Science – GeekWire

Northern lights, cameras, action: Night sky watchers capture dramatic aurora over Seattle

by Kurt Schlosser on May 28, 2017May 28, 2017 at 10:14 amComment

The beautiful sunshine in Seattle on Saturday gave way to an equally awesome display in the night sky as the northern lights made a rare appearance over the city and… Read More

UW researchers reprogram genetic code to create digital circuitry inside living cells

by Alan Boyle on May 25, 2017May 25, 2017 at 6:21 pmComment

Researchers from the University of Washington have taken advantage of synthetic biology to turn yeast cells into building blocks for digital information processing. The experiment, described today in Nature Communications, turned… Read More

Can faux meat produce meaty profits? Entrepreneurs survey the food frontier

by Alan Boyle on May 23, 2017May 23, 2017 at 7:44 pm1 Comment

Is there money to be made by going meatless? Substitutes for meat, dairy and eggs have been around for decades, as demonstrated by the success of Seattle-based Field Roast Grain Meat… Read More

President Trump’s budget plan gets a bad review from the science community

by Chelsey Ballarte on May 23, 2017May 23, 2017 at 5:36 pm 10 Comments

President Donald Trump sent his budget request for the next fiscal year to Congress today, giving the science community a glimpse of what may be to come – and many don’t like what… Read More

Microsoft’s next-generation HoloLens glasses may make you look like Clark Kent

by Alan Boyle on May 22, 2017May 22, 2017 at 3:56 pm1 Comment

Today, Microsoft’s HoloLens augmented-reality headset has a geeky RoboCop vibe, but someday it could become more like a pair of eyeglasses suitable for Superman’s mild-mannered alter ego. At least that’s the impression you’re likely… Read More

News Brief

Amazon works on drone traffic control software at French development center

Echodyne gets $29M from NEA, Bill Gates and others to boost radar for drones

by Alan Boyle on May 22, 2017May 26, 2017 at 11:49 pmComment

Microsoft co-founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen are among the investors putting another $29 million into Echodyne, the Intellectual Ventures spin-out that’s developing low-cost, miniaturized radar systems for drones and self-driving… Read More

Hobbyist defeats FAA in battle over drone registration, but says the fight’s not over

by Chelsey Ballarte on May 19, 2017May 19, 2017 at 4:30 pm 5 Comments

Recreational drone users no longer have to register their flying machines with the Federal Aviation Administration, thanks to a federal court ruling handed down today, but the hobbyist who filed the… Read More

Photos

Video: Want to fly like a CEO? Rent Deer Jet’s 787 Dreamliner for $70,000 an hour

by Alan Boyle on May 18, 2017May 19, 2017 at 8:51 pmComment

Now anybody can fly like a VIP: All you have to do to take Deer Jet’s super-elegant 787 Dreamliner for a ride is fork over $70,000 an hour. Just don’t… Read More

Alaska Airlines plans flights from Everett’s Paine Field to dodge Sea-Tac traffic jam

by Alan Boyle on May 17, 2017May 17, 2017 at 11:27 am 3 Comments

Bugged by I-5 traffic to Sea-Tac? Alaska Airlines is promising a work-around: The Seattle-based airline says it will start running regularly scheduled passenger flights out of Everett’s Paine Field starting next… Read More

Video

‘Genius’ TV show highlights links between Einstein’s love affairs and love of physics

by Alan Boyle on May 16, 2017May 16, 2017 at 2:00 pm 3 Comments

National Geographic Channel’s “Genius” TV series on Albert Einstein spends almost as much time on the famous physicist’s love life as it does on his theory of relativity – and his most… Read More

Warning: Elon Musk posts dizzying views of his first tunnel boring tests in L.A.

by Alan Boyle on May 12, 2017May 12, 2017 at 10:05 am1 Comment

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, demonstrated once again that he’s serious about boring tunnels beneath Los Angeles. But not boringly serious. In a series of Twitter and Instagram posts,… Read More

Video

Trump signs cybersecurity executive order, mandating a move to cloud computing

by Alan Boyle on May 11, 2017May 13, 2017 at 1:52 pm 3 Comments

President Donald Trump today signed a long-awaited executive order aimed at beefing up cybersecurity at federal government agencies – with a shift of computer capabilities to the cloud as a key… Read More

News Brief

Drone sets a long-distance delivery record

Video

Elon Musk’s Tesla starts taking orders for solar glass roof tiles; delivery due this year

by Alan Boyle on May 10, 2017May 10, 2017 at 12:57 pmComment

Tesla has started taking orders for traditional-looking glass roof tiles that soak up solar power to generate electricity. Installations are to start next month, beginning with California and gradually rolling… Read More

Tunnel cave-in sparks emergency alert at Hanford; no radiation leaks detected

by Alan Boyle on May 9, 2017May 9, 2017 at 4:11 pmComment

The Hanford Nuclear Reservation says a 20-foot section of a tunnel system where it stores contaminated material and equipment collapsed today, sparking an emergency alert and restrictions on workers’ movements. No injuries… Read More

Video

Scientists argue that humanlike Homo naledi lived alongside our species in Africa

by Alan Boyle on May 9, 2017May 9, 2017 at 3:29 pmComment

The paleontologists who discovered a previously unknown line of human ancestors in South Africa say that they’ve found more fossils — and that the species, known as Homo naledi, could… Read More

Video

Boeing and Air Force demonstrate new airborne networking system for fighter jets

by Alan Boyle on May 8, 2017May 8, 2017 at 8:41 pmComment

The Boeing Co. and the U.S. Air Force say they’ve shown that a new type of communication pod for F-15 fighter jets, known as Talon HATE, can link together different… Read More

Video

UW researchers map widening gap in life expectancy and call for policy changes

by Alan Boyle on May 8, 2017May 8, 2017 at 1:10 pm 2 Comments

A county-by-county survey of U.S. life expectancy reports a 20-year gap between the lows and the highs – a gap that correlates with socioeconomic factors, race and ethnicity, and the availability… Read More

Video

FlowLight flashes red when workmates should leave you alone ‘in the zone’

by Alan Boyle on May 5, 2017May 5, 2017 at 2:09 pmComment

It’s a classic conundrum for coders: Sometimes you get so absorbed in what you’re doing that you hate being interrupted, and you can’t even stop to put up a “Do… Read More

UW CoMotion spinout OneRadio takes the wraps off its wideband radio receiver

by Alan Boyle on May 4, 2017May 4, 2017 at 2:17 pmComment

OneRadio Corp. has been working on its dragnet for radio transmissions for two years in stealth mode, but the spinout from the University of Washington’s CoMotion innovation program is finally… Read More

Amazon patent shows how Alexa-powered devices could turn into extension phones

by Alan Boyle on May 2, 2017May 2, 2017 at 11:41 am 2 Comments

We’ve known for weeks that Amazon has been working on ways to give Alexa-powered, voice-controlled devices the ability to make and receive phone calls, but a newly published patent details… Read More

News Brief

27 hurt when Aeroflot 777 jet hits clear air turbulence on Moscow-Bangkok flight

Video

Elon Musk digs into his fixation with boring transit tunnels in a non-boring TED talk

by Alan Boyle on May 1, 2017May 1, 2017 at 11:57 am 2 Comments

When billionaire Elon Musk sat down for a 40-minute TED talk last week in Vancouver, B.C., he could have started out talking about SpaceX’s rockets, Tesla’s electric vehicles, his Hyperloop… Read More

News Brief

This robot can build a 50-foot-wide house all by itself in 14 hours, at MIT or on Mars

Video

Scientists are wowed by claim that humans lived in North America 130,000 years ago

by Alan Boyle on April 26, 2017April 26, 2017 at 10:32 am1 Comment

Scientists say the patterns of breakage in mastodon bones found 25 years ago near a San Diego highway suggest that humans battered the beast 130,000 years ago. That’s a shocker, because… Read More

Video

Waymo opens self-driving car testing in Phoenix – and scores in Uber legal battle

by Alan Boyle on April 25, 2017April 25, 2017 at 4:14 pmComment

It’s been a good day on the streets and in the courts for Waymo, the driverless-car company that was spun out from Google as another Alphabet subsidiary last year. First… Read More

Video

Uber unveils its flying-car team and aims for a 2020 liftoff in Dallas and Dubai

by Alan Boyle on April 25, 2017April 25, 2017 at 12:06 pm 3 Comments

Uber has been talking about flying cars for months, but today the ride-sharing company fleshed out its plan to become a flight-sharing company in 2020. “We actually get to live in… Read More

Video

Sex, spies and Einstein on TV: National Geographic’s ‘Genius’ spices up science

by Alan Boyle on April 24, 2017April 24, 2017 at 7:09 pmComment

There have been plenty of TV documentaries about Albert Einstein, but almost none of them begin with a political assassination and a sex scene. “Genius” does. The 10-part docudrama series, premiering Tuesday… Read More

Video

Mozak turns brain cell mapping into video game, thanks to UW and Allen Institute

by Alan Boyle on April 24, 2017April 24, 2017 at 1:20 pmComment

A game called Mozak is turning thousands of Internet users into “tracers” who help neuroscientists map out the tangled circuitry of brain cells. The citizen-science project was created by the University of… Read More

Northern lights, cameras, action: Night sky watchers capture dramatic aurora over Seattle

UW researchers reprogram genetic code to create digital circuitry inside living cells

Can faux meat produce meaty profits? Entrepreneurs survey the food frontier

President Trump’s budget plan gets a bad review from the science community

Microsoft’s next-generation HoloLens glasses may make you look like Clark Kent

Amazon works on drone traffic control software at French development center

Echodyne gets $29M from NEA, Bill Gates and others to boost radar for drones

Hobbyist defeats FAA in battle over drone registration, but says the fight’s not over

Video: Want to fly like a CEO? Rent Deer Jet’s 787 Dreamliner for $70,000 an hour

Alaska Airlines plans flights from Everett’s Paine Field to dodge Sea-Tac traffic jam

‘Genius’ TV show highlights links between Einstein’s love affairs and love of physics

Warning: Elon Musk posts dizzying views of his first tunnel boring tests in L.A.

Drone sets a long-distance delivery record

Elon Musk’s Tesla starts taking orders for solar glass roof tiles; delivery due this year

Tunnel cave-in sparks emergency alert at Hanford; no radiation leaks detected

Scientists argue that humanlike Homo naledi lived alongside our species in Africa

Boeing and Air Force demonstrate new airborne networking system for fighter jets

UW researchers map widening gap in life expectancy and call for policy changes

FlowLight flashes red when workmates should leave you alone ‘in the zone’

UW CoMotion spinout OneRadio takes the wraps off its wideband radio receiver

Amazon patent shows how Alexa-powered devices could turn into extension phones

27 hurt when Aeroflot 777 jet hits clear air turbulence on Moscow-Bangkok flight

Elon Musk digs into his fixation with boring transit tunnels in a non-boring TED talk

This robot can build a 50-foot-wide house all by itself in 14 hours, at MIT or on Mars

Scientists are wowed by claim that humans lived in North America 130,000 years ago

Waymo opens self-driving car testing in Phoenix – and scores in Uber legal battle

Uber unveils its flying-car team and aims for a 2020 liftoff in Dallas and Dubai

Sex, spies and Einstein on TV: National Geographic’s ‘Genius’ spices up science

Mozak turns brain cell mapping into video game, thanks to UW and Allen Institute

Metis Data Science Bootcamp Application Deadline

Digital Across Borders: What’s at Stake for Pacific Northwest Companies

A High-Tech, High-Touch Vision for Health Care – with Rajeev Singh