Once coyotes get a taste for city living, the call of the wild fades to a whisper. Food is abundant and predators are few. Research indicates that coyotes enjoy the benefits of urban areas enough to put up with all the people, and Seattle is no exception.

Over the past century, coyotes have colonized every major metropolitan area in North America. Chicago is home to an , and in Los Angeles, urban coyote density is at least seven times higher than in wild areas. Coyotes are often spotted in parks and neighborhoods , but the lack of formal data makes it difficult for researchers to track trends.

“We observed a ninefold increase in coyote density in Seattle compared to more natural and wild areas of the state,” said lead author , a UW professor of environmental and forest sciences. “That might surprise people who think of coyotes as afraid of humans, but I think it just shows how ideal the urban setting is for coyotes.”

The results in Environmental Research: Ecology.

In the study, researchers analyzed coyote scats collected throughout Seattle and from wild study areas near Winthrop in north-central Washington and Chewelah in the northeastern part of the state. They estimated density based on how often they picked up a scat from the same animal, identifying 261 total coyotes from 842 scats.

Researchers were also curious about factors that influence density within the city, such as the luxury effect — where wealthier neighborhoods have more plant and animal diversity. Researchers compared the coyote density maps to ones showing pollution level, tree cover, buildings and roads, human population density and income level. Of those factors, only human density seemed to influence the coyotes.

“In Seattle, human population density had a negative effect on coyote density. But when you compare coyote abundance in Seattle to areas with far fewer people, the coyote population was much higher in the city,” Prugh said.

Although coyotes are wary of people, the conditions that dense human populations create favor their survival. Urban coyotes are less likely to be killed or go hungry than their wild counterparts.

that fear of mortality may play a role in determining where coyotes live. In the wild, larger carnivores such as wolves and mountain lions hunt coyotes, but in cities they get to masquerade as apex predators. Farmers and landowners are also more likely to kill coyotes to protect their livestock in rural settings.

The only things that regularly kill urban coyotes are cars and disease.

Cities also offer a wider variety of food options for coyotes. Scat analyses showed that urban coyotes’ diets were more than twice as diverse as those of wild coyotes, although .

Rabbits are the choice prey for coyotes in most ecosystems and the abundance of one often impacts the other. Seattle’s over the past few decades changed urban ecology, and may have helped draw coyotes to the region.

“Coyotes and rabbits have a natural relationship, even in a highly altered environment like Seattle,” Prugh said. Rabbit density could be an even stronger predictor of coyotes than humans, she added, but there isn’t enough data to test the theory.

Although long-term coyote population data is also limited, there is overwhelming anecdotal evidence of coyote abundance increasing in the past few decades, Prugh said.

Sightings are more common at dusk and dawn, but coyotes are now as well. They tend to avoid people, but residents have raised concerns about coyotes and displaying territorial or behavior.

Because they are territorial, coyotes will fight each other over turf. This behavior helps control their population in the absence of other predators. Cities can only support so many coyotes, but Prugh isn’t sure whether Seattle has met that limit yet.

Either way, the coyotes aren’t going anywhere fast.

“One thing that coyotes have shown over and over is that they are incredibly resistant to control efforts,” said Prugh. “With enough food, they will just have more pups.”

The study also highlights some of the often overlooked ways that coyotes can benefit the ecosystem. For example, by munching on young plants, and coyotes help them by munching on rabbits.

“Whether there are too many or too few coyotes is sort of a societal question, but ultimately our answer might not matter,” said Prugh. “Coyotes are here to stay in cities, and it is up to us to learn how to live with them.”

Co-authors include , lab manager at the UW; of Purdue University; and of Colorado State University; of the Wildlife Institute of India; of New Mexico State University; and of the University of California Berkeley.

This research was funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, the UW Royalty Research Fund, the Woodland Park Zoo, the Animal Welfare Institute and the Fulbright India program.

For more information, contact Prugh at lprugh@uw.edu.

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UPDATE Sept. 8, 2026: This story has been updated to correct the total increase in melt season since the 1980s.

Relatively few people have been to the Arctic, and even fewer have set foot in Antarctica. Most of us rely on our imaginations and media to visualize these landscapes and the ways they are changing.

Research shows that the Arctic is than the global average. The sea ice is melting, exposing more open ocean and throwing the ecosystem out of balance. The story of Antarctica contains fewer details, but emerging trends are concerning to researchers.

Conceptualizing this change can be challenging for those of us who have only glimpsed Greenland from the airplane window, but for someone with firsthand experience, it’s eye-opening.

, a research scientist at the ��������’s Applied Physics Laboratory, has visited the Arctic at least once a year since 2009, sometimes staying for as long as five months.

Webster is the lead author of a new research paper, in Nature Reviews Earth and Environment, that describes how sea ice has changed in the past 50 years.

Their analysis arrives as the world begins preparations for the , a dedicated period of observation that will peak during the 2023 to 2033 season. International Polar years have occurred every 30 to 50 years since the late 1800s to advance polar research and track environmental change. The upcoming International Polar Year will occur just 25 years after the last, held in 2007, due to the acceleration of climate change.

What motivated this study?

Melinda Webster: We have known for a long time now that the extent, or area, and thickness of sea ice is declining, especially in the Arctic. But we wanted to take that a step further to examine the properties of the ice, especially perennial ice, which doesn’t completely melt away in summer. We updated trends for sea ice with 15 to 20 more years worth of data to understand how it has changed through the contemporary period. We also wanted to emphasize the divergent responses we see in the Arctic and Antarctica, and make recommendations for future research.

What did you discover?

MW: The Arctic sea ice melt season has gotten approximately seven and a half days longer per decade since 1979, and this is mostly driven by sea ice forming later in the fall. This has sweeping implications for the global climate system. The superpower of sea ice is its high albedo, meaning that it reflects a lot of sunlight — somewhere between 60% and 90% — back into space. Dark ocean water, on the other hand, reflects just 7%. The open ocean absorbs much more sunlight than ice does, and with that absorption comes warming. In the fall, the ocean is too warm for ice to form and it is taking longer for that heat to dissipate.

The seasonal ice that ultimately forms is thinner, and easier to melt in the following spring and summer. So this creates a cycle of warming that reduces ice coverage and increases the amount of energy in our climate system over time.

What’s the deal with Antarctica?

MW: Antarctica is a land mass covered in ice and surrounded by water. The Arctic is an ocean surrounded by land. Although they share certain qualities, the two regions are very different from one another, with distinct responses to climate change. For a long time, the sea ice cover wasn’t declining in Antarctica, but in the last four years the sea ice cover experienced record losses.

Logistically, it’s a lot more difficult to deploy instruments in the Antarctic than the Arctic. The measurements we do have are less accurate because the Antarctica sea ice system is more complicated. But, we need to unravel these recent changes, which is a priority research area we identify in the paper.

What other impacts do you foresee these changes having?

MW: Another key result we presented is that snow cover on Arctic sea ice has gotten thinner and the sea ice itself is smoother. That has huge repercussions for polar bears and seals, as it impacts their ability to build dens for raising their young.

There’s also a connection to fisheries. Changes in sea ice cover also impact algae, which form the base of the food web. These algae are accustomed to very low light conditions, but thinner snow and ice let more light in and the algae are essentially getting sunburnt.

When you take an ecosystem that was adapted to an ice environment and introduce open ocean, it disrupts its regular functioning. The health of algae impacts the entire food web, which has important implications for fisheries in the sub-Arctic and Arctic. Less food might mean fewer fish, and that introduces a whole new set of concerns.

Are there any potential solutions?��

MW: To mitigate climate change, you have to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. That’s at the center of the problem. There are various alternative geoengineering strategies floating around but little consensus on how safe and useful they are.

I think that it is critical to have international regulations that are shaped by representative communities on what kind of research we need before any geoengineering action is taken, if at all. Still, at the end of the day, geoengineering is a Band-Aid. We need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to deal with the underlying cause of climate change instead of just treating its symptoms.

I’m optimistic about solutions for reducing emissions. Technological and scientific innovation are progressing at a rapid pace, which gives me hope about the future.

Co-authors include of the University of Hamburg; of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at California Institute of Technology; of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; of Université Catholique de Louvain; of the Finnish Meteorological Institute and of Hokkaido University.

This research was funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, the U.S. Office of Naval Research, NASA, the Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, the University of Hamburg, the German Research Foundation, SnowCast, the DFG Emmy Noether Programme Project Snowflake and the Research Council of Finland.

For more information, contact Webster at melindaw@uw.edu.

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Motion-triggered cameras showcase the prevalence of ‘nectar robbing’ in Hawaiian flowers

Some long curved bills are the perfect implement for drawing sweet nectar from deep within a lobelioid flower. As birds reach into flowers to access the nectar stored near the base, their bills can brush against the ‘ pollen-bearing structures, making hungry honeycreepers important pollinators. But some of these specialized honeycreepers have gone extinct. Shorter-billed species can now “rob” nectar — without contacting the flower’s pollen-bearing structures — from the endangered flowers. A UW-led team used motion cameras to gauge how often nectar robbing occurs. The results, in Ecology and Evolution, reveal both nectar robbing and pollination visits, showcasing a broader pattern that the team previously identified . Nectar robbing can damage flowers and leave less nectar for other potential pollinators. The researchers 3D printed a bird bill to simulate nectar robbing and track changes in nectar availability and the plants’ ability to reproduce. Damaged flowers often struggled to replenish their nectar stores, but were still able to produce fruit and viable seeds. These studies are part of a that aims to catalog Hawaiian bird-plant interactions through time, specifically tracking how these interactions are reshaped by extinction.

For more information, contact lead author , a UW research scientist in the biology department, at sam.case24@gmail.com.

The other UW co-authors are , Christopher Steinbronn and . A full list of co-authors and funding is .

People with anxious attachment styles are more likely get emotionally involved with ChatGPT

rose to popularity in the late 20th Century as a way to categorize how people bond with others. Someone with an anxious attachment style, for instance, fears abandonment and rejection, whereas someone with an avoidant attachment style is independent at the cost of personal closeness. In , UW researchers explored how peoples’ attachment styles affect their interactions with ChatGPT. The team analyzed the chat histories of 105 young adults, each of whom completed an attachment-style survey. Researchers found that they could automatically detect peoples’ attachment styles based on their interactions with the chatbot. People with an anxious attachment style were more likely to be emotionally involved with the AI system, writing things like “Can you please love me?” and “I miss my ex and I can’t sleep because of it.” Anxious users were also more prone to trust ChatGPT and to follow its recommendations. The team argues that this highlights the need for policies that prohibit companies from psychologically profiling users without their consent, since it leaves them vulnerable to manipulation.

For more information, contact senior author , a UW associate professor in the Information School, at alexisr@uw.edu or lead author , a doctoral student in the Information School, at marxwang@uw.edu.

The other UW co-authors are , , and .

Nursing is a major energy suck, but it’s difficult to estimate the toll for many marine mammals

Marine mammals lactate like any other mammal, but the energetic demands are difficult to measure in wild animals and thus not well understood.�� Researchers are concerned that some marine mammals may not be getting enough food, which can lead to failure to reproduce and . To understand the link between nutritional status and reproduction, researchers need to know what marine mammals require to rear offspring. A published in PLOS One modeled the daily costs of lactation using data from semi-aquatic and terrestrial mammals to explore whether results could be generalized to other species, like whales and dolphins. Modeling could approximate lactation costs of certain understudied marine mammals, including seals and sea lions, but appeared unable to produce accurate estimates for whales and dolphins. Lactation costs increase over time for most animals, but seem to be higher early in lactation for marine mammals, possibly due to their fully aquatic lifestyle. The study highlights a need for other methods to fill the remaining data gap to better understand the impacts of environmental change on marine mammals.

For more information, contact lead author , a research scientist in the UW Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean, & Ecosystem Studies, at emchuron@uw.edu. Funding information is .

Simulations suggest that lasers could ‘calm’ persnickety plasma

could supply humanity with — provided that scientists and engineers can work out how to create sustained fusion reactions safely, efficiently and affordably. The trick is in the taming of , a superhot state of matter made of free-floating electrons and atomic nuclei. When compressed to outlandish pressures and temperatures in a reactor, the nuclei fuse with one another, releasing energy. In that extreme environment, plasma forms instabilities that can derail a fusion reaction; much fusion research is focused on “calming” volatile plasma. published in Physics of Plasmas, UW researchers and other collaborators simulated a novel strategy to control instabilities using two opposing laser beams. By tuning the lasers’ properties — such as their frequency and polarity — the researchers prevented instabilities from growing and cascading. Surprisingly, the lasers also delayed other instabilities within the plasma, even though they were not directly targeted by the laser fields. By taking advantage of interactions within the plasma, the researchers found a way to calm instabilities indirectly. The results could help experts develop algorithms that stabilize plasma in real time, sustaining fusion conditions long enough to produce useful energy.

For more information, contact , UW professor of aeronautics and astronautics at shumlak@uw.edu.

A full list of co-authors and funding is .

When exposed to air, new nanomaterial becomes magnetic at high temperatures

While fridge magnets are great for saving favorite recipes, modern magnetic materials are useful for improving fiber optics or quantum information sciences technology. If you zoomed in on most fridge magnets, you’d see the atoms arranged in a repeated lattice structure called a “spinel.” These structures are made up of three types of atoms, generically referred to as atoms “A,” “B” and “X.” In a paper in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, UW researchers describe two new spinels made of silver, chromium and selenium ions. These are among the first spinels to include a silver ion in the “A” slot, the slot that determines the “vibe” of the spinel, or how it will react to various stimuli, such as light, heat or air. When exposed to air, the original spinel loses silver ions and transforms into the second spinel. The second spinel maintains its magnetic properties up to 400 Kelvin, or 260 degrees Fahrenheit; the original loses its magnetism at 152 K, or -185 F. This is the largest change ever documented in what is known as the Curie temperature, or the highest temperature at which a material is still magnetic. The researchers plan to continue to explore these two materials and what they can teach us about the fundamentals of magnetism.

For more information, contact lead author , UW doctoral student in chemistry, at ekbacong@uw.edu.����������

The other UW co-authors are Charlize Agag, , , , Yinuo Xu, , , and . A full list of co-authors and funding is .

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Between 2021 and 2023, Antarctica appeared to be growing. Heavy snowfall fueled by wetter weather caused parts of the continent to gain mass, leading whether climate change is really causing the ice to melt. However, a new study shows that the precipitation increase was an anomaly related to extra warm tropical ocean temperatures, not part of a long term trend.

The results Aug. 19 in Nature.

Antarctica as warm water melts ice from below and sends large chunks crashing into the ocean. Annual precipitation can’t keep up with the rate of melt, causing a net mass loss. However, the snow that fell on East Antarctica, a vast area that contains nearly 80% of Earth’s land bound ice, added mass faster than the ice was melting. Although mass loss continued in West Antarctica, the general trend seemed encouraging.

“In the early 2020s, there was an exceptional amount of snowfall over parts of Antarctica. Because Antarctica is so big, it doesn’t take that much extra snow thickness to counter the loss of ice from the edges of the ice sheet, which led to the perception that the loss of ice is slowing down,” said co-author , a UW professor of Earth and space sciences.

The question nagging researchers was whether this would continue into the future. To answer it, they needed to trace the origins of the precipitation.

Because warm air can hold more moisture than colder air, higher latitudes could eventually see wetter conditions due to global warming. Scientists recognize that the average amount of moisture in the air will increase as global temperatures rise. Some saw the heavier snowfall as evidence that this expected trend was materializing in Antarctica.

“Warmer conditions favor storms shifting toward the poles, which could offset ice loss through snowfall,” said co-author Qinghua Ding, a professor of atmospheric and climate science at UC Santa Barbara.

But the data told a different story. Using a computational method that involves “tagging” water molecules, the researchers linked the extra precipitation in Antarctica to the tropical warm pool, a warm patch of ocean in the western Pacific and eastern Indian oceans that makes an outsized contribution to extreme weather.

Water temperature in the warm pool was notably higher than average between 2021 and 2023, triggering changes in atmospheric circulation that directed more moisture toward East Antarctica.

Historical evidence shows that multi-year warming of the warm pool is normal. Every few decades or so, it heats up for several years before reverting to its average temperature.

“When something changes, it is very tempting, even to scientists, to think ‘Oh, there’s a new normal happening,’ but this analysis shows that’s not the case. This is most likely a short-lived phenomenon,” Steig said.

The connection to global warming from human activity is tenuous, he added. It’s difficult to tease apart human impact from natural variability in the tropics, but because we see this pattern repeated in history, it is most likely just part of the natural background variability of the tropical climate system.

However, increased carbon dioxide emissions to the climatic conditions accelerating ice loss in West Antarctica.

As a whole, the Antarctic Ice Sheet covers an area larger than the U.S. and Mexico combined and stores most of Earth’s freshwater. It is also the greatest source of uncertainty in long-term sea-level rise projections. Understanding the balance between ice gain and loss in Antarctica helps researchers make predictions with global implications. Knowing the underlying dynamics provides important guidance for how to interpret new observations.

“There hasn’t been much attention paid to the particular mechanism we identify; this is a reminder to not interpret short term change as a long term trend,” Steig said.

“The climate system is complex,” Ding said. “Every year brings new surprises and we have to stay curious, humble and open-minded to improve our theories.”

Additional co-authors include and of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; of UC Santa Barbara; of the University of Alaska Fairbanks; of Dartmouth College and Dániel Topál of Université catholique de Louvain.

This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the U.S. National Science Foundation, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, JST PRESTO, Japan, the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

For more information, contact Steig at steig@uw.edu and Ding at qinghua@geog.ucsb.edu.

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Nearly 30 years ago, a simple question sent �������� researchers into the Puget Sound lowlands to look for birds. With Seattle’s population swelling and housing developments pushing into once-forested suburbs, researchers wanted to know how land conversion was impacting birds, and whether the type of development mattered.

The researchers returned to various development sites three to four times a year to log which birds they saw and heard. They found that when developments preserved native vegetation and tree cover between homes, a wider variety of bird species remained. The difference was most significant to sensitive species that tend to avoid humans — like the and — which fared better in conservation-minded developments.

This study highlights a dynamic that is often overlooked under the assumption that all development is bad for habitat.

“This work shows that birds care how land is developed, which gives developers a choice during the planning process. There are tradeoffs between developments designed for humans and those designed with the ecosystem in mind, but balancing the two can benefit both,” said senior author , UW professor emeritus of environmental and forest sciences.

The results were in Scientific Reports.

For the study, researchers organized birds into three groups based on their adaptability. Avoiders included native forest birds such as chickadees, wrens and woodpeckers; adapters included sparrows and robins; and crows, pigeons and hummingbirds were among those classified as exploiters because they can benefit from development by visiting bird feeders and foraging on scraps.

The researchers returned to lowland sites several times a year during the spring and summer breeding season to look and listen for birds. Pairing visual and acoustic signals gave them a more complete bird census.

During the initial years of observation, when the habitat was changing but before construction began, species diversity increased at all development sites, but prolonged disturbance sent many native species into decline. This effect was more pronounced when housing density increased.

“The greatest species diversity was right in the middle years of development, likely due to an increase in habitat heterogeneity,” said lead author , who completed this work as a doctoral student of environmental and forest sciences at the UW and is now an associate professor at Seattle University. “Our Pacific Northwest forests aren’t terribly diverse as forests go, but when you start to mix that up by clearing trees, it opens the canopy to another suite of species.”

As construction progressed, avoider and adapter populations declined. Avoiders showed the most uniform response, but adapters were more split — some declined while others persisted. Exploiters were present in both development types, contrary to the researchers’ hypothesis that they would fare better in denser developments.

These results come at a pivotal moment for Washington’s avian residents. Earlier this year, Birds Connect Seattle describing declines in bird abundance and diversity throughout the city. Average bird counts are down 21% since the 1990s and species richness has dropped 18%. At the same time, developers are buying up tracts of timberland to build homes.

Just last week, bidding closed on the auction of in the Snoqualmie Valley, which could allow construction of up to 30 new homes.

“It’s becoming less and less profitable to keep land for timber than it is to sell it for home development,” DeLap said.

Even if development compromises habitat quality, knowing which factors support biodiversity could help developers balance profitability and ecosystem health.

These results underscore the need to consider sensitive species when planning projects, and caution surveyors against assuming that all birds within a guild will behave the same way. Changing the land will change the ecosystem, bringing birds together that might not have shared habitat otherwise.

“Given that a lot of forest land will likely be converted in the coming years, I hope this will help folks recognize what they stand to gain and lose through development,” DeLap said. “There might be other configurations worth evaluating, but now at least we know what happens on the landscape in these two scenarios.”

Additional co-authors include , a UW professor of aquatic and fishery sciences and leader of the USGS Washington Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit.

This study was funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the �������� Rachel Wood’s Endowed Graduate Program and James W. Ridgeway Professorship.

For more information, contact DeLap at jdelap@seattleu.edu and Marzluff at corvid@uw.edu.

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Nobody is immune from the hazards of summer wildfires, even the experts. At the ��������, researchers study both how to mitigate and understand wildfire behavior and how air quality degrades as a result of burning blazes. While UW faculty contribute to a rapidly emerging body of research into the risks of fire and smoke season, they also contend with the decisions that the rest of us face: how to protect themselves and their families, where to find reliable information, and how to manage the anxieties of summer smoke.��

Who better to learn from? As fires rage and smoke smothers the Pacific Northwest — including historic and devastating — UW News sat down with five UW experts in fire science, forestry, air pollution and more to ask how they manage wildfire season.��

This summer, the U.S. has been inundated with wildfire smoke, sometimes from fires burning hundreds of miles away. What sources do you use to track wildfires and air quality?

, research associate professor of environmental and forest sciences: The most reliable source, in my opinion, is the Fire and Smoke Map from . This map consolidates data from various government sources related to wildfires, prescribed burns, smoke emissions and up-to-date models. It serves as a comprehensive resource for smoke emissions information.

, research scientist in environmental and forest sciences: For smoke forecasts, I often turn to AirNow, but the is an excellent friend when we have been inundated with smoke for days and I’m looking for extended forecasts and analyses. is also an incredibly helpful site. I’m careful to check if the readings are U.S. EPA PM2.5 with the conversion applied — otherwise the readings generally are higher than reality.

, professor of environmental and forest sciences: For personal use and immediate up-to-date information, I really like . As a free app that has lots of options and configurations, it can be really helpful for getting immediate information on any ongoing fire incident and incorporates information from multiple sources. Second, for more detailed maps, photos, and daily incident updates, I frequently check , which is the U.S. government interagency website that provides real-time public information and updates on fire incidents. As a forest fire scientist, I also use these sources for archived information about past fires that can better help us in our research.

Let’s say you’re planning a weekend trip, or a hike you’ve been looking forward to. How do you predict and plan around fire and smoke?��

E. Alvarado: I’ll plan my outdoor activities while considering potential smoke impacts. I’ll choose an area that’s unlikely to be affected by smoke for the duration of the activity. During the fire season, I’ll avoid areas with thermal inversions, which can trap smoke at night. For example, canyons or valleys surrounded by mountains are risky.

To predict future smoke concentrations, the National Weather Service is the most reliable source of information. Their weather predictions can indicate fire weather for the duration of the forecast. This is also important for hiking the rest of the year to stay informed about the weather for any outdoor activity.

BH: has nice maps of the U.S. and Canada with high-resolution smoke forecasts over the coming day or two. These maps can be really helpful for planning ahead, though are always subject to change based on changing fire behavior or weather conditions. With our lab group doing field work outdoors all summer long every summer, these are critical tools for us to be able to do our work.��

Do you have an AQI threshold where you’re no longer comfortable being outside? Does that vary depending on what you’re doing outside? If so, how?

, professor of environmental and occupational health sciences: The AQI is designed for communicating health risk to both general populations as well as populations that may be more susceptible to smoke.�� Rather than focusing on the AQI number, I instead focus on the public health messaging (the “Description of Air Quality” column in this figure):

, associate professor of environmental and occupational health sciences: I generally become more concerned when air quality has remained consistently elevated for about 24 hours, because I think about smoke exposure cumulatively over the course of the day.

SP: If it looks like air quality is going to degrade over an AQI of 80, I start thinking about my health and what level of activity I’m going to do. As the science on smoke and human health only becomes more cautionary, I save strenuous exercise like running or climbing mountains for times when the AQI is below 80.��

If you have to be outside during smoky days, how do you protect yourself?��

E. Alvarado: Starting from AQI in the yellow zone, I may wear a . However, above the orange zone, an N95 mask is mandatory.

ES: If working outdoors during smoky days, you and your employer should be aware that in Washington State, Labor and Industries has established from hazardous smoke exposures. Also be aware that oftentimes smoke and heat co-occur, and there are for working outdoors too.

E. Austin: I always make contingency plans while hiking and camping. In that case, I identify egress routes prior to departing in case a wildfire event limits my ability to return using the route I had planned. I also sign up for emergency text alerts for the county where I am spending time, and check the current fire activity and nearby evacuation status.��

How do you keep your indoor spaces safe during smoke waves?

ES: Thinking ahead and preparing your indoor space for regularly occurring wildfire smoke episodes is just as important as planning for other emergency events.�� Can you close doors and windows tightly and have good weather sealing to avoid smoke from infiltrating indoors? Can you set your ventilation system to recirculate air?�� Have you replaced your ventilation system (e.g., furnace) filter recently? Have you considered getting a portable HEPA-rated air cleaner that is sized appropriately for your bedroom or living area?�� Have you considered building a DIY box-fan filter?

E. Austin: I create a smoke-ready space in my home. This is a separate area, where I set my ventilation system to recirculate indoor air rather than bringing in outdoor air. I also run a HEPA filter, rated to perform well for the square footage of my space, during wildfire events. Lastly, I try to reduce air exchange between the indoor space and outdoors by closing all windows, only opening outdoor doors when necessary, and weatherizing the space around doors and windows prior to the event.

SP: For indoor air, we make sure our HEPA air filters are clean at the end of each fire season so that they are ready to go the following year. When there’s smoke in the air, we make sure windows and doors are closed and use our air filters. We also just got a heat pump so that we can keep windows closed when smoke is a factor at night.

If you find yourself in close proximity to an active wildfire, what steps do you suggest taking?

BH: I suggest being as conservative and cautious as possible. Conditions can change rapidly, and being in the direct line of where a fire is spreading can be extremely dangerous and life-threatening. So first, I would make sure that there is a clear and safe route to safety via a road, trail, path, etc. Second, assessing the situation through any official information or local authorities is critical. If the fire has not been reported, calling 911 immediately is important to alert responders and others. If an evacuation order is issued, leaving immediately is critical to get to safety ASAP.

E. Austin: Many local districts allow you to register your phone and/or email to receive real-time alerts. I also suggest identifying your evacuation route, any obstacles or bottlenecks that would slow down your evacuation and to preplan and even pack critical items that you would need to take with you in an emergency.

SP: I live in the Methow Valley, and we’ve been evacuated around five times in the last 20 years. As a fire ecologist who studies fire behavior and smoke, one of the most upsetting things for me has been to watch neighbors and friends stay to protect their places. We quickly pack a few valuable things — photo albums, laptops, wallets, and passports — and leave. My main message to friends over the years is that it’s not worth the risk — if flames are close that means that smoke and super-heated air may be close, too, and deadly.

How do you manage the stress and anxiety of fire season both here and elsewhere?

E. Austin: I manage that stress by preparing my home before fire season, relying on a small number of curated information sources rather than trying to identify reliable sources in the moment or checking multiple apps, and I try to make flexible backup plans for outdoor activities. I also suggest planning ahead to learn how to obtain and effectively use an N95 respirator to reduce exposures either at work or when outdoors for recreational activities.

SP: Fire and smoke season are stressful. I’ve dealt with some stress and anxiety not only from fast-moving wildfires but also from long-duration smoke events that feel like they will never clear. We have a strong community that is very supportive and understands how fire season can bring up some PTSD-type symptoms. We take care of our place and make sure that we have as low of risk in and around our home as possible. We also remind ourselves how very lucky we are to be able to have flexibility in our work schedules and plenty of friends and family elsewhere to be able to leave when wildfires hit close to home.

BH: Fire is an integral part of life on earth, and in regions like the Pacific Northwest, fire is a key process that will continue to shape this region well into the future. Knowing that it is not if, but when, fire will return to any given area helps me embrace the reality of fire season. Like anything in life, being informed and prepared is a great way to lower stress and anxiety that comes with uncertainty.��

The UW has dozens of experts in wildfires, smoke and related topics. To reach an expert, contact Alden Woods at acwoods@uw.edu.

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New design process accelerates the discovery of advanced materials

Flexible materials that combine mechanical flexibility with high thermal or electrical conductivity are essential for wearables, stretchable electronics and soft robotic systems. To identify new composite materials with those properties, researchers typically create and test many different material formulations, a process that can be time-consuming, expensive and lead to waste. , UW researchers developed a new “inverse design framework” that reverses the standard design process to speed up the discovery of multifunctional materials. The framework starts with the desired material properties for a specific application — such as wearable electronics — and works backward to determine the optimal material composition using physics-based modeling and machine learning. Experiments showed that a material identified by the framework achieved about 60% higher thermal conductivity while reducing material cost by about 10%, compared to materials that were previously used.��

For more information, contact senior author , UW assistant professor of mechanical engineering.��

The other co-authors are Lijun Zhou, Yunsik Ohm, Ren-Mian Chin, Olivia Kerr and Krithika Manohar.

Climate models get a vote of confidence in a new UW study mapping tropical ocean temperature over time

Climate models help researchers understand how conditions are changing over time to forecast what is likely to happen in the future. Predicting extreme heat, drought or flooding years in advance can give people time to prepare, but the accuracy of these predictions varies. Scientists test models by asking them to recreate past climate and comparing those predictions with observational data. Although modern climate models get a lot of things right, they often fail to replicate recent temperature change in the tropical Pacific Ocean, a key region for global weather. This has concerned scientists, but a UW study offers a glimmer of hope. The researchers found that climate models could successfully replicate temperature trends in the equatorial Pacific when they expanded the window of observation by 20 years. Including more data allowed the models to better account for climate variability, which can create long-lasting fluctuations in temperature and precipitation that aren’t always indicative of a general trend.��

For more information, contact senior author Matt Luongo, UW postdoctoral fellow in the Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean, & Ecosystem Studies and School of Oceanography at mluongo@uw.edu.

The other UW co-author is . A full list of co-authors is .

Paternal body odor increases brain-to-brain synchrony with infants

Infant brains recognize their fathers as unique social partners, showing stronger brain-to-brain synchrony with their fathers compared to unfamiliar males during social interactions. A new study also shows that when infants interact with unfamiliar males while exposed to their fathers’ body odor, their brain synchrony increases to levels similar to those seen with their own fathers. Further, exposure to paternal body odor increased infants’ positive arousal. These findings suggest that infants use their fathers’ scent as an important social cue, even when the father is not physically present. Researchers also found that father-infant synchrony involved a different neural rhythm than previously observed in mother-infant interactions, suggesting that mothers and fathers may support development through complementary neural pathways. Combined, these findings reveal a previously unknown role of paternal body odor as a sensory signal that contributes to early social and brain development.

For more information, contact , co-author and a research scientist in the UW Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences.��

The other co-authors are Linoy Schwartz and Ruth Feldman.

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Approximately 90% of the U.S. population . A significant portion of the water supplying those systems comes from forested lands, which means that policies impacting forests also impact our water access.

In 2001, the Clinton administration passed the , blocking 60 million acres of national forest land from development to limit industrial timber harvest and preserve forest ecosystems. Although popular with the public, the roadless rule drew immediate criticism from timber and related industries. Last summer, the federal government announced plans to rescind it.

A new study from the �������� and Conservation Science Partners, , highlights the potential consequences of losing those protections by mapping how the roadless rule protects rivers.

“The roadless rule supports the drinking water supply for 25 million Americans and offers critical protection of wildlife habitat and recreational assets. In short, rivers in roadless areas are essential for both people and nature,” said lead author , a UW professor of aquatic and fishery science.

To show how forests impact freshwater, the researchers looked at nearly 110,000 square miles of national forest representing 2,488 officially designated “roadless areas.” They cross-referenced the roadless areas map with a recent study assessing river protections nationwide to see where rivers and roadless areas overlap, and therefore which rivers were vulnerable to losing protection.

The researchers found that more than 80,000 miles of rivers in the continental U.S. receive some protection from the roadless rule. Of those protected segments, nearly 62,000 miles of river are protected by only the roadless rule. That water reaches 25 million people across the country, often at downstream distances far from roadless areas.

Research shows that forested lands provide higher quality water because soil microbes and plant roots filter contaminants before water arrives at treatment facilities. Cleaner water requires less processing, reducing potential treatment costs for public utilities. Some water utilities are investing in watershed protection as a way to save money and limit chemical use as demand for water rises.

“Forest cover is well recognized for generating economic benefits by avoiding the large capital costs of water treatment plants needed to ensure clean, safe drinking water for people,” said Olden.

Roadless areas are also vital strongholds for sensitive aquatic species, Olden added. At-risk species such as the use protected habitat for spawning and raising young. Hunters and anglers also value roadless areas because they support such productive fish and wildlife habitat and offer unparalleled opportunities for outdoor recreation.

After the U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced the plan to rescind the roadless rule last year, more than half a million people submitted comments during the public comment period, which ended in September. According to the Center for Western Priorities, more than expressed opposition to the plan.

Earlier this year, Republican lawmakers attempted to by attaching it to the Wildfire Prevention Act, which supports prescribed burns and forest thinning to fight megafires. Their to justify clawing back protections claimed that rescinding the roadless rule would allow for better forest management, but . Research shows that roadbuilding in formerly roadless areas is more likely to increase fire risk.

“To be clear, the rule does not block any management action that supports forest health, wildfire mitigation or recreation,” Olden said. “In fact, energy projects, transmission lines and mining development remain permitted within roadless areas.”

Roadbuilding and logging can cause sediment build up in lakes and rivers, which must be filtered out. Chemicals from construction can also end up in the water supply. Reductions in forest cover resulting from rescinding the roadless rule may compromise water quality in the U.S., among other negative consequences for animals and ecosystems.

The U.S. Forest Service says it is reviewing public comments and a proposed rule and draft statement of environmental impact this year.

“Any decision to rescind or downgrade the roadless rule that may put forested lands at risk requires careful consideration of the numerous benefits they offer to people and nature,” said Olden. “Our study offers data to inform such decisions.”

This study was funded by the �������� and from a contract from American Rivers to Conservation Science Partners.

For more information, contact Olden at olden@uw.edu.

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New images of cigar-shaped M82 galaxy capture millions of stars

The Messier 82 galaxy, known as M82 or the Cigar galaxy, has long fascinated researchers with its astronomical rate of star formation — approximately 10 times faster than the Milky Way. Researchers have pored over grainy, low-resolution, images taken by previous generations of telescopes, which weren’t powerful enough to see through the thick cloud of dust surrounding the galaxy. The , however, can pierce straight through with extremely sharp vision. That enabled a team of astronomers from multiple institutions, including NASA and the UW, to capture new high-resolution images. Posted June 23, the images include more than 16.5 million individual stars and provide the clearest look yet at M82’s , the flattened central hub that contains most of the galaxy’s stellar mass. That could help scientists understand how M82 formed and for how long it has been producing stars so prodigiously.

For more information, contact team member a UW research professor of astronomy, at benw1@uw.edu.

All images are included in NASA’s

New study maps pollution disparities by state and sector across almost 20 years

Air quality in the United States has improved markedly since the landmark Clean Air Act passed in 1970. However, the gains have not been equally shared: Today, communities of color and low-income communities are exposed to disproportionately more air pollution than the overall population. In in Science Advances, UW researchers created the first comprehensive map cataloging how air quality inequity has changed per state and economic sector from 2002 to 2019. The study confirmed that, despite improvements in overall air quality, pollution tends to be concentrated in Black, Hispanic and low-income communities. The findings include specific state-level opportunities for improvement across 11 sectors — for example, disparities in construction-related emissions in Florida increased significantly during the study period. The findings and resulting database could help policymakers across the country prioritize environmental justice projects.

For more information, contact senior author , UW professor of civil and environmental engineering at jdmarsh@uw.edu.

The other UW co-authors are , , and . A full list of co-authors is .��

Researchers observe ultrafast chemistry happening in real time

Molecules are not static. Instead, they are having little dance parties — their atoms wiggle and twist around in space. Occasionally, upon receiving a burst of energy, the bonds holding atoms together in a molecule can break and reform with the atoms in a different configuration. While the number of atoms stays the same, the orientation of these atoms determines a molecule’s chemical properties — an important part of its identity. In , a UW-led team witnessed firsthand, and for the first time, a molecule turning into its “alter ego.” The researchers observed a hydrogen atom, also known as a proton, jump to a new position by bonding to a different atom in the same molecule. This process, which happens within a few millionths of billionths of a second, is important for various fundamental processes, including photosynthesis, and when DNA acquires mutations. To understand why, and how, this happens so fast, the researchers developed a new tool that probes molecular structure on an ultrafast timescale. They were able to use this technology to detect how the molecule’s wiggles allowed the proton transfer to happen. These findings will help researchers test existing theories about these ultrafast chemical dynamics and develop new molecules for clean energy processes.

For more information, contact senior author , UW professor of chemistry, at mkhalil@uw.edu.������

Co-authors , and completed this work while at the UW. Funding information is .

Random events leave lasting signature on the atmospheric methane record, new study shows

Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas with a complicated life cycle. It’s released into the atmosphere by both natural and industrial processes, and there are multiple pathways by which it’s broken down. Recently, atmospheric methane levels have reached record highs but the rate of accumulation has been somewhat inconsistent over time. To understand why, researchers are looking at climate records preceding the industrial era, via ice cores. These deep cylinders of glacial ice document slow swings in atmospheric methane levels spanning decades, or even centuries. This pattern is typically associated with gradual climate change, but in , UW researchers show that it doesn’t have to be. Instead, they reveal that short-term, random events, such as fires or changes in wetlands, can spark gradual shifts. Not only does this clarify the historical record, but it also adds nuance to modern trends.

For more information, contact senior author , UW doctoral student of atmospheric and climate science at emei@uw.edu.

The other UW co-authors are and . A full list of co-authors is .

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Data spanning nearly half a century shows that endangered southern resident killer whales are spending less time in inland waters, whereas their larger cousins, Bigg’s killer whales, are increasingly present in Puget Sound.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration southern resident killer whales as endangered in 2005 after rapid population decline in the late 1990s. Now, , split into three pods: J, K and L. Bigg’s — sometimes referred to as transients — are more common, but difficult to count because they travel in smaller groups over wider ranges.

Looking at data from ’s Sightings Archive between 1978 and 2022, �������� researchers modeled migratory trends based on observations from researchers, recreational boaters and whale watchers. They found that K and L pods are visiting Puget Sound less often, but the J pod remains well represented. The data on Bigg’s corroborates recent results showing a steady increase in inland waters.

The results in PLOS One.

“We do see increasing transient presence over time, but we don’t see a definitive decline or overall increase for the southern residents. Their presence here is much more variable,” said lead author , a UW postdoctoral researcher of marine and environmental affairs.

Key behavioral and subtle physical differences . The southern residents eat salmon, while Bigg’s prey on seals, porpoises and other marine mammals. Seals and sea lions rebounded in Washington after the Mammal Protection Act, which may have drawn Bigg’s killer whales to inland waters, but that doesn’t explain the changing distribution of southern residents.

Because southern residents are organized into tight matriarchal societies led by female elders, researchers believe that social cues may play an important role.

“Does J pod know something that K and L don’t? Or vice versa? We like to think about which pods have really old grandmas left and who’s teaching them where to go,” said co-author , a marine mammal specialist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), West Coast Regional office.

Policies to protect southern residents typically apply to all pods. With K and L spending more time in coastal waters, NOAA for southern residents in 2021 to include 16,000 square miles of marine waters between the U.S. and Canada border and Point Sur, California.

Measures like the , which encourages commercial ships to slow down where whales are present, aim to mitigate the impact of noise. Boats are also of the southern residents.

Indications of changing habitat have prompted some to question the need for such regulations in Puget Sound, but these results underscore their continued importance.

“Even though we’re seeing less of K and L pods, we still have to think about how our actions impact J pod. They’re still hanging around,” Koehn said.

The study also notes that southern residents and Bigg’s are sharing habitat more often, though it isn’t clear whether they mingle or avoid each other. This raises questions about their relationship and underscores the importance of accounting for both in management decisions.

“Having more transients around could be good for the southern residents, because they eat marine mammals that also eat salmon,” Rand said.

But if the southern residents avoid the transients, their increased presence could be disruptive. Researchers are actively studying threats to the southern residents — including prey availability — to support the imperiled population.

This analysis wouldn’t have been possible without consistent contributions from citizen scientists. People who report whale sightings using apps like Whale Alert help researchers provide data to policymakers, which can be consequential for the whales.

“This study quantitatively shows things that people have been suspecting,” Rand said. “There are more transients here in Washington, but the southern resident’s story is a bit more complicated.”

Additional co-authors include of the Whale Museum and of NOAA Fisheries Northwest Fisheries Science Center.

This study was funded by Washington Sea Grant, NOAA Fisheries West Coast and the Puget Sound Partnership.��

For more information, contact Rand at zrand@uw.edu.

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