University of Arizona in the News

Pediatric hospitals remain under intense pressure in Canada amid a resurgence of childhood respiratory viruses, ongoing shortages of children's pain medication, and the return of the annual flu season. Across the country, respiratory syncytial virus infections are above expected levels for this time of year and keep increasing, federal data shows. Influenza is also spreading widely, and earlier than usual.

No gene variant poses a bigger risk for developing Alzheimer's disease than APOE4. New research reveals a link to faulty cholesterol processing in the brain, which in turn leads to defects in the insulating sheaths that surround nerve fibers and facilitate their electrical activity. Preliminary results hint that these changes could cause memory and learning deficits. And the work suggests that drugs that restore the brain's cholesterol processing could treat the disease.

Increased inclusion of Indigenous people in the the Southwest's water management policies will likely prove beneficial for Arizona and other states in the Colorado Basin. "Everybody's realizing that we're all at risk," said Sharon Megdal, director of the University of Arizona Water Resources Research Center. "If Lake Mead goes down to dead pool, and water can't flow, it doesn't matter what the priority of the Yuma farmers is. It doesn't matter what the priority of the Imperial Irrigation District farmers is. We're all in this together.

Seth Asare Okyere, a visiting assistant professor in the University of Arizona College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, writes that social innovation helped people in Ghana solve many challenges.

New research claims at least 50 turtle species vocalize, along with several other types of cold-blooded vertebrates previously assumed to be silent. However, establishing that the sounds are actually meaningful communication will require more research according to University of Arizona professor of ecology and evolutionary biology John Wiens.

Last month, three scientists won the Nobel Prize in Physics for their work proving one of the most counterintuitive yet consequential realities of the quantum world. They showed that two entangled quantum particles must be considered a single system – their states inexorably intertwined with each other – even if the particles are separated by great distances. In results published in August, another group of researchers used lasers and a special type of crystal to entangle three photons hundreds of meters apart.

The natural rubber alternative guayule is becoming a popular drought-tolerant crop. "Guayule is a wonderful alternative, because it's not a crop that will die if you fail to water it a couple of days late, or even a couple of weeks late, or in some cases a couple of months late," said University of Arizona professor of entomology Peter Ellsworth, an integrated pest management specialist. "So it makes it uniquely adapted to our production region."

Nearly 800 University of Arizona students attended an event at Centennial Hall Tuesday night to listen to researchers and identical twins Lexi and Lindsay Kite speak about dismantling self-objectification and developing a positive body image that focuses on more than appearance. "Body positivity can be kind of problematic from the research perspective. When you're telling women to love their bodies ...

Maggie O'Haire, associate dean at the University of Arizona College of Veterinary Medicine, studies K9s for Warriors as part of her research into the ways humans interact with animals. She said that while anecdotes about veterans partnering with service dogs are inspiring, it's data and science that determines "what insurance will cover, what funders will pay for, and what clinicians will endorse."

Scientific researchers have warned Elon Musk's Starlink system of low orbit satellites harms scientific research, creating light pollution they can mitigate but not eliminate. A University of Arizona team led by researcher Grace Halferty has developed a sensor that warns astronomers about particularly bright satellites, affording them time to avert their telescopes.