Natural Sciences Division

New research found that teens’ brains “aged” during the COVID-19 lockdowns due to the loss of social interaction. Girls were the most impacted. Patricia Kuhl, professor of speech and hearing sciences at the UW and co-director of the UW Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, is quoted.

COVID lockdowns, such as school closures, canceled sports activities and stay-at-home orders, prematurely aged teen brains by as much as four years, researchers from the UW found. Patricia Kuhl, professor of speech and hearing sciences at the UW and co-director of the UW Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, is quoted.

Neuroimaging found girls experienced cortical thinning far faster than boys did during the first year of COVID lockdowns. The UW's Neva Corrigan, research scientist at the Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, and Patricia Kuhl, professor of speech and hearing sciences and co-director of the UW Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, are quoted.

New research led by the University of Washington and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has revealed how underwater noise produced by humans may help explain why southern resident orca populations have not recovered from historic lows. In a paper published Sept. 10 in Global Change Biology, the team reports that underwater noise pollution â from both large and small vessels â forces northern and southern resident orcas to expend more time and energy hunting for fish. The din also lowers the overall success of their hunting efforts. Noise from ships likely has an outsized impact on southern resident orca pods, which spend more time in parts of the Salish Sea with high ship traffic.

New research from the University of Washington found lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in unusually accelerated brain maturation in adolescents. This maturation was more pronounced in girls. When measured in terms of the number of years of accelerated brain development, the mean acceleration was 4.2 years in females and 1.4 years in males.

Using machine learning, UW scientists managed to confirm that galaxies in denser regions of the universe can be as much as 25% larger than galaxies with a similar mass and shape in less dense regions. Aritra Ghosh, a postdoctoral researcher in astronomy at the UW, is quoted.

The research team hopes to survey at least 300 middle and high school students, teachers and parents this school year at western Washington schools with bans. Lucía Magis-Weinberg, assistant professor of psychology at the UW, is quoted.

A school in northwest Seattle is part of an experiment playing out in districts around the nation as educators try to rein in the widespread use of smartphones on campus. Restrictions and strategies for implementation vary. Educators have a long list of reasons for wanting cellphone-free policies, but formal research is limited on the impacts of school smartphone use and the effects of bans. Lucía Magis-Weinberg, assistant professor of psychology at the UW, is quoted.

A ‘mosquito flight simulator’ reveals a potential weakness in one species that carries malaria. Saumya Gupta, a postdoctoral researcher of biology at the UW, is quoted.

Researchers say males can see other mosquitoes flying around, but give chase only when they hear female buzzing. Saumya Gupta, a postdoctoral researcher of biology at the UW, is quoted.

Statistics professor Zaid Harchaoui, working at the intersection of statistics and computing, explores what AI models do well, where they fall short, and why.

Spraying pesticides can have unintended impacts on important pollinator species. Jeff Riffell, professor of biology at the UW, is quoted.

An international team led by researchers at the University of Washington has uncovered surprising details about mosquito mating, which could lead to improved malaria control techniques and even help develop precision drone flight. In a paper published Aug. 30 in the journal Current Biology, the team revealed that when a male Anopheles coluzzii mosquito hears the sound of female-specific wingbeats, his eyes âactivateâ and he visually scans the immediate vicinity for a potential mate.

NASAâs upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will look for âfossilsâ of galaxy formation by conducting high-resolution imaging studies. Through a grant from NASA, astronomers are designing a set of possible observations called RINGS â the Roman Infrared Nearby Galaxies Survey â that would collect these images, and the team is producing publicly available tools that the astronomy community can use once Roman launches and starts collecting data.

Through her love of languages and plants — and some serendipity — UW junior Katie Ruesink connected with a Korean family while studying in Seoul.