Natural Sciences Division

Sam Colgan, junior majoring in English and Economics; Natasha Lavides, sophomore majoring in Psychlogy; and Nuria Alina Chandra, freshman majoring in biochemistry are the 2019-2020 UW President's Medalists.

Jawbones and an assortment of teeth found in the Hell’s Creek formation of northeastern Montana are the oldest primate fossils ever discovered, according to newly published research. Gregory Wilson Mantilla, Burke Museum curator of vertebrate paleontology and professor of biology at the UW, is quoted.

Biology professor Horacio de la Iglesia and biology postdoctoral researcher Leandro Casiraghi explain the results of their new study on the moon's effects on sleep.

UW scientists explain new developments in the field of quantum computing.

Do we apologize too much? Thirty-one per cent of British adults think so, according to a YouGov poll of more than 1,600 British people and 1,000 Americans. Dr. John Gottman, professor emeritus of psychology at the UW, is quoted.

"Without the knowledge of [James] Webb’s silence at State and his participation in making psychological warfare a tool of the military industrial complex, perhaps our gratitude for his work was sufficient. With that knowledge, we think it is time to rename JWST [James Webb Space Telescope] because the name of such an important mission, which promises to live in the popular and scientific psyche for decades, is a reflection of our values," write Sarah Tuttle, assistant professor of astronomy at the UW; Chanda Prescod-Weinstein of the University of New Hamphsire; Lucianne Walkowicz of the Adler Planetarium; and Brian Nord of the University of Chicago.

Elese Washines, who studied mathematics at the UW, is the current program manager for the Yakima Nation Higher Education Program and featured as one of the Yakima Herald's 39 under 39.

A study by Adrian Raftery, statistics professor, is cited in this article about how much global emissions must fall to halt climate change.

Despite the option of “extending the end of the day” with artificial lighting in highly urbanized Seattle, UW biology professor Horacio de la Iglesia said UW students slept shorter hours in the days before a full moon, as did indigenous Argentinans with no electricity.

In a new study, a team of paleontologists analyzed tooth samples found in Montana and determined plesiadapiforms, an ancient taxon including primates’ oldest ancestor, likely emerged 65.9 million-years-ago and lived alongside dinosaurs. Gregory Wilson Mantilla, Burke Museum curator of vertebrate paleontology and professor of biology at the UW, is quoted.

Dr. Michael L. Wong, a research associate in the astrobiology program and astronomy department, explains what life on Mars could be.

Many scientists are expecting another rise in infections. But this time the surge will be blunted by vaccines and, hopefully, widespread caution. By summer, Americans may be looking at a return to normal life. Carl Bergstrom, professor of biology at the UW, is quoted.

Researchers led by UW biology Professor Horacio de la Iglesia have found that whether you live in a rural or urban environment, your sleep patterns are affected by a full moon. On the nights leading up to full moon, people fall asleep later and sleep less overall.

New experiments have answered the decades-old question of how pieces of splitting nuclei get their spins. George Bertsch, professor emeritus of physics at the UW, is quoted.

The shapes of fossilized teeth from 65.9 million-year-old, squirrel-like creatures suggest that the branch of the tree of life that gave rise to humans and other primates flowered while dinosaurs still walked the earth. The UW’s Gregory Wilson Mantilla, Burke Museum curator of vertebrate paleontology and professor of biology, and Brody Hovatter, a graduate student in Earth and space sciences, are quoted.