University of Arizona in the News

NPR Jan. 27, 2023
Virologists defend their science as officials eye more oversight of risky experiments

Several virologists published a commentary in mBio that states that all of the evidence to date indicates that the COVID-19 pandemic started naturally when a virus jumped from animals into people. Felicia Goodrum, a professor of immunobiology at the University of Arizona, is one of the authors. She says work with viruses is highly regulated and more regulation could slow down vital research. "The worst case scenario that I fear definitely is that we are going to limit our preparedness and our ability to respond to coming pandemics," Goodrum said.
Mashable Jan. 27, 2023
Astonishing Mars crater looks like a bear

There are no bears on Mars, but the University of Arizona-run HiRISE camera on board NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter recently photographed a surface formation that looks like one. The "face" stretches roughly 6,560 feet across with a "nose" possibly formed by a volcanic or mud vent.
The New York Times Jan. 27, 2023
A copper mine could advance green energy but scar sacred land

Tribal groups are fighting an Arizona project whose backers say increasing the supply of copper, crucial to batteries, would reduce fossil-fuel use. There is an abundance of copper in Arizona, said Kray Luxbacher, head of the University of Arizona's Department of Mining and Geological Engineering, but there are daunting legal hurdles to starting new mines or smelting plants.
NPR Jan. 26, 2023
Biologist Phil Pister – who singlehandedly saved species from extinction – dead at 94

Phil Pister, a biologist who singlehandedly saved a rare fish from extinction by walking through the desert at night with two buckets in his hands, has died at 94. Michael Bogan, an assistant professor in the School of Natural Resources and the Environment, discusses his experiences working with Pister.
Discover Magazine Jan. 26, 2023
How the James Webb Space Telescope takes such stunning pictures

Since beaming back its first iconic images, the James Webb Space Telescope has offered a never-before-seen perspective of the cosmos. "It showed that there were lots of galaxies far away, and that Hubble could not see the most distant ones," said Marcia Rieke, a Regents Professor of Astronomy at the University of Arizona and the principal investigator for the Near-Infrared Camera, one of four scientific instruments aboard the telescope.
The Atlantic Jan. 26, 2023
Asteroid measurements make no sense

Many scientists and researchers evoke images of familiar, earthly objects to convey the scope of asteroids and other near-Earth objects. Scientists don't have formal guidelines for describing the nature of asteroids on a human scale. "It's a real challenge to try and communicate physical properties of something that people aren't going to actually lay eyes on or have any personal experience with," said Eric Christensen, a University of Arizona astronomer who oversees a program that detects near-Earth objects. "I don't know how many people actually have a good sense of scale for penguins," said Daniella DellaGiustina, an assistant professor of planetary sciences in the university's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory and principal investigator of the extended OSIRIS-REx mission, dubbed OSIRIS-APEX.
Arizona Daily Star Jan. 24, 2023
Navajo tapestry weaver, Tohono O'odham poet named 2023 USA fellows

University of Arizona Regents Professor of Linguistics Ofelia Zepeda, director of the university's American Indian Language Development Institute, was named a 2023 USA Fellow for her poetry and other writing, as well as her efforts to train and develop Tohono O'odham educators to teach the O'odham language to students and to develop the language in their communities.
The Arizona Republic Jan. 23, 2023
Botanical gardens emerge as a model of biodiversity for Arizona's butterfly populations

A recent study from the University of Arizona found botanical gardens serve as biodiversity hotspots for butterflies. The research may provide a clearer roadmap for further expanding urban green spaces. "We looked at the number of butterfly species at botanical gardens and asked, 'Is that fairly represented of all the butterfly species found in urban areas?'" said lead study author Kathleen Prudic, an assistant professor of natural resources and the environment. "When you think of species distributed across space, not everybody is everywhere all at once, but it turns out at botanical gardens that might be the case."
Scientific American Jan. 23, 2023
JWST heralds a new dawn for exoplanet science

Sarah Moran with the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory is part of the team that used the James Webb Space Telescope to find a new exoplanet – LHS 475 b. So far, the team "can say a lot of things about what the atmosphere is not like," Moran said. "We know it's not hydrogen dominated like Jupiter or Saturn. We think it probably does not have an Earth-like atmosphere. But it could have a carbon dioxide atmosphere like Venus or Mars, or it could have no atmosphere at all like Mercury."
NPR Jan. 23, 2023
FDA considers major shift in COVID vaccine strategy

The Food and Drug Administration is considering a major shift in the nation's COVID-19 vaccine strategy. The goal is to simplify vaccination against COVID and perhaps adopt an approach similar that used for the flu vaccine, with annual updates to match whatever strain of the virus is circulating. Some immunologists and vaccine researchers consider simplifying the process along the lines of the flu vaccine is appropriate at this point in the pandemic. However, many questions remain about emerging booster strategy. "As far as the tools that we have right now, I think it just makes the most sense to plan to update each year as close as we can to the currently circulating variant," said University of Arizona professor of immunobiology Deepta Bhattacharya. "So I think all the things the FDA is considering make a lot of sense."