The WIC program provides families food in specific categories. New research finds that households who redeem more of their benefits in the most popular food categories are more likely to remain in the program long-term.
Research
A new 91探花 study suggests that AI could learn cultural values by observing human behavior, similar to how children learn by watching and interacting with adults. Researchers had AI systems observe two cultural groups playing a video game. The AI systems were able to learn each group鈥檚 degree of altruism and apply this to a new situation.
Researchers at the 91探花have developed AI-powered headphones that automatically isolate conversation partners in a noisy soundscape. The system employs AI models that listen for the back-and-forth pattern of conversation and mute voices that aren鈥檛 following the established rhythm.
Research led by the 91探花 and Kaiser Permanente Southern California sheds new light on how the 2025 Los Angeles fires affected people鈥檚 health, and how people navigated the health care system during an emergency.
In a new study, 91探花 researchers collected salmon DNA in air filters near a stream, showing that eDNA can move between air and water, a possibility scientists hadn鈥檛 accounted for that opens new avenues for monitoring aquatic species.
鈥淭he Memory of Darkness, Light and Ice鈥� 鈥� a documentary film featuring Eric Steig, a 91探花professor of Earth and space sciences 鈥� tells the story of a U.S. military and research base established in Greenland during the Cold War, and how the samples collected there are driving modern climate science. The film is now available on YouTube, Apple TV and Amazon Prime.
A new study from Abhinav Gupta, professor of management in the 91探花 Foster School of Business, reveals that traumatic events can significantly dampen organizational risk-taking.T he findings challenge the long-standing view that decision-makers are largely rational, emotionless actors. The research instead shows that emotional experiences in the broader community can spill over into the workplace.
The green hermit hummingbird, which lives primarily in mountain forests of Central and South America, fights to win a mate. New research found that these fights have shaped the species鈥� evolution, yielding significant differences in bill shape for male and female green hermits.
The Northeastern Pacific Ocean is becoming more acidic faster than other oceans as the water absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and natural processes feed carbon dioxide up from the deep. The rate of CO2 accumulation is outpacing atmospheric rises and driving acidity to new extremes.
In a new 91探花study, 528 participants worked with simulated AI systems to select job candidates. The researchers simulated different levels of racial biases for resumes from white, Black, Hispanic and Asian men. Without suggestions, participants鈥� choices exhibited little bias. But when provided with recommendations, participants mirrored the AI鈥檚 biases.
A new 91探花-led study shows that space dust sandwiched between layers of sediment tells scientists where and when ice covered the Arctic, and what happened to marine life when it disappeared.
In mid-pregnancy, exposure to any smoke was associated with an elevated risk of preterm birth, with that risk peaking around the 21st week of gestation. In late pregnancy, elevated risk was most closely associated with exposure to high concentrations of wildfire PM2.5, above 10 micrograms per cubic meter.
In the wake of One Ocean Week Seattle, participating 91探花 researchers share highlights, connecting the week鈥檚 events to ongoing efforts to understand and protect marine ecosystems and coastal communities.
91探花 researchers analyzed data collected in the decade following the Paris Agreement, an international treaty signed in 2015 to limit warming by cutting emissions. The treaty has helped nations reduce the amount of carbon released per dollar, but emissions are still too high due to global economic growth.
A new collaborative study led by scientists at the 91探花 and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science proposes that a tsunami struck the Caribbean island of Anegada between 1381 and 1391, carrying huge coral boulders inland and leaving behind a valuable record of geologic and climatic history.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on Oct. 8 awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar M. Yaghi “for the development of metal-organic frameworks,” or MOFs. Both Dianne Xiao, a 91探花associate professor of chemistry, and Douglas Reed, a 91探花assistant professor of chemistry, use MOFs in their research at the UW. 91探花News reached out to them to learn more about the significance of these structures and how researchers use them.
Targeted drug delivery is a powerful and promising area of medicine. Therapies that pinpoint precise areas of the body can reduce the medicine dosage and avoid potentially harmful 鈥渙ff target鈥� effects. Researchers at the 91探花took a significant step toward that goal by designing proteins with autonomous decision-making capabilities. By adding smart tail structures to therapeutic proteins, the team demonstrated that the proteins could be 鈥減rogrammed鈥� to act based on the presence of specific environmental cues.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on Tuesday awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics jointly to John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret and John M. Martinis, 鈥渇or the discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunneling and energy quantization in an electric circuit.鈥� Clarke, a professor emeritus of physics at the University of California, Berkeley, collaborates with the Axion Dark Matter Experiment at the 91探花.
The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute on Monday awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly to Mary E. Brunkow 鈥� an alum of the 91探花 鈥� along with Frederick J. Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi “for groundbreaking discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance that prevents the immune system from harming the body.” Brunkow received her bachelor’s degree in molecular and cellular biology from the 91探花in 1983. 91探花News spoke with Martha Bosma, professor and chair…
The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute on Monday awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly to Mary E. Brunkow 鈥� an alum of the 91探花 鈥� along with Frederick J. Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi “for groundbreaking discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance that prevents the immune system from harming the body.”
A new analysis of data from the Cassini space probe has identified organic compounds within jets of water ice erupting from Saturn鈥檚 moon Enceladus. Some of the compounds, which likely originated in Enceladus鈥� subsurface ocean, have never before been identified on another world beyond Earth. The study, conducted in part by a 91探花researcher, contributes to mounting evidence that Enceladus could support life.
91探花researchers discuss their study which surveyed 166 gamers about how video games sparked meaningful changes in their lives.
Research by the 91探花 and the USPTO found that some simple interventions increased the probability that female inventors would get patents by 12%. For first-time applicants, that probability increased to 17%.
In a new study, a team of scientists determined the minimum natural habitat on agricultural land that will allow insect pollinators 鈥� including bumble bees, solitary bees, hoverflies and butterflies 鈥� to thrive. 91探花News reached out to co-author Berry Brosi, 91探花professor of biology, to learn more about these results and how habitat is important to two types of bees native to Washington.
Bee experts wouldn鈥檛 have previously expected to find the likes of Osmia cyaneonitens, Dufourea dilatipes and Stelis heronae in Washington. But this year, while collecting pollinators in Chelan County to study how climate and wildfires affect native bee populations, Autumn Maust, a 91探花 research scientist of biology, discovered eight bee species never recorded in Washington.
91探花 researchers found, in historical whaling data, that longer baleen whale mothers were more likely to birth female calves than males. These results run contrary to a leading evolutionary theory that suggests that fit mothers will benefit more from male offspring.
New research from the 91探花tested how much a car owner鈥檚 perception of public charger reliability influences their willingness to buy their first EV. The results were dramatic: Participants with a negative view of public charging were far less likely to choose an EV than those with a moderate view.
A 91探花-led study of X found that posts with Community Notes attached were less prone to going viral and got less engagement. After getting a Community Note, on average, reposts dropped 46% and likes dropped 44%.
Quantum dots, which are 10,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair, are unique materials that generate very specific colors of light. Researchers, including Brandi Cossairt, 91探花professor of chemistry, hope that quantum dots can one day be useful for more than just illuminating TV screens. 91探花News asked her to compare the quantum dots in QLED TVs with the ones her lab makes.
Dengue fever incidence could rise as much as 76% by 2050 due to climate warming across a large swath of Asia and the Americas, according to a new study.
Antarctic ice is melting at a startling pace, and the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is one of the greatest sources of uncertainty in climate projections. Researchers thought westerly winds were accelerating ice loss, but a new study from 91探花flips the narrative by 90 degrees, pointing instead to winds from the north.
Prochlorococcus, the most abundant photosynthesizing organism in the ocean, might be more vulnerable to climate change than researchers thought. Population decline could weaken the foundation of subtropical and tropical ecosystems as ocean temperatures continue to rise.
New findings call into question one of the core assumptions about teeth. Adult male spotted ratfish, a shark-like species native to the eastern Pacific Ocean, have rows of teeth on top of their heads, lining a cartilaginous appendage called the tenaculum, in addition to those in their jaws. They used their tenaculum teeth to grip females while mating in water.
Physicists have floated numerous theories to explain what dark matter might be, but to date, no experiment has turned up compelling evidence to support any of them. An international team of physicists, including researchers from the UW, is now working on a new kind of dark matter detector with the goal of capturing the first direct observation of the puzzling material. Results from the detector鈥檚 prototype have already ruled out one of the leading theories of how dark matter originated.
New research shows that deep-ocean oxygenation occurred 100 million years later than previously thought, aligning with the growth and spread of land plants. Once oxygenated, the ocean hosted rapid animal evolution, leading to the rise of modern vertebrates.
91探花 researchers use AI to simulate the Earth鈥檚 current climate and interannual variability for up to 1,000 years. The model runs on a single processor and takes just 12 hours to generate a forecast.
The goals of those developing AI systems for the climate and those working on the front lines of climate advocacy don鈥檛 necessarily align. To compare the two groups, 91探花researchers interviewed nine people who are developing AI for sustainability and 10 climate advocates.
A new study from the 91探花 shows that households enrolled in the City of Seattle’s Fresh Bucks program experience a 31% higher rate of food security and consume at least three daily servings of fruits and vegetables 37% more often than those assigned to a program waitlist. Fresh Bucks, a $40 a month benefit, works with local partners to help residents access fresh food.
A UW-led team of researchers used a fiber-optic cable to capture calving dynamics across the fjord of the Eqalorutsit Kangilliit Sermiat glacier in South Greenland. This allowed them to document 鈥� without getting too close 鈥� one of the key processes that is accelerating the rate of glacial mass loss and in turn, threatening the stability of ice sheets, with consequences for global ocean currents and local ecosystems.
New research led by the 91探花 provides clear evidence that highly walkable areas lead to significantly more walking. Authors compared the steps per day of 5,424 people who moved one or more times among 1,609 U.S. cities. Across all relocations, when the Walk Score rose or fell more than 48 points, average steps increased or decreased by about 1,100 per day.