In the fall of 2014, Nick Bond—research scientist at JISAO and Washington State’s Climatologist—dubbed a patch of unusually warm water off the North American coast ‘The Blob’. The warmer temperatures went on to wreak havoc in marine environments over the following year. Now, another slug of warm water has appeared, this time stretching all the way to Hawaii. We sat down with Bond to talk about this new Blob—which is an anomaly in the ocean more commonly referred to as a marine heat wave—and what we might expect.
Read more »Maria Blancas wins $100,000 Bullitt prize
The Bullitt Foundation announced School of Environmental and Forest Sciences PhD student Maria Blancas as the winner of the 13th annual Bullitt Environmental Prize, which recognizes young people from varied backgrounds who have overcome adversity and demonstrated the ability to become powerful environmental leaders. The goal of the program is to help broaden and diversify the leadership of the global environmental movement.
Read more »Inspired by Northern clingfish, researchers make a better suction cup
The finger-sized Northern clingfish employs one of the best suction cups in the world. A small disk on its belly can attach to wet, slimy, even rough surfaces and hold up to 230 times its own body weight. A University of Washington team inspired by the clingfish’s suction power set out to develop an artificial suction cup that borrows from nature’s design.
Read more at UW News »Take the UW Climate Survey
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Take the survey »Abigail Swann included in Science News 10: Scientists to watch
The University of Washington Department of Atmospheric Sciences‘ Abigail Swann was honored in the SN 10, Science News’ list of 10 early- and mid-career scientists on their way to greater widespread acclaim. Each scientist on the list was nominated by a Nobel laureate, recently elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, or a scientist previously named to the list. All are age 40 or under, and were selected by Science News staff for their potential to shape the science of the future.
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