Natural Sciences Division

"Plastics Unwrapped," at the Burke Museum, traces the history of plastics -- from wonder product to pollution hazard. Exhibit runs through May 27.

Babies only hours old are able to differentiate between sounds from their native language and a foreign language, scientists have discovered. The study indicates that babies begin absorbing language while still in the womb, earlier than previously thought.

UW biologists are studying mosquitoes to understand why they crave human blood and to explore what happens when their sensory system is rewired in the lab.

The White House announced that UW biology professor Jay Parrish has received a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the government's highest honor for scientists in the early stages of their research careers. 

When Frehley, a young border collie, was brought to a Seattle animal shelter, he was deemed unadoptable. Too much energy. Too single-minded. Too much to handle.

Biology professors Dee Boersma and Sam Wasser are building public awareness and altering international policies to preserve wildlife. Their focus and approach are highly specialized but both have managed to educate others about the cost of human consumption. Maintaining biodiversity is no easy task, yet they embrace the idea that the world can change one person at a time.

Math Circles, led weekly by UW students, introduce middle school students to the joys of mathematics. "You have captured the fire in my child!" comments one parent, impressed by the program.

In partnership with Microsoft, the Department of Astronomy has updated its planetarium with digital technology. The result is an experience—and educational resource—that is truly out of this world.

Think of it as Habitat for Penguinity. Working with Parque Nacional Galápagos, Dee Boersma is behind the effort to build nests in the barren rocks of the Galápagos Islands in the hope of increasing the population of an endangered penguin species. Boersma is a UW professor of biology and Wadsworth Endowed Chair in Conservation Science.

When 50,000 visitors descended on New York's Central Park for Ultimate Block Party, an event celebrating the importance of play for children’s developing brains, a team from the UW’s Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences was there.

Liliana Lengua, professor of psychology, is studying the impacts of economic disadvantage and parenting in the development of "effortful control," the ability to regulate one's responses to external stimuli.

UW Professor Emeritus Estella Leopold has been awarded the International Cosmos Prize, which honors those who further the "harmonious coexistence between nature and mankind." The prize carries a cash award of 40 million yen—nearly $500,000—and goes to just one individual or team each year.

Scientists have long dreamed of creating artificial enzymes, with the potential for "greener" approaches in manufacturing, pollution abatement, and other fields, but the challenges have seemed insurmountable. Now a team of UW scientists has created one of the first artificial enzymes from scratch.

No need to leave campus for the farm experience. The student-run UW Farm, tucked into a third of an acre on campus, is a working farm with ties to courses in everything from biology to anthropology to American Ethnic Studies.