University of Arizona in the News

Incident commanders report 40% containment on the lightning-caused Contreras Fire southwest of Tucson. The blaze forced the evacuation of the Kitt Peak National Observatory and destroyed four non-scientific buildings. However, initially assessments indicated other buildings on the property, including the University of Arizona 12-meter Telescope, escaped damage.

University of Arizona associate professor, electrical and computer engineering and biomedical engineering Wolfgang Fink, a prominent artificial intelligence researcher, gave an interview to Software Development Times in which he noted the titular character in 2015's "Chappie" "has a self-sustaining drive" that is one of the hallmarks of sentience as we understand it.

University of Arizona assistant research professor Zack Guido and colleagues have created a fantasy monsoon game, Southwest Monsoon Fantasy Forecasts, where people make predictions for this year's monsoon for a chance to win prizes. Players make a total of 15 forecasts over a three-month period, July through September. They can earn points through the riskiness and accuracy of their guesses.

NASA is scheduled to release the first images taken by the James Webb Space Telescope on July 12. They'll mark the beginning of the next era in astronomy as Webb – the largest space telescope ever built – begins collecting scientific data that will help answer questions about the earliest moments of the universe and allow astronomers to study exoplanets in greater detail than ever before.

President Joe Biden on Wednesday nominated Roopali H. Desai, a professor of practice in the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Desai earned her bachelor's, master's and Juris Doctor at the University of Arizona.

An American Bar Association committee has recommended ABA accreditation standards no longer require an entrance exam, such as the Law School Admission Test or Graduate Record Examination. If the association adopts the recommendation, law schools could use the LSAT or GRE, but would not be required to do so. Historically, law schools only used the LSAT to determine a student's acceptance. But in 2016, the University of Arizona College of Law began using the GRE as well.

The James Webb Space Telescope recently took a hit to its sensitive primary mirror from a micrometeoroid "beyond what the team could have tested on the ground," according to NASA. The mirror that took the hit will be adjusted to counter the distortion and noise that resulted from the impact. "Webb got launched like a beautiful new car, and after you go to the parking garage a few times, there's going to be a few dings," said Marcia Rieke, an astronomer at the University of Arizona who leads one of Webb's instrument teams.

A Jaw-dropping moment this morning for TODAY Show anchor Savannah Guthrie during a segment on reunions. The University of Arizona alumna enjoyed a surprise reunion with fellow Wildcat Melissa Manas, her best friend from their undergrad days in Tucson. University Communications assisted with this coverage. 

Undergraduate enrollment at colleges and universities in Arizona has grown by 4.5% since spring 2019. At the same time, enrollment nationally has declined by 7.8%, according to a recent analysis by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Arizona was one of only eight states to see an enrollment increase. 

The University of Arizona and 19 other top U.S. research universities announced the formation of the Alliance of Hispanic Serving Research Universities, dedicated to increasing opportunities for a population that has been historically underserved by higher education. "This alliance, has come together, 20 presidents and chancellors coming together, to rally around two common goals.