University of Arizona in the News

New research concludes dogs' face muscles evolved to be very different than those of wolves, hinting at changes that may have made them more charming to humans. Biological anthropologist Evan MacLean, director of the University of Arizona's Canine Cognition Center, said future research could study whether the proportion of fast- and slow-twitch facial muscle fibers varies with age in wolves, which might suggest that this, too, could be a result of neoteny.

A historically intense April cold snap has descended on Europe, with temperatures plummeting to 20 to 30 degrees below normal. The record-breaking cold has triggered harsh frosts, shocking early-blooming plants and crops in several countries. "If those flower buds get hit by frost, they don't regenerate that spring, and they don't regenerate for the whole year," said Theresa Crimmins, the director of the USA National Phenology Network and a research professor at the University of Arizona.

Two years after a pandemic was declared, scientists continue to debate how the coronavirus behind COVID-19 came to infect humans. This story reports on the search for the source of the virus. It mentions a study led by Michael Worobey, head of the University of Arizona's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, that concluded the evidence pointed to an animal sold in a "wet market" in Wuhan, China, as the point of origin.

Intuition is often lauded as the key to decision making. This story reports on research into the effectiveness of using instinct as a guide references research into emotional intelligence by University of Arizona visiting scholar Anna Alkozei, who recently designed an online course with modules that encouraged trainees to think more carefully about the ways that different emotions can be perceived and the ways that feelings such as physiological arousal may influence decision making.

A team of astronomers including researchers from the University of Arizona has discovered evidence of a giant planet in the process of forming. This provides the first-ever look at the earliest stages of the formation of a gas giant planet, when it's still embedded in the disk of gas and dust surrounding its young host star.

Increasing numbers of cyber attacks by hackers who seek access to personal information means there is a growing need for more cybersecurity professionals. This story reports on a $6 million from the state's Technology and Research Initiative Fund earmarked to boost enrollment in the University of Arizona College of Applied Science and Technology's award-winning cyber operations program.

"The Thief Collector" is a new documentary that tells the story of the theft of Woman-Ochre, by Willem de Kooning, stolen in 1985 from the University of Arizona Museum of Art and unknowingly found in 2017 at an estate sale.

This story reporting on a federal push to make Daylight Saving Time permanent mentions Arizona and Hawaii do not participate in the seasonal changing of clocks. "It's a relief not to have to think about losing or gaining this hour," said Denise Rodriguez Esquivel, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Arizona who specializes in the treatment of insomnia and depression. circadian rhythm disorders. She said Arizonans weren't too keen on extending the scorching heat into the evening.  

University of Arizona chemistry instructor Colleen Kelley developed a series of 10 comic books with graphic artist Mackenzie Reagan to teach chemistry to children between the ages of 8 to 12 in an engaging way.

This story reports on the transformation of the environmental nonprofit EcoHealth Alliance into a government-funded sponsor of risky, cutting-edge virus research in both the U.S. and Wuhan, China. It references a series of recent studies by University of Arizona professor Michael Worobey, head of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and colleagues, that posited a new analysis of public data that indicated the COVID-19 virus first leapt to humans from animals sold at a "Wet Market" in Wuhan.