Research

Stephanie Kerschbaum, associate professor of English at the UW and author of the new book "Signs of Disability," will discuss her latest work at Edmonds Bookshop on May 18.

A day after the Republican-dominated Tennessee House voted to expel two Black legislators for interrupting a floor session, Democrats next door in Georgia gathered on Zoom. While the two Tennessee Democrats are now back in their seats, lawmakers in other parts of the country worry the debacle over decorum may foreshadow what's to come in their own state legislatures. Jake Grumbach, associate professor of political science at the UW, is quoted.

The UW's Nancy Allbritton, dean of the College of Engineering and professor of bioengineering; Kai-Mei Fu, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and of physics; and Charles Marcus, professor of materials science and engineering and of physics, are quoted.

A pair of studies published April 14 in the journal Science paint a new picture about apes, ancient Africa and the origins of humans. Many scientists had once hypothesized that the first apes to evolve in Africa more than 20 million years ago ate primarily fruit and lived within the thick, closed canopy of a nearly continent-wide forest ecosystem. Instead, the new research indicates that early apes ate a leafy diet in a more arid ecosystem of varyingly open woodlands with abundant grasses.

A lot of people have been using ChatGPT out of curiosity or for entertainment. But students can also use it to cheat. ChatGPT marks the beginning of a new wave of AI, a wave that's poised to disrupt education. Emily M. Bender, professor of linguistics at the UW, is quoted.

UW professor and playwright Nikki Yeboah explores Seattle's 2020 CHOP protests in a play informed by interviews with nearly 30 CHOP participants.

Thousands of experts are sounding alarms about a potential dark future created by artificial intelligence. Emily M. Bender, professor of linguistics at the UW, however, says we should be more concerned about the harm the technology is already causing.

An open letter signed on Wednesday by over 1,100 notable public figures, including Elon Musk and Apple co-creator Steve Wozniak, implores researchers to institute a six-month moratorium on developing artificial intelligence systems more powerful than GPT-4. Emily M. Bender, professor of linguistics at the UW, is quoted.

An international team of scientists has for the first time detected neutrinos created by a particle collider. The discovery — announced March 19 by the Forward Search Experiment, or FASER collaboration — promises to deepen scientists’ understanding of the nature of neutrinos, which are the most abundant particle in the cosmos. FASER’s detector picked up neutrinos generated by the Large Hadron Collider, which is based at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland.

An international team of scientists has for the first time detected neutrinos created by a particle collider. The discovery — announced March 19 by the Forward Search Experiment, or FASER collaboration — promises to deepen scientists’ understanding of the nature of neutrinos, which are the most abundant particle in the cosmos. FASER’s detector picked up neutrinos generated by the Large Hadron Collider, which is based at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland.

Three University of Washington researchers have been selected as Fulbright Scholars for 2023-2024 and will pursue studies in Portugal, Mexico and Sweden.

In the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia, southern resident orcas have experienced no net population growth since the 1970s, with just 73 left at the most recent count. But northern resident orcas, which have a similar diet, territory and social structure, have grown steadily, now numbering more than 300. A new study led by scientists at the University of Washington and NOAA Fisheries may help explain why: The two populations differ in how they hunt for salmon, their primary and preferred food source, a key difference that conservationists will have to take into account when designing interventions to help southern residents.

Research led by scientists at the University of Washington's Center for Ecosystem Sentinels reveals that a warming world is increasing human-wildlife conflicts globally. They show that climate shifts can drive conflicts by altering animal habitats, the timing of events, wildlife behaviors and resource availability. It also showed that people are changing their behaviors and locations in response to climate change in ways that increase conflicts.

Four new faculty books from the University of Washington cover topics ranging from inequality's effects on health to fad diets to former German chancellor Angela Merkel's legacy on gender equality.

James Gregory, UW professor of history, knows the subject of racism in housing well. For roughly two decades, he’s been unearthing the ugly, racist underpinnings of racial disparities in wealth and homeownership seen to this day across Puget Sound.