University of Arizona in the News

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the winter of 2023-2024 is the warmest one it's seen in the 130 years it's been tracking. Per the University of Arizona-led National Phenology Network, signs of spring in certain parts of the country – like the budding of the first lilac and honeysuckle leaves – have emerged the earliest they have since the organization began keeping records in 1981.

A recent study calculates University of Arizona athletics' events generated approximately $265 million in economic output for the state during 2023 fiscal year. The economic effect comes in the form of direct spending from visitors, taxes generated by their purchases and the thousands of jobs supported by university athletics events.

A team of scientists co-led by University of Arizona planetary sciences researcher Naman Bajaj used the James Webb Space Telescope to observe the first example of a stellar wind dispersing the dust and gas from a star system's planet-forming disk. The phenomenon occurred around the relatively young star T Cha, which sits about 350 light years away in the constellation of Chamaeleon.

University of Arizona director of athletics Desireé Reed-Francois discusses her priorities for the department, the career path that led her to intercollegiate athletics administration, and her return to Tucson.

California mineral and gem collector Hubert de Monmonier bequeathed almost 900 geological specimens to the University of Arizona Gem and Mineral Museum as part of his will.

Researchers led by University of Arizona research professor emeritus of dendrochronology Ramzi Touchan recently identified the oldest olive tree in the world, a gnarled behemoth in Northern Lebanon that measures roughly 14 feet in diameter that they determined to be more than 1,100 years old.

University of Arizona professor emeritus of anthropology Vance Holliday is one of many researchers to cast doubt on the Younger Dryas Impact hypothesis – the notion that 12,900 years ago, a comet, or possibly more than one, struck the Earth and irrevocably changed the climate and the course of human history.

At 2 a.m. on Sunday, most people in the United States will "spring" their clocks forward by one hour for Daylight Saving Time, potentially losing an hour's sleep in the process. To make the transition a little less painful, University of Arizona associate professor of psychiatry Michael Grandner recommends people who observe DST make it a priority to get good sleep – seven or more hours at a stretch – for at least a few nights before the clock change. That way, "you're coming from a place of strength," not sleep deprivation.

Dr. Sairam Parthasarathy, suggests the U.S. follow Mexico's lead and do away with Daylight Saving Time. "Having that sense of permanence and not flip-flopping is a good thing," said Parthasarathy, a professor of medicine. "The feeling is (Mexico) got there before we did."

A biotech company that hopes to resurrect extinct species said Wednesday it has reached an important milestone: the creation of a long-sought kind of stem cell for the closest living relative of the woolly mammoth. Many scientists, including University of Arizona professor of geoscience Karl Flessa, question the idea of trying to revive extinct animals. "What are you going to get out of this?" he asked. "First of all, I think you're going to get a bit of a freak show in a zoo somewhere.