and UW researchers figure out why.
May 29, 2022
Why we walk
We were bipedal before we were human. But science still has much to explore about how we evolved—body and brain—to be walkers.
Finishing the sequence
UW researchers are contributors to the groundbreaking work of the Human Genome Project.
March 5, 2022
Dinosaur dreams
Zeke Augustine, ’23, has sifted through soil for microscopic fossils and helped dig up a Triceratops. The Burke Museum has been at the heart of it all.
Power of innovation
A new UW facility will bring together scientists, engineers and students to develop clean-energy solutions for a healthy planet and a sustainable future.
Tech can be tricky
A pilot project will establish a public-interest technology clinic to serve local community organizations and governments.
December 4, 2021
Fossil finds
A site in Montana yields a triceratops skull and other rare dinosaur fossils.
Unleashing dogs’ power
The UW’s Conservation Canines calls on dogs’ noses to find answers to pressing environmental questions.
License to innovate
The Washington Research Foundation was founded 40 years ago to capture the value of inventions coming out of the UW.
Fighting the infodemic
Twisted facts, fake news and social media spoofs can turn society upside down. One UW team is working to help us through the infodemic.
September 11, 2021
Where stars are born
At the UW's Friday Harbor Laboratories, scientists give sunflower sea stars a chance to shine.
August 31, 2021
Land of fire and smoke
Ernesto Alvarado will be the first to tell you: You can’t suppress all of a region’s fires when they’re as much a part of the ecology as its flora and fauna.
June 10, 2021
Green goblins
The invasive European green crab is spreading, and Washington fisheries are in danger.
June 7, 2021
New law of physics
UW researchers have discovered a new law of fluid mechanics, a branch of physics, that will affect the future of aircraft design.
May 11, 2021
Evictions continue
Washington landlords are finding ways around the pandemic-related moratoriums on evictions, and this is disproportionately affecting people of color.
March 4, 2021
Floating robots
The UW will soon be deploying a fleet of floating robots in oceans around the world.
September 16, 2020
Mapping landslide risk
UW engineers are developing a new mapping system to quantify landslide risk in the prone areas of Seattle
September 11, 2020
For our health
The UW is putting its combined brainpower into population health, improving lives around the world.
June 24, 2020
IHME in the spotlight
As the pandemic expanded across the country, IHME projections became a resource for local, regional and national leaders as they responded.
June 10, 2020
The ultimate puzzle
Doctoral student Emily Rabe loves puzzles. Now she's working on one with high stakes—one that could have a significant impact on our planet’s health.
June 4, 2020
Her work spans oceans
Jacqueline Padilla-Gamiño studies issues such as global environmental change, ocean acidification and microplastics in the ocean.
March 30, 2020
Eye on baby's breath
A UW team has used hardware similar to an Amazon Echo to create a smart speaker that detects the breathing motions of an infant’s chest.
March 12, 2020
Fishing for arsenic
Researchers study the movement of water and heavy metals’ impact on aquatic life in lakes near Tacoma.
March 10, 2020
Under the influence
What effect does a parent's marijuana use have on kids? We asked a UW researcher.
For an informed public
The UW's Center for an Informed Public is a response to the rise in disinformation and erosion of trust in our most basic societal institutions.
December 1, 2019
A tern for the worse
Feeding the wrong food to chicks could spell disaster for several species of terns.
November 24, 2019
Calling all dogs
A UW-led study is recruiting 10,000 canines and their companions for a study of dogs’ health as they age.
September 10, 2019
Protecting life in Cambodia
Climate change threatens fish runs and the livelihood and food resources for millions of Cambodians.
September 2, 2019
Warming sea
A die-off points to a larger-scale, longer-term problem with the food supply caused by warming seas.
June 3, 2019
Energy’s new wave
Converting ocean waves into electricity poses challenges—and promise.
November 30, 2018
Tech for mental health
UW Medicine researchers are exploring how a smartphone might help someone manage a severe mental illness such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.
August 26, 2018
Sharks spin a tale
Great white sharks dive deep into the Atlantic’s clockwise-spinning warm-water whirlpools.
June 4, 2018
Rethinking drugs
Ingrid Walker wants to change the way media and government frame our perceptions about illicit drugs, and the people who use them.
No easy tusk
Marine biologist Kristin Laidre is living her dream of studying narwhals, the mysterious 2,000-pound mammals that are notoriously tricky to find.
December 15, 2017
The puzzle of aging
Building on decades of research and outreach, UW experts are piecing together new ways to live longer and better.
May 25, 2017
Micro-damaging
Overt racism has long been linked to health disparities, but what about subtle slights?
March 1, 2017
Tending to the world
Scientists, doctors and data collectors join forces for population health.
February 28, 2017
Birds’ brains
An over-the-counter health supplement can be linked linked to aggression in songbirds, suggesting health implications for people who may be using the DHEA hormone.
September 1, 2016
Deep data
In April 2015, the Axial Seamount, an active underwater volcano about 300 miles off the coast of Oregon, erupted. For the first time ever, scientists, engineers and students from the UW and around the world could watch it in real time thanks to an elaborate array of sensors they installed a year earlier.
June 1, 2016
Nordic Noir
Scandinavian Studies Professor Andy Nestingen shares his research into the genre and how it contrasts with American Noir’s heroes and villains.
Urban evolution
The UW's Urban Ecology Research Lab studies how species change in response to cities.
March 1, 2016
Test driven
Here, we present the tales of two clinical trials of technology that one day could alleviate suffering and improve lives for the hundreds of thousands of people suffering from severe heart problems and kidney failure.
December 1, 2015
'Scarface' found
A team of scientists has identified a new species of “pre-mammal” based on fossils unearthed in Zambia’s Luangwa Basin in 2009. Its discoverers include Christian Sidor, UW professor of biology and curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Burke Museum.
Sweet gratitude
Gratitude is universally considered a social good—the warm feeling that results from a kindness received. But it can have a dark side: It can impel us to eat more sweets, according to new research by Ann Schlosser, professor of marketing at the Foster School of Business.
September 1, 2015
High volume
Recordings by current and former UW researchers in fjords show that melting at glacier edges in the narrow rock-edged canyons are some of the noisiest places in the sea.
Cling like a fish
Scooting around in the shallow, coastal waters of Puget Sound is one of the world’s best suction cups. It’s called the Northern clingfish, and its small, finger-sized body uses suction forces to hold up to 150 times its own body weight.
Space explorers
Fifty years is no time at all for a universe that dates back 13.8 billion. But for those who study the sky, the past five decades have changed everything.
June 1, 2015
Blood stancher
An injectable polymer could keep soldiers and trauma patients from bleeding to death.
Mindfulness
Whether it’s coping with college or taming an addiction, mindfulness has real medical and practical benefits, and it’s something UW researchers have been exploring for decades.
A startling find
Since she was a student in pharmacy school, Shelly Gray has felt a strong connection to the situation many elderly patients find themselves in: “I was struck by how many different medications older adults are taking, as well as their struggle with trying to keep those medications straight,” she recalls.
Hazy on the law
More than two years after Washington legalized marijuana, parents and teens may be hazy on the specifics of the law.
Leaves tell a story
Miniscule, fossilized pieces of plants could tell a detailed story of what the Earth looked like 50 million years ago.
March 1, 2015
Brain discovery
A couple of years ago a scientist looking at dozens of MRI scans of human brains noticed something surprising: a large fiber pathway that seemed to be part of the network of connections that process visual information.
Mirage Earths
Planets orbiting close to low-mass stars—the most common stars in the universe—are prime targets in the search for extraterrestrial life. But new research led by an astronomy graduate student at the UW indicates some such planets may have long since lost their chance at hosting life.
Baby face
It’s a game parents like to play: What will my child look like when she grows up? A computer could now answer the question in less than a minute.
Brain spotting
Football concussions get a lot of attention, but UW researchers want to know how a single brain injury can affect an ordinary person decades down the line.
December 1, 2014
Clues from bird brains
Brain cells that multiply to help birds sing their best during breeding season are known to die back naturally later in the year. For the first time, researchers have described the series of events that cue new neuron growth each spring.
Phone training
Mobile phones have become second-nature for most people. What’s coming next, say UW researchers, is the ability to interact with our devices not just with touchscreens, but through gestures in the space around the phone.
Toddler logic
Researchers have found that children as young as 2 intuitively use mathematical concepts such as probability to help make sense of the world.
September 1, 2014
Tide turner
Tidal power holds tremendous potential, especially here in the Evergreen State, because of the sheer volume of water moving in and out of Puget Sound each day.
Robot response
UW electrical engineers have developed telerobotics technology that could make disaster response faster and more efficient.
June 1, 2014
Robot observers
This fall the UW will complete installation of a massive digital ocean observatory. Dozens of instruments will connect to power and Internet cables on the sea floor, but the observatory also includes a new generation of ocean explorers: robots that will zoom up and down through almost two miles of ocean to monitor the water conditions and marine life above.
March 1, 2014
Lake Mars
The mystery of how the surface of Mars, long dead and dry, could have flowed with water billions of years ago may have been solved by research that included a University of Washington astronomer.
Brain sugar
A growing body of evidence suggests that the brain plays a key role in glucose regulation and the development of type 2 diabetes.
Genetic echo
Researchers led by Dr. John Stamatoyannopoulos have discovered a second code hiding within DNA. This second code contains information that changes how scientists read the instructions contained in DNA and interpret mutations to make sense of health and disease.
Got data. Now what?
At the UW, the best minds are collaborating to ask questions and harness the power of “Big Data” to find answers and seek solutions to advance the common good.
December 1, 2013
Autism onset
Between ages 3 and 10, children with autism spectrum disorder exhibit distinct brain chemical changes that differ from children with developmental delays and those with typical development, according to a new study led by UW researchers.
Distracted drivers
In Washington state’s first study to examine driver use of electronic devices, UW investigators saw that more than 8 percent of drivers were engaging with such devices behind the wheel, higher than previously estimated.
Brain bonding
UW researchers have performed what they believe is the first noninvasive human-to-human brain interface, with one researcher able to send a brain signal via the Internet to control the hand motions of a fellow researcher.
Robot bonds
Julie Carpenter, who earned her doctorate in education from the UW in June, isn’t interested in fantasy movie robots. She wants to know something more serious: the social relationship between robots and their operators in the military.
September 1, 2013
The inspiration inquiry
Expanding the boundaries of knowledge in dance, theater and other performing arts requires research of a different stripe.
Wi-Fi lifestyle
Thanks to gesture-recognition technology developed by University of Washington computer scientists, you may soon be able to brew a pot of coffee, shut off your computer, and turn up the stereo with just a few waves of your hands.
Pollution pall
For years, scientists regarded the decades of drought in Central Africa that reached an apex in the 1980s as the result of poor agricultural practices and overgrazing. New University of Washington research, however, shows that the drought was caused at least in part by Northern Hemisphere air pollution.
Finding phosphorous
Life on Earth may have never come to exist if not for some meteorites that pelted the planet billions of years ago.
Keeping kids clean and sober
An answer to teen drug use isn’t quite as simple as “just say no.” Many teenagers know they are supposed to say no to tobacco, alcohol and other drugs but they don’t know why.
June 1, 2013
Planet unearthed
Using the Kepler telescope, scientists have been looking for Earth-like planets beyond the solar system since 2009. UW associate professor of astronomy Eric Agol has discovered perhaps the most Earth-like planet yet found outside the solar system.
Keeping cool
UW scientists have provided fresh insight into an issue that has vexed civilization since the beginning: how to keep a drink cold on a hot day.
December 1, 2012
More than 'junk'
For decades most scientists thought the bulk of the material in the human genome—up to 95 percent—was “junk DNA.” It now turns out much of this “junk” actually contains the vital instructions that switch genes on and off in all kinds of different cells.
Blind mice see the light
Researchers who injected a new chemical into the eyes of blind mice made the mice sensitive to light, a finding that could hold promise for people with disease that cause blindness.
Smarter on asthma
Researchers at the UW and Seattle Children’s have developed a smartphone app that gives an accurate reading of lung function.
Fibbing on fat
When it comes to reporting whether we’ve lost or gained weight over the previous year, we may not be lying exactly but many of us are guilty of wishful thinking.