Natural Sciences Division

When kids say "the darnedest things," it's often in response to something they heard or saw. This sponge-like learning starts at birth, as infants begin to decipher the social world surrounding them long before they can speak.

Evolutionary biology has tremendous potential to help solve many of today's pressing problems, according to nine international scientists. The scientists point to everything from food security to emerging diseases in their article, "Applying evolutionary biology to address global challenges."

Exploration of songbird brain cells may lead the way to treatments for lost human neurons because of aging, severe depression or Alzheimer's disease.

Adrian E. Raftery, professor of statistics and sociology, offers thoughts on the many benefits of action around the world's projected rapid population growth.

The Biology Department has redesigned its introductory courses so that students actively participate in class, even in its largest lecture courses.

Scientists have developed what they believe is the thinnest-possible semiconductor, a new class of nanoscale materials made in sheets only three atoms thick.

New research from the University of Washington examines the surprisingly little increase in the average temperature at the Earth's surface, and shows that it is part of a naturally occurring cycle.

Three major experiments aimed at detecting elusive dark matter particles believed to make up most of the matter in the universe have gotten a financial shot in the arm. Two of the projects are at large national laboratories; the other is at the University of Washington.

UW physics students build their own version of the Atlas particle detector, only much smaller - and using Legos.

Fear spiders and love sweets? Blame it on your Pleistocene ancestors. Professor Emeritus Gordon Orians explains the connection in a new book.

Professor Brandi Cossairt's efforts to develop affordable solar energy using quantum dots earned her a UW Innovation Award.

UW bioengineers designed a peptide structure that can stop changes of normal proteins to a state linked to diseases such as Alzheimer's.

New UW research suggests talking to babies stimulates their brain well before they utter their first words.

A University of Washington study published today gives clues about how talking to babies from an early age helps them say their first words.

UW researchers are offering information through free online 20-minute classes that explain baby brain development and what to do with that knowledge.