Technology

  • OpenAI GPT sorts resume names with racial bias, test shows

    Recruiters are eager to use generative AI, but a Bloomberg experiment found bias against job candidates based on their names alone. Emily Bender, professor of linguistics at the UW, is quoted.
    03/08/2024 | Bloomberg
  • Scientists CT-scanned thousands of natural history specimens, which you can access for free

    Natural history museums have entered a new stage of discovery and accessibility â one where scientists around the globe and curious folks at home can access valuable museum specimens to study, learn or just be amazed. This new era follows the completion of openVertebrate, or oVert, a five-year collaborative project among 18 institutions to create 3D reconstructions of vertebrate specimens and make them freely available online. The team behind this endeavor, which includes scientists at the University of Washington and its Burke Museum of Natural History & Culture, published a summary of the project March 6 in the journal BioScience, offering a glimpse of how the data can be used to ask new questions and spur the development of innovative technology.
    03/06/2024 | UW News
  • Transplant organ freezing and rewarming technique wins UW health innovation challenge

    A team working on prolonging the lifespan of transplant organs took home the top prize in the 9th annual Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge at the UW. BioLegacy, made up of Seattle University and UW finance, mechanical engineering, and chemistry students, was awarded the $15,000 WRF Capital Grand Prize for its organ cryopreservation and rewarming innovation. The team was one of 22 that competed in this year’s final round of competition at the UW Foster School’s Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship. Other UW projects are mentioned.
    03/01/2024 | GeekWire
  • SETI searches for alien signals synchronized with supernova 1987A

    Aliens might time their signals with a burst of supernova light. James Davenport, research assistant professor of astronomy at the UW, is mentioned.
    02/15/2024 | Space
  • A Closer Look at Teens & Digital Technology

    The impact of digital technology on teens' mental health is the focus of a new course developed by Lucia Magis-Weinberg in the UW Department of Psychology.

    February 2024 Perspectives
  • Researchers Approach New Speed Limit for Seminal Problem

    Integer linear programming can help find the answer to a variety of real-world problems. Now researchers have found a much faster way to do it. Research from Thomas Rothvoss, Professor of Mathematics, is mentioned.

    Quanta Magazine
  • Should social media pay for addicting kids? Seattle schools lawsuit gains steam

    A year into Seattle Public Schools' lawsuit against social media companies, the case is gaining traction. More than 50 school districts in Washington state — and dozens more across the country — have joined Seattle’s lawsuit. Lucía Magis-Weinberg, assistant professor of psychology at the UW, is quoted.
    KUOW
  • Scientists are using AI to study bee behavior, zebra movement, and insects on treadmills

    At the the 2024 annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology in Seattle, researchers discussed the increased use of artificial intelligence and machine learning for learning about things like spiders, bats, bees, elephants and other creatures. Jeff Riffell, a professor of biology at the UW, is quoted.
    GeekWire
  • Is there a ninth planet out there? We may soon find out

    Starting in 2025, the Vera C. Rubin observatory will increase the number of known objects circling the sun by roughly tenfold, spotting new comets, exotic asteroids from other stars, and perhaps even the elusive Planet Nine. The UW's Mario Jurić, professor of astronomy, and Pedro Bernardinelli, postdoctoral fellow in astronomy, are quoted.
    National Geographic
  • NASA boosts deep-space interferometer and other far-out ideas

    A proposal to build a far-flung set of radio antennas to measure the cosmos is one of 13 far-out concepts to receive seed funding from the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts program, also known as NIAC. Matthew McQuinn, associate professor of astronomy at the UW, is quoted.
    GeekWire
  • Why we should pay attention to the ethics of brain-computer interfaces

    Devices that connect brains to computers are increasingly sophisticated. Can the nascent neurorights movement catch up? Sara Goering, professor of philosophy at the UW, is quoted.
    Popular Science
  • Americans dislike tech billionaires, but still want to be like them

    According to a 2021 survey by Vox and Data for Progress, 37% of Americans think billionaires are terrible role models, and 49% said they have overall negative feelings towards them. And the heat is felt most prominently by the big-name tech billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. Margaret O'Mara, professor of history at the UW, is quoted.
    CNBC
  • Scientists reveal superconductor with on/off switches

    Researchers led by Jiun-Haw Chu, a University of Washington associate professor of physics, and Philip Ryan, a physicist at the U.S. Department of Energyâs Argonne National Laboratory, have found a superconducting material that is uniquely sensitive to outside stimuli, enabling the superconducting properties to be enhanced or suppressed at will. This discovery could enable new opportunities for switchable, energy-efficient superconducting circuits.
    UW News
  • The quiet part loud: Our life with my husband's hearing loss

    "The toll of my husband’s hearing loss can be invisible—even to me. But a new wave of tech could change everything," writes Seattle Met editor, Allecia Vermillion. Yi Shen, associate professor of speech and hearing sciences at the UW, is quoted.
    Seattle Met
  • Prominent women in tech say they don't want to join OpenAI's all-male board

    After internal chaos earlier this month, OpenAI replaced the women on its board with men. As it plans to add more seats, Timnit Gebru, Sasha Luccioni and other AI luminaries tell WIRED why they wouldn't join. Margaret O'Mara, professor of history at the UW, is quoted.
    Wired