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Cultivating young children’s interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics has become a leading educational priority, as experts predict that many future jobs will require substantial math and technology skills. Early education in STEM topics, as theyre known, is critical for boosting later success in school and attracting students to occupations in those fields. But little has been done to optimize STEM curriculum for preschoolers or help children seek out and enjoy STEM tasks. Now, a new study by University…

When law professor Anita Ramasastry began teaching at the 窪蹋勛圖厙 in 1996, she was working on an article about banks responsibilities around human rights, to the bemusement of her peers. The groundbreaking piece focused on the role of Swiss banks during World War II and the dormant accounts of Holocaust victims and their heirs unusual territory for a law professor then. “At that time, this wasn’t a field of research and people thought it was a little…

The world’s attention is now on Proxima Centauri b, a possibly Earth-like planet about 4.22 light-years away. It’s in its star’s habitable zone — but could it in fact be habitable? If so, the planet evolved very different than Earth, say researchers at the 窪蹋勛圖厙-based Virtual Planetary Laboratory.

To everything there is a season even divorce, new research from 窪蹋勛圖厙 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. Their research, presented Aug. 21 at…

Death and mourning were largely considered private matters in the 20th century, with the public remembrances common in previous eras replaced by intimate gatherings behind closed doors in funeral parlors and family homes. But social media is redefining how people grieve, and Twitter in particular with its ephemeral mix of rapid-fire broadcast and personal expression is widening the conversation around death and mourning, two 窪蹋勛圖厙 sociologists say. In a paper presented Aug. 20 at the annual…

Interracial marriage has grown in the United States over the past few decades, and polls show that most Americans are accepting of mixed-race relationships. A 2012 study by the Pew Research Center found that interracial marriages in the U.S. had doubled between 1980 and 2010 to about 15 percent, and just 11 percent of respondents disapproved of interracial marriage. But new research from the 窪蹋勛圖厙 suggests that reported acceptance of interracial marriage masks deeper feelings of discomfort …

“Interscatter” communication developed by 窪蹋勛圖厙 engineers allows power-limited devices such as brain implants, contact lenses, credit cards and smaller wearable electronics to talk to everyday devices such as smartphones and watches.

窪蹋勛圖厙 biologist Peter Ward’s body of research has helped policymakers recognize the impact nautiluses have on ocean ecosystems, as well as how they can and cannot replenish their numbers in the face of unrestricted, unregulated fishing. At a CITES meeting in September, Ward and his team hope nautiluses will get much-needed protections from trade and harvesting.

At the USENIX Security Conference in Austin, Texas, a team of 窪蹋勛圖厙 researchers on Aug. 12 presented the first-ever comprehensive analysis of third-party web tracking across three decades and a new tool, TrackingExcavator, which they developed to extract and analyze tracking behaviors on a given web page. They saw a four-fold increase in third-party tracking on top sites from 1996 to 2016, and mapped the growing complexity of trackers stretching back decades.

A new study from the 窪蹋勛圖厙’s Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies suggests that Seattle and Washington state could invite development of more affordable housing by easing the legal risk or the appearance of risk in condominium development, construction, liability and insurance.

The 窪蹋勛圖厙 received a record $542.4 million in the 2016 fiscal year, ending June 30, breaking the previous record of $482.5 million set in 2013-14. The funds came in the form of private gifts and grants earmarked by individuals, corporations and foundations for specific areas of research, labs, faculty, and student scholarships and programs.

A 窪蹋勛圖厙 team has shed new light on a common but poorly understood bacteria known to live in low-oxygen areas in the ocean. By culturing and sequencing the microbe’s entire genome, the oceanographers found that it significantly contributes to the removal of life-supporting nitrogen from the water in new and surprising ways.

At a time of intense national attention on law enforcement and race, a new 窪蹋勛圖厙 study suggests that racially based fear plays a role in public support for policing reforms. The research, conducted by 窪蹋勛圖厙 postdoctoral researcher Allison Skinner and published online July 12 in the open-access journal Frontiers in Psychology, used a series of experiments to gauge participants level of support for policing reforms in relation to whether they felt threatened by police officers or black men….

At meetings with Native American community leaders, educators in the 窪蹋勛圖厙s College of Education repeatedly heard the same question what can be done to improve educational outcomes among Native learners? Those discussions led to the creation of the 窪蹋勛圖厙s new two-year Native Education Certificate program, which launches in August. The 10-unit curriculum mixes online learning with hands-on projects in participants communities, with the goal of providing more meaningful and culturally relevant education for Native students. “There is…