Tag: science

  • Joint pain based on weather condition ruled a farce

    UW and Harvard researchers utilized Google Trends — a feature of the website for data and other visualizations — to figure if, once and for all, weather affects joint pain. Researchers found the data was mixed. Scientists believe the key factors behind joint pain and weather conditions actually have to do with physical activity. That’s…

  • First human embryo genetically modified in the US

    Researchers from Portland, Ore. genetically modified human embryos for the first time on American soil, but this is not a new feat. The process has already been done in China. To date, no genetically modified embryo has been inserted into a womb. Read more here

  • Brainiacs on the brain

    UW team publishes first power-efficient brain stimulators preventing tremors Six researchers, engineers, and medical professionals have proved there’s a way to save battery power for patients using Deep Brain Stimulators (DBS), which use a pulse generator in someone’s chest that sends electricity up through a cord to specific parts of the brain. DBS are primarily…

  • A team of four creates and maintains app for sexual assault issues

    [Trigger warning: This article contains explicit language in reference to sexual assault and harassment.] It’s sexual assault awareness month, and a phone app that helps college students navigate issues around sexual assault is coming out of the woodworks. “Reach Out,” created by Capptivation, lets anonymous users pick from one in 2,500 schools in the app’s…

  • UW researchers spearhead landmark study on the elder LGBT community

    The first-ever LGBT longitudinal study, Aging with Pride, has been launched thanks to UW researchers. The data-gathering — which only allows for identifications of lesbian, gay, bi, or trans — is ongoing, and allows for multiple sub-studies on an under-studied, older LGBT population. On top of that, it collaborates with 17 community agencies in every U.S. census division.…

  • Gut bacteria studies could combat associated imbalances like diabetes

    UW associate professor Elhanan Borenstein recently published a research paper alongside Ohad Manor, a post-doctoral fellow in the Borenstein lab, focusing on a computational technique called “FishTaco,” an acronym for Functional Shifts’ Taxonomic Contributors. There are no fish or tacos otherwise involved. The crux of the FishTaco is that it combines two datasets about the…

  • A second look at HIV prevention

    These new findings imply the tenofovir gel failed in the study due to the presence of the bacterium, not because women in the clinical trial failed to use it properly, which was the original suspicion. Via The Daily

  • Music to oceanographers’ ears

    When it comes to the ocean, its depths are oftentimes less explored than outer space. “There’s a tremendous amount we don’t know,” UW oceanographer Kate Stafford said. “I mean, it’s just staggering.” In an effort to bridge the gap, Stafford and others have been using what are called haruphones or hydrophones—single underwater microphones. These hydrophones…

  • Renowned researcher discusses the underlying, often dismissed, realities of HIV

    After being recently awarded the King Holmes Endowed Professorship, Peter Piot discussed the future of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) on Tuesday in the William Foege building. Piot was one of two people who discovered the Ebola virus in 1976. He also led research on HIV and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), as well as other…

  • Engineer explains how to avoid digital tracking

    People of all ages filtered into Kane Hall on Wednesday night to hear about tracking in the digital age.  The engineering department held a seminar with speaker Franziska Roesner, who discussed the length of which tracking pervades people’s devices. Roesner’s work centers on the concept of user-driven access control (UAC), which takes the control out…