University of Arizona in the News

An older class of diabetes drugs appeared to lower the risk of developing dementia in a study, suggesting the inexpensive medicines could be researched to help combat the growing societal burden of cognitive decline. The researchers, led by Jin Zhou of the University of Arizona's Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, drew on electronic health records of almost 600,000 people from the US National Veteran Affairs Health System who had been diagnosed with diabetes in recent decades.

Dogs see the world through their noses. Their exceptional ability to recognize specific scents helps them find bombs, guns, drugs and human remains, and point to some diseases. Now a study has found that dogs can do something just as remarkable: sniff out stress in people. "The dogs can differentiate something about human odors in stressed vs. non-stressed states, but not necessarily that they know anything about how a person is feeling, or what it means when the humans are stressed," said Evan MacLean.

Undergraduate students from the state's 22 federally recognized Native American tribes will no longer have to pay tuition and mandatory fees at the University of Arizona main campus in Tucson. This fall, new and continuing full-time, degree-seeking undergraduates will be eligible for the Arizona Native Scholars Grant, the first program of its kind in Arizona.

Today's Mars is extremely unlikely to sustain any form of life at the surface. But 4 billion years ago, Earth's smaller, red neighbor may have been much more hospitable, according to a study published in Nature Astronomy. Most Mars experts agree that the planet started out with an atmosphere that was much denser than it is today.

Dogs evolved over centuries from ancient wild wolves into loyal partners to humans. A growing body of research explains how the distinctive features and skills of our "best friend" strengthened the bond between our two species. "Dogs' communicative skills uniquely position them to fill the niche that they do alongside humans," said University of Arizona anthropology researcher Emily Bray. "Many of the tasks that they perform for us, now and in the past (i.e.

The National Science Foundation announced on Friday, National Manufacturing Day, that it was awarding more than $30 million for research projects, including one at the University of Arizona, which focus on advanced manufacturing and the preparation of the manufacturing and STEM workforce for the future.

More than 40 NCAA schools now offer women's triathlon as a varsity sport, up from just a handful less than a decade ago, with the newest being the University of Arizona.

The U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration awarded $4.1 million to the Western Region Public Health Training Center at the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health to provide free training and continuing education for the public health workforce in Arizona, California, Nevada, Hawaii and the U.S.-affiliated Pacific Islands.

The University of Arizona held a candlelight vigil on Friday night in honor of the late Thomas Meixner, head of the Department of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences. "Tom was beloved because of his selfless devotion to his family, his community, his students and his colleagues," said University of Arizona President Robert C. Robbins.

Megadroughts are exceptionally severe, long-lasting or widespread stretches relative to normally occurring dry periods. Now stretching into its second decade, the current megadrought is the driest 22-year stretch the region has seen in more than 1,200 years. "It's such a squishy term," said University of Arizona Regents Professor Connie Woodhouse, who co-authored the 1998 paper that first used the term.