University of Arizona in the News

University of Arizona Distinguished Professor of Astronomy Chris Impey discusses his research and his forthcoming book "Worlds Without End."

Sarrah Hannon, a doctoral candidate in pharmacology and toxicology at the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy, is studying hormone levels in people with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, and how they align with patients' menstrual cycles, to assess whether hormonal fluctuations are behind the higher rates of gender dysphoria in EDS populations.

NASA last week 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 NEO Surveyor.

University of Arizona space scientists have a new place to ready mission packages for high-altitude balloon flights, with the opening of the Mission Integration Lab, a 4,500-square-foot building at the university Tech Park at the Bridges, which features a 43-foot tall "high bay" to suspend balloon payloads. The new facility will allow researchers and engineers to build and test hardware for balloon-borne astronomy experiments and missions.

University of Arizona associate professor of psychiatry Dr. Michael Grandner, director of the university's Sleep and Health Research Program, said the best function of a high-quality sleep tracker is its ability to demonstrate when you were awake and asleep, based on sensors that detect overnight movement. In Grandner's opinion, too few physicians know the guidelines for treating insomnia and sleep disorders. Instead, Grandner recommends Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, which he has found to be effective in treating patients with post-COVID insomnia.

In a paper published in Science Advances, a team led by University of Arizona assistant professor of biomedical engineering Philipp Gutruf details the workings of a wireless, battery-free pacemaker that could be implanted like a more conventional devices but using a less invasive, less painful procedure.

Research finds that green light – through LEDs or tinted glasses – may help painful conditions such as fibromyalgia and migraines. At the University of Arizona, Dr. Mohab Ibrahim, professor of anesthesiology, neurosurgery and pharmacology, has led two small clinical trials with strings of green LED lights, exposing people with migraine or the pain condition fibromyalgia who hadn't been helped by conventional treatment.

Clouds consist mainly of air and millions of tiny water droplets, which form when water condenses around a "seed" particle, which can be anything from nitric acid to vapors released by trees, but they are generally very tiny. The first step is to weigh the water vapor that composes it. To do that, "you need to know something about the dimensions of the cloud," said University of Arizona professor of chemical and environmental engineering Armin Sorooshian. "A cloud is actually less dense than the air directly below it."

The groundbreaking James Webb Space Telescope was launched in December a year ago. University of Arizona Regents Professor of Astronomy George Rieke talks about the telescope's success and what is ahead for the second year of the project.

Orbital observations of Mars reveal the presence of an enormous mantle plume pushing the surface of the planet upward and driving intense volcanic and seismic activity. "Previous work by our group found evidence in Elysium Planitia for the youngest volcanic eruption known on Mars. It created a small explosion of volcanic ash 53,000 years ago, which in geologic time is essentially yesterday," wrote study co-author Jeff Andrews-Hanna, a University of Arizona associate professor of planetary science.