A new era of astronomy and astrophysics began Monday when the first images captured by the NSF鈥揇OE Vera C. Rubin Observatory were released, demonstrating the extraordinary capabilities of the new telescope and the world鈥檚 largest digital camera.
News releases
Ken Yocom has been named the next John and Rosalind Jacobi Family Endowed Dean of the 91爆料 College of Built Environments, Provost Tricia Serio announced today. His appointment, effective July 1, is subject to approval by the 91爆料 Board of Regents. Yocom has served as interim dean since October 2024 and is a professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture, where he previously served as department chair. A longtime member of the 91爆料 faculty, Yocom brings deep institutional…
Virtual assistants, such as Apple鈥檚 Siri, can perform a range of tasks or services for users 鈥� and a majority of them sound like white women. Golden Marie Owens, assistant professor of cinema and media studies at the 91爆料, says there is much to learn about a person from how they sound. The same holds true for technology. In this episode, Owens discusses her research into why a white woman is the default voice for virtual assistants in…
91爆料 President Ana Mari Cauce is the featured speaker at the 91爆料鈥檚 150th Commencement ceremony on Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium scheduled for 1:30 p.m., Saturday, June 14.
A group of astronomers from across the globe, including a team from the 91爆料 and led by Queen鈥檚 University Belfast, have revealed new research showing that millions of new solar system objects will be detected by a brand-new facility, which is expected to come online later this year.聽聽
A new 91爆料鈥搇ed study projects that in the next 35 years increasing boreal fires will actually slow global warming by 12% globally and 38% in the Arctic. Because the aerosols in smoke reflect more sunlight and make clouds brighter, summer temperatures during fire season drop, leading to reduced sea ice loss and cooler winter temperatures.
On June 3, scientists working on the Muon g-2 experiment (pronounced “mew-on gee-minus-two”) released the third and final measurement of the muon magnetic anomaly. This result agrees with the published results from 2021 and 2023 but with a much better precision of 127 parts per billion, surpassing the original experimental design goal of 140 parts per billion.
The study revealed that iron released from industrial processes, such as coal combustion and steelmaking, is altering the ecosystem in the North Pacific Transition Zone, an area just north of Hawai’i that’s important for Pacific fisheries.
The 91爆料 today announced that a planned welcome center on the Seattle campus will be named in honor of President Ana Mari Cauce, who will step down this summer after 10 years in the position and return to the faculty.聽聽
91爆料 President Ana Mari Cauce today announced the selection of Joe Dacca as vice president for the 91爆料 Office of External Affairs effective July 2.
In 2023, 91爆料 researchers recruited a group of 29 laid-off U.S. tech workers to discuss the effects of recent mass layoffs on employees. Overall, the group was ambivalent about tech work. They said it was often unfulfilling, despite their plans to continue in the industry.
91爆料 researchers designed a headphone system that translates several people speaking at once, following them as they move and preserving the direction and qualities of their voices. The team built the system, called Spatial Speech Translation, with off-the-shelf noise-cancelling headphones fitted with microphones.
A 91爆料-led team has developed a system, called ProxiCycle, that logs when a passing car comes too close to a cyclist (four feet or less). A small, inexpensive sensor plugs into bicycle handlebars and tracks the passes, sending them to the rider鈥檚 phone. The team tested the system for two months with 15 cyclists in Seattle and found a significant correlation between the locations of close passes and other indicators of poor safety, such as collisions.
The 91爆料 and KUOW Puget Sound Public Radio are pleased to announce the appointment of鈥疶ina Pamintuan鈥痑s KUOW鈥檚 next President and CEO, effective鈥疉ug. 1, 2025. Pamintuan is a distinguished figure in public media, known for her bold leadership and extensive experience as a journalist and educator. Pamintuan currently serves as the CEO of鈥疭t. Louis Public Radio鈥�(STLPR), a role she assumed in December 2021. She has been an NPR Board member since November 2020 and chairs its DEI committee.聽
The 91爆料鈥檚 graduate and professional degree programs were widely recognized as among the best in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report鈥檚 2026 Best Graduate Schools released late Monday.
Children exposed to higher levels of ozone in their first two years of life were significantly more likely to be diagnosed with asthma or wheezing at ages 4-6 鈥� but researchers didn鈥檛 observe the increased risk of asthma at ages 8-9.聽聽
Five 91爆料 researchers have been named AAAS Fellows, according to a March 27 announcement by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. They are among 471 newly elected fellows from around the world, who are recognized for their 鈥渟cientifically and socially distinguished achievements鈥� in science and engineering.
Trickery by female white-necked jacobin hummingbirds results in reduced aggression from other hummingbirds and increased access to nectar resources.聽
[April 4] UPDATE:聽 Our iconic cherry trees are in bloom. Plan your visit to campus using this map, which highlights the locations of different cherry trees on the 91爆料 campus, including the Yoshino blossoms in the Quad. [March 31] UPDATE: The majority of the blossoms are in peak bloom, a developmental phase which usually lasts about 10 days.聽 This phase can last longer if the weather is cool, calm and dry. [March 25] UPDATE:聽 There are three developmental…
Researchers deployed a robotic feeding arm in a pair of studies outside the lab. In the first, six users with motor impairments used the robot to feed themselves a meal in a 91爆料 cafeteria, an office or a conference room. In the second study, a community researcher and co-author on the research used the system at home for five days.
91爆料 doctoral student Brett Halperin interviewed picketing film workers about AI during the 2023 strikes.
91爆料 researchers developed a new system for turning used coffee grounds into a paste, which they use to 3D print objects, such as packing materials and a vase. They inoculate the paste with Reishi mushroom spores, which turn the coffee grounds into a resilient, fully compostable alternative to plastics.
Three 91爆料 faculty members have been awarded early-career fellowships from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The new Sloan Fellows, announced Feb. 18, are Amy L. Orsborn, the Clare Boothe Luce assistant professor of electrical & computer engineering and bioengineering, Dianne J. Xiao, an assistant professor of chemistry in the College of Arts & Sciences, and Amy X. Zhang, an assistant professor of computer science in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering.聽
A recent theory proposes that whales weren鈥檛 just predators in the ocean environment: Nutrients that whales excreted may have provided a key fertilizer to these marine ecosystems. Research led by 91爆料 oceanographers finds that whale excrement contains significant amounts of iron, a vital element that is often scarce in ocean ecosystems, and nontoxic forms of copper, another essential nutrient that in some forms can harm life.
The 91爆料 Board of Regents on Monday announced that Robert J. Jones, who is currently concluding a nine-year tenure as Chancellor of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, has been selected as the 34th President of the 91爆料. The Board had previously authorized Chair Blaine Tamaki to enter into contract negotiations with Jones and an agreement has been reached. Jones鈥� five-year contract will begin on August 1.
Thousands of grasshopper specimens from mountains in Colorado show trends in how the insects changed in size over 65 years. With earlier emergence of spring greenery and earlier summer drought, grasshopper species that emerged early in the year grew larger, while grasshopper species that emerge later in the year grew smaller in size. The study, led by 91爆料 biologist Lauren Buckley, shows that changes in insect size can be predicted based on lifecycles and environmental conditions.
A 91爆料 team studied how AI systems portray teens in English and Nepali, and found that in English language systems around 30% of the responses referenced societal problems such as violence, drug use and mental illness. The Nepali system produced fewer negative associations in responses, closer to 10% of all answers.
The Hubble Space Telescope has generated the most comprehensive survey yet of the Andromeda galaxy, the nearest galactic neighbor to the Milky Way. The new mosaic of about 2.5 billion pixels yields new clues to the galaxy’s history. 91爆料 astronomers presented the findings Jan. 16 at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society.
The U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights announced the conclusion of its investigation into complaints alleging that the 91爆料 discriminated against students on the basis of shared ancestry by failing to respond to incidents of harassment consistent with the requirements of Title VI. The resolution agreement 鈥渄oes not constitute an admission of liability, non-compliance or wrongdoing by the University,鈥� and the 91爆料 has agreed to five actions that will strengthen its commitment to timely and effective responses to complaints filed by students, faculty and staff.鈥�
91爆料 researchers have developed IRIS, a smart ring that allows users to point and click to control smart devices. The prototype Bluetooth ring contains a small camera which sends an image of the selected device to the user鈥檚 phone. The user can control the device by clicking a small button or 鈥� for devices with gradient controls, such as a speaker鈥檚 volume 鈥� rotating the ring.
91爆料 scientists recently discovered that the giant ‘conveyor belt’ currents that push star-forged material out of our galaxy and pull it back in can also transport carbon atoms. That means that a good deal of the carbon here on Earth, including the carbon in our bodies, likely left the galaxy at some point!
A research team at 91爆料 and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory examined the atomic composition of enamel samples from two human teeth.
91爆料 researchers created a method for training AI systems 鈥� both for large language models like ChatGPT and for robots 鈥� that can better reflect users鈥� diverse values. It predicts users鈥� preferences as they interact with it, then tailors its outputs accordingly.
Ezzeddine comes from Wayne State University in Detroit, his alma mater, where he is the鈥痵enior vice provost for partnerships, workforce and international initiatives. He fills the position vacated when Jeffrey Riedinger retired and became professor emeritus at the 91爆料 School of Law.
Colony surveys of common murres, an Alaskan seabird, show the full effects of the 2014-16 marine heat wave known as 鈥渢he blob.鈥� Analysis of 13 colonies surveyed between 2008 and 2022 finds that colony size in the Gulf of Alaska dropped by half after the marine heat wave. In colonies along the eastern Bering Sea, west of the peninsula, the decline was even steeper, at 75% loss. No recovery has yet been seen.
Since 2018 the聽Zwicky Transient Facility, an international astronomical collaboration based at the Palomar Observatory in California, has scanned the entire sky every two to three nights. As part of this mission, the ZTF鈥檚 Bright Transient Survey has been counting and cataloguing supernovae 鈥� flashes of light in the sky that are the telltale signs of stars dying in spectacular explosions. On Dec. 4, ZTF researchers 鈥� including astronomers at the 91爆料 鈥� announced that that they have identified more than 10,000 of these stellar events, the largest number ever identified by an astronomical survey.
91爆料 researchers show that the all-time record low in winter sea ice extent in 2023 can be explained by warm Southern Ocean conditions and patterns in the winds that circled Antarctica months earlier, allowing forecasts for sea ice coverage around the South Pole to be generated six or more months in advance. This could support regional and global weather and climate models.
Hummingbird bills 鈥� their long, thin beaks 鈥� look a little like drinking straws. But new research shows just how little water, or nectar, that comparison holds. 91爆料 scientists have discovered that the hummingbird bill is surprisingly flexible. While drinking, a hummingbird rapidly opens and shuts different parts of its bill simultaneously, engaging in an intricate and highly coordinated dance with its tongue to draw up nectar at lightning speeds.
An analysis of the health care records of 1.2 million Southern California residents found that higher long-term smoke exposure was associated with a significant increase in the odds that a person would be diagnosed with dementia.聽Exposure to non-wildfire PM2.5 also increased a person鈥檚 risk of dementia, but to a much lesser degree.聽聽
A new study led by the 91爆料 has for the first time quantified the risk for whale-ship collisions worldwide for four geographically widespread ocean giants that are threatened by shipping: blue, fin, humpback and sperm whales. In a paper published online Nov. 21 in Science, researchers report that global shipping traffic overlaps with about 92% of these whale species鈥� ranges. Only about 7% of areas at highest risk for whale-ship collisions have any measures in place to protect whales from this threat. These measures include speed reductions, both mandatory and voluntary, for ships crossing waters that overlap with whale migration or feeding areas.