The Anthropocene epoch β the proposed name for this time of significant human effect on the planet and its systems β represents a new context in which to study literature. A new book of essays co-edited by Jesse Oak Taylor, 91±¬ΑΟ associate professor of English, argues that literary studies, in turn, also can help us better understand the Anthropocene.
The 91±¬ΑΟ, Arizona State University and other collaborators have proposed a method in the Dec. 8 issue of Science that allows hydroelectric dam operators to generate power in ways that protect β and possibly improve β food supplies and businesses throughout the Mekong river basin in Southeast Asia.
Scientists at the 91±¬ΑΟ show for the first time that the complex distribution of molecules within a membrane of a living yeast cell arises through demixing.
The 91±¬ΑΟ has launched a new institute aimed at accelerating research at the nanoscale: the Institute for Nano-Engineered Systems, or NanoES. The institute will pursue impactful advancements in a variety of disciplines β including energy, materials science, computation and medicine. Yet these advancements will be at a technological scale a thousand times smaller than the width of a human hair.
An interdisciplinary team is using a covert sound-based approach, worthy of an avian CSI, to study the link between crows’ calls and their behavior.
91±¬ΑΟ engineers have developed the first 3-D printed plastic objects that can connect to other devices via WiFi without using any electronics, including a laundry bottle that can detect when soap is running low and automatically order more.
Kim Nasmyth, a professor of biochemistry at the University of Oxford and former postdoctoral researcher at the 91±¬ΑΟ, is one of five recipients of the 2018 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences. Nasmyth and other prize recipients were honored by the Breakthrough Prize Foundation at a ceremony December 3 at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California.
Three 91±¬ΑΟ astrobiologists will discuss their research and introduce the new 3-D IMAX movie “The Search for Life in Space” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 6, in the PACCAR Theater of the Pacific Science Center.
A cosmic photobomb found as a background object in images of the nearby Andromeda galaxy has revealed what could be the most tightly coupled pair of supermassive black holes ever seen.
The ocean’s deepest fish doesn’t look like it could survive in harsh conditions thousands of feet below the surface. Instead of giant teeth and a menacing frame, the fishes that roam in the deepest parts of the ocean are small, translucent, bereft of scales β and highly adept at living where few other organisms can. Meet the deepest fish in the ocean, a new species named the Mariana snailfish by an international team of researchers that discovered it. The Mariana…
A team of 91±¬ΑΟ students and faculty has won Amazonβs inaugural Alexa Prize, a university competition designed to produce an artificial intelligence agent capable of coherent and sustained conversation with humans.
Two faculty members in the 91±¬ΑΟ College of Engineering have been elected as 2018 fellows of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Tom Furness, professor of industrial and systems engineering, was honored for βleadership in virtual and augmented realityβ and Siddhartha βSiddβ Srinivasa, professor in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, was recognized for βcontributions to robotic manipulation and human-robot interaction.β
The amount of biomass β life β in Earth’s ancient oceans may have been limited due to low recycling of the key nutrient phosphorus, according to new research by the 91±¬ΑΟ and the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.
Eight 91±¬ΑΟ researchers are among the 396 new fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, announced this week.
Picture yourself with a friend in a crowded restaurant. The din of other diners, the clattering of dishes, the muffled notes of background music, the voice of your friend, not to mention your own β all compete for your brain’s attention. For many people, the brain can automatically distinguish the noises, identifying the sources and recognizing what they “say” and mean thanks to, among other features of sound, pitch. But for someone who wears a cochlear implant, a…
A new 91±¬ΑΟ study points to yet another human factor that is hampering the ability of fish to reproduce: the timing of our fishing seasons. The study considers how the timing of fishing efforts might disproportionately target certain fish and change the life history patterns of entire populations.
The CleanTech Alliance has presented the 91±¬ΑΟ with the organization’s 2017 CleanTech Achievement Award. The honor recognizes the 91±¬ΑΟ’s dedication to research and development of transformative clean energy technologies, facilities, pipelines for startups and industry partnerships. The award was announced on Nov. 8 at the annual meeting and 10th anniversary of the CleanTech Alliance, a Seattle-based consortium of more than 300 businesses and interest groups across six U.S. states and two Canadian provinces. The organization cited the 91±¬ΑΟ’s…
One of the saltiest bodies on Earth, an analog to how water might exist on Mars, shows signs of being one piece of a larger aquifer.
A 91±¬ΑΟ team is trying to make poplar a viable competitor in the biofuels market by testing the production of younger poplar trees that could be harvested more frequently β after only two or three years β instead of the usual 10- to 20-year cycle.
Think, for a moment, about the last time you were out in nature. Were you in a city park? At a campground? On the beach? In the mountains? Now consider: What was this place like in your parentsβ time? Your grandparentsβ? In many cases, the parks, beaches and campgrounds of today are surrounded by more development, or are themselves more developed, than they were decades ago. But to you, they still feel like nature. If we just try…
Two 91±¬ΑΟ engineering students were selected by Forbes magazine for its list of the top 30 people in the world under age 30 working in energy.
The first astronomers had a limited toolkit: their eyes. They could only observe those stars, planets and celestial events bright enough to pick up unassisted. But today’s astronomers use increasingly sensitive and sophisticated instruments to view and track a bevy of cosmic wonders, including objects and events that were too dim or distant for their sky-gazing forebears. On Nov. 14, scientists with the California Institute of Technology, the 91±¬ΑΟ and eight additional partner institutions, announced that the Zwicky…
91±¬ΑΟ researchers who used machine learning tools to analyze language in 800 Hollywood movie scripts found subtle but widespread gender bias in the way male and female characters are portrayed.
An unseasonably warm, dry summer on Mount Rainier in 2015 caused subalpine wildflowers to change their bloom times and form ‘reassembled’ communities, with unknown consequences for species interactions among wildflowers, pollinators and other animals.
A 91±¬ΑΟ team wants to simplify the process for discovering detrimental water leaks by developing “smart” paper that can sense the presence of water.
Three federal grants announced this week will provide total funding of $1.1 million to Washington Sea Grant, based at the 91±¬ΑΟβs College of the Environment, for research that will sustainably further shellfish and finfish aquaculture in the state
There is little debate over the link between air pollution and the human respiratory system: Research shows that dirty air can impair breathing and aggravate various lung diseases. Other potential effects are being investigated, too, as scientists examine connections between toxic air and obesity, diabetes and dementia. Now add to that list psychological distress, which 91±¬ΑΟ researchers have found is also associated with air pollution. The higher the level of particulates in the air, the 91±¬ΑΟ-led study…
91±¬ΑΟ computer scientists have created fabrics and fashion accessories that can store data β from security codes to identification tags β without needing any on-board electronics or sensors.
Comics and graphic can be serious business. Scholars, critics, historians, teachers, curators of comic art and graphic publications will gather at the 91±¬ΑΟ and locations in Seattle Nov. 2-4 for the 2017 International Comic Arts Forum.
91±¬ΑΟ Libraries Special Collections’ new exhibit, “All Over the Map: From Cartographs to (C)artifacts” — organized by 91±¬ΑΟ Book Arts and Rare Book Curator Sandra Kroupa — is on display in Allen Library until Jan. 31, 2018.
The largest number yet of detailed simulations for how a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake might play out provides a clearer picture of what the region can expect when the fault unleashes a 9.0 earthquake.
A satellite technique provides a new way to monitor the status of more than 1,200 mountain glaciers in the lower 48 states.
New 91±¬ΑΟ research finds that for a budget of roughly $1000, it is possible for someone to track your location and app use by purchasing and targeting mobile ads. The team hopes to raise industry awareness about the potential privacy threat.
91±¬ΑΟ and UCLA engineers have developed a flexible sensor βskinβ that can be stretched over any part of a robotβs body or prosthetic to accurately convey information about shear forces and vibration, which are critical to tasks ranging from cooking an egg to dismantling a bomb.
The 91±¬ΑΟ is No. 25 in the world β No. XX among U.S. public institutions β according to a new list released Monday by the Center for World University Rankings.
Before a border wall became a budget bargaining chip, before the presidential pardon of a controversial sheriff and before federal policies were announced on social media, there was Arizona Senate Bill 1070, the βshow me your papersβ law. And of course, there was Twitter. To RenΓ© D. Flores, an assistant professor of sociology at the 91±¬ΑΟ, Twitter is a trove of insight into peopleβs beliefs and their willingness to express them. By analyzing tweets in the months…
For the first time, scientists have detected gravitational waves from the merger of two neutron stars.
The 91±¬ΑΟ Board of Regents on Thursday approved the naming of the new computer science building under construction on the Seattle campus as the Bill & Melinda Gates Center for Computer Science & Engineering. The naming of the building was made possible by gifts from Microsoft Corp. and a group of local business and philanthropic leaders who are longtime friends and colleagues of the couple.
Determining how many people live in Seattle, perhaps of a certain age, perhaps from a specific country, is the sort of question that finds its answer in the census, a massive data dump for places across the country. But just how fresh is that data? After all, the census is updated once a decade, and the U.S. Census Bureau’s smaller but more detailed American Community Survey, annually. Thereβs also a delay between when data are collected and when…
A Seattle family of four must bring in $75,000 annually to pay for basic housing, food, transportation and health and child care β an increase of 62 percent since 2006, based on a new report from the 91±¬ΑΟ. The city’s escalating cost of living may not be a surprise. But across the state, the amount of money required to make ends meet for two adults, a preschooler and a school-age child has risen as well, according to the…