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ArtSci Roundup: Democracy and the 2022 Midterm Elections, UW Dance Presents, Physics Slam, and more
Start the new year with lectures, performances, and more.
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How did the Butterfly Nebula get its wings? It’s complicated
Something is amiss in the Butterfly Nebula. When a team led by astronomers at the University of Washington compared two exposures of this planetary nebula that had been taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2009 and 2020, they saw dramatic changes in the material within its "wings." As the team will report on Jan. 12 at the 241st meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Seattle, powerful winds are apparently driving complex alterations of material within the Butterfly Nebula, behavior not seen in planetary nebulae to date. The researchers want to understand how such activity is possible from what should be a âsputtering, largely moribund star with no remaining fuel.
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Old and new stars paint very different pictures of the Triangulum galaxy
On Jan. 11 at the 241st meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Seattle, a team led by scientists at the University of Washington and the Center for Computational Astrophysics reported something unexpected about the distinct populations of stars that make up the Triangulum galaxy: In this satellite galaxy, a close companion of the much larger Andromeda galaxy, old and new stars occur in separate parts of the galaxy's structure, something not seen in galaxies like our own and so far not reporter for other satellite galaxies. -
New Faculty Spotlight: Sama Ahmed
Sama Ahmed, Assistant Professor of Psychology, discusses his research and what he looks forward to at the University of Washington.
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New Faculty Spotlight: Gabriel Cler
Gabriel Cher, Assistant Professor in the Department of Speech & Hearing Sciences, discusses their research and what they look forward to at the University of Washington.
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New Faculty Spotlight: Gabriel Cler
Gabriel Cher discusses their research and what they look forward to at the University of Washington.
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New Faculty Spotlight: Z Yan Wang
Z Yan Wang, Assistant Professor in Psychology and Biology, discusses her research and what she looks forward to at the University of Washington.
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The seven-year photobomb: Distant star’s dimming was likely a ‘dusty’ companion getting in the way, astronomers say
University of Washington astronomers were on the lookout for âstars behaving strangelyâ when an automated alert from pointed them to Gaia17bpp, a star that had gradually brightened over a 2 1/2-year period. But follow-up analyses indicated that Gaia17bpp wasnât changing. Instead, the star is likely part of a rare type of binary system. Its apparent brightening was the end of a years-long eclipse by an unusual, "dusty" stellar companion. -
Climate ‘presses’ and ‘pulses’ impact Magellanic penguins — a marine predator — with guidance for conservationists
Climate change will reshape ecosystems through two types of events: short-term, extreme events â or âpulsesâ â and long-term changes, or âpresses.â Understanding the effects of presses and pulses is essential as conservationists and policymakers try to preserve ecosystems and safeguard biodiversity. Researchers at the University of Washington have discovered how different presses and pulses impacted Magellanic penguins â a migratory marine predator â over nearly four decades and found that, though individual presses and pulses impacted penguins in a variety of ways, both were equally important for the future survival of the penguin population. They also found that these types of climate changes, taken together, are leading to an overall population decline at their historically largest breeding site. -
Accelerating a quantum future
The College of Engineering and the College of Arts & Sciences researchers are helping to establish the UW as a global leader of the coming quantum age.
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Faculty Feature: Katy Pearce
Katy Pearce, an associate professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Washington (UW), is dedicated to advancing research in the field of social and political uses of technology, while also supporting students and colleagues. With a focus on digital divides and inequalities and the use of information and communication technologies for marginalized people and social movements in non-democratic states, Pearce is passionate about bridging the gap between the theoretical and lived experiences of people around the world.
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Opinion: Christmas lights brought to you by a Jew from the Muslim world
"Americans spend more than half a billion dollars annually on 150 million units of imported Christmas lights. U.S. News & World Report ranks the best Christmas light displays. And ABC’s reality TV show “The Great Christmas Light Fight” recently premiered its 10th season. Christmas lights, in short, are not only ubiquitous but also central to American culture. But that has not always been the case. The man credited with popularizing Christmas lights in the early 20th century, Albert Sadacca, had never celebrated Christmas. In fact, he was a Jew from the Muslim world," writes Devin Naar, associate professor of history and Jewish studies at the UW.
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The “Selling Sunset” Theory
Dean Harris describes how Elizabeth Gordon, editor of House Beautiful, one of the premier home design magazines of the postwar period, espoused the style we now call midcentury modernism as a gentler alternative to the often harsher styles of prewar Europe. Dean Dianne Harris' writing is mentioned.
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Sleeping in Seattle: Meet Horacio de la Iglesia
Learn about the sleep scientist and UW professor of biology, Horacio de la Iglesia, whose influential sleep research helped demonstrate the benefits of delaying school start times for Seattle high schoolers. Read writer Nicole Reeve-Parker's Faculty Friday, Spotlight.
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ArtSci Roundup: January Preview
Start the new year with lectures, performances, exhibitions and more.