In all corners of the 天美影视传媒, staff, faculty and students are working hard to improve the lives of people around the world. This year undoubtedly embodied that passion and drive to serve the public good.

This fall, the UW welcomed the of new students across all three campuses, and the largest number of Washington residents in UW history. This year also marked the 10th year of the Husky Promise, the UW’s guarantee to Washington students that it will not let financial challenges stand in the way of attending the UW.

Whether it鈥檚 through , a new study on , or a timely class on , the UW is an epicenter for groundbreaking discoveries as well as a place for critically important discussions around race, equity and inclusion.

Here are just a few of the many ways UW research聽has reached聽the global community this year:

• More than 40聽 written by UW faculty and graduate students published in The Conversation; with more than 1.3 million total reads.
• Nearly 100 mentions in The New York Times; totaling about 950,000 social engagements.
• More than 4,600聽mentions in all external media coverage.

In addition to the stories highlighted in the video above, the UW has had a tremendous year for groundbreaking research. Here are a few of those stories, listed in chronological order.

Predicting autism: Researchers find autism biomarkers in infancy

By using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to study the brains of infants who have older siblings with autism, scientists were able to correctly identify 80 percent of the babies who would be subsequently diagnosed with autism at 2 years of age. Their study appeared in February in Nature.

See related stories聽in and

UW astronomer Eric Agol assists in new seven-planet NASA discovery using 鈥榙istracted driving鈥� technique

UW astronomy professor Eric Agol was part of the large team of researchers that聽in February聽announced confirmation of several Earth-sized, potentially habitable planets orbiting a star about 40 light-years (235 trillion miles) away.

See related stories on and

Tackling resilience: Finding order in chaos to help buffer against climate change

A new paper out in March by the UW and NOAA鈥檚 Northwest Fisheries Science Center aimed to provide clarity among scientists, resource managers and planners on what ecological resilience means and how it can be achieved.

Retreating Yukon glacier caused a river to disappear

In April, a聽new study led by UW Tacoma professor Dan Shugar provided a postmortem on the Yukon鈥檚 Slims River, whose flow was diverted in early 2016. It is the only documented case of 鈥渞iver piracy鈥� in modern times.

See related stories聽in , and

UW, UW Bothell scientists explain new discovery in gravitational wave astronomy

The announcement that a third collision of black holes had been detected three billion light years away validated the work of hundreds of scientists, including teams at the UW and UW Bothell.

See a related story in the

A pocket-size revolution in kidney research

With a device that can model a real kidney, researchers at the UW School of Pharmacy are giving new hope to people with kidney conditions 鈥� as well as astronauts who dream of exploring the farthest reaches of space.

See related stories on and the UW website

Microscope can scan tumors during surgery and examine cancer biopsies in 3-D

A new UW microscope could provide real-time results during cancer-removal surgeries, potentially eliminating the 20 to 40 percent of women who have to undergo multiple lumpectomy surgeries because cancerous breast tissue is missed the first time around.

See related stories聽in and

Study shows high pregnancy failure in southern resident killer whales; links to nutritional stress and low salmon abundance

A multi-year survey of the nutritional, physiological and reproductive health of endangered southern resident killer whales found that up to two-thirds of pregnancies failed in this population from 2007 to 2014.

See related stories聽in , 听(础笔)听补苍诲

In Seattle, cost of meeting basic needs up $30,000 in a decade

In October, the聽Self-Sufficiency Standard for Washington State 2017 was released, revealing how much the cost of making ends meet has grown in recent years. The researchers that compiled the report say they hope the data helps聽show the importance of government aid programs to help low-income families.

See related stories聽in , and

50 simulations of the 鈥楻eally Big One鈥� show how a 9.0 Cascadia earthquake could play out

A team of UW researchers created 50 different simulations of how a 9.0 Cascadia earthquake could impact the Pacific Northwest. They hope their data can be used to better predict how the “Really Big One” could affect people living in this area.

See related stories聽in , and

In first, 3-D printed objects connect to WiFi without electronics

UW engineers have developed the first 3-D printed plastic objects that can connect to other devices via WiFi without using any electronics, including a laundry bottle that can detect when soap is running low and automatically order more.

See related stories聽in , and

Using UW Today鈥檚 page view data, and , we have narrowed it down to these highlights showcasing the impact and ambition of the UW’s work regionally and around the world聽鈥� listed here in chronological order.

February 24, 2016

The UW and Gonzaga University signed an agreement to continue, enhance and expand medical education and research in Spokane.

The agreement makes Gonzaga a partner in the UW鈥檚 regional, community-based medical education program and sets in motion plans to advance health related research, entrepreneurship and interdisciplinary health sciences teaching in Spokane.

April 7, 2016

Technology companies routinely build sprawling data centers to store all the baby pictures, financial transactions, funny cat videos and email messages its users hoard.

But a new technique developed by UW and Microsoft researchers could shrink the space needed to store digital data that today would fill a Walmart supercenter down to the size of a sugar cube.聽The team of computer scientists and electrical engineers has detailed one of the first complete systems to encode, store and retrieve digital data using DNA molecules, which can store information millions of times more compactly than current archival technologies.

May 19, 2016

In a White House ceremony May 19, President Barack Obama presented the National Medal of Science to Mary-Claire King, UW professor of genome sciences and medicine.

The award, the nation鈥檚 highest recognition for scientific achievement, honors King鈥檚 more than 40 years dedicated to research in evolution and the genetics of human disease, as well as to teaching and outreach endeavors that have supported human rights efforts on six continents and reunited families.

July 19, 2016

Nearly 25,000 species of fish live on our planet, and UW professor Adam Summers wants to scan and digitize them all.

That means each species will soon have a high-resolution, 3-D , available to all and downloadable for free. Scientists, teachers, students and amateur ichthyologists will be able to look at the fine details of a smoothhead sculpin鈥檚 skeleton, or 3-D print an exact replica of an Arctic alligatorfish.

Rough movie, but fun to see and make

— Malorie Hayes, PhD (@Fishy_Hayes)

July 25, 2016

The City of Seattle passed its $15 minimum wage ordinance in June 2014, and that December commissioned a UW team to conduct a five-year study of the law鈥檚 impacts.

The ongoing research is led by professors Jacob Vigdor and Mark Long with Jennifer Romich, associate professor in the UW School of Social Work, and other co-authors from the Evans School, the School of Public Health and the Washington Employment Security Department.

August 18, 2016

Twins not only have a bestie from birth 鈥� they also live longer than singletons. And those two factors may be related, according to new UW research.

While twins have been subjects in countless studies that try to separate the effects of nature from nurture, this UW study is the first to actually look at what being a twin means for life expectancy. Analysis shows that twins have lower mortality rates for both sexes throughout their lifetimes.

August 18, 2016

Paleontologists with the UW鈥檚聽听丑补惫别 a Tyrannosaurus rex, including a very complete skull.

The find, which paleontologists estimate to be about 20 percent of the animal, includes vertebrae, ribs, hips and lower jaw bones. The team, led by UW biology professor Greg Wilson, discovered the T. rex during an expedition to the Hell Creek Formation in northern Montana 鈥� an area that is world-famous for its fossil dinosaur sites.

August 21, 2016

To everything, there is a season 鈥� even divorce, new research from UW聽sociologists concludes.

Associate sociology professor Julie Brines and doctoral candidate Brian Serafini found what is believed to be the first quantitative evidence of a seasonal, biannual pattern of filings for divorce. The researchers analyzed filings in Washington state between 2001 and 2015 and found that they consistently peaked in March and August, the periods following winter and summer holidays.

https://twitter.com/JoeBerkowitz/status/768262973752311808

October 4, 2016

鈥淧rofessor Thouless鈥� work is a perfect example of why curiosity-driven basic science is so vital,鈥� UW President Ana Mari Cauce. 鈥淣ot only did his discoveries open up entirely new fields of research, but they also have had implications for the electronic devices that power our world today and those that may do so in the future 鈥� everything from advanced superconductors to quantum computers to other applications we can hardly imagine. We are tremendously proud of this recognition of the seminal importance of his work.鈥�

The UW launched the public phase of its most ambitious philanthropic campaign in history, with a goal of raising $5 billion by the year 2020.

The campaign, called 鈥淏e Boundless 鈥� For Washington, For the World,鈥� focuses on four key priorities: transforming the student experience, expanding the impact of the UW鈥檚 research, empowering possibility through innovation, and driving the public good. The earliest phases of the campaign began in 2010, and the UW has already received more than $3 billion toward its goal.

October 25, 2016

In May, the UW launched the Population Health Initiative, which aims to bring together the research and resources of the UW and partners around the Puget Sound and beyond to improve the health and well-being of people around the world.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in October awarded a $210 million gift that will serve as a catalyst for the vision, funding construction of a new building to house several UW units working in population health, as well as serving as a place for faculty, students and collaborators from the many university departments and global partners that are part of the effort to come together in their work.

The initiative’s goal is聽to develop a 25-year vision to improve population health locally and globally by focusing on three key areas: human health, environmental resiliency, and social and economic equity.

October 27, 2016

Denny Hall 鈥� the UW’s oldest and now newest building 鈥� reopened in October after a 16-month restoration. Take a look at the journey the building and its patrons have taken in the last 121 years.

December 14, 2016

From UW Bothell Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences:

Our class of 43 students created this response to the as our final project. On December 8, 2016 we stood shoulder-to-shoulder, alongside, other classmates, deans, faculty and staff of the UW Bothell campus to denounce hate and Islamophobia.

For more UW stories, check out on social media.

These stories were chosen based on the total number of聽views they received on our website and are not in any particular order.

UW Regents name Ana Mari Cauce president

October 13, 2015

The 天美影视传媒 Board of Regents selected Interim President Ana Mari Cauce to be the 33rd president of the University. She is the first woman to be named to the position and the first Latina.

November 18, 2015

天美影视传媒 engineers developed a novel technology that uses a Wi-Fi router 鈥� a source of ubiquitous but untapped energy in indoor environments 鈥� to power devices.

July 27, 2015

New findings by researchers at the聽 (I-LABS) at the 天美影视传媒 demonstrated for the first time that an early social behavior called gaze shifting is linked to infants鈥� ability to learn new language sounds.

February 11, 2015

A new study by 天美影视传媒 researchers identifies a main culprit for that disparity: inaccurate stereotypes depicting computer scientists and engineers as geeky, brilliant and socially awkward males. And they say broadening those stereotypes is key to attracting more girls to the two fields.

October 15, 2015

An affordable camera technology being developed by the 天美影视传媒 and Microsoft Research might enable consumers of the future to tell which piece of fruit is perfectly ripe or what鈥檚 rotting in the fridge.

April 27, 2015

A uses a smartphone to wirelessly test for sleep apnea events in a person鈥檚 own bedroom.

November 16, 2015

天美影视传媒 researchers are the first to solve a decades-old puzzle 鈥� figuring out how to make a laser refrigerate water and other liquids under real-world conditions. UW Engineers聽(from left) Peter Pauzauskie, Xuezhe Zhou, Bennett Smith, Matthew Crane and Paden Roder (unpictured) are working on the technology.

February 25, 2015

As the world鈥檚 biggest social network, with more than 1.39 billion users, Facebook is uniquely positioned to provide online resources and support to help suicidal people. That鈥檚 the goal of a new collaboration between Facebook and researchers at , an interdisciplinary organization based in the 天美影视传媒鈥檚 .

April 9, 2015

A long-lived patch of warm water off the West Coast, about 1 to 4 degrees Celsius (2 to 7 degrees Fahrenheit) above normal, is part of a larger pattern driven by the tropical Pacific that鈥檚 wreaking much of the weather聽mayhem across the U.S., according to two 天美影视传媒 papers.

Rare nautilus sighted for the first time in three decades

August 25, 2015

In early August, biologist Peter Ward returned from the South Pacific with news that he encountered an old friend, one he hadn鈥檛 seen in over three decades. The 天美影视传媒 professor had seen what he considers one of the world鈥檚 rarest animals, a remote encounter that may become even more infrequent if illegal fishing practices continue. Nautilus pompilius (left) swimming next to a rare Allonautilus scrobiculatus (right) off of Ndrova Island in Papua New Guinea. This story reached over 400,000 people on our website, making聽it our聽most popular story of 2015.