Computer game's high score could earn the Nobel Prize in medicine Gamers have devoted countless years of collective brainpower to rescuing princesses or protecting the planet against alien invasions. This week researchers at the University of Washington will try to harness those finely honed skills to make medical discoveries, perhaps even finding a cure for HIV.
May 5, 2008 Campus University of Washington ranked fourth best public research university The University of Washington was ranked fourth among American public research universities and 12th among both public and private institutions, in a recent report by the Center for Measuring University Performance.
May 1, 2008 Health and MedicineScience Eight new human genome projects offer large-scale picture of genetic differences among individuals and find previously unknown human DNA A nationwide consortium led by the University of Washington in Seattle has completed the first sequence-based map of structural variations in the human genome, giving scientists an overall picture of the large-scale differences in DNA between individuals. The project gives researchers a guide for further research into these structural differences, which are believed to play an important role in human health and disease. The results appear in the May 1 issue of the journal Nature.
Chalk one up for coccolithophores Scientists have feared that gradual acidification of the world's oceans would wreak havoc with organisms that build protective outer shells. But a new finding shows at least three species of coccolithophores – single-celled algae that are major players in the ocean's cycling of carbon – are responding to ocean acidification by building thicker cell walls and plates of chalk, contrary to what some recent lab experiments have shown.
April 21, 2008 Health and Medicine Idaho foundation establishes scholarship for medical students The cost of medical education continues to rise, with medical students often amassing a staggering amount of debt in the process. But one lucky Idaho medical student each year will soon have some extra financial help—and fewer worries about debt—thanks to the Laura Moore Cunningham Foundation of Boise.
April 17, 2008 ScienceHealth and Medicine Researchers uncover details about how dietary restriction slows down aging University of Washington scientists have uncovered details about the mechanisms through which dietary restriction slows the aging process. Working in yeast cells, the researchers have linked ribosomes, the protein-making factories in living cells, and Gcn4, a specialized protein that aids in the expression of genetic information, to the pathways related to dietary response and aging.
While stability far from assured, Greenland perhaps not headed down too slippery a slope In a pair of companion papers in Science Express this week, scientists investigate the role of surface meltwater on accelerating the flow of the Greenland Ice Sheet and outlet glaciers and conclude that, while surface melt plays a substantial role in ice sheet dynamics, it may not produce large instabilities. For one thing, it turns out that this meltwater has a much more subdued influence than had been thought on the fast-moving outlet glaciers that rapidly discharge ice to the ocean.
April 16, 2008 ScienceTechnology UW to lead $6.25 million project creating electronic Sherlock Holmes A UW computer scientist will direct a major research project for the U.S. Department of Defense. The multi-institutional team will use machine learning to try to link vast amounts of data, including videos, satellite images and sensor measurements.
April 14 | Make no mistake about the Dalai Lama, by James K. Wellman, UW associate professor of American religion, chair of comparative religion program in the Jackson School of International Studies
April 3 |Should Senators Operate PACs?, by Kathy Gill, UW senior lecturer in the Master of Communication in Digital Media Program
March 21 | False Promise of Free Lunch, by Walter Williams, UW emeritus professor of public affairs, and Bryan Jones, UW professor of political science
March 7 | Good Riddance to Mike Huckabee, by David Domke, UW professor of communication and head of journalism and Kevin Coe, doctoral student, University of Illinois
Arctic Sea Ice Experts
University of Washington experts from the Applied Physics Laboratory and
atmospheric sciences give perspectives and reasons behind the 2007
record-setting ice-extent minimum in the Arctic Ocean.
'Puter Profs
Experts who can address a variety of computer-related issues
Biology and Belief
A list of faculty who can provide information to journalists working on stories about the controversy over the teaching of evolution and intelligent design.
