Natural Sciences Division

The circumstances need to be right, but modeling suggests finding biosignatures in the atmospheres of planets orbiting nearby stars will be well within the Extremely Large Telescopes capacity. The UW's Victoria Meadows, professor of astronomy, and Miles Currie, a doctoral student of astronomy, are mentioned.

Trickery by female white-necked jacobin hummingbirds results in reduced aggression from other hummingbirds and increased access to nectar resources.

Recent recognition of the University of Washington includes the Best Paper Award at NeurIPS Pluralistic Alignment Workshop, Scialog: Early Science with the LSST Collaborative Innovation Award and 2024 AVS Thin Film Young Investigator Award. Professor wins ‘best paper’ at NeurIPS Pluralistic Alignment Workshop Max Kleiman-Weiner, assistant professor in the UW Foster School of Business, received...

Hearing aid technology is improving all the time with the help of AI, thanks to researchers like Yi Shen, professor of speech & hearing sciences. 

Travelers frequently bemoan the ultra-budget airlines tiny seats, frequent delays, baggage fees, and lack of complementary snack and drinks. People love meme-ing the carrier, at the bare-minimum treatment on Spirits distinctive yellow planes. Jonathan Bricker, affiliate professor of psychology at the UW, is quoted.

Three University of Washington faculty members have been awarded early-career fellowships from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The new Sloan Fellows, announced Feb. 18, are Amy L. Orsborn, the Clare Boothe Luce assistant professor of electrical & computer engineering and bioengineering, Dianne J. Xiao, an assistant professor of chemistry in the College of Arts & Sciences, and Amy X. Zhang, an assistant professor of computer science in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering.

For Valentine's Day, UW News asked 12 University of Washington researchers to share their love stories: What made them decide to pursue their career paths?

Dozens of universities and scientific institutions across Washington state are facing hundreds of millions of dollars in immediate cuts to NIH-funded programs supporting cancer research, pediatric medicine and drug development. The move could disrupt clinical trials and trigger layoffs and sparked a 22-state federal lawsuit involving Washington. Carl Bergstrom, professor of biology at the UW; Marion Pepper, professor of immunology at the UW School of Medicine; and UW spokesperson Victor Balta are quoted. The UW's Washington National Primate Research Center is referenced.

The Journal of the Academy of Public Health claims to open up scientific communication. But its unusual editorial policies have some scientists concerned. Carl Bergstrom, professor of biology at the UW, is quoted.

Massachusetts attorney general is championing a bill this legislative session that would ban students from using their cellphones and other personal electronic devices during the school day. That makes Massachusetts one of more than two dozen states where lawmakers are considering legislation this spring that would restrict students cellphone use, according to a tally by Education Week. Luca Magis-Weinberg, assistant professor of psychology at the UW, is quoted.

UW professors Xiaodong Xu, Cynthia Vinzant, and Shayan Oveis Gharan have been honored by the National Academy of Sciences in recognition of their research accomplishments.

Thousands of grasshopper specimens from mountains in Colorado show trends in how the insects changed in size over 65 years. With earlier emergence of spring greenery and earlier summer drought, grasshopper species that emerged early in the year grew larger, while grasshopper species that emerge later in the year grew smaller in size. The study, led by UW biologist Lauren Buckley, shows that changes in insect size can be predicted based on lifecycles and environmental conditions.

Astronomers announced last week that they had completed a decade-long, meticulous effort to assemble a full portrait of our neighboring galaxy, Andromeda. The result is a stunning panoramic view that provides the most detailed image yet of the entire galaxy; its science-packed features could revolutionize our understanding of how spiral galaxies across the universe form and evolve. The UW's Zhuo Chen, a postdoctoral scholar of astronomy, and Ben Williams, research associate professor of astronomy, are quoted.

The full image includes some 2.5 billion pixels compiled from observations spanning more than 1,000 orbits around Earth. Ben Williams, research associate professor of astronomy at the UW, is quoted.

I can be part of this journey that humankind is on," recalls University of Washington astronomer James Davenport. "It was amazing." Now an astronomy professor at the University of Washington, Davenport is still enthralled by the search.