University of Arizona in the News

Derek Lemoine, an associate professor of economics at the University of Arizona, writes that while heat is punishing on a personal level, it also has significant impacts on the broader economy.

Disastrous heat waves are becoming increasingly more common with global warming – killing people, damaging infrastructure and straining energy supplies. A growing body of research shows that extreme heat has long-lasting effects not just on population health but on local economies.

Now that the James Webb Space Telescope is up and running, astronomers want to use it to spot compounds such as oxygen, methane and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere's of exoplanets – or, better yet, more than one in the same atmosphere. "If you, like, took some water and some methane and put them in a box and left them at room temperature on Earth, they'd actually combine into carbon dioxide, and you wouldn't expect there to be any methane left over," said Megan Mansfield, an astronomer at the University of Arizona who will use Webb to study exoplanets.

University of Arizona's Pathways to Teaching program offers a fast-track 17-month route for students to earn a bachelor's degree in elementary education.

Since college students typically have to write in a variety of styles, high schoolers can benefit from working on their versatility, and consider the specific kinds of work they may have to do in college based on their interests. University of Arizona associate professor of English Shelley Rodrigo, senior director of the writing program, suggests parents encourage their students to read and write about things that interest them, adding that a student's interests don't have to be academic – they can come from unlikely sources.

The American Heart Association last month added sleep to its list of factors critical to heart health, alongside seven others such as diet, physical activity and blood pressure. The recommendation reflects widening scientific consensus on the role sleep plays in preventing heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and obesity.

With record heat in Texas that is testing the state's power grid, a California wildfire that has threatened an ancient grove of sequoias considered a foundation stone of the national-park system, and persistent drought across the West that is forcing unprecedented cutbacks in water deliveries from the Colorado River, the summer of 2022 already is shaping up as another season of extreme and dangerous environmental conditions.

A video of a toddler showing his pet bulldog how to use his slide has been lighting up social media. In 2017 a study by researchers from the University of Arizona found that dogs and two-year-old children show similar patterns in social intelligence.

So far this summer, emergency responders have already responded to 455 heat calls throughout the greater Fort Worth area – a 115.6% increase compared to the same time frame last summer. "There are quality of life impacts from heat," said Ladd Keith, assistant professor in the School of Landscape Architecture and Planning at the University of Arizona. "It could be shifting exercise or forgoing exercise altogether, limiting kids' ability to play on playgrounds because it's just too hot for them to go outside."

COVID vaccine makers are developing new boosters for a fall campaign. But some experts question the FDA's decision to tell companies to make shots against the BA.4/5 subvariants. "Are we trying to be too perfect and then costing us months as a result of that? You know, if we were starting over and all things were being equal and BA.1 and BA.4, 5 could be, you know, developed at equal pace, no question, BA.4, 5 is better.