University of Arizona in the News

A well-known phenomenon to cat owners is the tendency of their cats to sit in enclosed spaces such as boxes, laundry baskets, and even shape outlines taped on the floor. A new study asks whether domestic cats are also susceptible to sitting in enclosures that are illusory in nature, utilizing cats' attraction to box-like spaces to assess their perception of the Kanizsa square visual illusion. "It's truly mystifying," says Gita Gnanadesikan, an animal-behavior researcher at the University of Arizona who fosters undersocialized cats.

A global water crisis has companies and cities reusing the condensation from air conditioners to water plants, flush toilets and in one case, brew beer. The University of Arizona's College of Architecture, Planning & Landscape Architecture building reuses some 95,000 gallons of condensate a year, routing it to a pond and garden. One of its professors, Jonathan Bean, says reusing condensate is important but not a critical piece in counteracting climate change. He believes there are more effective strategies, such as making buildings smaller and reconsidering refrigerants.

After nearly five years in space, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is on its way back to Earth with an abundance of rocks and dust from asteroid Bennu.

After nearly five years in space, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is on its way back to Earth with an abundance of rocks and dust from asteroid Bennu.

University of Arizona women's basketball head coach Adia Barnes discusses her experiences as a working mother.

Experts say the COVID-19 pandemic could turn sewage surveillance into a mainstream public health practice. A number of U.S. colleges and universities, including the University of Arizona, have used wastewater surveillance of dorms to find asymptomatic, infected students who had otherwise evaded detection.

A new Arizona law could permanently expand statewide use of virtual and telephonic doctors' visits, which became more commonplace during the COVID-19 pandemic. "It catapults Arizona to the front of the line in terms of telehealth law nationally," said Dr. Ronald Weinstein, founding director of the University of Arizona's Arizona Telemedicine Program and a president emeritus of the American Telemedicine Association. "It's huge."

University of Arizona alumna and Las Vegas special education teacher Juliana Urtubey was named the newly named 2021 National Teacher of the Year.

The nation's food supply depends on more than 2 million farmworkers. Yet they are among the hardest of essential workers to get vaccinated for a variety of challenges, including the remoteness of farms from vaccine sites, long work hours, transportation, immigration status, language barriers, and lack of health insurance. The University of Arizona Health Sciences' mobile vaccine unit covers all of Maricopa County and tries to reach all underserved populations. At 9,200 square miles, Maricopa County is one of the largest counties in the U.S. and is as big as New Hampshire.

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that five million people in the U.S., roughly 8% of those who received a first dose, have missed their second shot of the COVID-19 vaccine. Yet many scientists see a glimmer of hope: 8% missed means 92% returned, which is surprisingly high. "I see that as a really amazing win," said Saskia Popescu, an infection prevention epidemiologist at the University of Arizona's Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health.