lux sit!

 

(photo courtesy of the University of Washington)

Yoky Matsuoka, an associate professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE), has won a $500,000, “no-strings-attached” prize for her work with the CSE’s Neurobotics Laboratory. She has also been named to Popular Science’s “Brilliant Ten,” an annual list of the most influential researchers in the United States.Matsuoka earned the cash award from The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation as part of the MacArthur Fellows program. These so-called “genius awards” are given to “talented individuals have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction,” according the foundation’s Web site. Fellows are nominated by their peers and chosen by an anonymous group of about 12 leading figures in the arts, sciences and humanities; usually 20 to 30 Fellows are selected each year, with 756 named since June 1981.In Matsuoka’s case, she won on the basis of her original research into the intersection between robotics and neuroscience. Her lab examines how the central nervous system uses signals to control the movement of the human body. The goal is to mimic this often little-understood process to create more advanced, lifelike robotic prosthetics for disabled people.

“The MacArthur award is a huge thing both for Yoky and for CSE,” said Hank Levy, the departmental chair. “Obviously it highlights Yoky and the quality of her work, but it’s also a statement about the quality of the department.”

Existing prosthetic technology is limited to a few simple movements, such as the rotation of a robotic wrist or the clamping of two fingers.

Matsuoka wants to go several steps beyond this.

An example of her work involves a robotic hand modeled on its human equivalent. Seven separate artificial “tendons” are connected to each finger, and powered by motors that serve as the hand’s “muscles.” In a method more akin to Luke Skywalker’s robotic hand from Star Wars than current prosthetic devices, people would control Matsuoka’s hand by using brain signals, just like a “real” one, giving them much more freedom of movement and utility.

Matsuoka, who has a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley and a doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), both in electrical engineering and computer science, is uniquely equipped to handle the interdisciplinary aspects of her work.

At MIT, she helped build a highly advanced humanoid robot named Cog, designed to replicate a human body. She went on to teach at Carnegie Mellon University, starting her neurobotics (a combination of “neuroscience” and “robotics”) laboratory. In 2006, she brought her lab with her when she left Carnegie Mellon for the UW.

Matsuoka may use the prize money to start a nonprofit organization or put it back into her research.

Either way, Levy hopes more students will be attracted to robotics because of her work and its potential to help people in practical ways. He said he couldn’t be more proud of the ambitious scope of Matsuoka’s research.

“What’s remarkable is the number of technical areas that her work bridges, including robotics, mechanical engineering, computer science, electrical engineering, biology and neuroscience,” he said.

“She puts them all together to create devices that can make a difference to peoples’ lives.”

 

A team of UW scientists has genetically modified poplar trees to soak up dangerous chemicals in the ground and air by absorbing them into their roots, stems and leaves.

 

The preliminary results of the researcher’s efforts were released in a paper found in this week’s edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the abstract of which can be can be found here. Several science news outlets have also reported the study.

 

The trees break the pollutants down into harmless byproducts that don’t harm the environment in a process called phytoremediation.

 

By inserting a gene ordinarily found in rabbit livers into the trees’ genetic material, a group of researchers enhanced the poplars’ natural ability to breaks down carcinogens, or cancer-causing molecules.

 

This rabbit gene (cytochrome P450 2E1) helps the trees increase their production of an enzyme that serves as a catalyst for the elimination and removal of carcinogens like trichloroethylene (an industrial solvent), vinyl chloride, carbon tetrachloride, benzene and chloroform.

 

The genetically-modified poplars remove up to 91 percent of pollutants from a liquid solution, nearly 53 times faster than unmodified trees. The transgenic trees also removed 79 percent of trichloroethylene from the air of a sealed container after a seven-day experiment, a photo of which can be seen here.

 

While these “transgenic” poplars (Populus tremula x Populus alba) are only inches high and reside in test tubes, the scientists hope to eventually plant them near Superfund sites, locations identified by the government as being exceptionally polluted.

 

They would serve as an inexpensive way of reclaiming previously abandoned areas.

 

But there are some concerns about the idea of changing the poplars’ genetic code, with some researchers fearing that the trees may spread the rabbit gene to wild poplars or harm insects and animals.

 

Stuart Strand, one of the lead researchers on the phytoremediation project, is quick to acknowledge these concerns.

 

“Some fears are unfounded or sort of silly, such as ‘frankenplants’ with bunny heads in flowers or other cartoonish ideas… but we are concerned about the possibility of spread of the genes in the poplar population,” he said, calling the uncontrolled release of the gene “undesirable.”

 

More work remains to be done to ensure that temporary, immediate compounds created by the breakdown process don’t harm wildlife, he said.

 

Stuart pointed out that the poplars were chosen because they flower infrequently and in a controllable manner, and because the type of poplar they are working with does not grow from fallen branches.

 

Caution is key to genetic research, he said.

 

“The questions will always be: what is the purpose, the expected result? Is it useful or informative in someway? Is it safe?”

A team of undergraduates at the UW has discovered nearly 1300 previously unseen asteroids.

Five freshmen and sophomores used computer software to analyze images from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) in 2005 and 2006. The Sloan Survey is an ongoing project to create a three-dimensional survey of a quarter of the night sky — or a million galaxies and quasars — using a 2.5-meter telescope at the Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico.

The students, who at the time were participating in the UW Department of Astronomy’s Pre-Major in Astronomy Program (or Pre-MAP), were supposed to be looking for supernovae. These exploding stars are key to solving such cosmic puzzles as stellar evolution and the size of the universe.But instead of exploding suns, the students found asteroids in their assigned viewing field.

While initially frustrated, the students decided to use the opportunity to actively hunt for the elusive space rocks, recording information on the orbits and color of the asteroids. Both sets of data are useful for determining if the asteroids contain similar material and if they came from a larger object. They tracked the movement of the asteroids through the star field over periods of several minutes, as seen in this image. 

“We were all given about 50,000 objects to analyze,” said Kathryn Smith, one of the students on the Pre-MAP team and now a sophomore majoring in environmental studies. She said that this data was then submitted to the Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center at Harvard University for verification.

After three years, if enough additional data is collected, each asteroid can be named by its discoverer. Beyond simply getting the chance to name asteroids, the students gained valuable research experience.

The exposure to serious science at such an early point in their academic careers is invaluable, said Eric Agol, assistant professor of astronomy and the program’s faculty advisor.

“In astronomy it is almost a requirement now to have some undergraduate research experience to be accepted to a graduate program,” he said. “So we are giving these students the necessary preparation for the more complex research that is taken on as a graduate student.”

The students agree, but added that the relationships and contacts were just as valuable as the research time. “I loved the entire experience, said Kenza Arraki, now a junior majoring in physics and astronomy.

“It was wonderful to have been introduced to such a close community during my first quarter at the UW,” she said.

“The ties that I made with my peers as well as grad students and faculty have helped me find more opportunities for my future than I anticipated.”

More information on the students’ discoveries can be found here, in the UW’s press release.

Lux sit is the Latin motto that appears emblazoned across the seal of the University of Washington. It means, quite literally, “Let there be light!” and since this blog will be chiefly concerned about how our university is pushing the very boundaries of human knowledge, I thought it would make an appropriate title for a blog.

Speaking of which, I want to welcome you all to my little patch of cyberspace. Each week, I will highlight some of the truly cutting-edge work being done by the research teams here at the UW in the dozens of departments, labs, centers, programs and ongoing projects that are littered across campus, sometimes right under our proverbial noses.

As one of the top research schools in the nation, there’s more than enough good science being conducted by our peers everyday to fill pages upon pages of newsprint. For example, did you know that in 2005 the federal government gave the UW $663 million in research grants, placing it second only to John Hopkins University?* Or that over 150 patents were filed by UW researchers in 2006?*

I will be facing the unenviable task of cherry-picking only a handful of stories that piques my interest, and, I hope, yours, in an attempt to shed some light on the hard work of UW researchers. Specifically, I will be examining one or two stories on a weekly basis, relying upon as much feedback from researchers or actual primary sources as possible.

I will also rely on a variety of Web sites and science blogs (such as University Week and the Cosmic Log) for inspiration. I am writing with the assumption that you, the reader, are a fan of science, and so I won’t shy away from some of the technical details. That being said, however, I will do my best to keep the content interesting and free from overly-done “techo-speak.” On a final note, I am always open for suggestions and feedback, and welcome your thoughts.Until science strikes again,

Will

Lux sit!

*Information from the Office of Research and UW TechTransfer