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August 10, 2023

Muon g-2 doubles down with latest measurement, explores uncharted territory in search of new physics

a giant magnetic ring in a research facility. Inside the ring are towers and people are working on them.

A particle physics experiment decades in the making 鈥� the Muon g-2 experiment 鈥� looks increasingly like it might set up a showdown over whether there are fundamental particles or forces in the universe that are unaccounted for in the current Standard Model. On Aug. 10, the international team of scientists behind Muon g-2 鈥� pronounced 鈥済 minus 2鈥� 鈥� released the world鈥檚 most precise measurement yet of the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon. Calculating the muon鈥檚 magnetic moment at a high precision will indicate whether it is interacting solely with the particles and forces known today, or if unknown particles or forces are out there.

July 31, 2023

New algorithm ensnares its first 鈥榩otentially hazardous鈥� asteroid

An asteroid discovery algorithm 鈥� designed to uncover near-Earth asteroids for the Vera C. Rubin Observatory鈥檚 upcoming 10-year survey of the night sky 鈥� has identified its first 鈥減otentially hazardous鈥� asteroid, a term for space rocks in Earth鈥檚 vicinity that scientists like to keep an eye on. The roughly 600-foot-long asteroid, designated 2022 SF289, was discovered during a test drive of the algorithm with the ATLAS survey in Hawaii. Finding 2022 SF289, which poses no risk to Earth for the foreseeable future, confirms that the next-generation algorithm, known as HelioLinc3D, can identify near-Earth asteroids with fewer and more dispersed observations than required by today鈥檚 methods. That is important because, though scientists know of more than 2,000 near-Earth asteroids, they estimate that another 3,000 await discovery!

July 19, 2023

Researchers put a new twist on graphite

A team led by researchers at the 乱伦社区 reports that it is possible to imbue graphite 鈥� the bulk, 3D material found in No. 2 pencils 鈥� with physical properties similar to graphite鈥檚 2D counterpart, graphene. Not only was this breakthrough unexpected, the team also believes its approach could be used to test whether similar types of bulk materials can also take on 2D-like properties. If so, 2D sheets won鈥檛 be the only source for scientists to fuel technological revolutions. Bulk, 3D materials could be just as useful.

July 6, 2023

Marine heat waves caused mass seabird die-offs, beach surveys show

dead seabirds lined up on a beach for measurements

New research led by the 乱伦社区 uses data collected by coastal residents along beaches from central California to Alaska to understand how seabirds have fared in recent decades. The paper, published July 6 in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series, shows that persistent marine heat waves lead to massive seabird die-offs months later.

June 27, 2023

Researchers make a quantum computing leap with a magnetic twist

This artistic depiction shows electron fractionalization 鈥� in which strongly interacting charges can 鈥渇ractionalize鈥� into three parts 鈥� in the fractional quantum anomalous Hall phase.

A team led by scientists and engineers at the 乱伦社区 has announced a significant advancement in developing fault-tolerant qubits for quantum computing. In a pair of papers published June 14 in Nature and June 22 in Science, they report that, in experiments with flakes of semiconductor materials 鈥� each only a single layer of atoms thick 鈥� they detected signatures of 鈥渇ractional quantum anomalous Hall鈥� (FQAH) states. The team鈥檚 discoveries mark a first and promising step in constructing a type of fault-tolerant qubit because FQAH states can host anyons 鈥� strange 鈥渜uasiparticles鈥� that have only a fraction of an electron鈥檚 charge. Some types of anyons can be used to make what are called 鈥渢opologically protected鈥� qubits, which are stable against any small, local disturbances.

June 14, 2023

Phosphate, a key building block of life, found on Saturn鈥檚 moon Enceladus

gray planet in cross-section with white plumes escaping from surface

An international team including a UW scientist found that the water on one of Saturn鈥檚 moons harbors phosphates, a key building block of life. The team used data from NASA鈥檚 Cassini space mission to detect evidence of phosphates in particles ejected from the ice-covered global ocean of Saturn鈥檚 moon Enceladus.

May 18, 2023

Out of the frying pan: Coyotes, bobcats move into human-inhabited areas to avoid apex predators 鈥� only to be killed by people

New research shows that in Washington state, the presence of two apex predators 鈥� wolves and cougars 鈥� does indeed help keep populations of two smaller predators in check. But by and large the apex predators were not killing and eating the smaller predators, known as mesopredators. Instead, they drove the two mesopredator species 鈥� bobcats and coyotes 鈥� into areas with higher levels of human activity. And people were finishing the job.

May 17, 2023

DO-IT Center celebrates 30 years of championing students with disabilities, building community

students working at a computer

A decade ago, Dustine Bowker went to a pizza party at the Husky Union Building.

Then a junior at Roosevelt High School in Seattle, Bowker, who identifies as being on the autism spectrum, came to the 乱伦社区 to learn about a program designed to help people like him. He had to learn to recognize social cues, he said, and adapt to fit into many situations.

May 5, 2023

UW immunologist, mathematician among newly elected National Academy of Sciences members

Two 乱伦社区 faculty members have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences for 2023: Philip Greenberg, professor of medicine and of immunology at the UW, as well as the Rona Jaffe Foundation Endowed Chair at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and head of the Program in Immunology in its Clinical Research Division; and Gunther Uhlmann, the Robert R. and Elaine F. Phelps Endowed Professor in Mathematics at the UW.

April 13, 2023

Africa鈥檚 grassy habitats emerged 10+ million years earlier than previously thought

A pair of studies published April 14 in the journal Science paint a new picture about apes, ancient Africa and the origins of humans. Many scientists had once hypothesized that the first apes to evolve in Africa more than 20 million years ago ate primarily fruit and lived within the thick, closed canopy of a nearly continent-wide forest ecosystem. Instead, the new research indicates that early apes ate a leafy diet in a more arid ecosystem of varyingly open woodlands with abundant grasses.

April 10, 2023

Warm liquid spewing from Oregon seafloor comes from Cascadia fault, could offer clues to earthquake hazards

green seafloor with five bubble columns

UW oceanographers discovered warm, chemically distinct liquid shooting up from the seafloor about 50 miles off Newport. They named the unique underwater spring “Pythia鈥檚 Oasis.” Observations suggest the spring is sourced from water 2.5 miles beneath the seafloor at the plate boundary, regulating stress on the offshore subduction zone fault.

March 24, 2023

Team detects first neutrinos made by particle collider

An international team of scientists has for the first time detected neutrinos created by a particle collider. The discovery 鈥� announced March 19 by the Forward Search Experiment, or FASER collaboration 鈥� promises to deepen scientists鈥� understanding of the nature of neutrinos, which are the most abundant particle in the cosmos. FASER鈥檚 detector picked up neutrinos generated by the Large Hadron Collider, which is based at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland.

March 16, 2023

$43 million set of gifts from Ballmer Group to bolster early learning programs in Washington state

teacher with students

The 乱伦社区 today announced that it is part of a multi-pronged grantmaking strategy from Ballmer Group aimed at drawing more people into careers in early childhood education in our state 鈥� including by providing more than 1,500 scholarships over the next eight years.

March 10, 2023

Northern and southern resident orcas hunt differently, which may help explain the decline of southern orcas

In the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia, southern resident orcas have experienced no net population growth since the 1970s, with just 73 left at the most recent count. But northern resident orcas, which have a similar diet, territory and social structure, have grown steadily, now numbering more than 300. A new study led by scientists at the 乱伦社区 and NOAA Fisheries may help explain why: The two populations differ in how they hunt for salmon, their primary and preferred food source, a key difference that conservationists will have to take into account when designing interventions to help southern residents.

February 27, 2023

Human-wildlife conflicts rising worldwide with climate change

Research led by scientists at the 乱伦社区鈥檚 Center for Ecosystem Sentinels reveals that a warming world is increasing human-wildlife conflicts globally. They show that climate shifts can drive conflicts by altering animal habitats, the timing of events, wildlife behaviors and resource availability. It also showed that people are changing their behaviors and locations in response to climate change in ways that increase conflicts.

February 21, 2023

Newly discovered form of salty ice could exist on surface of extraterrestrial moons

white sphere with dark red streaks

Scientists suspect that the red streaks crossing the surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa is a frozen mixture of water and salts, but its chemical signature matches no known substance on Earth. Now researchers have discovered a new type of solid crystal that forms when water and table salt combine in cold, pressurized conditions. Researchers believe the new substance created in a lab on Earth could form at the surface and bottom of these worlds鈥� deep oceans.