University of Arizona in the News

Water levels in Lake Mead have risen for the first time in three years, thanks to the most active monsoon in a decade. As of Monday 15, the lake's levels were at 1,042.29 feet, 18 inches higher than a July measurement. "(Lake Mead) is all about storage ... and it's about seasonality of precipitation. And snow.

Sending off a child to college can be one of the most exciting and yet emotionally fraught experiences a mom or dad can go through. But students benefit when allowed to start their new adventure in higher education without parents hovering over them. "Behavioral scientists believe that 'helicopter parenting' interferes with normal developmental experiences that allow children to build their own problem-solving skills and competence," said Chris Segrin, head of the University of Arizona's Department of Communication.

As principal investigator for the Near-Infrared Camera, the primary imager on the James Webb Space Telescope, Marcia Rieke knew the capabilities of the device she developed, but not until the telescope sent back its first jaw-dropping images in mid-July that the astrophysicist and professor at the University of Arizona, realized the full extent of her work. "Everyone was astounded at how beautiful and detailed the pictures were. I was above cloud nine because these were such stunning pictures," Rieke said.

The unsealed search warrant the FBI executed at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago property revealed the agency believes former President may have violated the Espionage Act of 1917, among other potential crimes. Anyone convicted of violating the Act could face a fine or up to 10 years in prison. Derek Bambauer, a law professor at the University of Arizona, said the act is a "core" part of national security law and was designed to allow the government to prosecute people with sensitive information that could put the country's national security at risk.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused the broader health community to overlook research out of Africa indicating monkeypox appeared to be spreading through sexual contact and affecting mostly young men. Now the number of cases stands at 31,700 worldwide – about a third of those in the United States.

Sue Bird, the WNBA's career leader in assists, is retiring at the end of the season after an illustrious 19-year WNBA career. She made her first pro assist to Adia Barnes, now the women's basketball coach at the University of Arizona. Barnes last played professionally 12 years ago and spent several years as a broadcaster before coaching, all while Bird continued stacking one assist after another. "I totally forgot that," Barnes said of Bird's first assist, laughing. "I made the shot, so that was a good thing.

The western U.S. is in the middle of a 22-year-long megadrought, forcing farmers to facing tough decisions over how to keep us fed when there is less water to go around. Michael Kotutwa Johnson of the University of Arizona Indigenous Resilience Center, an assistant specialist with the School of Natural Resources and the Environment and a Hopi farmer, discusses the innovative solutions farmers have developed and how the drought has changed the way we think about agriculture.

Measurements of methane emissions from shallow water oil and gas platforms in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico found they were substantially higher than those from drilling on land, according to research published on Thursday. The study, by researchers at the University of Arizona, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and several other organizations is among the first to measure methane leaking from offshore facilities, which account for about 30% of global oil and gas production but are difficult to study because they are so remote.

Plunging water levels in Lake Mead and Lake Powell could negatively affect millions of people. The former dropped to less than 150 feet from "dead pool" status – when the volume falls to a level so low that water cannot flow downstream from the dam. "(Dead pool) would be a catastrophe. It could happened, but there's no reason to to allow it to happen. We have the tools we have the skill set to to act to avoid that catastrophe," said University of Arizona Regents Professor of Law Robert Glennon.

Extreme heat is deadly for humans and not great for infrastructure, either. This story uses a simulated city – Meltsville – to illustrate some of what can happen when unprecedented heat plagues a location that isn't ready for it. University of Arizona assistant professor of planning and sustainable built environments Ladd Keith explains several ways transportation systems sometimes struggle to keep up. "As you have a heat wave occurring, it will expand the asphalt, it will expand the steel," Keith said.