University of Arizona in the News

Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll interviews University of Arizona women's basketball head coach Adia Barnes.

Wildfires are just one of many threats facing saguaros, menacing not only the cactuses but the mesquite, ironwood and palo verde plants that protect them. At the same time, the unfettered growth of invasive species, especially the very flammable buffelgrass, has spurred more competition for scarce water resources while also fueling fast-moving – and hotter – fires. "I don't think there's any more near-misses as we get to the point of much larger fires," said Benjamin Wilder, an authority on saguaros and director of the University of Arizona's Desert Laboratory.

The shrinking Colorado River is becoming an urgent water crisis for millions of people in the West. While the Colorado River has cycled through wet and dry years, the last two decades are the driest the basin has seen in 1,200 years. "We can look back thousands of years with tree rings and see that this drought is exceptional," said Kevin Anchukaitis, a paleoclimatologist at the University of Arizona's Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, where researchers have reconstructed historical flows of the river dating back to the 1100s.

In rich countries, the momentum is growing for giving additional doses to the fully vaccinated, though many experts say the focus should be on getting first doses to people around the world. "The problem here is, we're just sort of going on immunological priors, rather than really great data to justify things one way or the other," said Deepta Bhattacharya, an immunologist at the University of Arizona. "I totally understand the decision, but I think we have to acknowledge that there's a wide range of uncertainty on what it’s going to do."

Derek Lemoine, an associate professor of economics at the University of Arizona, writes about the ways in which extreme heat negatively impacts the economy.

University of Arizona alumnus Rory Sabbatini won the silver medal in golf in the Tokyo Olympics. His final round score of 61 is the best single-round score in Olympic history.

University of Arizona professor emerita of Mining and Geological Engineering Mary M. Poulton appears in this feature story examining how copper became so important to the world economy, and the green energy revolution. Poulton discusses the market during a previous high point in demand, just before the 2008 financial crisis and the prospects for a new "bull market" for the metal.

The Delta variant outbreak among vaccinated beachgoers in Cape Cod was "a pivotal discovery" leading to new mask recommendations, said CDC chief Rochelle Walensky. "The long-term outlook is that it will be very difficult to avoid getting infected by Delta or even more transmissible future variants if you are unvaccinated," said University of Arizona immunologist Deepta Bhattacharya. "At some point, you are very likely to get infected if you aren't vaccinated."

As the Department of Defense continues to expand its partnerships with institutions of higher education and the private sector, Network Enterprise Technology Command and Fort Huachuca are partnering with the University of Arizona to leverage technical expertise and further accelerate the innovation of emerging technologies.

University of Arizona engineering researchers, led by biomedical engineering professor and Craig M. Berge Faculty Fellow Philipp Gutruf, are creating new tools for a method called optogenetics, which shines light at specific neurons in the brain to excite or suppress activity. Optogenetics experiments are aimed at increasing understanding of how the brain works, allowing scientists to develop and test potential cures for illnesses such as neurodegenerative diseases.