University of Arizona in the News

A global poll of young people published in the Lancet last month shows that 39 per cent feel 'hesitant to have children' due to climate change. A University of Arizona study identified three concerns: overconsumption, overpopulation, and an uncertain future.

Coronaviruses discovered in Laotian bats are surprisingly adept at infecting human cells, showing that such deadly features can indeed evolve outside of a lab. "That really puts to bed any notion that this virus had to have been concocted, or somehow manipulated in a lab, to be so good at infecting humans," said Michael Worobey, a University of Arizona virologist who was not involved in the work.

In the new scientific (and literal) field of agrivoltaics, researchers are showing how panels can increase yields and reduce water use on a warming planet. "It is a rare win-win-win," says Greg Barron-Gafford, an earth system scientist at University of Arizona who's studying agrivoltaics. "By growing these crops in the shade of solar arrays, we reduce the amount of that intense sunlight that bakes off the water and stresses out the plant." 

The World Health Organization continues to search for the possible origin of COVID-19 inside bat caves in China. "That kind of proximity of farmed animals and bats that could be carrying coronaviruses is exactly the kind of thing we worry about," said Michael Worobey, head of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona.

University of Arizona engineers have developed a new type of wearable with several unprecedented benefits. Not only are the devices custom 3D-printed based on body scans of wearers, but they can operate continuously using a combination of wireless power transfer and compact energy storage.

The World Health Organization has requested access to China's wildlife farming areas such as the mountains of Enshi prefecture, an agricultural corner of China's Hubei province, calling it a key step in the search for the origins of the coronavirus. Beijing has denied the requests. China's government and the WHO say the likeliest origin of the pandemic is natural transmission through wildlife.

University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory professor Amy Mainzer comments on the approach of Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein: "One of the best things about this comet is that we've got a while until it makes its closest approach to the Sun, so we've got years to study how it brightens up as its surface gets exposed to the Sun's warmth. By watching the show as the comet creeps closer, we'll be able to tell more about which chemicals act like the propellant in the spray can, so to speak, pushing rocky particles and dust off its surface."

The White House last week rolled out a blueprint to address working conditions in extreme heat that prioritizes establishing a first-ever federal heat standard – a widely accepted temperature or series of conditions under which employees would be required to stop working for their safety. Shefali Milczarek-Desai, director of the Workers' Rights Clinic at the University of Arizona, said one way to grow capacity is more collaboration between OSHA and the state agencies responsible for enforcing safe work environments.

A study by University of Arizona Health Sciences researchers finds patients undergoing active chemotherapy have a lower immune response to two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, but a third dose increases the response.

University of Arizona president Robert C. Robbins said there is a distinction between team-wide name, image and likeness deals and those with athletic incentives – like a bonus for touchdowns scored or 3-pointers made. While the latter deals wade into "some very dicey territory" for universities, he said, he's all for team-wide NIL arrangements.