Researchers at the 91爆料 and partners at Carnegie Mellon University are collaborating with the U.S. Department of Energy’s on a new project to help scientists use artificial intelligence to better understand the universe.

Modern astronomy is producing more data than ever before. Powerful telescopes 鈥� like the 鈥� and other instruments around the world are collecting detailed information about billions of stars, galaxies and other cosmic objects. These observations help researchers investigate some of the biggest mysteries in science, including the nature of dark matter and dark energy, how the universe evolved over time and what it is made of.

But there is a challenge: Much of the data from those projects is stored in different formats, housed at different institutions and difficult to combine. As a result, scientists often spend significant time preparing data before they can begin analyzing it.

鈥淭he scientific opportunities and the data analysis challenges are incredible,鈥� said , head of physics at Carnegie Mellon University.

The new effort, led by Mandelbaum and funded by the U.S. Department of Energy鈥檚 , will create a shared data service to allow researchers to seamlessly access and combine information from multiple astronomy experiments. Rather than moving massive datasets from one location to another, the system will allow the data to remain where it is stored while making it available through a central platform.

鈥淎 new generation of telescopes and surveys will each change the way we understand our universe,鈥� said co-investigator , a 91爆料 professor of astronomy and director of the eScience Institute. 鈥淏ut it is when we bring these data together to look at the universe from a unified perspective that these discoveries will be truly transformative.鈥�

The data infrastructure developed as part of this project will be available to the astronomical community at the SLAC-hosted Rubin Observatory鈥檚 U.S. Data Facility and via the American Science Cloud, which integrates the nation鈥檚 most advanced high-performance computing systems, scientific facilities, data resources and production capabilities into a single, coordinated AI-driven system. The project extends the 91爆料鈥檚 investments in Rubin Observatory and the 91爆料 , which are supported by Charles and Lisa Simonyi and led by and .听

The infrastructure also will support a growing area of AI known as foundation models. These AI systems are trained on large and diverse datasets, enabling them to recognize patterns and connections that might otherwise go unnoticed.

In astronomy, foundation models could help researchers analyze many different types of observations at once, including images, measurements of light from distant objects and records of how those objects change over time. By bringing these data sources together, scientists hope to uncover new insights about the universe more quickly and efficiently.

Ultimately, the team hopes to transform the vast collections of astronomical data being gathered today into a long-lasting scientific resource, helping researchers answer some of humanity’s most fundamental questions about the origin, evolution and makeup of the universe.

Other 91爆料 co-investigators include , a research scientist and engineer in astronomy. Other co-investigators include , director of engineering for the LINCC project and , senior staff scientist at SLAC and at Stanford鈥檚/SLAC鈥檚 Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology.

Additional modeling will be provided by Francois Lanusse of the French National Centre for Scientific Research. Their work is an extension of the Schmidt Sciences-supported LINCC Frameworks program, a partnership led jointly by CMU and the 91爆料.

This story was adapted from a press release by .

Drug development is among the slowest, most failure-prone processes in modern science, with . Today, artificial intelligence methods have accelerated the first step 鈥� plucking promising molecules out of endless possibilities 鈥� but countless challenges remain. A successful drug must be not only safe and effective, but also able to bypass the body鈥檚 defenses and reach the right target.

Most drug candidates fail such optimizations. That鈥檚 where a new research institute at the 91爆料 has focused its attention. Housed in the 91爆料 School of Pharmacy, the brings together experts in artificial intelligence, drug discovery, pharmacology, data science and biotechnology to ease the bottleneck between promising molecules and successful drugs.听

The Institute opened in July 2026 and is led by three 91爆料 faculty members: , an associate professor of medicinal chemistry who oversees the Institute鈥檚 AI-enabled molecular design; , the Milo Gibaldi Chair of Pharmaceutics and expert in drug metabolism and disposition; and , a professor of psychiatry and behavioral science in the 91爆料 School of Medicine, who leads drug discovery, translation and commercialization efforts.

91爆料 News spoke with the three co-directors about why drug candidates fail, how AI is speeding drug development and how I2D3 hopes to help get drugs to market more quickly.

What separates a promising molecule from a full-fledged drug? What properties need to be considered, and how can a developer work toward them?

Gaurav Bhardwaj: It really depends on the disease indication you are targeting and the therapeutic modality. Let鈥檚 say you have a promising molecule that interacts with the disease-causing protein. Delivery becomes equally important 鈥� do we need an orally delivered drug? Do we need to cross the blood-brain barrier? If the disease requires daily dosing, then injectable or IV methods aren鈥檛 optimal. If it鈥檚 delivered orally, then the molecule needs to be able to get across the gut barrier, and also needs to be stable enough that it doesn鈥檛 get chewed up by the body. It also needs to stay in the body for a reasonable time. A successful drug molecule has to meet all these and more criteria, and ultimately all these criteria are encoded by the sequence and structure of the molecule.

The Institute is devoted to aspects of drug development that are often overlooked. What problem do you see the Institute being able to help solve?听

GB: Traditional drug discovery and development is a trial-and-error-based process. Either you find a useful molecule in nature and spend years optimizing it for human use, or you create many random combinations of molecules and hope that one of them has the function you need. Both of these approaches are highly unsuccessful, which has created a bottleneck.

Now the field is also focusing on an idea called rational drug design. It started long before AI but is now becoming even more common. People are using AI methods to design new molecules. However, a lot of that work has focused on the first step 鈥� finding a molecule that binds to a specific protein, or has a specific function in the body. That鈥檚 still not a drug, it鈥檚 just more candidates.

The bottleneck has now shifted. It鈥檚 no longer finding that first molecule, but now, how do you add all the other drug-like properties? That鈥檚 what the Institute is trying to do. Let鈥檚 build the models that ultimately make molecules that are going to be successful all the way through the drug development pipeline.听

Marco Pravetoni: I see our work also as accelerating discovery. I work on substance use disorders, and my lab develops vaccines, antibodies and next-generation antibody-like molecules that target drugs in the body. With these new tools, instead of working to design 10 antibody candidates in a lab, we could design 1,000 or more, and then we can accumulate enough data to reduce any risks, so that what we bring to clinical trials is more likely to be successful. AI can do a lot of that.

How can you make it more likely that a drug candidate succeeds in trials?听

Nina Isoherranen: Part of it is predicting what鈥檚 going to happen to a drug in humans before it鈥檚 ever given to humans. That should increase the success rate and eliminate the waste of doing a lot of unsuccessful trials.听

We can also build machine learning and AI approaches to predict drug disposition in an individual person. What we talk about today are 鈥榙igital twins,鈥� which refers to a computational model of the individual patient and their characteristics. For example, how does your kidney function? What is your body mass index? And so forth. Then we generate a digital version of you. We can then predict how a certain drug would behave in your body and build the best strategy.听

There鈥檚 also an access-to-treatment question here. Pregnancy is a great example 鈥� we often don鈥檛 know how drugs work in pregnant women because we鈥檝e never done trials. To be safe, we say that pregnant people shouldn鈥檛 take those drugs, but that means they don鈥檛 have access to a potentially hugely beneficial medication. If we can use AI and machine learning to predict how pregnant people respond to medications and how their bodies handle drugs differently from nonpregnant people we can make more medications accessible

Now with AI and machine learning, I think we can get to a place where we can truly sample the full space of possibilities.听

How can the methods you鈥檙e building help with these individualized treatments?听

NI: We know that drugs behave differently in different people. Even if we give them the exact same drugs and concentrations, people may still have different responses because of factors inherent to our bodies.

During drug development the candidate drug needs to be studied to see responses in different populations. Before you get a drug approved, you need to understand how liver disease, for example, is going to change exposure to that drug and whether you need to change the dosing. There鈥檚 a lot of guidance on drug interactions. Pharmacists manage drug interactions all the time, but it gets very complicated when you combine multiple patient factors. Now, if we have good predictive tools, we can predict what鈥檚 going to happen without having to do trials.听

The ultimate goal here is to be able to predict, using model computational tools, what鈥檚 going to happen in individual humans before you ever give them a drug. What鈥檚 the right dose? The right timing?听

91爆料 has established itself as a leader in these fields already. I鈥檓 thinking especially of the 91爆料 Medicine , whose director, , recently won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. How does I2D3 fit into the broader 91爆料 ecosystem?听

MP: IPD is a world leader in designing novel proteins, and the 91爆料 also has outstanding capabilities in clinical testing and implementation through the . However, there remains a critical translational space between discovery and clinical application 鈥斕� one that focuses on the pharmaceutical development needed to turn promising innovations into viable therapeutic products. That鈥檚 where I2D3 can play a leading role.

For example, when researchers at IPD develop a new protein, I2D3 can partner with them early to address formulation, manufacturability, stability, delivery, and other key pharmaceutical considerations that are essential for advancing a discovery toward the clinic and ultimately the marketplace. I2D3 would serve as a core translational partner, helping bridge the gap between innovation and implementation.

IPD brings unmatched strengths in protein design, ITHS provides expertise in clinical translation, and I2D3 contributes the drug development and pharmaceutical sciences capabilities needed to move discoveries across the translational continuum. Together, these organizations can create a powerful and highly integrated ecosystem.

For more information, visit . To reach the researchers, contact Alden Woods at acwoods@uw.edu.

Approximately 90% of the U.S. population . A significant portion of the water supplying those systems comes from forested lands, which means that policies impacting forests also impact our water access.

In 2001, the Clinton administration passed the , blocking 60 million acres of national forest land from development to limit industrial timber harvest and preserve forest ecosystems. Although popular with the public, the roadless rule drew immediate criticism from timber and related industries. Last summer, the federal government announced plans to rescind it.

A new study from the 91爆料 and Conservation Science Partners, , highlights the potential consequences of losing those protections by mapping how the roadless rule protects rivers.

鈥淭he roadless rule supports the drinking water supply for 25 million Americans and offers critical protection of wildlife habitat and recreational assets. In short, rivers in roadless areas are essential for both people and nature,鈥� said lead author , a 91爆料 professor of aquatic and fishery science.

To show how forests impact freshwater, the researchers looked at nearly 110,000 square miles of national forest representing 2,488 officially designated 鈥渞oadless areas.鈥� They cross-referenced the roadless areas map with a recent study assessing river protections nationwide to see where rivers and roadless areas overlap, and therefore which rivers were vulnerable to losing protection.

The researchers found that more than 80,000 miles of rivers in the continental U.S. receive some protection from the roadless rule. Of those protected segments, nearly 62,000 miles of river are protected by only the roadless rule. That water reaches 25 million people across the country, often at downstream distances far from roadless areas.

Research shows that forested lands provide higher quality water because soil microbes and plant roots filter contaminants before water arrives at treatment facilities. Cleaner water requires less processing, reducing potential treatment costs for public utilities. Some water utilities are investing in watershed protection as a way to save money and limit chemical use as demand for water rises.

鈥淔orest cover is well recognized for generating economic benefits by avoiding the large capital costs of water treatment plants needed to ensure clean, safe drinking water for people,鈥� said Olden.

Roadless areas are also vital strongholds for sensitive aquatic species, Olden added. At-risk species such as the use protected habitat for spawning and raising young. Hunters and anglers also value roadless areas because they support such productive fish and wildlife habitat and offer unparalleled opportunities for outdoor recreation.

After the U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced the plan to rescind the roadless rule last year, more than half a million people submitted comments during the public comment period, which ended in September. According to the Center for Western Priorities, more than expressed opposition to the plan.

Earlier this year, Republican lawmakers attempted to by attaching it to the Wildfire Prevention Act, which supports prescribed burns and forest thinning to fight megafires. Their to justify clawing back protections claimed that rescinding the roadless rule would allow for better forest management, but . Research shows that roadbuilding in formerly roadless areas is more likely to increase fire risk.

鈥淭o be clear, the rule does not block any management action that supports forest health, wildfire mitigation or recreation,鈥� Olden said. 鈥淚n fact, energy projects, transmission lines and mining development remain permitted within roadless areas.鈥�

Roadbuilding and logging can cause sediment build up in lakes and rivers, which must be filtered out. Chemicals from construction can also end up in the water supply. Reductions in forest cover resulting from rescinding the roadless rule may compromise water quality in the U.S., among other negative consequences for animals and ecosystems.

The U.S. Forest Service says it is reviewing public comments and a proposed rule and draft statement of environmental impact this year.

鈥淎ny decision to rescind or downgrade the roadless rule that may put forested lands at risk requires careful consideration of the numerous benefits they offer to people and nature,鈥� said Olden. 鈥淥ur study offers data to inform such decisions.鈥�

This study was funded by the 91爆料 and from a contract from American Rivers to Conservation Science Partners.

For more information, contact Olden at olden@uw.edu.

From a mountaintop in Chile, under clear dark skies, the Simonyi Survey Telescope at the NSF鈥揇OE Vera C. Rubin Observatory has officially begun the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (). The 10-year survey will create the most comprehensive, cinematic record of the universe in history. Over the next decade, Rubin will observe the entire southern sky every few nights to create an ultra-wide, ultra-high-definition time-lapse record of our universe.听

鈥淭he decision to officially begin the LSST was made after a period of system optimization and a careful operational review of technical readiness, data system performance and scientific validation,鈥� said , a 91爆料 professor of astronomy and head of LSST. 鈥�The 91爆料 Rubin team played a central role in optimizing the observatory and helping prepare it for the start of full survey operations.鈥�

The Simonyi Survey Telescope鈥檚 unique design combines enormous light-collecting power, the ability to move rapidly across the sky and a wide field of view. The attached 3,200-megapixel camera 鈥� the largest digital camera in the world 鈥� is now capturing a new, detailed image approximately every 40 seconds. Using a telescope with this speed and sensitivity, Rubin is capable of catching faint objects and fleeting events with reliability and consistency every night.

Over the next decade, Rubin will illuminate a treasure trove of discoveries: pulsating stars, supernova explosions, the fossil record of galaxies, clues to the mysteries of dark energy and dark matter, and entirely new phenomena we鈥檝e never seen before. Some cosmic processes unfold slowly, unpredictably or incredibly rarely, which is why a 10-year survey is essential. By returning to each point in the sky about 800 times over a decade, Rubin data will provide the scientific community with deep, time-rich views needed to uncover subtle events, capture moving objects and study the accelerating expansion of the universe.

This milestone follows the Rubin First Look event that took place in June 2025, which was followed by final commissioning work, an operational readiness review and the beginning of the alert stream.

Each night, Rubin collects approximately 10 terabytes of data and produces as many as seven million alerts of changes in the night sky. These alerts stream to : automated systems that sort and classify these changes so scientists can act quickly. 91爆料 researchers led by , research associate professor of astronomy, developed the alert pipeline.

鈥淎stronomers have already used Rubin’s public alerts to discover and follow up hundreds of transient phenomena during the early optimization period,鈥� Bellm said. 鈥淲e can expect many more exciting discoveries with the start of the full survey.鈥�

Not only is Rubin helping to unlock the mysteries of the distant universe, it is also the most powerful solar system discovery machine ever built. By taking about a thousand images every night, Rubin is compiling a detailed census of our solar system, including millions of asteroids and comets. In just a month and a half, during early optimization surveys, Rubin discovered over 11,000 never-before-seen asteroids, including 33 near-Earth objects and 380 trans-Neptunian objects.

When the LSST is complete, the final dataset will contain billions of objects with trillions of measurements, all accessible through regular data releases. This is the first time so much astronomical data will be available to so many people, opening the door to new kinds of discovery by both scientists and the public. Rubin invites anyone in the world to engage with its data and explore the dynamic universe in ways never before possible.

鈥淚t is amazing and humbling to be here at this time and place as we start the Legacy Survey of Space and Time, after more than two decades of incredible work by our dedicated team,鈥� said Bob Blum, director of Rubin Observatory at NSF NOIRLab. 鈥淩ubin Observatory is for everyone; the LSST will change how we do astronomy and astrophysics, allowing researchers anywhere to participate in cutting-edge science.鈥�

Visit to follow the status of the LSST in real time.

Rubin Observatory is jointly operated by NSF NOIRLab and SLAC. Observatory operations听are funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy鈥檚 Office of Science.

For more information, contact Ivezi膰 at ivezic@astro.washington.edu.

This story was adapted from a press release by .

New images of cigar-shaped M82 galaxy capture millions of stars

The Messier 82 galaxy, known as M82 or the Cigar galaxy, has long fascinated researchers with its astronomical rate of star formation 鈥� approximately 10 times faster than the Milky Way. Researchers have pored over grainy, low-resolution, images taken by previous generations of telescopes, which weren鈥檛 powerful enough to see through the thick cloud of dust surrounding the galaxy. The , however, can pierce straight through with extremely sharp vision. That enabled a team of astronomers from multiple institutions, including NASA and the 91爆料, to capture new high-resolution images. Posted June 23, the images include more than 16.5 million individual stars and provide the clearest look yet at M82鈥檚 , the flattened central hub that contains most of the galaxy鈥檚 stellar mass. That could help scientists understand how M82 formed and for how long it has been producing stars so prodigiously.

For more information, contact team member a 91爆料 research professor of astronomy, at benw1@uw.edu.

All images are included in NASA鈥檚

New study maps pollution disparities by state and sector across almost 20 years

Air quality in the United States has improved markedly since the landmark Clean Air Act passed in 1970. However, the gains have not been equally shared: Today, communities of color and low-income communities are exposed to disproportionately more air pollution than the overall population. In in Science Advances, 91爆料 researchers created the first comprehensive map cataloging how air quality inequity has changed per state and economic sector from 2002 to 2019. The study confirmed that, despite improvements in overall air quality, pollution tends to be concentrated in Black, Hispanic and low-income communities. The findings include specific state-level opportunities for improvement across 11 sectors 鈥� for example, disparities in construction-related emissions in Florida increased significantly during the study period. The findings and resulting database could help policymakers across the country prioritize environmental justice projects.

For more information, contact senior author , 91爆料 professor of civil and environmental engineering at jdmarsh@uw.edu.

The other 91爆料 co-authors are , , and . A full list of co-authors is .听

Researchers observe ultrafast chemistry happening in real time

Molecules are not static. Instead, they are having little dance parties 鈥� their atoms wiggle and twist around in space. Occasionally, upon receiving a burst of energy, the bonds holding atoms together in a molecule can break and reform with the atoms in a different configuration. While the number of atoms stays the same, the orientation of these atoms determines a molecule’s chemical properties 鈥� an important part of its identity. In , a 91爆料-led team witnessed firsthand, and for the first time, a molecule turning into its “alter ego.” The researchers observed a hydrogen atom, also known as a proton, jump to a new position by bonding to a different atom in the same molecule. This process, which happens within a few millionths of billionths of a second, is important for various fundamental processes, including photosynthesis, and when DNA acquires mutations. To understand why, and how, this happens so fast, the researchers developed a new tool that probes molecular structure on an ultrafast timescale. They were able to use this technology to detect how the molecule’s wiggles allowed the proton transfer to happen. These findings will help researchers test existing theories about these ultrafast chemical dynamics and develop new molecules for clean energy processes.

For more information, contact senior author , 91爆料 professor of chemistry, at mkhalil@uw.edu.听听听

Co-authors , and completed this work while at the 91爆料. Funding information is .

Random events leave lasting signature on the atmospheric methane record, new study shows

Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas with a complicated life cycle. It鈥檚 released into the atmosphere by both natural and industrial processes, and there are multiple pathways by which it鈥檚 broken down. Recently, atmospheric methane levels have reached record highs but the rate of accumulation has been somewhat inconsistent over time. To understand why, researchers are looking at climate records preceding the industrial era, via ice cores. These deep cylinders of glacial ice document slow swings in atmospheric methane levels spanning decades, or even centuries. This pattern is typically associated with gradual climate change, but in , 91爆料 researchers show that it doesn鈥檛 have to be. Instead, they reveal that short-term, random events, such as fires or changes in wetlands, can spark gradual shifts. Not only does this clarify the historical record, but it also adds nuance to modern trends.

For more information, contact senior author , 91爆料 doctoral student of atmospheric and climate science at emei@uw.edu.

The other 91爆料 co-authors are and . A full list of co-authors is .

Data spanning nearly half a century shows that endangered southern resident killer whales are spending less time in inland waters, whereas their larger cousins, Bigg鈥檚 killer whales, are increasingly present in Puget Sound.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration southern resident killer whales as endangered in 2005 after rapid population decline in the late 1990s. Now, , split into three pods: J, K and L. Bigg鈥檚 鈥� sometimes referred to as transients 鈥� are more common, but difficult to count because they travel in smaller groups over wider ranges.

Looking at data from 鈥檚 Sightings Archive between 1978 and 2022, 91爆料 researchers modeled migratory trends based on observations from researchers, recreational boaters and whale watchers. They found that K and L pods are visiting Puget Sound less often, but the J pod remains well represented. The data on Bigg鈥檚 corroborates recent results showing a steady increase in inland waters.

The results in PLOS One.

鈥淲e do see increasing transient presence over time, but we don鈥檛 see a definitive decline or overall increase for the southern residents. Their presence here is much more variable,鈥� said lead author , a 91爆料 postdoctoral researcher of marine and environmental affairs.

Key behavioral and subtle physical differences . The southern residents eat salmon, while Bigg鈥檚 prey on seals, porpoises and other marine mammals. Seals and sea lions rebounded in Washington after the Mammal Protection Act, which may have drawn Bigg鈥檚 killer whales to inland waters, but that doesn鈥檛 explain the changing distribution of southern residents.

Because southern residents are organized into tight matriarchal societies led by female elders, researchers believe that social cues may play an important role.

鈥淒oes J pod know something that K and L don鈥檛? Or vice versa? We like to think about which pods have really old grandmas left and who’s teaching them where to go,鈥� said co-author , a marine mammal specialist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), West Coast Regional office.

Policies to protect southern residents typically apply to all pods. With K and L spending more time in coastal waters, NOAA for southern residents in 2021 to include 16,000 square miles of marine waters between the U.S. and Canada border and Point Sur, California.

Measures like the , which encourages commercial ships to slow down where whales are present, aim to mitigate the impact of noise. Boats are also of the southern residents.

Indications of changing habitat have prompted some to question the need for such regulations in Puget Sound, but these results underscore their continued importance.

鈥淓ven though we鈥檙e seeing less of K and L pods, we still have to think about how our actions impact J pod. They鈥檙e still hanging around,鈥� Koehn said.

The study also notes that southern residents and Bigg鈥檚 are sharing habitat more often, though it isn鈥檛 clear whether they mingle or avoid each other. This raises questions about their relationship and underscores the importance of accounting for both in management decisions.

鈥淗aving more transients around could be good for the southern residents, because they eat marine mammals that also eat salmon,鈥� Rand said.

But if the southern residents avoid the transients, their increased presence could be disruptive. Researchers are actively studying threats to the southern residents 鈥� including prey availability 鈥� to support the imperiled population.

This analysis wouldn鈥檛 have been possible without consistent contributions from citizen scientists. People who report whale sightings using apps like Whale Alert help researchers provide data to policymakers, which can be consequential for the whales.

鈥淭his study quantitatively shows things that people have been suspecting,鈥� Rand said. 鈥淭here are more transients here in Washington, but the southern resident鈥檚 story is a bit more complicated.鈥�

Additional co-authors include of the Whale Museum and of NOAA Fisheries Northwest Fisheries Science Center.

This study was funded by Washington Sea Grant, NOAA Fisheries West Coast and the Puget Sound Partnership.听

For more information, contact Rand at zrand@uw.edu.

Why is it important to study mosquitoes?听

Willem Laursen: Mosquitoes have been an enduring scourge of humanity for millennia. Their bites are a nuisance to humans and animals alike, and ancient texts describe illnesses consistent with mosquito-borne diseases, such as malaria, long before the source of transmission was understood.

Globalization and climate change are expanding the geographic range of many mosquito species, and their increasing resistance to insecticides threatens the long-term effectiveness of current control strategies. As a result, we urgently need new approaches for controlling mosquito-borne disease.

If we can better understand the genetic and sensory basis of mosquito behavior, we might be able to find new opportunities to disrupt disease transmission. Critical behaviors such as host seeking and blood feeding are highly specialized and difficult to model in other organisms, making it essential to study these mechanisms directly in mosquitoes themselves.

Andrea Durant: These mosquito-related problems are not just for humans. Warmer winters and early-season snowmelt have led to massive swarms of mosquitoes coinciding with wildlife migration, which changes foraging patterns in the Arctic tundra and forces animals like caribou to use precious energy reserves on evading these mosquito-blackened skies. Mosquito swarms are also a big problem for agriculture, particularly cattle herds.

What do you study?

AD: My lab studies how mosquitoes maintain a stable internal environment when faced with changing external conditions. Mosquitoes start their life as an egg that is deposited in or near water, and the larval, or juvenile, stages are aquatic. Unlike the terrestrial flying adult mosquito that has agency in its choice of residence, a mosquito larva is tied to wherever it hatches 鈥� it must survive and develop there, or die.

Sometimes the aquatic reservoirs where an adult female has selected to lay her eggs can be quite extreme, such as very polluted freshwater and seawater. We study specialized adaptations that allow these larvae to survive 鈥� most mosquito species require clean freshwater for larval development. Our goal is to reveal how mosquitoes have been able to successfully expand their habitats to places like urban sewage systems and salty coastal habitats.

WL: In my lab, our research focuses on understanding how mosquitoes sense things at the cellular level. We are trying to determine what proteins mosquitoes use to detect human-associated cues, such as heat and humidity. By identifying the cellular and molecular machinery mosquitoes use to find hosts, food sources, mates and egg-laying sites, we hope to better understand how specialized behaviors, such as blood feeding, evolve, and to uncover new targets for controlling the transmission of mosquito-borne diseases.

Jeffrey Riffell: My lab studies the 鈥渉ow鈥� of mosquito biting behavior. We also study how they visit flowers and plants 鈥� yes, they can pollinate certain plants! 鈥� to understand their natural behaviors. By learning more about mosquito physiology and behavior, we would like to develop new tools for traps and ways to control mosquitoes around people’s homes.

Tell us what it’s like to be someone who studies mosquitoes.

JR: Mosquitoes, all day and all the time. Although we try to minimize the potential for mosquito biting in the lab and in our field sites, you have to grin and bear it when dealing with these little vampires.听

WL: Being around large swarms of mosquitoes all day does desensitize me a bit. Sometimes I will be out hiking or camping with family members and I won’t be paying much attention until I start hearing complaints about the mosquitoes. Working with mosquitoes also leads me to do funny things, such as collecting sweat or wearing a nylon stocking for days to collect human odors for behavioral assays.

Rearing transgenic mosquitoes in the lab is a bit like ranching: We have to keep track of large herds of animals. Because the life stages live in different environments, we have to constantly shuttle them around between water-filled trays, for the larvae/pupae, and cages, for the terrestrial adults. We also have to move the adults around on a specific schedule to make sure they have access to our artificial blood feeders. Some lab members jokingly put a sign on the door that says “Welcome to The Ranch.”

AD: Willem is to a rancher as I am to a protagonist in “Swamp People.” We often venture outside of the lab to hunt mosquitoes in their natural habitat in urban and peri-urban areas. Sometimes we find ourselves in picturesque places like the beautiful pillow basalt coastlines of the San Juan Islands. Most often, I can be found headfirst in a nutrient-rich septic system in someone’s backyard filled with mosquito larvae or marching into the fray of massive swarms of saline-tolerant mosquitoes that await in tidal marshlands and mangrove forests.

What is the coolest mosquito fact you know?

WL: There are over 3,500 species of mosquitoes, with vastly different appearances, life histories and host preferences. Many are generalists. A few strongly prefer humans and some feed from cold-blooded animals like frogs or earthworms. The large amber-encased Toxorhynchites elephant mosquito shown in the movie “Jurassic Park” feeds on other mosquito larvae and doesn鈥檛 actually drink blood at all.

JR: I like These mosquitoes are very pretty, and they shoot their eggs into tree holes.

What鈥檚 one thing you wish people understood about mosquitoes?

AD: The incalculable misery that mosquitoes exert on humans and other animals certainly overshadows any appreciation for the importance of mosquitoes in nature. Many species of mosquitoes are critical to biodiversity and are actually fundamental to the food chain. There are numerous examples of areas with reduced breeding success and animal survival because there have been effective vector control programs and non-targeted mosquito eradication efforts.

For more information, contact Laursen at wlaursen@uw.edu, Durant at durantan@uw.edu and Riffell at jriffell@uw.edu.

Every summer, , 91爆料 associate professor of biology, and members of her lab head to northern Botswana to study how large predators, such as lions and African wild dogs, are affected by climate change and other shifts in their environment.

The researchers are particularly interested in understanding how these predators are changing their behavior 鈥� including where they go and when they reproduce 鈥� as the days get hotter and as the animals are more likely to come into contact with people. One example is a project studying how interactions between lions and wild dogs, which don’t typically get along, might change during heatwaves and droughts.

Abrahms is returning to Botswana again this summer, along with two other researchers in her lab: , a 91爆料 research scientist in biology, and , a 91爆料 doctoral student in biology. , 91爆料 professor of environmental and forest sciences, will also be joining for parts of the season. 91爆料 News asked Rafiq and Poulin a few questions about their upcoming work for the occasional series 鈥�In the Field,鈥� which highlights 91爆料 field efforts.

Tell us about the trip. Where are you going?

Kasim Rafiq: Our team will be traveling to the fringes of the . We have a long-standing partnership with , which has been operating a long-term monitoring program there since the 1990s. As part of this program, Wild Entrust operates a remote bush camp that we work out of, which we affectionately call “Wild Dog Camp,” or “Dog Camp” for short. This is really just a collection of tents in the middle of the African bush, and everything is non-permanent, meaning it could be quickly taken apart.

The camp is located in an area managed by the local community for wildlife tourism, and it borders the . So, it鈥檚 a wild landscape with lots of wildlife and lush vegetation. There鈥檚 no fence around the camp, so it鈥檚 not uncommon for animals to wander through the camp day and night, including lions, elephants, leopards and various species of snakes.

Have you visited this site before?

KR: I first came to Dog Camp in 2013 as a research assistant and then I completed my master鈥檚 and doctoral research there studying leopards. For my doctoral project, I stayed at the camp for two years because leopards are pretty tricky to study. I’ve been back to Dog Camp every year since I joined the Abrahms Lab as a research scientist in 2021.

I feel very privileged to have been able to work with the people in camp for such a long period of time. It鈥檚 been special to see how the camp has developed over that period, and also to maintain relationships with the Botswana-based teams.

MP: I joined the Abrahms Lab in 2024 and spent time in the field that year to become familiar with the carnivores that we study. I returned in 2025 and I began to learn essential field skills, such as how to track and follow carnivores in the bush. I鈥檓 excited for my third visit to the field site this year.

How do you study these creatures?

KR: We use a combination of techniques. We directly watch these predators and use new conservation technologies to monitor animals year-round and during periods when it鈥檚 just not possible to follow them, such as when it’s too wet.

One key technology we use is wildlife tracking collars that use GPS sensors to let us see where the animals are going and accelerometers and microphones to let us know what they鈥檙e doing. We like to think of these collars as Fitbits for wildlife. Just like your fitness tracker helps you better understand your movement and your sleep, these collars allow us to get deep insights into an animal鈥檚 behavior.

Can you talk about some of the projects you’re working on?

MP: I鈥檓 looking at how social structure in wild dogs may influence how they respond to environmental change. Wild dogs live in tight-knit packs, just like grey wolves in North America. In each pack, usually only one lead pair has pups, while the rest of the pack 鈥� often aunts, uncles and older siblings 鈥� all work together to babysit, feed and protect the pups.

In my research, I am investigating how a pack鈥檚 “social profile,” such as its size, family ties and history, affects how the animals adjust their movement patterns during heatwaves and droughts. I’m also looking at how increasing temperatures affect the timing of these dogs’ reproduction.

Overall, I鈥檓 interested in understanding if the benefits of living in a group, such as the higher hunting success, pup care, and reproductive success seen in larger packs, might help buffer the impacts of environmental change on animal populations.

What are your goals for this trip?

KR: This year, our plan is to deploy tracking collars on the long-term lion and African wild dog study populations across our field site. The data that we’ll get from these collars is crucial for helping us understand how behaviors change year after year as a result of environmental change.

A key part of this field season will also involve following animals with these sensors and collecting video recordings of them doing different behaviors, such as where and how they hunt and feed. We will use the video data to train AI models that allow us to better understand how climate change is affecting these behaviors.

What鈥檚 something you really enjoy about doing this field work 鈥� especially something that might not occur to most people?

KR: Two of the things I enjoy most are the behind-the-scenes parts of the work that are critical to this type of fieldwork, but that people rarely think about or see.

First, I really enjoy tracking animals. There鈥檚 something quite meditative about following a wild animal鈥檚 footprints through the grass.

The second is vehicle mechanics. Around 80% of fieldwork is fixing your Land Rover when it breaks down for some unknown reason, and although that tinkering can be frustrating, it鈥檚 also fun. Some of my favorite memories in the bush come from sitting in the sand and taking apart the engine.

MP: I love tracking animals using radio telemetry. The tracking collars we put on animals send out radio signals that we can detect with an antenna and receiver. By listening for the “ping,” we can tell which direction the animal is in and roughly how far away it is. The carnivores we study roam across huge areas, so tracking them often means a lot of driving on rough roads and not always having successful searches. But, hearing that first 鈥� often really faint 鈥� “ping” is always super exciting, and finding the animals feels rewarding.

I also especially love being in the field around sunrise and sunset, when the landscape looks golden, feels peaceful and the animals are most active.

More generally, is there anything you find surprising about doing field work?

KR: Although fieldwork is intensive and often the busiest part of the year, it鈥檚 busy in a very different way from office work. I鈥檓 often surprised that, despite the long hours, I feel more energized in the field than I do at my desk. I think part of that comes from being so close to the animals and the landscape you鈥檙e trying to understand.

I鈥檓 also a big believer that, although technologies like GPS collars and audio recorders now allow us to collect huge amounts of data from the comfort of our offices, those data are only as useful as our ability to interpret them. To do that well, you really need to understand your study animal. There are many ways to build that understanding, from reading books to watching documentaries, but for me, nothing compares to spending time in the field. I always come back with a dozen new ideas that have appeared while simply sitting and watching the animals.

MP: Doing field work is really enlightening. It鈥檚 extremely valuable because it gives us a better understanding of the animals and their environment. By observing where animals spend their time, how they interact with one another and with other species, and the challenges they face, we can develop more meaningful research questions. Spending time in the field also sparks creativity, because it allows us to see and notice unexpected behaviors and inspires new ideas for research.

For more information, contact Rafiq at rafiqk@uw.edu and Poulin at mpoulin1@uw.edu.

The ShakeAlert earthquake early warning system has been rapidly expanding since its launch in 2021. Now, researchers at 91爆料 affiliated Pacific Northwest Seismic Network (PNSN) have finished all planned installations, bringing the two-state total to spread across Washington and Oregon.

ShakeAlert detects ground motion from earthquakes before it is felt, giving people precious time to drop, cover and hold on. An earthquake exceeding magnitude 5 will trigger an automated cell phone alert from the , or WEA, which also sends AMBER alerts. Millions of people benefit from the network as is, but the researchers are still exploring ways to improve it.

鈥淲hen we launched ShakeAlert, we felt confident that we had enough seismic stations to do a good job with early warning, but that wasn鈥檛 the optimal number. Now, with the buildout complete, we have coverage where it was lacking at launch,鈥� said , director of PNSN and a 91爆料 professor in Earth and space sciences.

However, expanding the network to include sensors on the ocean floor could help Pacific Northwest residents contend with the area鈥檚 greatest hazard 鈥� the Cascadia Subduction Zone.

The West Coast is a hotbed for seismic activity. Nestled in the , an array of volcanoes circling the Pacific Ocean where 90% of Earth鈥檚 quakes occur, the region鈥檚 volatile geology clashes with its growing population. Early warning systems can give people seconds to minutes of time to prepare for shaking, and a sense of how strong it will be.

Just over a year ago, a midsized earthquake under Orcas Island offered ShakeAlert in Washington. Multiple seismometers in the area picked up the signal and ran it back to headquarters for verification. The earthquake wasn鈥檛 quite big enough to trigger a WEA automated alert, or cause major damage, but in the affected region it did notify people听with early warning apps such as MyShake, as well as all Android mobile devices.

鈥淭he system detected the earthquake rapidly, accurately assessed its magnitude and automatically sent out a warning 鈥� all in a handful of seconds,鈥� said Tobin. 鈥淚t was the first event that met all the criteria in Washington and it worked really well.鈥�

During a larger earthquake, warnings will be automatic no matter the app or operating system. Warnings will also trigger certain public safety measures: Schools can connect PA systems to ShakeAlert for rapid updates, public transit may slow trains to avoid derailment and fire station doors will go up to allow firetrucks out even if electricity is lost.

Right now, the system is most effective for land-based earthquakes because the sensors are on land. Expanding the sensor network to include offshore, ocean bottom seismometers could improve detection and warning time for offshore earthquakes, namely a much-anticipated megathrust earthquake at the Cascadia Subduction Zone.

鈥淭he fundamental problem we have is that our seismic network 鈥� hundreds and hundreds of stations 鈥� is on land, but the biggest earthquake hazard comes from off our coast,鈥� Tobin said. 鈥淓arthquake detection works much better when the earthquake is in the area of your network, not off to one side.鈥�

Seismometers can be placed on the ocean floor, but they must be connected to cables for early warning, which is expensive. Japan installed an impressive that cost $120 million following the devastating 2011 earthquake. The country now has more than 200 seismometers covering its subduction zones.

The Cascadia Subduction Zone has a handful of existing offshore sensors 鈥� five near Vancouver Island and two off the coast of Oregon. A 91爆料-led project this summer to the Oregon cable, which spans hundreds of seafloor miles, crossing the subduction zone twice. None of the offshore sensors are in the ShakeAlert network, but adding them could be impactful.

, a 91爆料 postdoctoral researcher in Earth and space science, recently at the Seismological Society of America鈥檚 annual meeting detailing the potential benefits of adding offshore seismic monitoring.

Krauss found with modeling that incorporating just a few ocean bottom sensors improved detection time for offshore earthquakes and warning time for millions of people. In hypothetical earthquake scenarios, the sensors picked up ground motion faster and improved magnitude estimates because they were closer to the fault.

鈥淪hakeAlert is all about figuring out that an earthquake is happening as fast as possible, so having sensors nearby is essential,鈥� Krauss said. 鈥淏ut in these magnitude 8 or 9 scenarios, it’s not just about detecting it, but realizing how big it is, and fast.鈥�

The researchers also explored incorporating telecommunications cables into the sensor network using a method called distributed acoustic sensing (DAS), which records ground motion based on cable stretch. Incorporating DAS could extend the reach of existing cables even further than sensors, translating to 鈥渉uge warning time improvements,鈥� Krauss said.

Different combinations produced varying improvements in both detection and warning time, depending on where the hypothetical earthquake occurred. Regardless, having sensors always beat not having them. While there are several hurdles to clear before ocean bottom sensors can be brought into ShakeAlert, Krauss said none are insurmountable.

鈥淎lthough we鈥檝e marked this milestone of completing our station buildout, that doesn’t mean we鈥檙e not continuously improving the ShakeAlert system,鈥� Tobin said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e working to make it faster, better and more reliable.鈥�

For more information, contact Tobin at htobin@uw.edu and Krauss at zkrauss@uw.edu.听听

Fish that split their lives between fresh and salt water often face obstacles getting back and forth. Dams and roads fracture river networks and interfere with traditional migratory routes, sparking concerns about fish health and abundance, as well as biodiversity on a broader scale.

Efforts to restore fish passage are cropping up across the country, but these projects come with hefty price tags. In a new study, , 91爆料 researchers explore whether this money is being well spent by examining the process that determines which projects are prioritized.

The current standard, called score and rank, involves evaluating barriers one by one and assigning a score based on potential gains, such as habitat expansion. Top-ranking projects become leading candidates for funding, but score and rank systems don鈥檛 always account for barriers in the full river context. High-scoring projects can yield stranded investments, where removing the barrier doesn鈥檛 have the desired outcome because of other barriers downstream or immediately upstream.

鈥淚deally, barriers that are most downstream will score higher, because they need to come out before the fish can benefit from upstream restoration, but approaches to scoring vary, so this isn鈥檛 always the outcome,鈥� said lead author , a 91爆料 associate professor of marine and environmental affairs.

As an alternative to score and rank, this study presents a mathematical computer program called optimization. Optimization synthesizes many inputs to make the most of a budget. It can serve as a performance indicator for other systems and highlight opportunities for improving an underperforming system.

鈥淚t’s looking at a portfolio instead of going barrier by barrier. In doing so, you can explicitly account for watershed connectivity and evaluate the performance of score and rank,鈥� Jardine said.

As concerns about the health of rivers mounted in recent years, state and federal governments have allocated billions of dollars toward reconnecting them. Fragmentation is an established threat to biodiversity, and recent studies show that a vast majority of river length is not protected by conservation measures.

Washington state is in the midst of a court ordered multibillion dollar effort to remove barriers that block salmon and steelhead from swimming upstream to spawn. The combines score and rank with optimization in a hybrid approach. Similar projects elsewhere tend to use score and rank.

鈥淚 think people see optimization as a black box because it’s not as obvious why a barrier rose to the top of the priority list,鈥� Jardine said. 鈥淲ith score and rank, they understand the scores and the process, but we don鈥檛 really know what the outcome will be.鈥�

In this study, researchers use fish passage in Western Washington as a case study to compare score and rank to optimization. They show that score and rank performs decently well when the only goal is opening up as much habitat as possible, but adding other variables into the mix, such as habitat quality, compromises its performance.

While optimization has the capability to balance variables, it might not work for everyone. The program needs data to run and someone with a mathematical background to run it. Still, even small tweaks to the score and rank approach can produce results that rival optimization.

鈥淢ajor change is hard, but minor changes may be enough,鈥� Jardine said.

Because these projects often represent the values of multiple stakeholders, it鈥檚 important to include safeguards against stranded investments.

鈥淵ou need to work from downstream up to make sure the success of a project isn鈥檛 contingent upon other projects,鈥� Jardine said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e spending a lot of money on this, but the total cost of restoring all barriers is much higher than the budget, so it’s really important that we make the most out of the financial resources that we have.鈥�

Additional co-authors include , a 91爆料 postdoctoral researcher in environmental and marine affairs; , who completed this research as a 91爆料 master鈥檚 student in environmental and marine Affairs;听 J Kahn, who completed this research as a 91爆料 master鈥檚 student in quantitative ecology and resource management; Andrew Cooke, a 91爆料 research consultant in environmental and forest sciences, , a 91爆料 research scientist in environmental and forest sciences; , a 91爆料 associate professor of aquatic and fishery sciences and , , , and of NOAA.

This study was funded by Washington Sea Grant and the Rae S. and Bell M. Shimada Endowed Faculty Fellowship in Memory of Warren S. Wooster.

For more information, contact Jardine at jardine@uw.edu.听 听听