Research

University of Washington astronomers were on the lookout for “stars behaving strangely” when an automated alert from pointed them to Gaia17bpp, a star that had gradually brightened over a 2 1/2-year period. But follow-up analyses indicated that Gaia17bpp wasn’t changing. Instead, the star is likely part of a rare type of binary system. Its apparent brightening was the end of a years-long eclipse by an unusual, "dusty" stellar companion.

Climate change will reshape ecosystems through two types of events: short-term, extreme events — or “pulses” — and long-term changes, or “presses.” Understanding the effects of presses and pulses is essential as conservationists and policymakers try to preserve ecosystems and safeguard biodiversity. Researchers at the University of Washington have discovered how different presses and pulses impacted Magellanic penguins — a migratory marine predator — over nearly four decades and found that, though individual presses and pulses impacted penguins in a variety of ways, both were equally important for the future survival of the penguin population. They also found that these types of climate changes, taken together, are leading to an overall population decline at their historically largest breeding site.

The College of Engineering and the College of Arts & Sciences researchers are helping to establish the UW as a global leader of the coming quantum age.

Katy Pearce, an associate professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Washington (UW), is dedicated to advancing research in the field of social and political uses of technology, while also supporting students and colleagues. With a focus on digital divides and inequalities and the use of information and communication technologies for marginalized people and social movements in non-democratic states, Pearce is passionate about bridging the gap between the theoretical and lived experiences of people around the world.

"Americans spend more than half a billion dollars annually on 150 million units of imported Christmas lights. U.S. News & World Report ranks the best Christmas light displays. And ABC’s reality TV show “The Great Christmas Light Fight” recently premiered its 10th season. Christmas lights, in short, are not only ubiquitous but also central to American culture. But that has not always been the case. The man credited with popularizing Christmas lights in the early 20th century, Albert Sadacca, had never celebrated Christmas. In fact, he was a Jew from the Muslim world," writes Devin Naar, associate professor of history and Jewish studies at the UW.

Dean Harris describes how Elizabeth Gordon, editor of House Beautiful, one of the premier home design magazines of the postwar period, espoused the style we now call midcentury modernism as a gentler alternative to the often harsher styles of prewar Europe. Dean Dianne Harris' writing is mentioned.

Learn about the sleep scientist and UW professor of biology, Horacio de la Iglesia, whose influential sleep research helped demonstrate the benefits of delaying school start times for Seattle high schoolers. Read writer Nicole Reeve-Parker's Faculty Friday, Spotlight.

Anthony Gill, a UW political science professor, argues in a new paper that gift-giving has long-term positive effects for society and the economy, regardless of what you buy.

University of Washington political science professor Anthony Gill explains the social and economic value of gift-giving — and how even unwanted gifts help promote trust and build relationships.

Astronomers at the DiRAC Institute have been preparing for a flood of data from the new Rubin Observatory. Now undergrads have joined the effort.

Wolf management in Washington has been controversial. Rob Anderson, who obtained his Ph.D. at the University of Washington, explains the dynamic of managing a species through fear.

As true crime takes over our streaming services, it leads us to wonder — what’s up with our fascination with true crime? According to Stephen Groening, an associate professor in the department of cinema & media studies, there are two types of true crime media. Writer Hannah Bahram investigates the popularity of true crime media over the past few years.

A look at the origin, evolution, and discourse of the archetype. Regina Yung Lee, associate teaching professor of gender, women & sexuality studies, said in an email. “[She] is considered a hallmark of bad fan fiction.” 

Lee, who teaches “Introduction to Gender and Fandom,” explains that this term has evolved to become attached to almost every original female character. 

In one of the first studies to explore how COVID-19 specifically affects older infants, researchers from the University of Washington and at institutions at four other locations in the Western and Southern U.S. found that the number of infected people in a household was the factor most closely linked with the infant’s likelihood of being infected.

Timeka Tounsel, a professor in the department of communication, published her first book. Titled “Branding Black Womanhood: Media Citizenship from Black Power to Black Girl Magic,” the book discusses the ways in which Black women's images are monetized in the commercial media marketplace.