Andrew Connolly and Zeljko Ivezic, two UW Astronomy professors, were recently featured in a Seattle Times article. See excerpt below, and read more here at the Seattle Times article by Katherine Long:

“Scientists at the University of Washington are writing computer algorithms that could one day save the world — and that’s no exaggeration. Working away in the university’s quiet Physics/Astronomy building, these scientists are teaching computers how to sift through massive amounts of data to identify asteroids on a collision course with Earth. Together with 60 colleagues at six other universities, the 20 UW scientists are part of a massive new data project to catalog space itself, using the largest digital camera ever made.”

You can read the full article here.