Findings and The Hub, September 2010

Columns, September 2010, pages 17, 22-23.

Machine Reads Newborn Minds
Here’s an item that won’t surprise parents: it takes a 1-ton apparatus to figure out what’s going on in a young child’s mind.

Blast Waves and Brain Damage
Understanding hidden injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.

The Orbit of Influence
Weird neighbors in distant galaxies.

UW & the Big Spill
Estimating the damage from the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

Birth of a New Field

Columns, June 2010, pages 20-21.

Despite her intense personal connection to the questions she's investigating, pharmacy professor Mary Hebert is quick to shift the focus elsewhere: "I just wanted other people to have healthy pregnancies."

Read the full text here.

Findings, June 2010

Columns, June 2010, pages 22-23.

What Are You Thinking?
A tool for measuring unconscious attitudes and beliefs.

Building Green Roads
UW researchers develop a system to rate the sustainability of road construction and maintenance.

Dinosaurs Grow Older
A fossil find in southern Tanzania pushes back the Age of the Dinosaurs.

Seeing Red

Columns, March 2010, pages 20-21.

Last fall, Jay and Maureen Neitz, who joined the UW School of Medicine faculty in 2008, reported in the journal Nature that they had cured color-blindness in two squirrel monkeys using gene therapy.

Read the full text here.

Findings, March 2010

Columns, March 2010, pages 22-23.

MRSA Digging in at Beaches
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are gaining foothold in the natural environment.

Micro Microscope
The world's smallest microscope helps diagnose cancer.

Breast Cancer Detection Test
Ultrasound may enable some women to avoid unnecessary biopsies.

Locating Lightning
Creating a real-time map of lightning around the globe.

Getting the Dirt on Climate Change
And helping a forest grow on Vashon Island.

A Welcome Disappearing Act

Columns, December 2009, pages 20-21.

The Vanish program, developed by a team of computer scientists at UW, uses the Mission: Impossible approach to security on the Internet: self-destructing data.

Read the full text here.

Findings, December 2009

Columns, December 2009, page 22-23.

A See Change in Contact Lenses
Electrical engineering professor Babak Parviz is developing bionic contact lenses.

Record Grant Connects Oceans to Internet
UW's largest-ever federal award will enable ocean scientists to access deep-sea study sites anytime, anywhere.

Green Energy Branches Out
Harnessing the power of trees.

Findings, September 2009

Columns, September 2009, pages 22-23.

The Genes That Cause Autism
UW scientists contributed to two recent studies that are beginning to unlock the genetic underpinnings of autism and related disorders.

Leading the Response Against H1N1
UW researchers are working to stop the new "swine flu" virus.

Tablets of Mystery
Using computers to help decode an ancient Indus Valley script.

Orca's Best Friend

Columns, June 2009.

Samuel Wasser, head of the Center for Conservation Biology at the University of Washington, enlists the help of extremely playful dogs to save endangered species.

Read the full text here.

Findings, June 2009

Columns.

Global Warming, Local Consequences
A report on a recent study of how climate change may affect the Pacific Northwest, and a roundup of other research on climate change at the University of Washington.

One Fish, Two Fish, Weird Fish, New Fish
A trippy finned creature discovered off the waters of Indonesia.

Hitting the Sweet Spot
Understanding why kids clamor for sugar.

Findings, March 2009

Columns, the University of Washington alumni magazine, has a four-page section called "Findings" that reports on the diversity of scientific research going on at UW. Since the March 2009 issue I have been writing this section. It consists of a short profile of a UW researcher (for March, that's the article on Richard Ladner linked in the post below), and a roundup of four or so short news articles on various recent research results. Here are the news articles from March:

Too Many Missed Shots
Getting a handle on childhood immunization rates

Knowing the Enemy
Towards better, more individualized therapy for brain tumors

The Healing Arts
An unexpected new approach to improving medical students' diagnostic skills

Warblers Do It, Sparrows Do It...
How birds learn to sing

Lifelines and Vital Signs

Columns, March 2009.

Richard Ladner is helping the blind and deaf feel at home in a wired world.

Read the full text here.

Brilliance Unleashed

Columns, December 2008.

A rising star in the field of nanophotonics arrives at the University of Washington to attempt to build ever-tinier computer circuits.

Read the full text here.

Discovery Island

Columns, December 2005. Vol. 25, No. 4, pages 36-39.

Environmental science took a decisive turn on an obscure island off the northwest corner of Washington. The way we look at—and try to save—our world has never been the same.

Read the full text here.