Research

Concerned it would threaten their cultural preservation, history and treaty rights, 40 tribes in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska joined a Jan. 4 lawsuit with Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson to stop the federal government from selling the National Archives facility in Seattle and shipping its millions of boxes of records to California and Missouri. Alexandra Harmon, professor emerita of American Indian studies and of history at the UW, is quoted.

A new UW study has found that "prototypical" women who look and act more feminine are more likely to believed when making allegations of sexual harassment.

Researchers at the UW examined 125 years of astronomical observations of a nearby stellar binary called HS Hydrae, and discovered changes to its eclipses.

A University of Washington-led study, involving more than 4,000 people, found that people were more likely to think “prototypical” women — who are conventionally attractive and appear and act feminine — would be harassed. Bryn Bandt-Law, a doctoral student in psychology at the UW, and Cheryl Kaiser, professor of psychology at the UW, are quoted.

Women who don’t fit female stereotypes of look or personality are perceived as less credible when lodging sexual harassment claims, according to a study published Thursday in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Bryn Bandt-Law, a doctoral student in psychology at the UW, and Cheryl Kaiser, professor of psychology at the UW, are quoted.

Anyone who has been stung by a jellyfish might think they know more than enough about cnidocytes, the cells that deliver the sting. But a researcher has found that these cells have much more to tell, including insight into a simple evolutionary mechanism that may enable jellyfish, sea anemones, corals, and their relatives — collectively known as cnidarians — to quickly adapt to new environments. Billie Swalla, professor of biology at the UW, is quoted.

Our primate ancestors might have become “protomusical” to advertise their ability to perform death-defying leaps from tree to tree. David Schruth, a postdoctoral researcher in anthropology at the UW, is referenced.

It’s a moth, it’s a plane, it’s … the Smellicopter, a little drone that senses odors with an onboard moth antenna. Seriously, that’s the scientists’ real name for their creation, a system that monitors the electrical signals sent from the antenna of an actual moth, allowing the drone to lock onto the source of a scent and navigate toward it. The UW’s Melanie Anderson, a doctoral student in mechanical engineering, and Thomas Daniel, professor of biology, are quoted.

Department of Statistics faculty are featured in this article about their COVID-19 research.

A 19th-century claim has fueled a 21st-century debate about how a warming climate might reshape animals. One "rule," declaring that animals in warmer regions usually have darker exteriors, whereas those in cooler regions are lighter, is being reconsidered. Lauren Buckley, professor of biology at the UW, is quoted.

Twenty moments from a year like no other — captured through the lenses of UW photographers.

A new study of 1,000 middle school students from the University of Kansas and the University of Washington School of Music found that learning music also boosted learning in math and reading.

UW researchers found a run-in with police is much more devastating for Black children than it is for white kids. Annie McGlynn-Wright, who did the research while pursuing her doctorate in sociology at the UW, is interviewed.

Daniel Kuo-Ching Chen, director general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Seattle, signed a memorandum of understanding of cooperation with UW President Ana Mari Cauce on Dec. 8. Based on the memorandum, the Taiwan government provided $1.8 million for the UW to strengthen its Taiwan studies program in the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies and launch a Taiwan arts and culture program.

A trove from a Portuguese trading ship that sank in 1533 preserved genetic traces of whole elephant lineages that have vanished from West Africa. Sam Wasser, research professor of biology at the UW, is quoted.