UW News
The latest news from the UW
January 21, 2025
Study finds strong negative associations with teenagers in AI models
A UW team studied how AI systems portray teens in English and Nepali, and found that in English language systems around 30% of the responses referenced societal problems such as violence, drug use and mental illness. The Nepali system produced fewer negative associations in responses, closer to 10% of all answers.
Tag(s): Aayushi Dangol • Alexis Hiniker • College of Engineering • Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering • Information School • Robert WolfeJanuary 16, 2025
Panorama of our nearest galactic neighbor unveils hundreds of millions of stars
The Hubble Space Telescope has generated the most comprehensive survey yet of the Andromeda galaxy, the nearest galactic neighbor to the Milky Way. The new mosaic of about 2.5 billion pixels yields new clues to the galaxy’s history. UW astronomers presented the findings Jan. 16 at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society.
Tag(s): astronomy & astrophysics • Benjamin Williams • College of Arts & Sciences • Department of Astronomy • Hubble Space Telescope • space scienceJanuary 15, 2025
Office of Civil Rights concludes UW 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 University of Washington 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,” and the UW 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
UW 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.
Tag(s): College of Engineering • Maruchi Kim • Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering • Shyam GollakotaJanuary 6, 2025
Q&A: How a UW teaching professor adds the context behind the science in her chemical engineering courses
Alex Prybutok, UW assistant teaching professor of chemical engineering, studies anti-racism, diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in engineering education.
Tag(s): Alex Prybutok • College of Engineering • Department of Chemical EngineeringJanuary 3, 2025
The carbon in our bodies probably left the galaxy and came back on cosmic ‘conveyer belt’
University of Washington scientists recently discovered that the giant ‘conveyer 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!
Tag(s): astronomy & astrophysics • College of Arts & Sciences • Department of Astronomy • Jessica WerkDecember 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…
Tag(s): Burke Museum of Natural History & Culture • Center for Statistics and the Social Sciences • College of Arts & Sciences • Department of Dance • Department of History • Department of Political Science • Department of Psychology • Henry Art Gallery • Jackson School of International Studies • Meany Center for the Performing Arts • School of Music • Select Department of Gender • Simpson Center for the Humanities • UW Public Lectures • Women & Sexuality Studies • Women & Sexuality Studies Department of Gender
By looking at individual atoms in tooth enamel, UW and PNNL researchers are learning what happens to our teeth as we age
A research team at UW and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory examined the atomic composition of enamel samples from two human teeth.
Tag(s): Cameron Renteria • College of Engineering • Department of Materials Science & Engineering • Department of Oral Health Sciences • Dwayne Arola • Jack Grimm • Pacific Northwest National LaboratoryDecember 18, 2024
Video highlights: From sea stars to sound waves, a look back at an eventful 2024 at the UW
Magical moments and memorable events — from a baby sea stars to a cherry trees blooming — happen all year round at the University of Washington, 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 University of Washington and beyond.
Tag(s): 2024
UW welcomes Tent City 3 back to campus
The organized tent-city community will return to the UW’s Seattle campus for 90 days during winter quarter 2025.
Q&A: New AI training method lets systems better adjust to users’ values
University of Washington 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.
Tag(s): College of Engineering • Natasha Jaques • Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & EngineeringDecember 17, 2024
Q&A: Will the next generation of AI be agents that can shop autonomously?
Chirag Shah, a UW professor in the Information School, discusses what AI agents are and what might impede a near future where people can simply get AI bots to shop for them.
Tag(s): Chirag Shah • Information SchoolDecember 16, 2024
Ahmad Ezzeddine named UW 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 UW School of Law.
December 13, 2024
In the Field: UW oceanographers and undergrads pursue tiny viral prize in Puget Sound waters
UW 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 UW School of Oceanography’s small research vessel, the RV Rachel Carson.
Tag(s): College of the Environment • In the Field • oceanography • Robert Morris • RV Rachel Carson • School of OceanographyDecember 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.
Tag(s): College of the Environment • Julia Parrish • School of Aquatic and Fishery SciencesDecember 10, 2024
Social media highlights: UW News 2024
This year, the UW News social media team shared the inspiring stories of work being done by the University of Washington 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…
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 University of Washington — announced that that they have identified more than 10,000 of these stellar events, the largest number ever identified by an astronomical survey.
Tag(s): astronomy & astrophysics • College of Arts & Sciences • Department of Astronomy • DIRAC Institute • Eric Bellm • Melissa Graham
Record-low Antarctic sea ice can be explained and forecast months out by patterns in winds
University of Washington 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.
Tag(s): Cecilia Bitz • climate change • College of the Environment • Department of Atmospheric and Climate Science • Edward Blanchard-Wrigglesworth • polar scienceDecember 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. University of Washington 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.
Tag(s): Alejandro Rico-Guevara • Burke Museum of Natural History & Culture • College of Arts & Sciences • Department of BiologyDecember 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 UW’s Seattle campus, the Office of the Washington State Climatologist’s Guillaume Mauger and Karin Bumbaco provide expertise, tools and resources on “all things climate” to partners and communities across the state.
Tag(s): climate change • Climate Impacts Group • College of the Environment • EarthLab • Guillaume Mauger • Karin BumbacoNovember 26, 2024
From classrooms to KEXP, UW lecturer shares love of Indigenous music
When he isn’t lecturing at the University of Washington or pursuing his doctoral studies at the University of California, Davis, Tory Johnston (Quinault) co-hosts a global Indigenous radio show, Sounds of Survivance.
Tag(s): College of Arts & Sciences • Department of American Indian Studies • Jessica Bissett Perea • Tory JohnstonNovember 25, 2024
Video: UW-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.
Tag(s): Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences • Joan Casey • School of Public Health • wildfiresNovember 21, 2024
UW among best universities in the world for interdisciplinary science
The University of Washington 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 UW placed in the top 10 among U.S. institutions. Among U.S. public institutions, the UW placed fifth.
Tag(s): Rankings
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…
Tag(s): Burke Museum of Natural History & Culture • Department of Anthropology • Meany Center for the Performing Arts • School of Music • Simpson Center for the Humanities • Stroum Center for Jewish Studies • UW Honors Program
Fewer than 7% of global hotspots for whale-ship collisions have protection measures in place
A new study led by the University of Washington 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.
Tag(s): Anna Nisi • Briana Abrahms • Center for Ecosystem Sentinels • College of Arts & Sciences • Department of Biology • whales
Q&A: Promises and perils of AI in medicine, according to UW experts in public health and AI
UW 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.
Tag(s): artificial intelligence • Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences • Department of Neurology • Gary Franklin • Information School • Lucy Lu Wang • School of Medicine • School of Public HealthNovember 20, 2024
UW addresses USDA inspection report findings at WaNPRC
A routine inspection of the University of Washington’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 UW had self-reported and corrected before the inspection took place.
Tag(s): Washington National Primate Research Center
In the ‘Wild West’ of AI chatbots, subtle biases related to race and caste often go unchecked
University of Washington 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.
Tag(s): College of Engineering • Hayoung Jung • Information School • Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering • Preetam Dammu • Tanu MitraNovember 18, 2024
Q&A: UW professor discusses how academia can help battery manufacturing in the US
Jie Xiao, University of Washington professor of mechanical engineering, talks about batteries and how academia can help support the growing domestic battery manufacturing industry.
Tag(s): batteries • College of Engineering • Department of Mechanical Engineering • Jie Xiao
Q&A: A new medical AI model can help spot systemic disease by looking at a range of image types
UW 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.
Tag(s): College of Engineering • Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering • Sheng WangNovember 14, 2024
Deborah H. Fuller tapped to lead WaNPRC
The University of Washington named Deborah H. Fuller, a professor of Microbiology at the UW School of Medicine, the next director of the Washington National Primate Research Center. Fuller started in the new role on Nov. 1, said Vice Provost of Research Mari Ostendorf.
Tag(s): Deborah H. Fuller • Mari Ostendorf • Washington National Primate Research Center
AI headphones create a ‘sound bubble,’ quieting all sounds more than a few feet away
A team led by researchers at the University of Washington 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.
Tag(s): College of Engineering • Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering • Shyam GollakotaNovember 11, 2024
UW recognizes Veterans Day with ceremonies and events
The University of Washington’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 UW. UW alum Dr. Dana Covey, ’84, U.S….
November 8, 2024
Miniature backpack-like tags offer insight into the movement of hummingbirds
A team led by scientists at the University of Washington and the University of Aberdeen attached tiny “backpack” 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.
Tag(s): Alejandro Rico-Guevara • Burke Museum of Natural History & Culture • College of Arts & Sciences • conservation • Department of BiologyNovember 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.
Tag(s): Caroline Strömberg • climate change • College of Arts & Sciences • Department of Biology • paleontology
What UW political experts will be watching for on Election Day
Before the results of the 2024 election start rolling in, UW News asked three University of Washington professors of political science to discuss what’s on their minds heading into the final hours.
Tag(s): College of Arts & Sciences • Department of Political Science • James Long • Scott Lemieux • Victor MenaldoNovember 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 University of Washington, 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.
Tag(s): College of Engineering • College of the Environment • Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics • Department of Genome Sciences • Department of Pharmaceutics • Kristi Morgansen • Mari Ostendorf • space science • UW Medicine
UW President, Provost commit to new processes, policies, training and more in response to antisemitism and Islamophobia task force reports
The University of Washington 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
University of Washington 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.
Tag(s): Aylin Caliskan • Information School • Kyra WilsonOctober 30, 2024
UW researcher reveals ‘everything you (n)ever wanted to know’ about parasites in new children’s book
Chelsea Wood, a University of Washington 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 About 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.
Tag(s): Chelsea Wood • College of the Environment • School of Aquatic and Fishery SciencesNext Page »
