Natural Sciences Division

Michael Pearce, a UW doctoral student in statistics, and Adrian Raftery, a professor of sociology, discuss the results of their new study.

Legacy Survey of Space and Time member and Associate Professor of Astronomy Mario Jurić discusses a giant comet.

With the publication of “Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe” 20 years ago, the UW’s Peter Ward, professor of biology, and Donald Brownlee, professor of astronomy, explained why microbial life may be ubiquitous in the universe, but intelligent life may be rare indeed. They are now working on a sequel, tentatively titled “The Rare Earth Hypothesis: Assessing the Frequency of Complex Life in the Cosmos, in the Age of Exoplanet Discovery.”

There's a market for just about anything — and fossils are hot right now. Collectors are paying tens of thousands of dollars for the latest dig, and that's making it difficult for paleontologists to track important finds. The UW's Christian Sidor, curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Burke Museum and professor of biology, is interviewed. [This is the third segment on "The Record"]

Tatiana Toro, professor of mathematics at the UW, will maintain her tenure at the UW during her five-year director term of MSRI, a collaborative mathematics research center based in Berkeley. [This is part of "Tech Moves"]

While some social scientists, journalists and activists have been raising concerns about how social media is affecting our democracy, mental health and relationships, we haven’t seen biologists and ecologists weighing in as much. That’s changed with a new paper published in the prestigious science journal PNAS earlier this month, titled “Stewardship of global collective behavior.” The UW’s Joe Bak-Coleman, a postdoctoral researcher at the Center for an Informed Public, and Carl Bergstrom, professor of biology, are interviewed.

As each new generation inherits the world, vital knowledge is forgotten. Peter Kahn, professor of psychology and of environmental and forest sciences at the UW, is quoted.

"The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced in May 2021 that the nation’s total fertility rate had reached 1.64 children per woman in 2020, dropping 4% from 2019, a record low for the nation. The news led to many stories about a ‘baby bust’ harming the country ... But as a statistician and sociologist who collaborates with the United Nations Population Division to develop new statistical population forecasting methods, I’m not yet calling this a crisis," writes Adrian Raftery, professor of statistics at the UW.

Dr. Edward Diener, who graduated in 1974 with a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Washington, has passed away.

What if math could detect, treat and ultimately prevent cancer? Applied Mathematics Assistant Professor Ivana Bozic wants to find out. Professor Bozic has been selected as the 2021 mathematics recipient of Johnson & Johnson's WiSTEM2D Scholars Award Program, which will provides $150k over three years to support her research.

"On my Instagram account, where I frequently query people about their sexual ideas and attitudes, memes like 'Vaxxed and Waxed' and 'Hot Vax Summer' are flying. A lot of people, it seems, are ready to party. Can past catastrophes shed light on whether there will be a large rebound effect in people’s sexual behavior? Are we about to enter a Roaring 2021?" writes Nicole McNichols, associate teaching professor of psychology at the UW.

We may finally know why one of the brightest stars in the sky appeared to become 65% less bright than usual, in an event that astronomers have dubbed the Great Dimming. The star Betelgeuse, which marks the right shoulder of the constellation Orion, rapidly dimmed in late 2019 and early 2020. It now seems this was due to both a cool spot on the star itself and a cloud of dust. Emily Levesque, associate professor of astronomy at the UW, is quoted.

New images from a massive telescope in Chile have helped solve the mystery of why red supergiant star Betelgeuse suddenly dimmed in late 2019. Emily Levesque, associate professor of astronomy at the UW, is referenced.

“By mid-February 2020, the star [Betelgeuse] had plummeted to about 35% of its typical brightness before swiftly recovering over the next few months. The event captivated professional and amateur stargazers alike because such rapid and visible changes in the night sky are rare. Now, a year after Betelgeuse’s recovery from what has become known as its Great Dimming, Montargès et al. present a detailed picture of and compelling explanation for this strange behavior,” writes Emily Levesque, associate professor of astronomy at the UW.