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As climate change alters environments across the globe, scientists have discovered that in response, many species are shifting the timing of major life events, such as reproduction. With an earlier spring thaw, for example, some flowers bloom sooner. But scientists don't know whether making these significant changes in life history will ultimately help a species survive or lead to bigger problems.

A novel algorithm developed by University of Washington researchers to discover asteroids in the solar system has proved its mettle. The first candidate asteroids identified by the algorithm - known as Tracklet-less Heliocentric Orbit Recovery, or THOR - have been confirmed by the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center.

Adult smokers who shift to using to e-cigarettes may have more chances to improve health and well-being, according to new research from the University of Washington. The study monitored changes in health and social functioning among smokers at two stages in adulthood, age 30 and again at 39. Approximately one-third of smokers shifted to vaping some or all the time by age 39.

For all their uncanny intelligence and seemingly supernatural abilities to change color and regenerate limbs, octopuses often suffer a tragic death. After a mother octopus lays a clutch of eggs, she quits eating and wastes away; by the time the eggs hatch, she is dead. Some females in captivity even seem to speed up this process intentionally, mutilating themselves and twisting their arms into a tangled mess.

The flashing of a nearby star drew the attention of a team of astronomers, who discovered that it is part of a rare and mysterious system. As they report in a paper published May 4 in Nature, the stellar oddity appears to be a -black widow binary a type of system consisting of a rapidly spinning neutron star, or pulsar, that is circling and slowly consuming a smaller companion star, as its arachnid namesake does to its mate.

Researchers from the University of Washington and the University of California, Berkeley have conducted experiments that measured the physical limits for the existence of liquid water in icy extraterrestrial worlds. This blend of geoscience and engineering was done to aid in the search for extraterrestrial life and the upcoming robotic exploration of oceans on moons of other planets.

Nearly one-fifth of teens and young adults engage in self-injury, while just as many teens seriously consider attempting suicide. Both are considered a risk for suicidal behavior, but studies of why people harm themselves, or think about suicide, haven-t been examined in a comprehensive way. Now, a new meta-analysis of 38 studies finds consistent results and themes: that people engage in self-injury and/or think about suicide to alleviate some types of stress; and that the perceived stress relief that results from thoughts and behaviors indicates potential for therapy and other interventions.

Scientists once thought that post-starburst galaxies scattered all of their gas and dust - the fuel required for creating new stars - in violent bursts of energy, and with extraordinary speed. Now, a team led by University of Washington postdoctoral researcher Adam Smercina reports that these galaxies don-t scatter all of their star-forming fuel after all.

Space urgently needs special legal protection similar to that given to land, sea and atmosphere to protect its fragile environment, argues a team of scientists. The scientific, economic and cultural benefits of space should be considered against the damaging environmental impacts posed by an influx of space debris - roughly 60 miles above Earth's surface - fueled by the rapid growth of so-called satellite mega-constellations.

Researchers have discovered that light - in the form of a laser - can trigger a form of magnetism in a normally nonmagnetic material. This magnetism centers on the behavior of electrons. These subatomic particles have an electronic property called -spin,- which has a potential application in quantum computing.

The first results of research led by the University of Washington into handgun carrying by young people growing up in rural areas has found six distinct patterns for when and how often these individuals carry a handgun. The patterns, or -longitudinal trajectories,- suggest that youths in rural areas differ in some ways from their urban counterparts when it comes to handgun carrying and provide information for programs designed to help prevent firearm violence and injury.

The amygdala is a small structure deep in the brain important for interpreting the social and emotional meaning of sensory input - from recognizing emotion in faces to interpreting fearful images that inform us about potential dangers in our surroundings. Historically, the amygdala has been thought to play a prominent role in the difficulties with social behavior that are central to autism.

In the Southern Hemisphere, the ice cover around Antarctica gradually expands from March to October each year. During this time the total ice area increases by 6 times to become larger than Russia. The sea ice then retreats at a faster pace, most dramatically around December, when Antarctica experiences constant daylight.

Humans re-shape the environments where they live, with cities being among the most profoundly transformed environments on Earth. New research now shows that these urban environments are altering the way life evolves. A study led by evolutionary biologists at the University of Toronto Mississauga and including the University of Washington Urban Ecology Research Lab examines whether parallel evolution is occurring in cities all over the world.

In the past 20 years, the Arctic has lost about one-third of its winter sea ice volume, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Washington and the California Institute of Technology. That decline is largely due to loss of older, multiyear sea ice. New satellite data also show that wintertime Arctic sea ice is likely thinner than previous estimates.

Posted under: Population Health , Public Health , , Science , UW News blog Despite dramatic improvements in air quality over the past 50 years, people of color at every income level in the United States are exposed to higher-than-average levels of air pollution. While this disparity has been widely studied, the links between today's air pollution disparities and historic patterns of racially segregated planning are still being uncovered.

After Black Lives Matter formed in 2013, in response to the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, new ways of talking about race gained traction. And with protests sparked by subsequent police killings, such as those of Eric Garner, Philando Castile and George Floyd, the use of and online search for anti-racist terms skyrocketed, indicating a growing common anti-racist lexicon and generating renewed attention to racial justice that continues today.

In Washington state, many counties in recent years have supplemented their revenues through court-imposed fines such as traffic citations and court processing fees. At the same time, those counties have increased the rate at which they sentence women to jail. This association, according to new research from the University of Washington, indicates that monetary sanctions, also known as legal financial obligations or LFOs, have far-reaching social, economic and punitive effects.

Scientists at the University of Washington and Emory University report that an antibiotic sprayed on orchard crops to combat bacterial diseases slows the cognition of bumblebees and reduces their foraging efficiency. The study , published Feb. 9 in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, focused on streptomycin, an antibiotic used increasingly in U.S. agriculture during the past decade.

Everyone knows eating fruits and vegetables is good for your health. But these days, stores offer a dizzying array of options: organic, conventional, CSAs, local agriculture. Which ones are best for your health? A new study , published in January in the journal PeerJ, looks at how regenerative farming practices - soil-building techniques that minimize plowing, use cover crops, and plant diverse crops - affect the nutritional content of the food.