The ShakeAlert earthquake early warning system has been rapidly expanding since its launch in 2021. Now, researchers at 91���� 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.

“When we launched ShakeAlert, we felt confident that we had enough seismic stations to do a good job with early warning, but that wasn’t the optimal number. Now, with the buildout complete, we have coverage where it was lacking at launch,” said , director of PNSN and a 91���� 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’s greatest hazard — 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’s quakes occur, the region’s 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’t quite big enough to trigger a WEA automated alert, or cause major damage, but in the affected region it did notify people��with early warning apps such as MyShake, as well as all Android mobile devices.

“The system detected the earthquake rapidly, accurately assessed its magnitude and automatically sent out a warning — all in a handful of seconds,” said Tobin. “It was the first event that met all the criteria in Washington and it worked really well.”

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.

“The fundamental problem we have is that our seismic network — hundreds and hundreds of stations — is on land, but the biggest earthquake hazard comes from off our coast,” Tobin said. “Earthquake detection works much better when the earthquake is in the area of your network, not off to one side.”

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 — five near Vancouver Island and two off the coast of Oregon. A 91����-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���� postdoctoral researcher in Earth and space science, recently at the Seismological Society of America’s 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.

“ShakeAlert is all about figuring out that an earthquake is happening as fast as possible, so having sensors nearby is essential,” Krauss said. “But in these magnitude 8 or 9 scenarios, it’s not just about detecting it, but realizing how big it is, and fast.”

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 “huge warning time improvements,” 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.

“Although we’ve marked this milestone of completing our station buildout, that doesn’t mean we’re not continuously improving the ShakeAlert system,” Tobin said. “We’re working to make it faster, better and more reliable.”

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

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���� 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’t always account for barriers in the full river context. High-scoring projects can yield stranded investments, where removing the barrier doesn’t have the desired outcome because of other barriers downstream or immediately upstream.

“Ideally, 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’t always the outcome,” said lead author , a 91���� 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.

“It’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,” 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.

“I 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,” Jardine said. “With score and rank, they understand the scores and the process, but we don’t really know what the outcome will be.”

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.

“Major change is hard, but minor changes may be enough,” Jardine said.

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

“You need to work from downstream up to make sure the success of a project isn’t contingent upon other projects,” Jardine said. “We’re 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.”

Additional co-authors include , a 91���� postdoctoral researcher in environmental and marine affairs; , who completed this research as a 91���� master’s student in environmental and marine Affairs;�� J Kahn, who completed this research as a 91���� master’s student in quantitative ecology and resource management; Andrew Cooke, a 91���� research consultant in environmental and forest sciences, , a 91���� research scientist in environmental and forest sciences; , a 91���� 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.�� ����

Plants may not appear aggressive, but they can still defend themselves while under attack. When caterpillars chomp the leaves of bean plants, these plants release gases that lure predatory wasps. The wasps prey on the caterpillars, saving the plants from further destruction. In a paper , a 91����-led team demonstrated that this defense strategy is run by a protein called INR, or inceptin receptor. The researchers grew bean plants with naturally occurring mutations in the INR gene alongside plants with functional INR in an experimental field in Oaxaca, Mexico. The knock-out plants didn’t emit gases and attracted far fewer wasps. This result helps explain a previous study by this team that first identified the biochemical pathway behind this defense mechanism. These results also showcase how the tiny actions of a single protein can affect the behavior of wasps and caterpillars, and in turn, protect the health of the plant. This could benefit nearby plants as well, the researchers said. Beans are often grown alongside “,” such as corn, with the idea that each plant provides a benefit for the others. Beans help make the soil richer for their companions, and, through the actions of INR, could also protect their neighbors from pests.

For more information, contact senior author , 91���� associate professor of biology, at astein10@uw.edu.����

The other 91���� co-authors are , , , and . A full list of co-authors and funding is included .

Decades of satellite data show Himalayan rivers migrating rapidly in response to climate change

The movement of rivers is often described in terms of flowing water, but the path a river takes can also change. Some migration is normal, but in the Himalayas, rivers seem to be scrambling faster than scientists anticipated. In a study , researchers show that rivers in the Tibetan Plateau moved twice as much from 2000 to 2020 as they did from 1980 to 2000. As glaciers melt and frozen ground thaws in response to rising temperatures, rivers are inundated with silty meltwater from surrounding glaciers. The water picks the path of least resistance through softening ground. The “movement” includes small lateral shifts, big swings that cut off entire sections of river and occasionally, . The international team attributes their observations to climate change, which is driving temperatures up faster here than many other places. More than 2 billion people rely on these rivers for fresh water and researchers are concerned about communities downstream, as well as the potential for similar patterns that may play out elsewhere.

For more information, contact co-author , 91���� professor of Earth and space sciences at bigdirt@uw.edu.����

A full list of co-authors and funding is .

Researchers shrink eye-catching structure down to the nano scale��

made using a network of freestanding bars suspended by a web of thin, tense cables. The organization of the bars and cables allows the network of tension and compression forces to lock everything into place, creating a lightweight yet stiff structure. Tensegrities of different sizes are common in nature — examples include and the that help living cells maintain their shape — as well as in diverse manmade structures like , and . Now, a team of engineers at the 91���� have found a way to create tensegrities as small as five micrometers across — roughly a tenth of the width of a human hair. in the aptly-named journal Small, researchers used a specialized and a resin compound to print bar-and-cable structures about 30 micrometers across. They then heated the materials to 900 degrees celsius, causing the structures to shrink by over 80%. As they shrank, the thinner cables constricted more than the bars, resulting in nanostructures with specific, locked-in levels of stress that were up to 250% stiffer than the starting structures. The team is now working on ways to build larger materials composed of tiny tensegrities, which could eventually usher in a new class of stiff, light and impact-resistant materials.

For more information, contact lead author , a 91���� doctoral student of mechanical engineering.

Other 91���� co-authors are , , Zainab S. Patel, , and . Funding information is included .��

Scientists find a key water source for atmospheric rivers

In December 2025, brought a seemingly endless onslaught of precipitation to Washington that caused and washed away roads and homes. In published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 91���� researchers help explain where all that water came from. They describe a link between the , a weather pattern that brings moisture east across the Pacific, and atmospheric rivers. Hypotheses about this connection have emerged from previous studies, but researchers couldn’t physically draw it until now. By tracking precipitation and wind patterns from 2000 to 2024, the 91���� researchers show that heavy rainfall and flooding are more likely when MJO is active, which happens several times a year. By identifying the MJO as a key moisture source for powerful atmospheric rivers, the researchers hope to improve forecast accuracy and give people more lead time to prepare for incoming storms.

For more information, contact co-author , 91���� professor of atmospheric and climate science at shuyic@uw.edu.

Other 91���� co-authors are and . Funding information is .

���������첹’s was home to beluga whales in the late 1970s, but today the population hovers around 300. Despite almost two decades of recovery work, the whales aren’t bouncing back. The Cook Inlet belugas are likely struggling under multiple pressures, including increasing human noise. Researchers are working on deciphering whale-whale communication to better account for the impact of noise on this vulnerable population.

In a new study, 91���� scientists eavesdropped on Cook Inlet belugas, recording more than 1,700 calls representing 21 different behavioral encounters. This work builds on a 2023 study showing that noise from commercial shipping, the primary industry in the region, masks common beluga calls. Although many marine mammals rely more on sound than sight, our understanding of acoustic communication among these animals is limited.

Beluga whales use vocalizations to socialize, stick together and avoid danger. The new study, , investigated the behavioral, social and environmental contexts in which the whales produce various calls.

“We knew that human-generated noise was masking their calls, but we didn’t know what those calls were used for,” said, a 91���� doctoral student in aquatic and fishery sciences. “This study gave us important insights into the world of beluga communication and how it is disrupted by industry and development.”

They found that Cook Inlet belugas use a specific type of call — a combined call — when calves are present. Combined calls were one of the call types that got drowned out by shipping noise in the 2023 study, suggesting that shipping noise could be disrupting communication with calves. If mothers and calves can’t remain in contact, it could spell trouble for the young whales.

“We don’t have the data to directly connect noise and calf separation,” Brewer said, “but if a mother whale can’t acoustically keep in contact with her calf, that could be a huge problem.”.

Researchers also found that calling between whales increased right before a behavioral change in the group, such as a transition from socializing to traveling, and when the tide was coming in. The call rate for individual whales decreased as group size increased, suggesting that individuals call less in a big group, perhaps to avoid talking over each other.

In Cook Inlet, where the whales live year round, silty glacial water gets churned up by powerful currents and dramatic tides. Beluga whales likely moved in after the last ice age, roughly 10,000 years ago. Vocal communication and echolocation, a navigational strategy used by bats and some whales, have allowed them to survive in this extreme environment, but human noise presents a newer challenge.

“Their main foraging hot spots for salmon are in the northern part of the inlet, near Anchorage, and in close proximity to the airport, the Port of Alaska, and the military base. I think there are ways to adapt but it’s tricky for them and noise pollution is far from the only threat,” Brewer said.

Beluga whales in the St. Lawrence Estuary in Eastern Canada — also very noisy — have evolved to , perhaps in response to lower frequency anthropogenic noise. They also make their when it’s noisy, just like two people conversing at a party would.

In the Puget Sound region, where the endangered Southern Resident killer whales live, when whales are reported in the area. Smaller ships are legally required to keep their distance and slow down within half a mile of the whales. This program was introduced after researchers demonstrated that .

“The Port of Alaska could explore similar strategies to mitigate the impact of industry,” Brewer said. “We can’t halt shipping, but we’re trying to understand what we can do to manage these critical habitats, especially when the animals are nearby.”

Co-authors include , a 91���� assistant professor of aquatic and fishery sciences;�� , a 91���� professor of aquatic and fishery sciences; , a 91���� assistant professor of aquatic and fishery sciences; , a research scientist in the 91���� Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean, & Ecosystem Studies; of NOAA; Christopher Garner and Andrea Gilstad of the Air Force Conservation Department.

This study was funded by 91���� School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, the Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean, and Ecosystem Studies under a NOAA Cooperative Agreement, and the H. Mason Keeler Endowed Professorship in Sports Fisheries Management.

For more information, contact Brewer at arialb@uw.edu.�� ��

In early April, a powerful typhoon formed over the northwestern Pacific Ocean, as it swirled toward the Mariana Islands, a 15-island archipelago east of the Philippines. By the time it on April 14, the wind was gusting 130 miles per hour, rain fell in sheets and huge waves pounded the shores.

This super typhoon, called Typhoon Sinlaku, was among the strongest early-season storms recorded in the past 75 years. It caused widespread damage on the islands — home to approximately 50,000 people — leaving most without power, tearing roofs off homes and destroying vital infrastructure.

The U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, or CNMI, includes 14 of the islands in the archipelago and the remaining island, Guam, is a U.S. territory. The residents, a mix of Indigenous Chamorro people and settlers, are American citizens and U.S. institutions and agencies are well represented on the islands.

On Rota, 91���� researchers have been working to stabilize the population of the endangered Mariana crow for decades after research signaled rapid decline. , a 91���� professor of environmental and forest sciences, and , a 91���� professor of environmental and forest sciences, oversee several projects on Tinian, a small forested island roughly 12 miles long and 6 miles wide.

The first project, launched in 2021, focused on a small, formerly endangered songbird called the . It has since expanded into broader study of native birds and plant restoration.

91���� News spoke with Gardner, , a research scientist in Gardner’s lab, and , a graduate student in Bakker’s lab, about the impacts of the typhoon and how they plan to resume their work on the islands.

What first brought you to Tinian? What makes the island unique?

Beth Gardner: We were initially approached by a consulting firm with a contract to study the Tinian monarch, which led us to form a relationship with the U.S. Navy based on the island. They were impressed by our work and efforts to integrate into the community and funded our group to continue developing research on Tinian.

Kaeli Swift: Tinian’s unique ecological character reflects its complicated history. The island is about 60% forested but the forests are primarily composed of a mix of introduced species. Centuries of colonization — by the Spanish, Germans, Japanese and now U.S. — has resulted in immense habitat destruction. Tinian was heavily bombed during World War II and then became the U.S. point for the atomic bomb.

Fletcher Moore: By the end of the war, over 95% of the forest had been cleared, obviously to the extreme detriment of all the native plants and animals. Now, over two-thirds of the island is controlled in a lease agreement by the U.S. military. That land is largely undeveloped, but the U.S. military plans to invest in major new projects on Tinian in the next decade.

What does your work involve?

KS: We have been doing on Tinian for five years. We’re trying to understand threats to native birds by studying offspring survival and predator populations — primarily rats and cats. Our recent work involves acoustic monitoring, specifically looking at how birds are impacted by human-related noise associated with development on the island.

FM: We are working on a long-term native forest restoration project based on the observation that the lack of native plants was limiting wildlife populations on Tinian. We are supporting development of a native plant nursery by partnering with local entities to enhance the space, hire full time staff, and collect and propagate plants. We had about 2,000 native trees representing 20 different species in the nursery, and planted about 300 of those trees in the past six months.

How will it be impacted by Typhoon Sinlaku?

FM: The site where we planted the young trees is on an isolated corner of the island that is difficult to get to in the best of times. Right now, the road is totally inaccessible. We’re not sure when we will be able to get out there to assess the damage and resume regular restoration work, like controlling invasive species and planting other species. The nursery also suffered a lot of damage; almost half of its plants were destroyed. So it’s going to require a pretty big reset.

KS: Our work involves venturing into the jungle to set up cameras and acoustic recording devices for monitoring birds. Our access to those sites will be limited until the roads are cleared and even then, the nature of the vegetative landscape will have changed. We can’t really compare data on birds from one year to the next when there have been major changes to vegetation on the island.

BG: That little songbird we study has probably gone quiet for now. As we’ve seen in the past, their populations will likely suffer from this type of devastation. The typhoon sat on top of Tinian and Saipan for somewhere around 50 hours. We don’t know the full extent of the damage yet, but I think things will be completely different when we get back out there.

What happens now?

FM: It is difficult to access resources on the Marianas and especially hard on Tinian. We had to transport everything we needed for these projects from elsewhere. Shipping can take weeks or months and building materials are often twice as expensive as they would be on the mainland U.S.

When it comes to our work, it’s really difficult to see the nursery destroyed and to see the materials we spent months and a lot of money gathering torn apart. But, it’s going to be especially hard for the people who live on the island and don’t have grants funding their rebuilding efforts. So there are just a lot of practical challenges to recovery out there that even folks affected by disasters in the mainland U.S. might not face to the same degree.

Thornton��has served as��interim dean��since last July, filling the position vacated by Maya Tolstoy.��

Thornton,��a��professor and chair of the��College’s��Department��of Atmospheric and Climate��Science,��is an atmospheric chemist who studies the impacts of human activities on air quality and climate through changes to the atmosphere’s composition and chemistry.����

“Throughout the search process, the deep respect for Dr. Thornton as both a scholar and an effective and engaged leader were evident,” Serio said.��“His extensive knowledge of and dedication to the College and its mission will support its continued excellence.”��

Thornton’s��research focus is on the processes which regulate the formation and removal of short-lived greenhouse gases such as methane and ozone, and the formation and growth of airborne particulate matter. These atmospheric components��—��strongly modulated by both human activities and natural processes��—��have important effects on human and ecosystem health, and impact climate through the greenhouse effect and changes to cloud properties.������

“I am truly honored and delighted to have been selected as the Maggie Walker Dean of the College of the Environment,” Thornton��said.��“Supporting the incredible research and teaching that takes place here as interim dean has been an inspiring experience, and I’m looking forward to partnering with our entire community to further grow the impact of this crucial work.”��

The recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER Award and a NASA New Investigator Award, Thornton has also received the Houghton Award from the American Meteorological Society and the ASCENT Award from the American Geophysical Union for his research contributions to the field of atmospheric science.����

He earned his bachelor’s degree in��chemistry from Dartmouth College, and��his doctoral degree��in��chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley.������

Some Alaska cruises are to this year after a landslide-generated tsunami barreled through the narrow channel during peak season last August. A new analysis of the event from researchers at the University of Calgary and the 91����, , describes how glacial retreat caused by global warming primed the fjord for the colossal wave and what, if any, warning signs preceded it.

At 5:26 a.m. on Aug. 10, 2025, a piece of the mountainside one kilometer tall and 200 meters thick collapsed into the Tracy Arm Fjord, a scenic waterway south of Juneau. Rock crashed into the water, taking with it chunks of the South Sawyer glacier and producing a 481-meter high tsunami so powerful that it scraped surrounding hillsides bare.

The event would have been “unsurvivable for any ship of any size,” said co-author a 91���� professor of Earth and space sciences, but fortunately the tsunami occurred too early for tours and no one was harmed.

Later that day, as many as 20 boats, including large cruise ships, may have visited the fjord. Tourist vessels often draw near the fjord wall to get the best vantage point for photographs of towering glaciers and mountains. The slope that failed was only recently exposed to the water below it due to glacial retreat.

“It was only in the last few years that the glacier retreated back past the bottom of where the hillside failed,” Roe said.

Tracy Arm Fjord hosts two glaciers, the Sawyer and South Sawyer, which both stem from the , a frozen expanse spanning the Alaska-British Columbia border. The larger South Sawyer glacier terminates in the water, making it a tidewater glacier, while the Sawyer retreated onto land in 2023.

Satellite observations indicate that the ice has retreated nearly 10 kilometers since the beginning of the industrial era, with the pace accelerating after 2000.

Mapping the change in position and mass of a tidewater glacier can be difficult because they shrink in multiple directions. Exposed ice melts in the sun and chunks break off and fall into the water at the glacial front. Glaciers around the world have been retreating in response to global warming, but tidewater glaciers don’t always follow general trends.

To understand the link between global warming and the 2025 tsunami, researchers used a computational method developed by Roe and , a 91���� research scientist in Earth and space sciences. Their approach combines hundreds of simulations from various computer models to estimate how different certain climates would look without human influence.

“With these data, we can quantify how unusual the observations are compared to the expected natural variability in the climate had we not been burning fossil fuels,” Berdahl said.

In the study, they conclude that 100% of the industrial-era warming in this region of Alaska is human-caused. As it gets warmer, less snow accumulates and the ice retreats.

“Snowline elevations are rising, ice is thinning, and the ice cap is shrinking. Even though tidewater glaciers can be more complicated to study, we are fully confident that the retreat is primarily due to the changing environment, and we are the cause of the changing environment,” Roe said.

It is possible that glacial retreat destabilized the slope that failed, but specific landslide triggers are notoriously difficult to discern. Either way, if the surface beneath the slope had been glacial ice, the slide wouldn’t have produced such a massive tsunami.

Although no one was harmed by the wave, those nearby raised the alarm. Kayakers awoke early in the morning to water flowing past their tents and carrying away some of their gear. A cruise ship anchored near the mouth of the fjord described large waves rolling through and shifting currents. These reports allowed researchers to triangulate the landslide, but the authors say there were very few advance warning signs.

“Normally with these gigantic rock avalanches, they often give some sort of warning signs in the weeks, months or years prior when the slope is slowly moving down the mountain. It’s sagging and then it catastrophically gives way in a rock avalanche,” said lead author , associate professor of Earth, energy and environment at the University of Calgary. “In this case, that didn’t happen.”

The researchers did note an increase in low frequency seismic noise before the landslide.

“The long precursory phase of seismic activity before the landslide is fascinating, and to my knowledge, rarely observed,” said , a 91���� professor of Earth and space sciences. “Given its duration and the relative ease of detection, this type of signal could conceivably provide advance warning of large slides if enough seismic monitoring can be deployed.”

Until that happens though, it will be difficult to predict the behavior of changing terrain.

The unexpected event presents challenges when it comes to disaster reduction in high-risk areas, Shugar said. Cruise ship companies, captains and other stakeholders should pay close attention, particularly in areas on the West Coast and in polar regions where glaciers are thinning due to the changing climate.

This study was funded by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Alberta Innovates, Canadian Space Agency, U.S. Geological Survey Landslide Hazards Program, the U.S. National Science Foundation, NERC, the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Foundation, and the Carlsberg Foundation.

This story was adapted from

For more information, contact Roe at groe@uw.edu.��

Sunbirds may look similar to hummingbirds — small, iridescent birds with thin bills — but it turns out the two are only distantly related. Sunbirds live primarily in Africa, Asia and Australia, and have a unique way to slurp up nectar. Unlike hummingbirds, which use minute movements in their bills to sip nectar, sunbirds use their tongues as a straw. published in Current Biology, a team led by researchers at the 91���� showed that these long-billed birds can change the pressure at the base of their tongues to create suction that moves nectar through their tongues and into their mouths, a novel mechanism never before seen in vertebrates. The researchers used multiple techniques — including high-speed video of sunbirds drinking red-dyed nectar from transparent artificial flowers — to demonstrate this phenomenon across multiple sunbird species as well as build a mathematical model that describes how it works. Sunbirds pollinate the flowers they drink from, and researchers are interested in understanding how different sunbird species’ plant preferences affect the plant-pollinator networks across continents.

For more information, contact lead author , who completed this research as a 91���� doctoral student in biology, at david_cuban@brown.edu.����

The other 91���� co-author is . A full list of co-authors and funding is included . Related stories in and .��

Seattle Fault gets 5,000 more years of sleep��

Just over 1,100 years ago an on the Seattle fault rocked — and reshaped — the Puget Sound region. It lifted the sea floor and sent a powerful tsunami through the sound. Researchers have estimated that this fault, which runs east to west beneath the middle of the city, will produce a large earthquake every 5,000 years or so. However, , recently published in Geology, pushes that estimate back to 11,000 years. The researchers extended this window by scouring submerged shorelines for evidence of significant elevation changes. The geological record at these sites dates back 11,000 years, but they only found evidence of one major earthquake. This information could be useful to those making seismic hazard maps, which help people understand the risks associated with different regions. Although other regional faults and the imposing pose more imminent risks to residents, the main Seattle fault doesn’t appear to be ready for rupture anytime soon.

For more information, contact lead author , 91���� research scientist of Earth and space sciences, at edav@uw.edu.

The other 91���� co-author is . A full list of co-authors and funding is included in the paper. Related story in .

The PNW has many rivers, but no system for gauging landslide dam risk

Scientists have a new tool for estimating lesser known hazards in the Pacific Northwest: and outburst floods. Landslides along rivers can block the flow of water downstream, creating a lake just above the slide area. Most landslide dams fail within 10 days, releasing trapped water in an outburst flood, which can be devastating. Last fall, 20 people died after in Taiwan. published in Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, 91���� researchers debut a mathematical approach to mapping landslide dam hazards based on valley width and projected slide size. When they applied the tool to a mountain range in Oregon, they found that roughly one-third of rivers in the study area were susceptible to landslide dams, with risk increasing in mountainous areas. If a landslide dam does form, alleviating pressure by for water to escape can help prevent flooding. Identifying high risk areas can help guide emergency response efforts following storms, earthquakes and other events that increase landslide risk.

For more information, contact lead author , 91���� doctoral student of Earth and space sciences, at pmmorgan@uw.edu.

The other 91���� co-author is . A full list of co-authors and funding is .

Rubin observatory expected to spot many ‘imminent impactor’ asteroids

Small asteroids — those 1 to 20 meters in diameter —�� hit the Earth 35-40 times per year, though they’re very rarely spotted by telescopes before impact. That could soon change: published in The Astrophysical Journal, 91���� astronomers calculate that the Simonyi Survey Telescope at the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory could discover one to two Earth-impacting asteroids annually , roughly doubling the number currently logged. The researchers expect Rubin to discover these asteroids an average of 1.5 days before impact, which is more warning time than ever before. Advance notice is extremely valuable in the case of larger asteroids that could be a threat to people or infrastructure. Because the Rubin Observatory is located in the Southern Hemisphere, it will likely discover many Earth impactors that existing asteroid surveys — concentrated in the Northern Hemisphere — miss.

For more information, contact lead author Ian Chow, a 91���� graduate student of astronomy, at chowian@uw.edu.

Other 91���� co-authors are Mario Jurić, Joachim Moeyens, Aren N. Heinze and Jacob A. Kurlander. A full list of co-authors is included .

Many marine microbes share a genetic toolbox for fixing supper at sea

Researchers have now identified a set of genes that allow some bacteria to process a compound, called homarine, that is abundant in the ocean and appears to play a key role in nutrient cycling. Phytoplankton produce loads of homarine, but scientists weren’t sure what became of it until now. In a recent study published in Nature Microbiology, researchers found a set of genes present in common and far-flung bacteria that convert homarine into glutamic acid, an essential building block for life. This suggests that homarine may be a vital and overlooked resource and highlights the importance of bacteria in stabilizing marine ecosystems. Previous studies also found that homarine serves as and helps small crabs . The 91���� team will continue studying homarine to better understand how it fits into the broader ecological landscape.

For more information, contact senior author , a 91���� professor of oceanography, at aingalls@uw.edu.��

The other 91���� co-authors are , , , , , and �� A full list of co-authors and funding is

The Ecological Society of America on Wednesday awards. , a 91���� assistant professor of environmental and forest science, was named an Early Career Fellow, which recognizes scientists for contributions to advancing and applying ecological knowledge within eight years of completing a doctorate.

Willing studies how microbes respond, and help plants cope with, environmental change. focuses on fungi and other microbes living near plant roots. Much like the gut microbiome, these communities play a critical role in plant nutrition, immune function and overall forest health.

Willing’s lab focuses on understanding these communities and how they are shifting with climate change. Her research integrates methods from various scientific disciplines to gain insight into the ecosystem-wide impact of fungi.

“I work across pretty diverse fields, from fungal ecology to plant and forest ecology,” Willing said. “Integrating everything together is challenging, but I think it’s a critical intersection to study right now and this award is a nice acknowledgement of that.”

As a Faculty Fellow, Willing also collaborates with federal, state and tribal agencies to incorporate fungi into climate adaptation planning.

Many of her lab’s projects examine responses to climate change. For example, one of Willing’s current grad students is studying fungi in post-fire ecosystems.

Some fungal groups are fire-adapted, meaning that they can withstand wildfire better than others. After wildfire, the soil often becomes hydrophobic, which causes water to run off the surface instead of soaking in. This increases the risk of erosion, among other consequences. Fungi help seedlings to establish and stabilize the soil by helping it retain water.

Early findings from her lab indicate that prolonged fire suppression, a stewardship strategy intended to minimize wildfire impacts, can limit microorganisms fire tolerance, which then exacerbates the damage caused by a fire.

“There are lots of different nuances that we’re really just starting to understand,” Willing said.

She hopes this work can help inform future forest management practices. Although there are many mushroom enthusiasts in the Pacific Northwest, Willing is one of few scientists in the region studying how these organisms fold into broader ecosystems.

Most of the data on microbial communities was collected within the past 20 years or so, which makes it difficult to gauge how these organisms are responding to climate change. Another project in Willing’s lab involves conducting genetic analyses on preserved plant specimens to establish a baseline for fungal health.

“Our understanding of what fungal and bacterial communities were like before the onset of rapid warming is really limited,” Willing said.

Building this baseline will help researchers see how microbial communities are evolving and reveal management opportunities.

Without fungi, life on Earth couldn’t exist as we know it. Dead logs and fallen leaves would simply accumulate, with nothing to break them down and return their nutrients to the soil.

“Fungi are involved in everything,” Willing said. “In the cycle of life, they are at the beginning, helping plants to take root across every ecosystem on Earth, and at the end, helping to create lush soils for future life to flourish.”

ESA will acknowledge and celebrate fellows during a ceremony on July 27 at the annual meeting in Salt Lake City. Early Career Fellows are elected for five years.

For more information about her work, contact Willing at willingc@uw.edu.

Unfortunately for science fiction fans, desert worlds outside our solar system are unlikely to host life, according to new research from 91����. Scientists show that an Earth-sized planet needs at least 20 to 50% of the water in Earth’s oceans to maintain a critical natural cycle that keeps water on the surface.

Scientists believe that there are billions of planets outside our solar system. More than are confirmed, but only some of them are candidates for life. The search for life has focused on planets in the “,” a sweet spot that is neither too close nor too far from a central star. Planets in this zone are considered viable because they can maintain liquid surface water.

“When you are searching for life in the broad landscape of the universe with limited resources, you have to filter out some planets,” said lead author , a 91���� doctoral student of Earth and space sciences.

Water, although essential, does not guarantee the existence of life. With this study, researchers worked to further narrow the search by investigating planets with just a small amount of water.

“We were interested in arid planets with very limited surface water inventory — far less than one Earth ocean. Many of these planets are in the habitable zone of their star, but we weren’t sure if they could actually be habitable,” White-Gianella said.

The team’s results, , show that habitability hinges on the geologic carbon cycle — a water-driven process that exchanges carbon between the atmosphere and interior over millions of years, stabilizing surface temperatures.

Carbon dioxide, which comes from volcanoes in a natural system, accumulates in the atmosphere before falling back to Earth dissolved in rainwater. Rain erodes and chemically reacts with rocks on the Earth’s surface and runoff transports carbon to the ocean, where it sinks to the seafloor. Plate tectonics drives carbon-rich oceanic plates below continental land. Millions of years later, carbon resurfaces as mountains form.

If water levels drop too low for rainfall, carbon removal — from weathering — can’t keep up with emissions from volcanic eruptions and carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere spike, trapping water. Rising temperatures evaporate the remaining surface water, initiating runaway warming that makes the planet too hot to support life.

“So that unfortunately makes these arid planets within habitable zones unlikely to be good candidates for life,” White-Gianella said.

Although scientists have instruments that can measure surface water, rocky exoplanets are difficult to observe directly. In this study, the researchers ran a series of complex simulations to better understand how water might behave in these desert worlds.

Previous efforts to model the carbon cycle focused on cooler, perhaps wetter planets. The models factored in evaporation from sunlight, but didn’t include other drivers, such as wind. White-Gianella adapted existing models to drier planets by refining evaporation and precipitation estimates.

“These sophisticated, mechanistic models of the carbon cycle have emerged from people trying to understand how Earth’s thermostat has worked — or hasn’t — to regulate temperature through time,” said senior author , a 91���� assistant professor of Earth and space sciences.

However, the function of the geologic carbon cycle on arid planets was largely unexplored. The results show that even planets that form with surface water could lose it, transitioning from potentially habitable to uninhabitable due to carbon cycle disruption.

One such planet exists far closer to home: Venus. The planet of love is roughly the same size as Earth, likely formed around the same time and may have started with a similar amount of water.

Yet today, the surface of Venus rivals the temperature of a wood-fired pizza oven. Standing on the surface would feel like being crushed by 10 blue whales, White-Gianella said.

Many theories attempt to explain why Earth and Venus are so different. White-Gianella and Krissanen-Totton propose that Venus, being closer to the sun, may have formed with slightly less water than Earth, which imbalanced the geologic carbon cycle. As surface temperatures rose with atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, Venus lost its water — and any life it may have hosted.

Upcoming missions to Venus will attempt to understand what happened to the planet and whether it ever hosted life. The findings could also offer insight into planets much farther away.

“It’s very unlikely that we will land something on the surface of an exoplanet in our lifetime, but Venus — our nextdoor neighbor — is arguably the best exoplanet analog,” White-Gianella said.

The researchers hope that results from future missions will help validate the results of their modeling.

“This has implications for a lot of the potentially habitable real estate out there,” Krissanen-Totton said.

This study was funded by the National Science Foundation, the NASA Astrobiology Program and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

For more information, contact White-Gianella at hasktw@uw.edu or Krissanen-Totton at joshkt@uw.edu.��