The basics of how a muscle generates power remain the same: Filaments of myosin tugging on filaments of actin shorten, or contract, the muscle – but the power doesn’t just come from what’s happening straight up and down the length of the muscle, as has been assumed for 50 years. The rest of the force should be credited to the lattice work of filaments as it expands outward in bulging muscle – whether in a body builder’s buff biceps or the calves of a sinewy marathon runner.
Low vitamin D levels are linked to higher risk of heart disease in whites and Chinese, but not in blacks or Hispanics. The findings underscore the importance of designing medical research that includes a diverse ethnic and racial makeup of participants.
Dozens of atmospheric scientists, including three ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø faculty members, are taking part in what’s being described as one of the largest atmospheric field campaigns in decades.
Every middle and high school has a policy against drinking alcohol on campus, but not all students follow the rules. New research suggests students are less likely to drink if they believe their school will strictly enforce its policy.
A model of great ape history during the past 15 million years has been fashioned through the study of genetic variation in a large panel of humans, chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans.
A ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø research vessel leaves July 2 for six weeks at sea, during which oceanographers will install miles of cable for a new type of deep-sea observatory.
The media often portray computer scientists as nerdy males with poor social skills. But a ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø psychologist found women will want to study computer science if they don’t buy into the stereotypes.
The ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø has received nearly $10 million from the U.S. Department of Defense to continue a project aimed at building a small, paper-based device that could test for infectious diseases on-demand in areas where diagnostic capabilities are limited.
A ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø astronomer is part of an international team that found six or seven planets orbiting a nearby star where only two or three were thought to exist.
Leading experts on water issues in the Western U.S. have come together to establish what is known about the future of Colorado River water, and to understand the wide range of estimates for future flows.
Seeds gobbled by birds and dispersed across the landscape tend to fare better than those that fall near parent plants. Now it turns out it might not just be the trip through the air that’s important, but also the inches-long trip through the bird.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous decision June 13 to bar the patenting of naturally occurring genes opens up important clinical testing options for a variety of diseases.
For less than $100, ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø researchers have designed a computer-interfaced drawing pad that helps scientists see inside the brains of children with learning disabilities while they read and write.
With students huddled over spring quarter finals campuswide, the latest podcast in the Documents that Changed the World series seems particularly timely: It’s about intelligence testing.
Philip Howard, associate professor of communication, answers a few questions about his book with doctoral student Muzammil Hussain, “Demoracy’s Fourth Wave: Digital Media and the Arab Spring.”
A new United Nations analysis, using statistical methods developed at the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø, shows the world population could reach nearly 11 billion by the end of the century, about 800 million more people than the previous projection issued in 2011.
Researchers at the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø have created a material they say would make LEDs cheaper and greener to manufacture, driving down costs to consumers.
ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø researchers have demonstrated that when humans use brain-computer interfaces, the brain behaves much like it does when completing simple motor skills such as kicking a ball or waving. Learning to control a robotic arm or a prosthetic limb could become second nature for people who are paralyzed.
Air pollution in the Northern Hemisphere in the mid-20th century cooled the upper half of the planet and pushed rain bands south, contributing to the prolonged and worsening drought in Africa’s Sahel region. Clean air legislation in the 1980s reversed the trend and the drought lessened.
Short-term therapy from paraprofessionals improved the mental health of Congolese women who suffered sexual violence.
Older adults are assessing their neighborhoods to make them more amenable to a favorite physical activity: walking.
New research demonstrates that life as we know it might never have come to exist on Earth if meteorites didn’t deliver a key element billions of years ago.
ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø researchers have shown it’s possible to leverage Wi-Fi signals around us to detect specific movements without needing sensors on the human body or cameras.
Two processes that turn woody biomass into transportation fuels have the potential to exceed current Environmental Protection Agency requirements for renewable fuels.
In most cultures, a woman’s small feet are seen as a sign of youth and fertility, but that’s not true of all cultures, including the Karo Batak on the island of Sumatra.
The pattern of brain responses to words in 2-year-old children with autism spectrum disorder predicted the youngsters’ linguistic, cognitive and adaptive skills at ages 4 and 6, according to a new study by ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø’s Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences.
Exposure to diesel exhaust undermines one of the body’s protections against heart and blood vessel disease.
Just a week after the Interstate 5 Skagit River Bridge collapse north of Seattle, the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø will host a national steel bridge competition for undergraduate civil engineering students. Forty-nine finalist teams will converge on campus for the 2013 National Student Steel Bridge Competition.
The ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø and the VA Puget Sound will be among the sites for the national RISE study. The researchers want to see if treating patients to preserve insulin secretion keeps diabetes from forming or slows its progression.
Evidence points to importance of recognizing and treating depression in people with diabetes to reduce medical complications.
A new half-hour documentary about a ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø research expedition to Axial Seamount, an underwater volcano off the Washington coast, airs tonight at 9:30 p.m. on ºÚÁϳԹÏÍøTV.
New research argues that the tea party owes more to paranoid politics of the John Birch Society and others than traditional American conservatism. “True conservatives aren’t paranoid,” says political scientist Chris Parker. “Tea party conservatives are.”
A study published this week in Nature Geoscience shows that woody plant matter is almost completely digested by bacteria living in the Amazon River, and that this tough stuff plays a major part in fueling the river’s breath.
Harmful effects of bullying are profound for youth struggling with identity and self-worth, and can lead to depression and thoughts of suicide.
Joe Janes of the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Information School reached back two centuries to pre-revolutionary France for the latest installment of his podcast series, “Documents that Changed the World.”
New ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø research shows that, in recent decades, fall is the only time of extensive warming over the entire Antarctic Peninsula, and it is mostly from atmospheric circulation patterns originating in the tropics.
More than 1,000 undergraduates will showcase their contributions to innovative and groundbreaking research at the 16th annual Undergraduate Research Symposium 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, May 17 in Mary Gates Hall. Some presentations will also occur in Johnson Hall and Meany Studio Theater. In conjunction with the symposium, another 50 undergraduates from ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø and nine other universities will present results from research collaborations through the McNair scholars and other such programs, May 16 to 18. The ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Undergraduate Research…
The maternal genetic information passed down through many generations of mitochondria is still present in modern-day residents of the Lassithi plateau of Crete.
ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø engineers have created a synthetic substance that fully resists the body’s natural attack response to foreign objects. Medical devices such as artificial heart valves, prostheses and breast implants could be coated with this polymer to prevent the body from rejecting an implanted object.
The ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø report recommends ways to protect the health of Native American tribes and others affected by the cleanup.