College of Arts and Sciences

Chinese, like the other earliest inventions of writing, emerged in complex societies, where people needed to use symbols for writing. The script started as pictures, but quickly evolved to incorporate other mechanisms capable of indicating abstract concepts and grammatical structures. When Classical (or ancient) Chinese script spread, literate people in other cultures not only mastered it, but they then used it to represent their own distinct spoken languages in written form. Zev Handel, professor and department chair of Asian languages and literature at the UW, is quoted.

"Wabi-sabi is typically described as a traditional Japanese aesthetic: the beauty of something perfectly imperfect, in the sense of 'flawed' or 'unfinished.' Actually, however, wabi and sabi are similar but distinct concepts, yoked together far more often outside Japan than in it," writes Paul Atkins, professor of Asian languages and literature at the UW.

Recruiters are eager to use generative AI, but a Bloomberg experiment found bias against job candidates based on their names alone. Emily Bender, professor of linguistics at the UW, is quoted.

Certain chemicals break down a primrose’s key fragrance molecules, blunting its scent. The UW's Jeff Riffell, professor of biology, and Joel Thornton, professor of atmospheric sciences, are quoted.

Five local Native American artists and cultural workers shared their feelings about how Lily Gladstone’s Oscar nomination blazes a new path for Indigenous creatives as well as the racist tropes still targeting Native Americans in the media. Charlotte Coté, professor of American Indian studies, is interviewed.

Natural history museums have entered a new stage of discovery and accessibility â 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 University of Washington 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.

The neon sign outside of the Henry Art Gallery reveals different words as they illuminate in a cycle: LOVE. RULES. LOVE. OVER. RULES. This work of art from 2020 is by Hank Willis Thomas, the much-lauded, Brooklyn, N.Y.-based conceptual artist, and is also the title of a new, commanding exhibition at the Henry, featuring more than 90 works spanning 20 years from the collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and his family foundation.

Apparently humans aren't the only animals who are neat freaks. Find out how this small rodent and other animals also declutter. James Ha, emeritus research professor of psychology at the UW, is quoted.

A newly discovered genetic mechanism helped eliminate the tails of human ancestors. David Kimelman, professor emeritus of biochemistry at the UW, is quoted.

Seattle scientist and conservationist Estella Leopold has died at the age of 97. Leopold spent most of her career at the University of Washington, teaching and learning about the distant past through pollen deposits. P. Dee Boersma, professor of biology at the UW, is quoted.

A team working on prolonging the lifespan of transplant organs took home the top prize in the 9th annual Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge at the UW. BioLegacy, made up of Seattle University and UW finance, mechanical engineering, and chemistry students, was awarded the $15,000 WRF Capital Grand Prize for its organ cryopreservation and rewarming innovation. The team was one of 22 that competed in this year’s final round of competition at the UW Foster School’s Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship. Other UW projects are mentioned.

"Impact x Nightline" takes a look at the social effects of weight loss drugs. Pepper Schwartz, professor of sociology at the UW, is quoted.

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of HistoryLink.org, Pacific NW Magazine lists 10 key events in Seattle's history. Harold Tobin, professor of Earth and space sciences, and Josh Reid, associate professor of American Indian studies at the UW, are quoted, and the founding of the UW Black Student Union is mentioned.

The traveling salesperson problem is one of the oldest known computational questions. Despite seeming simple, the problem is notoriously difficult. Recent work using geometric tools has created a new, faster algorithm, making the biggest runtime leap in decades. Co-developer Thomas Rothvoss, professor of mathematics and of computer science and engineering at the UW, is quoted.

Sonia Fereidooni, who earned bachelorâs and masterâs degrees from the University of Washington, was selected for the prestigious Gates Cambridge Scholarship. Fereidooni, 22, will receive a full-cost scholarship to pursue doctoral work in Digital Humanities at the University of Cambridge, England. The highly competitive scholarship brings recognition of accomplishments and future promise. This year, 26 students...