天美影视传媒

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The latest news from the UW

Tag: College of Arts & Sciences

January 12, 2023

How did the Butterfly Nebula get its wings? It鈥檚 complicated

Something is amiss in the Butterfly Nebula. When a team led by astronomers at the 天美影视传媒 compared two exposures of this planetary nebula that had been taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2009 and 2020, they saw dramatic changes in the material within its “wings.” As the team will report on Jan. 12 at the 241st meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Seattle, powerful winds are apparently driving complex alterations of material within the Butterfly Nebula, behavior not seen in planetary nebulae to date. The researchers want to understand how such activity is possible from what should be a 鈥渟puttering, largely moribund star with no remaining fuel.鈥�

January 11, 2023

Old and new stars paint very different pictures of the Triangulum galaxy

On Jan. 11 at the 241st meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Seattle, a team led by scientists at the 天美影视传媒 and the Center for Computational Astrophysics reported something unexpected about the distinct populations of stars that make up the Triangulum galaxy: In this satellite galaxy, a close companion of the much larger Andromeda galaxy, old and new stars occur in separate parts of the galaxy’s structure, something not seen in galaxies like our own and so far not reporter for other satellite galaxies.

January 10, 2023

The seven-year photobomb: Distant star鈥檚 dimming was likely a 鈥榙usty鈥� companion getting in the way, astronomers say

天美影视传媒 astronomers were on the lookout for 鈥渟tars behaving strangely鈥� when an automated alert from pointed them to Gaia17bpp, a star that had gradually brightened over a 2 1/2-year period. But follow-up analyses indicated that Gaia17bpp wasn鈥檛 changing. Instead, the star is likely part of a rare type of binary system. Its apparent brightening was the end of a years-long eclipse by an unusual, “dusty” stellar companion.

January 9, 2023

Climate 鈥榩resses鈥� and 鈥榩ulses鈥� impact Magellanic penguins 鈥� a marine predator 鈥� with guidance for conservationists

Climate change will reshape ecosystems through two types of events: short-term, extreme events 鈥� or 鈥減ulses鈥� 鈥� and long-term changes, or 鈥減resses.鈥� Understanding the effects of presses and pulses is essential as conservationists and policymakers try to preserve ecosystems and safeguard biodiversity. Researchers at the 天美影视传媒 have discovered how different presses and pulses impacted Magellanic penguins 鈥� a migratory marine predator 鈥� over nearly four decades and found that, though individual presses and pulses impacted penguins in a variety of ways, both were equally important for the future survival of the penguin population. They also found that these types of climate changes, taken together, are leading to an overall population decline at their historically largest breeding site.

December 12, 2022

Trouble falling asleep at night? Chase that daytime light, study shows

A study measuring the sleep patterns of students at the 天美影视传媒 found that students fell asleep later in the evening and woke up later in the morning during winter, when daylight hours on the UW鈥檚 Seattle campus are limited and the skies are notoriously overcast. Researchers believe the students’ natural circadian clocks were being “pushed back” or delayed in winter because they were not getting enough exposure during the day to natural light, and that getting more daytime light exposure can help reverse this.

December 8, 2022

NASA鈥檚 James Webb Space Telescope shows how several stars 鈥榮tirred up鈥� the Southern Ring Nebula

In a study published Dec. 8 in Nature Astronomy, an international research team, led by Orsola De Marco of Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, analyzed 10 highly detailed exposures taken by the JWST of the Southern Ring Nebula. Their calculations show the central star that ejected the expanding nebula gas was originally three times the mass of the sun, and that unseen companions shaped the nebula’s intricate features.

November 2, 2022

Infants less likely to contract COVID, develop severe symptoms than household caregivers

baby feet

In one of the first studies to explore how COVID-19 specifically affects older infants, researchers from the 天美影视传媒 and at institutions at four other locations in the Western and Southern U.S. found that the number of infected people in a household was the factor most closely linked with the infant鈥檚 likelihood of being infected.

October 21, 2022

UW鈥檚 Dianne Xiao receives Packard Fellowship for research on new materials for sustainable chemical synthesis

Headshot of smiling woman

Dianne Xiao, a 天美影视传媒 assistant professor of chemistry, has been awarded a 2022 Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering for her research on creating new materials to make chemical reactions that are compatible with renewable energy sources and raw materials.

October 12, 2022

Endangered fruit-eating animals play an outsized role in a tropical forest 鈥� losing them could have dire consequences

A new study by researchers at the 天美影视传媒 shows that losing a particular group of endangered animals 鈥� those that eat fruit and help disperse the seeds of trees and other plants 鈥� could severely disrupt seed-dispersal networks in the Atlantic Forest, a shrinking stretch of tropical forest and critical biodiversity hotspot on the coast of Brazil.

September 26, 2022

UW joins industry-academia alliance to accelerate research in neuroscience

An image of neurons under a microscope

The 天美影视传媒 has joined the Alliance for Therapies in Neuroscience (ATN), a long-term research partnership between academia and industry geared to transform the fight against brain diseases and disorders of the central nervous system. Launched in 2021 by the University of California, San Francisco, UC Berkeley, Genentech 鈥� a member of the Roche group 鈥� and Roche Holding AG, the ATN seeks to accelerate the development of new therapies for a broad range of brain and central nervous system conditions.

September 7, 2022

These female hummingbirds evolved to look like males 鈥� apparently to evade aggression

1 in 5 adult female white-necked jacobin hummingbirds look like males. New research from the 天美影视传媒 shows that this is a rare case of “deceptive mimicry” within a species: Females with male-like plumage are trying to pass themselves off as males, and as a result receive a benefit in the form of reduced aggression from males.

August 29, 2022

Black-owned restaurants disproportionately impacted during pandemic

A new study led by the 天美影视传媒 uses cellphone location data to estimate the number of visits to Black-owned restaurants in 20 U.S. cities during the first year of the pandemic. The study finds that despite the “Black-owned” labelling campaign launched by companies such as Yelp, the number of visits to Black-owned restaurants dropped off after an initial spike and was inconsistent around the country.

August 25, 2022

鈥楧angerous鈥� and 鈥榚xtremely dangerous鈥� heat stress to become more common by 2100

maps of globe colored orange and red

A new study projects the number of days with “dangerous” and “extremely dangerous” mixtures of heat and humidity by the end of this century. Even if global warming is limited to 2 degrees Celsius, results show that deadly heat waves will become much more common in the mid-latitudes, and many tropical regions will experience “dangerous” heat for about half the year.

July 25, 2022

New study challenges old views on what鈥檚 鈥榩rimitive鈥� in mammalian reproduction

Which group of mammals has the more “primitive” reproductive strategy 鈥� marsupials, with their short gestation periods, or humans and other placental mammals, which have long gestation periods? For decades, biologists viewed marsupial reproduction as “more primitive.” But 天美影视传媒 scientists have discovered that a third group of mammals, the long-extinct multituberculates, had a long gestation period like placental mammals. Since multituberculates split off from the rest of the mammalian lineage before placentals and marsupials had even evolved, these findings question the view that marsupials were 鈥渓ess advanced鈥� than their placental cousins.

June 7, 2022

ArtSci Roundup: Monsen Photography Lecture: Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Dino Lecture: The Last of the Dinosaurs, and Celebrating Pride Month

Through public events and exhibitions, connect with the UW community every week! Monsen Photography Lecture: Paul Mpagi Sepuya June 17, 6:00 – 7:00 PM | Henry Art Gallery The Henry Art Gallery is excited to welcome Paul Mpagi Sepuya聽as this year鈥檚 Monsen Photography Lecture speaker. This annual lecture brings key makers and thinkers in photographic practice to the Henry. Named after Drs. Elaine and Joseph Monsen, the series is designed to further knowledge about and appreciation for the art of…

Burke Museum receives national award

museum gallery

The Burke Museum at the 天美影视传媒 in Seattle today announced it is one of six recipients of the 2022 National Medal for Museum and Library Service, the nation鈥檚 highest honor given to museums and libraries that make significant and exceptional contributions to their communities. The award is given by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the Burke Museum is the only institution in Washington to be selected.

June 2, 2022

ArtSci Roundup: 2022 Awards of Excellence recipients, Undergraduate Composers Concert

Through public events and exhibitions, connect with the UW community every week! 2022 Awards of Excellence recipients聽 June 9, 3:30 – 5:30 PM | Meany Hall This year鈥檚聽Awards of Excellence鈥痳ecipients are being recognized for achievements in teaching, mentoring, public service and staff support.聽 The winners will be honored from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. on June 9 at the聽Meany Hall for the Performing Arts. The UW community鈥痑nd the general public are encouraged to attend.鈥疶he program includes a one-hour ceremony hosted by…