University of Arizona in the News

Unearthed from the Mazon Creek deposit in northeastern Illinois, and dating back 310 million years, scientists discovered the first fossilized horseshoe crab brain ever found. "This is a completely different mode of brain preservation," said Nicholas Strausfeld, a neuroanatomist at the University of Arizona who was among the first to report a fossilized arthropod brain in 2012 but wasn't involved in this study. "It's remarkable."

Maggy Zanger, professor of practice in the University of Arizona School of Journalism; Atifa Rawanm, emeritus library faculty who has directed and consulted on several university projects with Afghanistan academic institutions; Jeannine Relly, a UArizona professor who worked on the Afghan journalism partnership; Julie Ellison-Speight, associate director in the Center for Middle Eastern Studies Associate Director; and Anne Betteridge, director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, write that Americans have a special obligation for the safety and security of the most desperate Afghans at

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act is having a moment in the spotlight, but the federal health-care privacy law is in many cases being mischaracterized or misused. "What people really need to know to protect themselves is, what are the cases in their area? Is there a surge?" said Tara Sklar, a professor of health law at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law.

With climate change and long-term drought continuing to take a toll on the Colorado River, the federal government on Monday for the first time declared a water shortage at Lake Mead, one of the river’s main reservoirs. Sharon B. Megdal, director of the Water Resources Research Center at the University of Arizona, said she thought the declaration's focus on the dire state of the river would lead to more efforts in the region to use less water. "I think we're going to see some adaptation," she said.

Robert Glennon, Regents Professor and Morris K. Udall Professor of Law and Public Policy at the University of Arizona, writes that the first-ever water shortage declaration for the Colorado River won't halt growth in the affected states – but growth can no longer be uncontrolled. Increasing water supply is no longer a viable option, so Glennon argues that states must turn to reducing demand.

Kory Floyd, a professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Arizona, writes that people have suffered "touch hunger" during the pandemic – a colloquial term for what social scientists call "affection deprivation," a state in which individuals want or need more affection than they receive.

Delaney Schnell holds the distinction of being a Pac-12 champion, three-time All-American and the Arizona Wildcats' school record-holder in the platform dive. On July 27, Schnell and teammate Jessica Parratto earned the silver medal in the women’s synchronized diving 10-meter platform competition to mark the first time the United States has finished on the podium in that event.

The highly awaited James Webb Space Telescope is set to break new ground in many areas of astronomical research. Marcia Rieke, an infrared astronomer at University of Arizona and the principal investigator of one of Webb's infrared cameras, is interviewed.

Saturn's icy rings are not just aesthetically wondrous marvels. One of them also records a beautiful planetary soundtrack. Using data from the Cassini mission that ended in 2017, scientists have listened to and deconstructed a variety of symphonies in Saturn's C ring over the years. Mark Marley, a planetary scientist at the University of Arizona and an early trailblazer of kronoseismology who was not involved with the work, is quoted.

The University of Arizona has again contributed to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, with paleoclimatologist Jessica Tierney helping pen much of the section on drought and aridity.