Natural Sciences Division

The emeritus professor and founding chair of the Department of Astronomy passed away last week (May 13, 2021).

This week at the UW, attend a lecture on revolutionary reforms to the metric system, "Asian American Women Rising: NOT the Model Minority," and more.

Sam Wasser, research professor of biology at the UW and director of the Center for Conservation Biology, has found that two-thirds of pregnancies in Southern resident orca whales are lost due to nutritional stress through his new research.

Several UW faculty members, researchers, and students are involved in the FASER collaboration, which studies interactions of high-energy particles.

"It’s no secret that the media eagerly reports potential technical breakthroughs with hyperventilating headlines ... [but] the media often fails to clearly indicate the preliminary nature of the findings they trumpet. Even worse, they seldom report when the studies they hyped previously fail to pan out," writes Executive Editor Leland Teschler. The UW's Jevin West, associate professor in the UW Information School, and Carl Bergstrom, professor of biology at the UW, are quoted.

It appears satellites from a SpaceX launch danced in the night sky over western Washington Tuesday, catching the attention of stargazers once again. People shared photos and videos on social media just after 9 p.m. Tuesday showing a long streak of lights moving through the sky. James Davenport, research assistant professor of astronomy at the UW, is interviewed.

Daniel Promislow, professor of biology, explains the insights into longevity we can get from dogs.

Carl Bergstrom, professor of biology at the UW, says that even if we never reach herd immunity, dealing with COVID-19 will become more manageable with time.

More than half of adults in the United States have been inoculated with at least one dose of a vaccine. But daily vaccination rates are slipping, and there is widespread consensus among scientists and public health experts that the herd immunity threshold is not attainable — at least not in the foreseeable future, and perhaps not ever. Carl Bergstrom, professor of biology at the UW, is quoted.

Scientists researching nine binary star systems — like our solar system but with two suns — have revealed that five have “habitable zones” that could host Earth-like planets. Siegfried Eggl, a research scientist in astronomy at the UW, is quoted.

Samuel Wasser, research professor of biology and Director of the Center for Conservation Biology, discusses the role that dogs play in his research.

The former home of Biology is now the centralized and renovated location for the UW Psychology Department.

Randall LeVeque, professor emeritus of applied mathematics, and Julie Theriot, professor of biology, have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences.

Rachel Klevit, professor of biochemistry, Randall LeVeque, professor emeritus of applied mathematics, and Julie Theriot, professor of biology, have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences.

Biologist Joanne Chory has laid out a vision for a new kind of agriculture. She wants to create “ideal plants” — crops like wheat or rice that are bred to store huge amounts of carbon in their roots. They could pull as much as 20% of the carbon dioxide emitted by humans out of the atmosphere each year. UW biology professor Jennifer Nemhauser is quoted.