University of Arizona in the News

Research by University of Arizona professor of physics Johann Rafelski and undergraduate researchers Evan LaForge and Will Price into hypothetical super-heavy elements confirms the theoretical existence of a stable element with atomic number 164, well beyond the unstable, radioactive elements between atomic numbers 105 and 118, which have only ever been observed in laboratory settings.

Tucson makes this list of cities with universities that offer a plethora of recreational opportunities for students with outdoor interests.

Research led by University of Arizona associate professor of dendrochronology Bryan Black nearly pinpoints the dates of two large earthquakes that shook the Pacific Northwest in late 923 or 924 C.E. The team used underwater chainsaws to cut sections from trees preserved at the bottom of six lakes to identify when they fell and died.

The University of Arizona College of Engineering on Thursday signed onto a collaboration with the non-profit Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance to study U.S. capabilities in "near space" – the area 12 to 62 miles above the Earth's surface – and develop effective sensors for warning, tracking and targeting potential threats in that environment, as well as weapon systems to neutralize those threats.

Research led by University of Arizona researchers Mark Brusseau and Bo Guo found soils of all types serve as a "significant reservoir for PFAS" – so-called "forever chemicals" used widely in consumer and industrial products that have been linked to health issues including cancer, developmental effects and reproductive disorders – particularly in the vadose zone, the area just above the groundwater table.

New research published Wednesday in the journal Neurology links COVID-19 to an elevated risk of developing Guillain-Barré syndrome – which causes the immune system to attack the peripheral nerves – within six weeks after infection with the virus. "There are other viral illnesses that are associated with an increased risk of GBS. So, having this knowledge helps us when we assess patients and helps us as we counsel patients," said University of Arizona professor of neurology Dr. Holli Horak, who was not involved in the study.

Even though the James Webb Space Telescope has only been on station, 1.5 million kilometers from Earth, for 21 months, it is already redefining our understanding of everything from our own Solar System to the Universe as a whole. Deep-space images from the JWST don't show fields of stars with a few galaxies in the background. They show fields of galaxies with occasional stars in the foreground.

BBC correspondent Lyse Doucet sent a message to University of Arizona journalism students from the front lines of the Israel-Hamas war to explain why she would not be in Tucson Oct. 20 to accept the John Peter and Anna Catherine Zenger Award for Press Freedom. Doucet is in Israel covering the war. She will receive the Zenger Award at a rescheduled ceremony next year.

The recent University of Arizona-led OSIRIS-REx mission to asteroid Bennu prompted the creation of the new Arizona Astrobiology Center, which brings together more than 40 faculty members from four colleges and 13 disciplines to conduct astrobiological research, train diverse future leaders and encourage collaborative dialogue with communities about the existence, origin and evolution of life in the universe.

Experts say many of the 30 federally recognized tribes in the Colorado River Basin still have been unable to access water to which they're entitled. And Arizona for years has taken a uniquely aggressive stance against tribes’ attempts to use their water, a recent ProPublica and High Country News investigation found. "It's very much a repeat of the same problems we have today," Andrew Curley, an assistant professor of geography at the University of Arizona and member of the Navajo Nation, said of the records.