University of Washington

In case there was ever any doubt … atrocities are nothing new. Scientists have recently determined that piled human remains unearthed in what is now Potočani, Croatia, represent the earliest-known indiscriminate mass killing.

Scientists at the University of Washington have leveraged modern machine learning technology to produce a prototype smart speaker that can monitor a person's heart, without the need for them to physical touch it.

Researchers have identified the oldest known fossils of primates, dating them to 65.9 million years ago. That’s just after one of Earth’s biggest mass extinction events, and it suggests that the ancestor of all primates lived alongside the dinosaurs.

It's easy to imagine a program that could visually identify which pieces of music were being performed in silent piano-playing videos. A new AI system goes further, however, by reproducing the sound of that piano-playing in a realistic fashion.

In September 2020, astronomers announced the discovery of phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus, a possible sign of life. But a new study has found that a different gas could explain the signature – one that's more common and doesn’t indicate life.

No matter how good we humans have made something, chances are nature did it better. Rather than compete, scientists have now tapped into a natural sensor with the Smellicopter, a drone that uses an antenna from a live moth to sniff out its targets.

Fertilizers typically contain phosphorous, as it's essential to growing plants. Unfortunately, though, it can become "locked" in the soil, and thus not available to crops. That said, it turns out that the addition of a microbe could unlock it.

A new understanding of the way tarantula toxins shut down electrical signals in the spider’s prey has given scientists hope of recreating this effect, but in a positive way through advanced drugs that treat chronic pain.

For people who are deaf or hard of hearing, it can be difficult to pick out important sounds, such as a doorbell or a fire alarm. A new smartwatch system called SoundWatch identifies sounds and alerts users to them with a buzz and a visual readout.

Researchers at the University of Washington have developed a tiny new sensor that can be carried around on a small drone or even the back of an insect – and then dropped on demand to track the environment for years at a time.

The brain may be a new drug target for longer term control of diabetes. Two new studies on rodents have investigated how a certain peptide works to induce remission for animals with diabetes, which could lead to new breakthroughs in human treatments.

A team of paleontologists has discovered that a 250-million-year-old species of animal called Lystrosaurus likely relied on hibernation to survive back when Antarctica was still part of the ancient supercontinent known as Pangaea.