University of Arizona in the News

In a college sports landscape where the only stable thing seems to be instability, the third straight summer of realignment rages on, with all eyes now on the state of Arizona to see whether one, or both, of the Pac-12 schools will follow Colorado’s lead and bolt to the Big 12.

August will open and close with a pair of "supermoons" – when the moon appears full while also nearing its closest point to Earth – with the first occurring tonight and the second Aug. 30. A supermoon can be up to 30% brighter and appear about 14% larger than full moons that occur at the farthest point from Earth, but instances where the moon appears largest typically occur when it is close to the horizon, creating an optical illusion.

The most powerful person in college athletics at the moment is a cardiac surgeon turned hospital administrator turned president of the University of Arizona. Dr. Robert Robbins is his name and in the conference realignment game his opinion on the future for Wildcat athletics will shape the look of college sports in the future.

When the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft delivers its precious asteroid samples to Earth on Sept. 24, two University of Arizona researchers will be among the first to examine the scientific treasure trove. Professor of planetary sciences Thomas Zega and assistant professor of planetary sciences Pierre Haenecour from the university’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory are part of NASA’s "quick-look team," a small group of researchers assigned to conduct the first science on what the spacecraft collected from the asteroid Bennu.

President Joe Biden on Thursday announced new steps to protect workers from heat danger – including a hazard alert system and measures to improve weather forecasts and make drinking water more accessible.

The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will rendezvous with Earth Sept. 24 to deliver the sample it collected from the asteroid Bennu in October 2020. Even if the capsule suffers a hard landing, the OSIRIS-REx team remains confident they could still pull off some great science. "What we're worried about is protecting the asteroid sample from Earth contamination," says Anjani Polit, OSIRIS-REx's mission implementation systems engineer at the University of Arizona.

Congress on. Wednesday will take up legislation to widen opportunities for collegiate athletes to make money from their name, image and likeness. Two Democrats, Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Rep. Lori Trahan of Massachusetts, will introduce matching bills that would allow athletes from foreign countries to engage in NIL activities while in the United States. Current U.S. student visa rules regarding work by thousands of foreign students make it virtually impossible for them to accept NIL deals the way U.S. athletes can.

All dogs are good dogs, but not all dogs are good for families. That's why many breeders now focus "functional breeding" which emphasizes canine health and temperament. Evan MacLean, director of the Arizona Canine Cognition Center at the University of Arizona, notes there isn't sufficient evidence to show worsening behavior issues in dogs throughout the U.S. but given the current breeding landscape, he thinks it's certainly possible. "We can and should make dogs that are more inclined to be good pets," he said.

Seasonal affective disorder is usually associated with winter weather that forces people to stay indoors. However, University of Arizona professor of psychiatry Rohit Madan is studying the impact of summer seasonal affective disorder. He notes the extreme weather any time of year can contribute to feelings of anxiety and depression. "Now, people can't follow their daily routines. They can't follow the things they plan, and these disruptions contribute to these mood changes," Madan said. 

Researchers led by University of Arizona Regents Professor of Astronomy Marcia Rieke collected spectral data which helped identified three objects that could be the first dark stars ever detected – giant clouds of gas heated by the annihilation of dark matter.