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At first glance, hummingbird bills look like straws — long and thin, perfect for sipping nectar. But a new study reveals that this comparison is far from accurate. Alejandro Rico-Guevara, assistant professor of biology at the UW and curator of birds at the UW Burke Museum, is quoted.

This week, OpenAI launched what its chief executive, Sam Altman, called “the smartest model in the world”—a generative-AI program whose capabilities are supposedly far greater, and more closely approximate how humans think, than those of any such software preceding it. The start-up has been building toward this moment since September 12, a day that, in OpenAI’s telling, set the world on a new path toward superintelligence. Emily M. Bender, professor of linguistics at the UW, is quoted.

One is developing technology to help intimate-violence survivors, the other investigates microbial lifeforms. Both are geniuses.

Professor Don Pember was a favorite of communication students.

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 cataloging supernovae — flashes of light in the sky that are the telltale signs of stars dying in spectacular explosions.

Three new species of superconductivity were spotted this year, illustrating the myriad ways electrons can join together to form a frictionless quantum soup. Matthew Yankowitz, assistant professor of physics and of materials science and engineering at the UW, is quoted.

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.

One of the smallest declared majors at UW offers skills beyond speaking the language.

Quantum science is poised to tackle problems of mind-boggling complexity, with UW faculty and students in Arts & Sciences and Computer Science & Engineering playing a key role in quantum research.

Through its Artistic Partner program, Meany Center for the Performing Arts is introducing new voices and fresh perspectives to its programming.