University of Arizona in the News

Arizona's newly inaugurated Gov. Katie Hobbs faces the daunting challenge of addressing the state's use of water from the over-allocated Colorado River. Hobbs made it clear before her election that she wouldn't make many changes or disrupt in Arizona’s position in interstate talks over the Colorado's supply. As a result of that decision, “we're not losing momentum here, which is very important,” said Sharon Megdal, director of the University of Arizona Water Resources Research Center.

NASA in December announced approval for the Near Earth Object Surveyor mission – an infrared space telescope designed to locate potentially hazardous asteroids and comets. University of Arizona professor of planetary sciences Amy Mainzer will serve as director of the Surveyor. "For the first time in our planet's history, Earth's inhabitants are developing methods to protect Earth by deflecting hazardous asteroids," Mainzer said. "But before we can deflect them, we first need to find them. NEO Surveyor will be a game-changer in that effort."

Despite exponential growth in recent decades of research papers and patents, a new study published in Nature suggests science and technology are becoming less disruptive. University of Minnesota researchers Russell Funk and Michael Park and University of Arizona professor Erin Leahey found that papers and patents are less likely to be disruptive, or make previous findings obsolete and push science and technology in a new direction.

The U.S. Department of Energy is scaling up the emerging field of "agrivoltaics," which seeks innovations in both solar technology and farming techniques that can produce clean energy and food at the same time, on the same plot of land. Solar and farming can operate at the same time, but "it's like a Reese's peanut butter cup," said Andrea Gerlak, director of the University of Arizona's Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy.

A recent study from the Max Planck Institute in Germany has demonstrated that two mirror-image molecules are released in plants by several processes and that they react differently to stress, particularly drought. The results come from experiments conducted at an enclosed artificial tropical rainforest within the Biosphere 2 complex. This facility allowed a team of scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, University of Freiburg and the University of Arizona to precisely control the chemical and climatic conditions of the forest and measure its responses.

Protestors, activists and thieves often target art in museums. But conservators use scientific methods to restore and protect beloved masterpieces. Willem de Kooning's "Woman-Ochre" captured international attention following its shocking 1985 theft and its recovery more than three decades later. Following a complex restoration by Getty conservators to repair damage sustained due to the theft, the painting went on exhibit at the University of Arizona Museum of Art on Oct. 8.

Archeologists at the University of Arizona say understanding how past societies flourished and ultimately fell can tell us something about current issues and problems. Anthropology professor Takeshi Inomata is studying artifacts from the Maya civilization in central America and investigating how life in ancient times offers clues to our own present and future. "It was unthinkable to study an area this large until a few years ago," Inomata said, adding LiDAR technology is "transforming archaeology."

The African American Museum of Southern Arizona will open on Jan. 13 in the University of Arizona Student Union. The attraction will offer interactive and educational displays covering the gamut of local African American history.

The University of Arizona will lead an effort to develop hypersonic aircraft, which are capable of exceeding five times the speed of sound. Professor of systems and industrial engineering Roberto Furfaro earned a three-year, $4.5 million Pentagon contract to lead the development of improved guidance, navigation and control systems for "autonomous vehicles operating at hypersonic speeds."

The return to Earth by the University of Arizona-led OSIRIS-REx mission ranks as a top space exploration mission in a roundup of upcoming astronomy and astrophysics projects.