ESS in the News

Early Earth's Climate Was More Tame Than Previously Thought, Suggesting Other Planets May Be Suitable for Life | Tech Times
There has yet to be consensus on the climate of early Earth. Different studies have described the planet as an extremely cold snowball, while others have said that it had ... - Read More

Moderate Conditions on the Early Earth Raise the Prospects of Life Elsewhere | IFLScience
Geologists have spent decades debating the temperatures during the first few hundred million years of Earth's history, as well as the early ocean's chemistry. A new paper provides ... - Read More

Life on Alien Planets? Earth's Mild Climate History Hints at Possibility | International Business Times
A new study presented by a group of researchers at University of Washington hints at a more moderate climatic history for our planet. David Catling, a UW professor of Earth and ... - Read More

Earth's Stable Temperature Past Suggests Other Planets Could Also Sustain Life

Theories about the early days of our planet’s history vary wildly. Some studies have painted the picture of a snowball Earth, when much of its surface was frozen. Other ... - Read More

How Would Aliens Detect Life on Earth? | National Geographic
From gases in the atmosphere to satellites in space, Earth is sending plenty of signals that something here is alive. Joshua Krissansen-Totton, a UW doctoral student in Earth and ... - Read More

Not All Icebergs Are White: Here's What Makes Them Blue, Green or Striped | ABC News
Icebergs can be beautiful and majestic -- but have you ever wondered what gives them their color? Steve Warren, professor of Earth and space sciences at the University of ... - Read More

University of Washington Graduate and Professional Disciplines Rank Highly in US News' Best Graduate School Lists

Nearly 50 different graduate and professional programs and specialties at the University of Washington are among the top 10 in the nation, according to Read More

Stephen Hawking's Local Legacy | KUOW
This week the universe lost one of its greatest minds; Stephen Hawking, the renowned British physicist, helped explain the behavior of black holes and demystify the cosmos for all ... - Read More

New Cascadia Quake Analysis Shows Building Retrofits Would Save Thousands of Lives | The Seattle Times
A Portland-area study finds single-family homes do well and that upgrades to older commercial buildings could slash both casualties and damage. Research from the UW is - Read More

Glaciers in Mongolia's Gobi Desert Actually Shrank in the Last Ice Age | IFLScience
During the last Ice Age as ice sheets expanded and the rest of the world grew colder, there's a pocket in Central Asia where glaciers did exactly the opposite. Jigjidsurengiin ... - Read More

Assessing Landslide Risk | KIRO 7
A new tool can help people in Seattle assess landslide risk in their neighborhood. David Montgomery, professor of Earth and space sciences at the UW, is - Read More

Real Time Tropical Cyclone Monitoring by WWLLN
Monitoring Tropical Cyclones with Lightning and Satellite Data A new storm-following tool continually watches for lightning over the open ocean. Combined with satellite ... - Read More

How on Earth Did Seattle's Train Tracks Wind Up in Mudslide Zones? | KUOW
Landslides on railroad tracks along Puget Sound frequently delay trains. Dave Montgomery, a geologist at the UW, is - Read More

A 'landslide Observatory': Scientists Study Washington's Rattlesnake Ridge | The Seattle Times
Researchers are tracking Rattlesnake Ridge near Yakima as it creeps downhill to learn more about unstable hillsides and -- perhaps -- improve slide prediction. The UW's Steve ... - Read More

Search for Aliens to Employ 'ESPRESSO': Black Box Detection Device a More Powerful Planet Hunter | Inquisitr
Astronomers are set to get a powerful boost to their capabilities of detecting exoplanets and in determining whether or not said worlds circling faraway stars are Earth-like. ... - Read More

GPS Data Make It Possible to Predict Most Devastating Earthquakes | Inverse
Earthquakes killed more than 1,200 people worldwide in 2017 alone. Traditional earthquake warning systems are able to accurately report the magnitude of smaller quakes, but they ... - Read More

Ice Core Shows North American Ice Sheet's Retreat Affected Antarctic Weather

Researchers at the University of Washington were among the co-authors of a new study that uses ice core data to see how Earth’s climate behaved at the end of the last ice ... - Read More

Alien Life Could Become Easier to Find Thanks to This Scientific Breakthrough | Inquisitr
Scientists at The University of Washington have discovered that searching for Earth-like planets that contain methane and not oxygen is a much more productive way to find alien ... - Read More

Scientists Figure out a New Way to Hunt for Aliens | New York Post
A team of researchers at the UW has come up with a new and possibly more effective way to detect extraterrestrial life from millions of miles away and it's all about gases. Joshua ... - Read More

Scientists Fine-tune Formula for Finding Signs of Life in Alien Air | GeekWire
If we detect oxygen in the atmosphere of an alien world, does that mean life is present? Not necessarily: Scientists say the chemical signature of biological activity is likely to ... - Read More

Chemical Imbalance in Planet's Atmosphere May Indicate Hidden Alien Life | Tech Times
In a report published in the journal Science Advances, researchers said that they have found chemical combinations that may indicate the presence of biological activity on other ... - Read More

The Search for Life on Other Planets Could Get a Boost from Biosignatures | Los Angeles Times
By studying the atmospheric contents of ancient and present-day Earth, scientists say they've discovered specific chemical combinations that could reveal the presence of ... - Read More

New Technique Could Reveal Hidden Alien Life | Yahoo! News
A new approach to spotting alien biology at work could increase the chances of finding life on other planets. David Catling, professor of Earth and space sciences at the UW, and ... - Read More

Alien Life Hunt: Oxygen Isn't the Only Possible Sign of Life | Space.com
Alien-life hunters should keep an open mind when scanning the atmospheres of exoplanets, a new study stresses. Joshua Krissansen-Totton, a doctoral student in Earth and space ... - Read More

A New Way to Search for the Tell-tale Signs of Life on Distant Exoplanets | Popular Mechanics
By looking for specific chemical combinations in the atmospheres of planets orbiting other stars, astronomers might be able to detect conditions suitable for life. Joshua ... - Read More

A New Recipe for Hunting Alien Life | Scientific American
Imagine stepping into a time machine, one that could traverse not only billions of years but also countless light years of space, all in search of life in the universe. Where ... - Read More

This New Method to Search for Life Doesn't Rely on Oxygen | IFLScience
Scientists have proposed a new way to search for life, by looking for an imbalance of certain gases in the atmospheres of other planets. Joshua Krissansen-Totton, a UW doctoral ... - Read More

Alien Life: Weird 'biosignatures' Help Scientists Hunt for Extraterrestrials | Newsweek
Scientists have found a new way to hunt for alien life on distant exoplanets. Clashing gas signatures could mark a planet as habitable from millions of miles away. Joshua ... - Read More

How to Find Life on Distant Planets: Maybe Try Looking for Carbon Dioxide and Methane | The Verge
One way to find life outside our Solar System is to peer into the atmospheres of distant planets, looking for gases that may be produced by living organisms. A team of scientists ... - Read More

NASA Could Detect Alien Life Using Telescope-powered 'sniff Test' | Business Insider
A new study from scientists at the University of Washington argues that telescopes could perform a new kind of "sniff test" for life, looking for gases like methane and carbon ... - Read More

A New 'atmospheric Disequilibrium' Could Help Detect Life on Other Planets

As NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and other new giant telescopes come online they will need novel strategies to look for evidence of life on other planets. A ... - Read More

Washington DNR Wants More Time to Decide About Logging Unstable Slopes | KUOW
In the wake of the Oso landslide and the current situation unfolding at Rattlesnake Ridge, Washington state public lands commissioner Hilary Franz is asking the Legislature for ... - Read More

Landslide Watch: Can Experts Predict Collapse at Washington's Rattlesnake Ridge? | The Seattle Times
More than 100 instruments are monitoring the Rattlesnake Ridge's every twitch and should provide some warning before the 8 million-ton mass lets loose. David Montgomery, professor ... - Read More