Although Mars may have once resembled Earth, the rocky red planet now appears far from hospitable. Still, certain details 鈥� such as ice-bound water 鈥� pique researchers’ curiosity. Much like on Earth, ice contains valuable records of past climate that could say whether Mars hosts, or has ever hosted, life.

Aside from the poles, where ice is sometimes exposed, most of Mars鈥� ice is buried beneath a dusty surface layer. Dust impacts climate by darkening ice, which changes how much sunlight is reflected into space. A 天美影视传媒 study shows that the north pole of Mars contains less dust than scientists thought.

鈥淲e know there is water ice in the area surrounding the north pole of Mars, but there has been widespread disagreement as to how dusty that ice is,鈥� said , a senior research scientist at the UW鈥檚 . 鈥淚f it is dustier, the ice will be darker. Just like a dark T-shirt in the sun makes you warmer, dusty ice gets warmer and vaporizes faster on Mars.鈥�

Much of what we know about how Earth鈥檚 climate has evolved through millennia comes from sampling ice. Scientists drill deep into polar ice to draw out long cylinders that contain a record of the local atmosphere. Like a tree鈥檚 rings, these records can be dated to ancient periods of Earth鈥檚 history. But this is no easy task on Earth. On Mars, it鈥檚 even more complicated.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration celebrated its 50 years ago. In 2008, the successfully sampled ice near the north pole, a major triumph after the went missing near the south pole in 1999. The UW researchers used data from the Mars Phoenix mission, combined with observations from orbiting satellites, to complete this study.

Several years ago, Khuller discovered a discrepancy in the way researchers were analyzing the physical properties of ice on Mars. The leading approach was developed for studying soil on the Moon, but when Khuller checked its accuracy on Earth, the seemed off.

In this study, Pari Mohan, who recently graduated from the UW with a degree in geoscience, worked with Khuller to redo the calculations using a different method. Theirs is based on an approach developed by , UW professor emeritus of Earth and space science, and an expert in analyzing snow and ice.

鈥淗is methods had been used successfully to study snow and ice on Earth for decades. So I thought it would be interesting to adapt these Earth-tested methods to Mars,鈥� Khuller said.

The results suggest that the north pole is stacked 鈥渓ike an ice-cream sandwich,鈥� with layers of dustier ice between slabs of cleaner ice. A dusty layer of frost forms over the ice every winter and disappears in the summer, revealing older, cleaner ice. Previous estimates suggested that the top layer of polar ice contained as much as 25% dust by mass, but this study says it’s closer to 3%.

鈥淏y looking at how the brightness changed over time, we figured out that there is a frost that forms in the winter and it’s more dusty. In the Martian summer it goes away, exposing cleaner, older ice,鈥� Khuller said.

These layers contain key details about the climate of Mars thousands of years ago, when the ice is thought to have formed from snowfall. Mars experiences massive ice ages that have deposited shallow ice on roughly one-third of the planet.

Earth is stabilized by the gravitational pull of its moon. Mars, having only two small moons, “oscillates wildly,鈥� Khuller said, which causes these dramatic ice ages.

In a , Khuller and colleagues suggested that layers of dust and ice could create conditions for life on Mars. The dark layers could help trap sunlight and form pockets of meltwater within the ice. These pockets, enriched with nutrients from the dust, could potentially host bacteria and primitive life forms.

Similar pockets of shallow, dusty meltwater found in ice on Earth are often teeming with life in the summer. In the winter, the liquid water freezes and the microbes become dormant until the next summer.

鈥淭he fact that Mars and Earth both have these similar layers of water ice and dust is interesting,鈥� Khuller said. 鈥淲hy does one planet have life and the other doesn鈥檛?鈥�

Uncovering details about the climate moves the needle, but answering this question may take years. Khuller hopes to expand on this work by applying these improved methods to other regions of the red planet.

For more information, contact Khuller at akhuller@uw.edu.

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New faculty books from the 天美影视传媒 include those from the Information School, bioengineering, mathematics, the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, and Earth and space sciences.

Feminist theory of creep through technological analysis听

, professor in the Information School, is the co-author and co-editor of 鈥�,鈥� published by Duke University Press.

New and emerging technologies, especially ones that infiltrate intimate spaces, relations, homes, and bodies, are often referred to as creepy in media and political discourses. In 鈥淭echnocreep and the Politics of Things Not Seen,鈥� Neda Atanasoski and Nassim Parvin introduce a feminist theory of 鈥渃reep鈥� that they substantiate through critical engagement with smart homes, smart dust, smart desires and smart forests toward dreams of feminist futures.听

Contributing authors further illuminate what is otherwise obscured, assumed, or dismissed in characterizations of technology as creepy or creeping. Considering diverse technologies from border surveillance and China鈥檚 credit system to sexcams and home assistants, the volume鈥檚 essays and artworks demonstrate that the potential and pitfalls of artificial intelligence and digital and robotic technologies cannot be assessed through binaries of seeing/being seen, privacy/surveillance or harmful/useful.听

Together, their multifaceted and multimodal approach transcends such binaries. This volume develops creep as a feminist analytic and creative mode on par with technology鈥檚 complex entanglement with intimate, local, and global politics.

For more information, contact Parvin at nassimi@uw.edu.

Foundations of microfluidics through broad understandings of the world听

In 鈥�,鈥� , professor of bioengineering at the UW, explores听 microfluidics, the field of science that studies fluids constrained to spaces that are smaller than one millimeter wide. Through engaging and digestible stories, Folch takes a lens to this tiny science and demonstrates how big a role microfluidics plays in life as we know it.听

“It was my wife who insisted I write another book on microfluidics,鈥� Folch said. 鈥淪he insisted that this one be for the general public and cover not just the academic microfluidic chips but also the mesmerizing microfluidics one finds in nature and in a variety of contraptions and devices you鈥檇 never think to call 鈥榤icrofluidic.鈥欌��

The goal of 鈥淗ow the World Flows鈥� was not for students to learn microfluidic engineering, but instead, to create a broader understanding of the foundations of the field. As the title suggests, this process spans from natural raindrops to COVID tests, affecting humanity in marvelous ways.

鈥淛ust like microelectronic circuits are too small for you to see and are hidden under the screen of your smartphone, most microfluidic phenomena happen in tiny spaces,鈥� Folch said. 鈥淎ll these microfluidic systems, despite their microscopic size, have had a colossal impact on our planet and our lives. In some capacity or another, they all make the world flow.鈥�

For more information, contact Folch at afolch@uw.edu.

Unified account of a fundamental mathematical object听

, professor emeritus of mathematics at the UW, recently published 鈥�.鈥澨�

This is a survey of the mathematics developed over the last 60 years concerning the Heisenberg group, a mathematical object that has connections with many different areas of mathematics.

Folland intends the audience to be graduate students and professionals in mathematics, providing 鈥渢he first unified account of the diverse analytic and geometric mathematical developments associated with the Heisenberg group.鈥�

For more information, contact Folland at folland@uw.edu.

Jewish family saga unveiled

, professor emeritus of computer science and engineering at the UW, published 鈥�鈥� in February. This braided historical novel is based on family history concealed from Tompa by his parents throughout his childhood.

The book starts in the 1930s, as two Jewish families live happy and successful lives in cosmopolitan Vienna. On March 12, 1938, without firing a shot, the Nazis annex Austria into the German Reich, and Adolf Hitler marches into Vienna with his army. This sudden, terrifying event tears each of these close-knit families apart and scatters their members across the globe as they snatch at any possibility of safe haven.

Liesl, who is 18 years old, flees alone to London and a servant鈥檚 life. Liesl鈥檚 future soulmate, Peter, is deported from Vienna and thrown into a Hungarian jail. Liesl鈥檚 parents, Otti and Ernst, flee on the Trans-Siberian Railway to a foreign life in Shanghai. Two years later, they sail to Manila in the Philippines, arriving just as Japan鈥檚 bombardment and occupation begin.

By the end of 1945, all four of them and several more family members converge on New York City as though drawn together by magnetic forces.听

鈥淚t is a tale of survival against terrible odds and the rebuilding of family at journey鈥檚 end,鈥� Tompa said. 鈥淲riting this family saga has been my dream for 25 years.鈥�

For more information, contact Tompa at tompa@cs.washington.edu.听

Solutions to help our land

In 鈥�,鈥� , professor of Earth and space sciences at the UW, lays out practical and productive solutions to recover the health of our land through soil-building regenerative agriculture. Drawing on the work of farmers, historians and researchers, he articulates the power of rebuilding soil health by minimizing or avoiding physical and chemical disturbance of the soil, such as through combining cover cropping, no- or low-tillage and crop diversity.

The combination allows farmers 鈥� and gardeners 鈥� to greatly reduce or eliminate synthetic fertilizer and pesticide use and can help address a number of today鈥檚 most pressing problems.

The book takes apart common myths around conventional farming and unearths much-needed soil rehabilitation as the key to our agricultural future.

“REGEN shows how reforming the way we see and treat the land can address critically underappreciated, yet eminently solvable problems to restore the health of our land and secure civilization鈥檚 agricultural foundation 鈥� and a healthy future for society and ourselves,” Montgomery said.听

For more information, contact Montgomery at bigdirt@uw.edu.听

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Between 2021 and 2023, Antarctica appeared to be growing. Heavy snowfall fueled by wetter weather caused parts of the continent to gain mass, leading whether climate change is really causing the ice to melt. However, a new study shows that the precipitation increase was an anomaly related to extra warm tropical ocean temperatures, not part of a long term trend.

The results Aug. 19 in Nature.

Antarctica as warm water melts ice from below and sends large chunks crashing into the ocean. Annual precipitation can鈥檛 keep up with the rate of melt, causing a net mass loss. However, the snow that fell on East Antarctica, a vast area that contains nearly 80% of Earth鈥檚 land bound ice, added mass faster than the ice was melting. Although mass loss continued in West Antarctica, the general trend seemed encouraging.

鈥淚n the early 2020s, there was an exceptional amount of snowfall over parts of Antarctica. Because Antarctica is so big, it doesn鈥檛 take that much extra snow thickness to counter the loss of ice from the edges of the ice sheet, which led to the perception that the loss of ice is slowing down,鈥� said co-author , a UW professor of Earth and space sciences.

The question nagging researchers was whether this would continue into the future. To answer it, they needed to trace the origins of the precipitation.

Because warm air can hold more moisture than colder air, higher latitudes could eventually see wetter conditions due to global warming. Scientists recognize that the average amount of moisture in the air will increase as global temperatures rise. Some saw the heavier snowfall as evidence that this expected trend was materializing in Antarctica.

鈥淲armer conditions favor storms shifting toward the poles, which could offset ice loss through snowfall,鈥� said co-author Qinghua Ding, a professor of atmospheric and climate science at UC Santa Barbara.

But the data told a different story. Using a computational method that involves 鈥渢agging鈥� water molecules, the researchers linked the extra precipitation in Antarctica to the tropical warm pool, a warm patch of ocean in the western Pacific and eastern Indian oceans that makes an outsized contribution to extreme weather.

Water temperature in the warm pool was notably higher than average between 2021 and 2023, triggering changes in atmospheric circulation that directed more moisture toward East Antarctica.

Historical evidence shows that multi-year warming of the warm pool is normal. Every few decades or so, it heats up for several years before reverting to its average temperature.

鈥淲hen something changes, it is very tempting, even to scientists, to think 鈥極h, there鈥檚 a new normal happening,鈥� but this analysis shows that鈥檚 not the case. This is most likely a short-lived phenomenon,鈥� Steig said.

The connection to global warming from human activity is tenuous, he added. It鈥檚 difficult to tease apart human impact from natural variability in the tropics, but because we see this pattern repeated in history, it is most likely just part of the natural background variability of the tropical climate system.

However, increased carbon dioxide emissions to the climatic conditions accelerating ice loss in West Antarctica.

As a whole, the Antarctic Ice Sheet covers an area larger than the U.S. and Mexico combined and stores most of Earth鈥檚 freshwater. It is also the greatest source of uncertainty in long-term sea-level rise projections. Understanding the balance between ice gain and loss in Antarctica helps researchers make predictions with global implications. Knowing the underlying dynamics provides important guidance for how to interpret new observations.

鈥淭here hasn鈥檛 been much attention paid to the particular mechanism we identify; this is a reminder to not interpret short term change as a long term trend,鈥� Steig said.

鈥淭he climate system is complex,鈥� Ding said. 鈥淓very year brings new surprises and we have to stay curious, humble and open-minded to improve our theories.鈥�

Additional co-authors include and of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; of UC Santa Barbara; of the University of Alaska Fairbanks; of Dartmouth College and D谩niel Top谩l of Universit茅 catholique de Louvain.

This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the U.S. National Science Foundation, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, JST PRESTO, Japan, the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

For more information, contact Steig at steig@uw.edu and Ding at qinghua@geog.ucsb.edu.

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Recent recognition of the 天美影视传媒 includes American COuncil of Learned Societies Fellowship, Arnold O. Beckman Postdoctoral Fellowship and Humboldt Award from Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.

Assistant professor awarded 2026 ACLS Fellowship听

, assistant professor in the Department of Asian Languages & Literature at the UW, was awarded a 2026 ACLS Fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies. The fellowship recognizes excellence in humanities and social sciences research and supports scholars whose work is poised to make original and significant contributions to their fields.听Rominger听will be the 2026 ACLS Pauline Yu Fellow.听听

“It means a great deal to hold a fellowship in Pauline Yu’s name,鈥� Rominger said. 鈥淗er scholarship on Chinese poetics is part of why I do this work.”听

This year, the program awarded more than $3.5 million to 63 scholars selected from a pool of more than 2,000 applicants.听

Rominger specializes in early Chinese literary and intellectual history. His project, 鈥淎urality and the Search for Sound and Meaning in Early Chinese Texts,鈥� examines how sound-based patterning听shaped meaning in early Chinese听philosophical texts, particularly in听writings听from the Warring States period to the Han dynasty.听听

Rominger鈥檚 research shows how early Chinese thinkers employed the sound of language not only for style but also to build arguments and express complex ideas. The project brings together close readings of ancient texts, historical reconstructions of Old Chinese pronunciation, and computational tools to offer new insight into the relationship between literary form and philosophical thought.

Postdoctoral scholar awarded Arnold O. Beckman Fellowship in Chemical Instrumentation听

, a UW postdoctoral scholar听in听chemistry, was awarded the Arnold O. Beckman Postdoctoral Fellowship in Chemical Instrumentation. The fellowship supports advanced research by postdoctoral scholars in fundamental chemistry and the development and construction of chemical instrumentation.听

The award provides two years of funding, along with an听additional听$200,000 budget to support instrumentation costs.听

With the fellowship, Rebstock will build a new vibrational spectroscopy instrument designed to听observe听chemical reactions as they happen at surfaces. The instrument will allow researchers to see how molecules move and interact in real time, offering insight into surface chemistry that could help improve technologies such as batteries and clean fuels.听

This fellowship provides Rebstock with a rare opportunity to combine instrument development with fundamental chemistry questions. 鈥�I鈥檓 excited to pursue both and to explore new ways of probing the chemistry that happens at interfaces.鈥� Rebstock said.听

UW researcher receives Humboldt Research Award听

a UW professor of Earth and space sciences,听received a Humboldt Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. The award recognizes internationally leading researchers across all disciplines for their academic record and significant contributions to their fields.听

Each year, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation grants up to 100 Humboldt Research Awards to researchers from abroad. Awardees receive personal award听money and听are invited to carry out research projects of their听choosing听in cooperation with specialist colleagues in Germany.听

Teng said he was deeply honored by the recognition and grateful to Professor听Harry听Becker, head听of the Geochemistry Group at听FU-Berlin, for听the nomination. The award will allow听Teng听to spend extended periods over the next few years conducting research at Freie University Berlin, beginning with his听sabbatical this听summer.听

鈥淚t is a wonderful opportunity to spend extended periods over the next few years conducting cutting-edge research at Freie University Berlin,鈥� Teng said.听

The award will also enable Teng to develop new collaborations across Germany and become part of the Humboldt Foundation鈥檚 international network of distinguished researchers.听

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The ShakeAlert earthquake early warning system has been rapidly expanding since its launch in 2021. Now, researchers at 天美影视传媒 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 UW 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 UW-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 UW 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

Source

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 UW-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 , UW associate professor of biology, at astein10@uw.edu.听听

The other UW 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 鈥渕ovement鈥� 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 , UW professor of Earth and space sciences at bigdirt@uw.edu.听听

A full list of co-authors and funding is .

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

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 鈥� examples include and the that help living cells maintain their shape 鈥� as well as in diverse manmade structures like , and . Now, a team of engineers at the UW have found a way to create tensegrities as small as five micrometers across 鈥� 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 UW doctoral student of mechanical engineering.

Other UW co-authors are , , Zainab S. Patel, , and . Funding information is included .听

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, UW 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鈥檛 physically draw it until now. By tracking precipitation and wind patterns from 2000 to 2024, the UW 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 , UW professor of atmospheric and climate science at shuyic@uw.edu.

Other UW co-authors are and . Funding information is .

Source

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 天美影视传媒, , 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,鈥� said co-author a UW 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.

鈥淚t was only in the last few years that the glacier retreated back past the bottom of where the hillside failed,鈥� 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鈥檛 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 UW 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.

鈥淲ith 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,鈥� 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.

鈥淪nowline 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,鈥� 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鈥檛 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.

鈥淣ormally 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鈥檚 sagging and then it catastrophically gives way in a rock avalanche,鈥� said lead author , associate professor of Earth, energy and environment at the University of Calgary. 鈥淚n this case, that didn鈥檛 happen.鈥�

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

鈥淭he long precursory phase of seismic activity before the landslide is fascinating, and to my knowledge, rarely observed,鈥� said , a UW professor of Earth and space sciences. 鈥淕iven 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.鈥�

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.听

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Sunbirds may look similar to hummingbirds 鈥� small, iridescent birds with thin bills 鈥� 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 天美影视传媒 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 鈥� including high-speed video of sunbirds drinking red-dyed nectar from transparent artificial flowers 鈥� 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 UW doctoral student in biology, at david_cuban@brown.edu.听听

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

Seattle Fault gets 5,000 more years of sleep听

Just over 1,100 years ago an on the Seattle fault rocked 鈥� and reshaped 鈥� 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鈥檛 appear to be ready for rupture anytime soon.

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

The other UW 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, UW 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 , UW doctoral student of Earth and space sciences, at pmmorgan@uw.edu.

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

Rubin observatory expected to spot many 鈥榠mminent impactor鈥� asteroids

Small asteroids 鈥� those 1 to 20 meters in diameter 鈥斕� hit the Earth 35-40 times per year, though they鈥檙e very rarely spotted by telescopes before impact. That could soon change: published in The Astrophysical Journal, UW 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 鈥� concentrated in the Northern Hemisphere 鈥� miss.

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

Other UW co-authors are Mario Juri膰, 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鈥檛 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 UW team will continue studying homarine to better understand how it fits into the broader ecological landscape.

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

The other UW co-authors are , , , , , and 听 A full list of co-authors and funding is

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Unfortunately for science fiction fans, desert worlds outside our solar system are unlikely to host life, according to new research from 天美影视传媒. Scientists show that an Earth-sized planet needs at least 20 to 50% of the water in Earth鈥檚 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 鈥�,鈥� 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.

鈥淲hen you are searching for life in the broad landscape of the universe with limited resources, you have to filter out some planets,鈥� said lead author , a UW 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.

鈥淲e were interested in arid planets with very limited surface water inventory 鈥� 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,鈥� White-Gianella said.

The team鈥檚 results, , show that habitability hinges on the geologic carbon cycle 鈥� 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鈥檚 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 鈥� from weathering 鈥� can鈥檛 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.

鈥淪o that unfortunately makes these arid planets within habitable zones unlikely to be good candidates for life,鈥� 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鈥檛 include other drivers, such as wind. White-Gianella adapted existing models to drier planets by refining evaporation and precipitation estimates.

鈥淭hese sophisticated, mechanistic models of the carbon cycle have emerged from people trying to understand how Earth鈥檚 thermostat has worked 鈥� or hasn鈥檛 鈥� to regulate temperature through time,鈥� said senior author , a UW 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 鈥� 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.

鈥淚t鈥檚 very unlikely that we will land something on the surface of an exoplanet in our lifetime, but Venus 鈥� our nextdoor neighbor 鈥� is arguably the best exoplanet analog,鈥� White-Gianella said.

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

鈥淭his has implications for a lot of the potentially habitable real estate out there,鈥� 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.听

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Nautilus and Allonautilus cephalopods and their extinct ancestors have been drifting through of the ocean for more than 500 million years. Researchers have spent the last 40 years trying to understand how these mysterious “living fossils” thrive in areas with limited nutrients. published in Scientific Reports, a UW-led team documented new habits and habitats for current Nautilus and Allonautilus species. These creatures appear to live in deeper water than their extinct cousins did, and the younger ones live twice as deep as the fully mature adults. Nautilus and Allonautilus species scavenge their food and never stop moving. While a few species migrate hundreds of meters down at dawn and then back up at dusk every day, the team found that most species aren’t quite as intrepid. The researchers also describe a new population of Allonautilus in waters off the island , one of several populations thriving due to hunting restrictions inspired in part by research efforts from this team.

For more information, contact senior author , UW professor of both biology and Earth and space sciences, at argo@uw.edu.

Other UW co-authors are , and . A full list of co-authors and funding is included

Green clay tennis courts become carbon negative after 10 years

The United States has around a quarter of a million tennis courts, 40,000 of which are helping mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. Green clay tennis courts, an alternative to traditional hard courts and the red clay courts popular in Europe, are constructed with a type of rock that reacts with carbon dioxide and water to sequester carbon as a stable dissolved salt. In , UW researchers show that in the U.S., green clay courts remove 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year and 80% of green clay courts make up for construction emissions within 10 years. Moving forward, the researchers hope to experiment with other materials that also remove carbon dioxide without compromising performance for players.

For more information contact lead author , UW assistant professor of oceanography, at fjpavia@uw.edu.

A full list of co-authors and funding is available .

Temperature dynamics, not just extremes, impact heat tolerance in mussels

Intertidal mussels, forming bumpy layers on shoreline rocks, withstand significant temperature swings as the tide ebbs and flows. These creatures live in one of the most thermally variable environments on Earth, but a new study shows that the rate, timing and duration of heating and cooling impact their metabolic rate, a proxy for overall health. At the UW鈥檚 , researchers exposed mussels to temperature regimens with equal highs and lows but different patterns of change. Even when the average temperature for a set period was the same, the mussels鈥� response was distinct. These results, , show that predicting how marine organisms respond to climate change means considering how temperature changes over time, not just how warm it gets.

For more information, contact lead author , assistant professor of biology at the College of the Holy Cross and a mentor for the UW Friday Harbor Laboratories , at mnishizaki@holycross.edu.

The other UW co-author is . A full list of co-authors and funding is available .

When algae stop growing, bacteria start swarming

Tiny geometric algae, called , produce nearly a quarter of the world鈥檚 organic matter by photosynthesis. In the microscopic marine universe, diatoms coexist with both harmful and helpful bacteria. A new study, , describes how a recently identified species of marine bacteria targets diatoms based on growth phase and nutrient availability. Growing diatoms can resist bacterial attacks, but when growth ceases, the bacteria modulate their gene expression patterns to become aggressive 鈥� first swimming and releasing compounds that damage the diatom and then clustering around them to feed. Bacteria can also overcome the diatom鈥檚 defenses in nutrient-rich environments. These findings highlight the dynamic relationship between bacteria and algae in the lab. Moving forward, researchers will explore what, if anything, changes in a more complex environment.

For more information, contact lead author , UW postdoctoral fellow in oceanography, at dawiener5@gmail.com.

Other UW co-authors are and . A full list of co-authors and funding is available .

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