University of Arizona in the News

Several key figures in the development and deployment of the James Webb Space Telescope are profiled, including University of Arizona Regents Professors of Astronomy Marcia and George Rieke, who were integral to the construction of and on-going observations by the Near Infrared Camera and Mid-Infrared Instrument.

Maha Nassar, associate professor in the School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies at the University of Arizona, writes that 30 years later, it is clear the Oslo Accords have achieved neither peace nor a two-state solution.

Sharon B. Megdal, professor of environmental science and director of the Water Resources Research Center at the University of Arizona, contributes to an article that recommends engineered projects be considered as part of a broader water management portfolio that responds holistically to imbalances in supply and demand.

This week's billion-dollar disaster report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration counts 253 people dead in 23 climate events through August. One of the biggest risk factors in many of the report's tallied events is people continue to crowd coastal areas where hurricanes hit or near forests that can burn.

Rescuers digging through the wreckage after Morocco's deadly earthquake warned on Monday that the traditional mud brick, stone and rough wood housing ubiquitous in the High Atlas mountains reduced the chances of finding survivors. Even concrete homes or buildings often lack anti-seismic design, experts said, leaving survivors and rescuers to sift through mounds of rubble where homes once stood.

Jaclyn Champagne, JASPER postdoctoral researcher at the University of Arizona, writes that theoretical physics predicts that black holes should take billions of years to grow into quasars, which are extra bright and powerful objects powered by black holes. Yet astronomers know that many quasars have formed in only a few hundred million years.

The new book by Cat Bohannon – "Eve" – looks at the way women's bodies evolved, and how a focus on male subjects in science has left women "under-studied and under-cared for." Advait Jukar, a paleontologist at the University of Arizona, worked with Bohannon on the paleontological components of the book.

According to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration report released Monday, the deadly firestorm in Hawaii and Hurricane Idalia's watery storm surge helped push the United States to an unprecedented 23 extreme weather events through August, surpassing the previous record of 22 events set in 2020. "Adding more energy to the atmosphere and the oceans will increase intensity and frequency of extreme events.

The Food and Drug Administration appears poised poised to green light a new set of COVID boosters, just in time for peak respiratory illness season. The new shots are updated versions of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines, formulated to help people fight off the new omicron subvariant. "COVID-19 is not a pleasant thing to get even if you're not at particularly high risk of getting really sick," University of Arizona professor of immunobiology Deepta Bhattacharya said.

When you get to the airport, it's important to locate your departure gate, so you have a sense of where you need to be come boarding time. But if you're trying to cut down on exposure to germs, it may not be the best idea to sit down and wait there for an extended period. "Sites in airports that are frequently touched but not routinely cleaned include the armrests on chairs in the terminal waiting areas," said University of Arizona professor of public health Kelly Reynolds, chair of the Community, Environment and Policy Department.