University of Arizona in the News

University of Arizona researcher Jekan Thanga's ambitious, Noah's Ark-inspired project aims to preserve humankind – and animal-kind, plant-kind and fungi-kind – in the event of a global crisis.

Images of Mars from the past decade have shown amazing craters, dust storms and colorful mineral deposits. The photos come from the most powerful camera ever sent to a planet – the University of Arizona-operated High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, or HiRISE. It is helping scientists understand the planet where NASA has sent rovers and where it may send humans.

Surveys have found that 47% of Americans aged 18 to 34 feel that stress related to climate change impacts their daily lives. That number is even higher for teens, at 57%. Climate anxiety is increasingly being seen as a public health issue, especially for young people and children. University of Arizona researcher Sabrina Helm has made this phenomenon a priority in her research. In a study published in 2017, she found that some people experience high levels of stress, and even depression, based on their perception of the threat of global climate change.

Underneath the stands of Arizona Stadium, a spinning furnace has fired up to cast the sixth mirror for the Giant Magellan Telescope. Once it becomes fully operational, the telescope's viewing power will be 10 times greater than the Hubble Space Telescope.

University of Arizona researcher Jekan Thanga's ambitious, Noah's Ark-inspired project aims to preserve humankind – and animal-kind, plant-kind and fungi-kind – in the event of a global crisis.

The Apophis asteroid whizzed safely past Earth on March 6. The fly-by gave scientists a chance to test the worldwide planetary defense system, in which astronomers quickly assess the chances of an asteroid hitting Earth as they follow its path across the night sky. "It's a fire drill with a real asteroid," said Vishnu Reddy, a planetary scientist at the University of Arizona who coordinated the observing campaign.

Sana Khan, a doctoral student at the University of Arizona's Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health and a vaccination site volunteer, is interviewed about what things look like on the ground at the university's high-capacity state vaccination site and what the one-year mark of the COVID-19 pandemic means to her.

Experts say a changing climate is raising concerns about how the saguaro will survive the 21st century in an environment that is getting hotter and drier. "If we're going to find any communities or ecosystems well suited to these climate stressors, the desert is going to be a pretty good one," said Benjamin T. Wilder, director of the University of Arizona's Desert Laboratory on Tumamoc Hill, where botanists began studying the saguaro 118 years ago. "I wouldn't bet against a desert species." Michael A.

University of Arizona researcher Jekan Thanga's ambitious, Noah's Ark-inspired project aims to preserve humankind – and animal-kind, plant-kind and fungi-kind – in the event of a global crisis.

Adhara Perez, 8, has shown exceptional talents in the field of astrophysics. Those dreams could take her from Mexico City to the U.S. to study at the University of Arizona, her dream school.