WSU
WSU at Wazzu is a file of 226 stories. The newest of them: “WSU's corn fields got smarter, and the AI didn't even need a Palouse sunrise”, “Pullman lab aims nanoparticle at endometriosis, human trials in sight”, and “BECU's Cougar pod brings Josh Graetz and Wayne Phipps to the mic”. There's something almost poetic about a corn field that doesn't need a perfect Palouse sunrise to do its job. A Pullman lab has a nanoparticle aimed directly at endometriosis, and human trials are actually in sight. The unofficial read for people who left Pullman and stayed Cougs. The list below is every WSU story on Wazzu, newest first.
WSU's corn fields got smarter, and the AI didn't even need a Palouse sunrise
There's something almost poetic about a corn field that doesn't need a perfect Palouse sunrise to do its job. Washington State's AgWeatherNet has been out there quietly collecting data, and now the AI is taking that information and turning it into something farmers and ranchers can actually use. Automation, insights, better decisions, all coming out of the same ground we walked on. That's the part that gets me. This isn't some far-off tech hub story. This is WSU doing what WSU does: solving real problems for real people who work the land. The system has been around, feeding weather data into the machine, but now the machine is smart enough to talk back. It's not just telling you it's dry; it's helping you figure out what to do about it. You don't have to be a farmer to appreciate that. You just have to know how hard that work is, and how much a little foresight can save a season. The fact that this is coming out of Pullman, from the same university that taught us to think critically and show up early, makes it feel like home. It's easy to get caught up in scores and Saturdays. But this is the other side of Wazzu, the part that doesn't make the highlight reel but keeps the lights on. Smart corn, smarter systems, and a university that refuses to stay in the lab when it can help the field. Go Cougs.
Pullman lab aims nanoparticle at endometriosis, human trials in sight
A Pullman lab has a nanoparticle aimed directly at endometriosis, and human trials are actually in sight. That is not a headline you read every day. For the roughly one in ten women who deal with this condition, treatment has mostly meant managing symptoms or surgery. This is different. The therapy uses a nanoparticle to deliver drugs straight to the disease site instead of flooding the whole body. That is the kind of targeted work that makes you stop and think about what is happening in those labs on the hill. We have covered a few WSU studies lately, and they share a theme: researchers here are not afraid to ask simple, stubborn questions. Our piece on the weed placebo trial showed that sometimes what you believe matters as much as what you inhale. That one is worth a read if you missed it. Back to the nanoparticle. The researchers are hoping to move toward human trials. That is a big step, and it means the work has passed some serious hurdles already. Pullman is not a place that chases headlines. It is a place where people solve problems that nobody else has cracked yet. This story is still early, but it is the kind of news that makes a Coug proud to say they came from here. Go Cougs.
BECU's Cougar pod brings Josh Graetz and Wayne Phipps to the mic
Josh Graetz and Wayne Phipps are getting behind the mic for BECU's Cougar pod, and that is good news for anyone who misses the sound of Pullman. Graetz has been around the program long enough to know where the bodies are buried. Phipps brings the kind of energy that makes you want to roll down the windows on Stadium Way. This is not a polished, corporate broadcast. It is two Cougs talking Coug stuff, and that is exactly what we need more of. BECU stepping in to sponsor this makes sense. They have been good to Washington State. Now they are giving us a reason to plug in the aux cord during the drive to work. If you are already in a Cougar sports mood, you should go read "Citowicki and Dvorak break down a Cougar win over Seattle U." It fits right alongside this pod. Same team, same season, just a different way to hear about it. We do not need to oversell this. A Cougar podcast with real Cougar voices? That is enough. Go Cougs.
Kirby Moore on the mic, Cougs prepping for Arizona under the lights
Kirby Moore on the mic means one thing: it's game week in Pullman, and the Cougs are about to get after it under the lights. Arizona under the lights, specifically. No need to overthink this one. Moore has been around long enough to know what a night game in Martin Stadium does to a team, and the Cougs are prepping like they know it too. There's a rhythm to these weeks. You get the depth chart, you get the quotes, you get the sense that this group isn't interested in looking past anybody. Arizona is next. That's the focus. And with the lights on, Pullman tends to show up in a way that makes visitors uncomfortable. That matters. If you want the full picture on where this offense is headed, our piece on Korey Schroeder breaking down Fresno State and OSU is worth your time. He gets into the next step stuff that fits right into this week's conversation. For now, Kirby Moore on the mic is the right tone. No hype. Just work. Cougs know what that sounds like. Go Cougs.
Korey Schroeder on San Diego State: What the Cougs brought into the room
Korey Schroeder walked into the San Diego State room and didn't just bring a playbook. He brought a history. The Cougs' new offensive line coach spent the last few years building lines that could move people, and now he's in the Mountain West trying to do it again for someone else. That stings a little, if we're being honest. You watch a guy like Schroeder develop talent in Pullman, and you want that work to stay in Pullman. But this is the business. Coaches leave. What matters is what they took with them, and what they left behind. Schroeder's tenure here wasn't flashy. It was grindy. He turned a bunch of guys who maybe weren't four-star recruits into a unit that could hold its own in the Pac-12. That's the Wazzu way. You don't get the blue-chips. You get the kids who want to work, and you teach them how to win the rep before the snap. He did that. If you want to hear more about how the Cougs are building behind the scenes, check our piece on the BECU pod with two WSU athletics staffers. It's a good look at the people who keep the machine running when the coaches walk out the door. Schroeder is San Diego State's problem now. Good for him. But we know what he brought into that room. We saw it here first. Go Cougs.
Tough test on the road for Cougs at Cal State Fullerton
Cougs went to Cal State Fullerton and got a draw. 1-1 on the road. That's not a headline that jumps off the page, but it's the kind of result that tells you something about this team. On the road, in a non-conference game that doesn't owe you anything, you take a point and you learn something. This group grinded it out. That matters. Fullerton isn't Pullman. The weather is different, the crowd is different, and the pitch is different. None of that is an excuse. It's just the reality of a midweek trip to Southern California. Coming back with a tie instead of a loss means the Cougs found a way to stay in it when things got choppy. That's the kind of stuff that carries into conference play. If you want the full breakdown of how it played out, we've got you covered in "Cougs grind out a 1-1 draw on the road at Fullerton." It's right there on the site. Worth a read if you want to know who stepped up and how the match actually unfolded. For now, a road draw is a road draw. It's not a trophy. But it's also not a loss. And for a program still finding its footing early in the season, that's something to build on. Go Cougs.
Kirby Moore on Duquesne: What the OC Saw That You Didn't
Kirby Moore saw something on that Duquesne tape that most of us missed. And in his breakdown of the Cougar win, he walked us through exactly what it was. You know how it goes. You watch the game, you see the scoreboard, you feel good about the result. But the guy calling the plays sees a whole different film. Moore gets into the details, the coverages Duquesne hid, the adjustments that made the difference, the little things that don't show up in a box score but win games in the fourth quarter. This is the kind of breakdown that makes you want to rewatch the game with a notebook. Because Moore isn't just telling you what happened. He's telling you why it happened, and what he saw that made him call what he called. We've got more on this Cougar team if you want to stay in the weeds. Our piece on the volleyball squad, "Five sets, no quit: Cougar volleyball leaves it all on the floor," shows the same kind of fight that Moore talks about from the sideline. Different sport, same damn grit. Point is, this win wasn't luck. It wasn't just Duquesne coming to Pullman and wilting. Moore and the staff saw things during the week, adjusted during the game, and put the Cougs in position to handle business. That's the part worth understanding. Go Cougs.
WSU Takes Health Care to a Spokane Elementary School Hallway
A pediatrician's office inside an elementary school hallway. That's what WSU just opened in Spokane, and it might be the most practical thing the university has done in a while. It's the first off-campus clinic WSU has ever run, and they put it where the kids already are. No extra drive. No missing class for a checkup. Just walk down the hall. This is the kind of work that doesn't make the highlight reel, but it matters more than most. Pullman and Spokane share a region where health care access is spotty, and WSU's medical school has been pushing into that gap for years. A clinic in an elementary school is exactly the sort of low-flash, high-impact move you'd expect from a land-grant university that still remembers what "service" means. It also fits with the way WSU has been showing up lately. Over at the State Fair, they spent a century's worth of Washington farm history telling people where their food comes from. That's the same instinct. Not just teaching or researching, but putting the work where people live. If you want to see the full picture of how WSU operates outside the classroom, check out our piece on the fair. It pairs well with this story. Both are about showing up, not just showing off. Go Cougs.
WSU study finds the right tone makes AI fact-checks actually stick
Not everyone wants a robot to talk to them like a robot. WSU just proved it with a study on AI fact-checks. Turns out, the tone matters as much as the truth. Some people want neutral, no-nonsense corrections. Others need a little empathy before they'll actually listen. That's not soft stuff, that's strategy. If you're trying to correct bad info, the delivery is half the battle. WSU researchers found that matching the tone to the person makes the fact-check stick. Neutral for the logic-first crowd. Empathetic for the folks who need to feel heard before they'll reconsider. It's obvious when you think about it, but it's the kind of obvious that nobody bothered to prove until now. This is classic WSU work. Practical. Grounded. Not chasing headlines, just solving real problems. It fits right alongside the kind of research we've been covering, like that study on Tanzanian dogs staying safer with a smarter shot schedule. Different subject, same ethos: test the assumption, prove what works, and put it to use. The takeaway here is simple. Facts alone don't change minds. The right tone does. Go Cougs.
WSU puts AI to work on human health, no hype required
WSU just dropped a new AI project, and for once, nobody is trying to sell you a flying car. The university is putting artificial intelligence to work on human health, and the pitch is refreshingly simple: make people better, not just buzzwords. True to the land-grant mission, they're also aiming this tech at health equity and outreach. That means the same algorithms that can spot a disease pattern might also help a rural clinic reach patients who don't have broadband. That's Pullman thinking, solve the problem where it lives. We've seen this kind of grounded innovation before. If you read our piece on the Cosmic Crisp® apple, you know how one crop changed the economy around here. That same no-nonsense, Coug-built approach is alive in the AgWeatherNet system, where AI turns farm data into real action without needing a postcard sunrise to make it work. Now it's health's turn. No hype. Just WSU doing what it does: take a tool, point it at a real need, and let the results speak. This is the kind of story you text a friend who still brags about the Cougs. It's not flashy. It's useful. And it's ours. Go Cougs.
BECU pod goes behind the scenes with two WSU athletics staffers
BECU's latest pod isn't another highlight reel. It takes you behind the desk with two WSU athletics staffers, the people who keep things running while the rest of us watch the scoreboard. That's the kind of content I actually want to hear. Pullman works because of the people who stay late, answer emails at odd hours, and figure out how to get 85 guys on a bus. This pod gives them the mic. We don't always get to see that side. Most of the coverage is about the players, the coaches, the final play. This one is about the operation. It's a reminder that Cougar athletics doesn't run on talent alone. It runs on people who treat it like a calling, not a job. I'm glad BECU is telling that story. If you want more from this week's Cougar coverage, check out "Kirby Moore breaks down Fresno State tape on this week's Cougar Football Hour." It pairs well with this pod. One looks at the game plan. The other looks at the people making the plan possible. Go Cougs.
WSU's old reactor know-how is writing the next chapter
The old WSU nuclear reactor in the basement of the Dodgen Research Facility hasn't been critical since the early 2000s, but its brain trust never really left the building. Now that brain trust is writing the next chapter. Washington State University is stepping back into the nuclear conversation, this time with the kind of know-how you only get from decades of hands-on work. The reactor may be shut down, but the expertise isn't. WSU will help shape what comes next for nuclear energy, building on a foundation most schools can't claim. This isn't a flashy pivot. It's a return to something Pullman has always done well: work that matters, quietly, and then suddenly everyone notices. It fits a pattern across this university. The WSU College of Nursing just reported that nearly half its students are first-generation, and they're built different. That's not a coincidence. WSU pulls from communities that show up ready to work, whether it's in a hospital or a research lab. The nuclear story deserves your attention. It's not about nostalgia for the old reactor. It's about what that experience makes possible now. When the country needs answers on clean energy, WSU already has the people who know the questions. Go Cougs.
Kirby Moore breaks down the Cougar win and what it took to get there
Kirby Moore doesn't just call plays. He explains them. And after the Cougs handled Duquesne, he sat down and walked through exactly what it took to get that win. No coachspeak. No hiding behind "we just need to execute better." Moore got specific. He talked about the rhythm of the game, what the offense was seeing, and how they adjusted when things got sticky. That's the stuff you don't get from the box score. If you want the full breakdown, go read "Chris King called it and the Cougs made it happen twice", it pairs well with what Moore laid out here. Moore's takeaway is simple: this wasn't pretty, but it was real. The Cougs had to earn it. Duquesne came ready, and Washington State had to answer. They did. Moore credits the preparation during the week and the trust between the coaches and the players on game day. That's not fluff. That's how you build a team that can handle a trap game and keep moving. This is the kind of insight that makes you feel like you were in the room. No hype. Just football. Go Cougs.
New WSU study: Cannabis ads are shaping how young adults think about sex
A new WSU study found that cannabis ads are doing exactly what you'd expect: shaping how young adults think about sex. The research suggests these advertisements, which link weed with intimacy and romance, are influencing people's intentions to use the drug before sex. That has real implications for sexual decision-making and consent. It's not a shocker, but it's good to have the data. WSU researchers are asking the kind of questions that matter in the real world, not just in a lab. This isn't the only Coug research looking at how everyday stuff affects our bodies. Another recent WSU study found that the microscopic organisms on a baby's skin might tip off researchers to early allergies. Two different studies, same instinct: pay attention to what's really going on beneath the surface. As for the cannabis-and-sex study, we all know advertising works. That's why companies spend billions on it. But when the product being sold can mess with your judgment in intimate situations, the stakes get higher. The study doesn't tell you what to do. It just lays out what's happening. Read it, think about it, and maybe look twice at the next ad that makes a joint look like a love potion. Go Cougs.
WSU's vet hospital treats animals from emergency to rehab and home again
Your dog ate something it shouldn't have. Your cat took a bad fall. The horse colicked at midnight. Where do you go? For a lot of us, the answer has always been the WSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital. It's not just an emergency room for the Palouse's four-legged residents. It's the whole deal, from the moment an animal rolls in scared and hurting, through surgery and treatment, all the way to the day it goes home. That continuum of care matters. It means the same team that stabilized your pet knows what happened in the middle of the night, and they're the ones guiding the recovery. It's a level of trust you can't fake. This is the kind of work Washington State does quietly, year after year, without a lot of fanfare. The same place patching up a ranch dog is training the next generation of veterinarians. It's practical. It's necessary. And it's pure Pullman. If you want to see another side of that same WSU grit, we've got a story about our scientists digging in to save honey bees from the brink. Same university. Different species. Same stubborn refusal to let things die. Go Cougs.
WSU digs into Alaska dirt and finds soil warming faster than we thought
Alaska is warming faster than most of the planet. That much we knew. But WSU researchers just dropped a number that should make you sit up straighter in your chair: the soil up there is heating up even quicker than we thought. That dirt isn't just frozen ground. It holds more carbon than all the trees on Earth combined. When it thaws, that carbon doesn't stay put. It becomes methane and CO2, which makes the planet warmer, which thaws more soil. You see the loop. This is the kind of work that doesn't make a highlight reel, but it matters more than most touchdowns. WSU has been digging into Alaska for years, and this latest research confirms what some of us feared: the permafrost timeline is tighter than we hoped. It's not a future problem. It's happening now. If you want to see how WSU scientists do this kind of gritty, ground-level work, check out our piece on how they're fighting to save honey bees from collapse. Same stubborn attention to detail. Same refusal to look away from a hard problem. Pullman is a long way from the Yukon, but the science coming out of this place reaches every frozen corner of the map. That's worth a pause. Go Cougs.
Four Cougs close out Cougar Classic with singles wins on home courts
The four Cougs who closed out the Cougar Classic with singles wins on home courts did exactly what you want to see from a team playing in front of its own crowd: they finished. Tennis is a grind, and winning the last match of a long weekend is harder than it looks. These four made it look straightforward. That matters for momentum, and it matters for the kind of confidence you carry into a road trip. Speaking of road trips: if you missed the earlier piece on the Cougs grinding out a 1-1 draw at Cal State Fullerton, go find it. That kind of gritty result on the road is the same stubbornness you saw on the home courts this weekend. Different sport, same mentality. Pullman is not an easy place to play for visitors. The altitude, the travel, the quiet. Our players know how to use that. The Cougar Classic is our tournament, and closing it out with singles wins sends a clear message: this is our house. It is not flashy. It is not a headline grabber. It is just good, solid Cougar tennis. The kind that stacks up over a season. Go Cougs.
Rural schools swap diesel for sun, and the whole town breathes easier
A school district in rural America looked at its diesel bill, looked at the sun, and made a choice. Now the whole town is breathing easier. A program is swapping diesel generators for solar panels in rural schools, cutting costs and keeping money in communities that cannot afford to lose a dime. It is not a pilot project or a grant that runs out in two years. It is a real shift in how these towns power the place where their kids learn. That matters more than most people realize. Pullman knows something about energy that does not come from a pipeline. Washington State University has been deep in nuclear research since before most of us were born, and that old know-how is writing the next chapter. If you want to see how that legacy connects to the work coming out of land-grant schools, we have a piece on WSU's reactor history that is worth your time. This is not a story about one school getting a grant. It is about a model that works. Fewer fumes. Lower bills. Stronger towns. That is the kind of win you do not need to spin. Go Cougs.
AI Scans the Wild in Days, Not Months, and Pullman Helped Build It
Wildlife cameras catch everything, a lynx slipping through a creek bed, a bear scratching a tree, a herd of elk moving at dusk. Then somebody has to sort through the thousands of photos. That used to take months. Now it takes days, and Pullman helped build the tool that made it happen. WSU researchers trained artificial intelligence to scan trail-camera images and identify species in a fraction of the time. That is not a small efficiency gain. It is the difference between a biologist getting a report before the snow melts or after the grant runs out. Faster data means faster decisions about habitat, migration, and fire recovery. The kind of work that actually keeps wild places wild. This is the same kind of applied thinking that shows up in our other coverage, like the Coug researchers betting AI can crack the snowpack riddle for Northwest farms. That story digs into how machine learning is taking on a multibillion-dollar question for agriculture. Same instinct. Different problem. Both built by people who know what happens when you wait too long for an answer. Pullman does not always get credit for the tech coming out of it. This one deserves some. A tool that speeds up conservation work by months? That is worth a text to a friend. Go Cougs.
WSU researchers take on the nightmares PTSD leaves behind
Nightmares from PTSD don't just mess with your sleep. They rewrite how you see the world when your eyes are open. WSU researchers are digging into that, trying to figure out how to treat the specific kind of terror that keeps replaying in someone's head long after the trauma is over. This isn't about bad dreams you shake off over coffee. This is the kind that leaves you afraid to close your eyes. The work matters because too many treatments treat PTSD like a single lump of symptoms. Nightmares are their own beast. They have their own triggers, their own damage, and they need their own solutions. WSU is stepping into that gap, and honestly, it's the kind of research that makes you proud to be a Coug. Not because of a scoreboard. Because somebody in Pullman is trying to give people their nights back. If this sounds like the same university that opened a clinic in a Spokane elementary school hallway, it is. That story ran here too, and it fits. WSU keeps finding ways to meet people where they actually live. That's the land-grant mission with its sleeves rolled up. So yeah, read up on the nightmare research. Then think about what it means to be a school that takes on both a proper tailgate and a proper medical problem. Go Cougs.
Kirby Moore Breaks Down the Offense After Arizona
Kirby Moore sat down after the Arizona game and didn't sugarcoat anything. He broke down the offense the way you'd expect from a guy who spent his Saturday watching his unit grind through a Pac-12 road game. No excuses. Just film, mechanics, and what needs to click. That's the kind of talk Pullman actually respects. Moore walked through the adjustments, the reads, and the moments where the Cougs either hit or missed. It wasn't a victory lap. It was a coach who knows the margin between a good drive and a stalled one is smaller than a play call sheet. If you watched that game and wondered why certain routes looked open but the ball didn't go there, Moore answers that. He doesn't hide behind jargon. This is the stuff that doesn't make the highlight reel but makes the difference in November. If you want the full picture from Tucson, we already had a piece on the things that won't show up in a box score. Moore's breakdown fits right next to it. Read them together. That's where the real story lives. The offense is still finding its rhythm. Moore knows it. The players know it. But hearing him talk through it, you get the sense he trusts what he sees. That matters more than a clean stat line. Go Cougs.
Cougs clean up the pitch in a Seattle U tune-up
Four goals. A clean sheet. And a crisp tune-up against Seattle U that felt more like a statement than a scrimmage. The Cougs handled business on the pitch, and they did it without a lot of drama. That's the kind of afternoon you want when the schedule starts stacking up. You come in, you do the work, you leave with a zero in the opponent's column. Nothing flashy. Just solid. And honestly? That's the kind of Cougar soccer that travels well. It's not always about the highlight reel. Sometimes it's about making the other team run out of answers before halftime. If you want to dig into how the coaching staff is seeing things beyond the scoreboard, we've got you covered. Our piece on **Kirby Moore breaking down the Cougar win and what it took to get there** gets into the kind of detail you don't catch from the bleachers. But for now, take the win. Take the shutout. And take a breath before the next one. Go Cougs.
Fresno State couldn't slow the Cougs in a clean road win
Fresno State came to Pullman and found out the hard way: this Cougar team is not messing around. The road win was clean, controlled, and exactly what you want to see when the lights are on and the other side is supposed to be a test. It wasn't flashy in a way that makes a highlight reel, but it was steady. That matters. The defense did its job. The offense did enough. And the whole operation looked like a group that has been through the grinder before and knows how to close. For a program that spent years trying to find its footing in the late hours of close games, this kind of win feels different. It feels like the Cougs are learning how to win, not just hoping to. If you want the deeper look at how the offensive mind is working right now, go read "Kirby Moore Breaks Down the Offense After Arizona." It fits right alongside this one. Moore has been quietly putting together a unit that doesn't panic, and that showed again on Saturday. This is the kind of Saturday that makes you glad you stayed up. Or got up early. Or checked your phone in the middle of something you should have been paying attention to. The Cougs took care of business on the road. That is all you can ask. Go Cougs.
Your diploma is still a Coug, even if you haven't set foot on campus since 2003
Your diploma is still a Coug, even if you haven't set foot on campus since 2003. The WSU Global Campus just got ranked among the top online programs in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, in multiple categories. That's not a surprise to anyone who's ever tried to finish a degree while working a full shift or raising kids. WSU built this thing for people who don't have the luxury of quitting life to go back to school. It's easy to forget that Pullman isn't the only place Cougs are made. Thousands of us earned the same degree from a kitchen table or a library computer. This ranking says the university hasn't forgotten you either. The same rigor, the same faculty, the same land-grant mission, just delivered to wherever you are. WSU has always been good at showing up where it matters. The same practical drive that put the Cosmic Crisp® in your grocery store and helped build Washington's wine industry is what makes the Global Campus work. It's not flashy. It's just effective. If you've been thinking about finishing what you started, or you know someone who should, this is your sign. The university earned the recognition. You earned the degree. Go Cougs.