University of Arizona in the News

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.

University of Arizona professor of English Manuel Muñoz was named one of this year's MacArthur Fellows, a prestigious fellowship awarded each year by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

The latest formula of COVID vaccine recently showed up in local pharmacies. Experts predict it will become like the annual flu shot: one and done. However, since the end of the public health emergency in May 2023, health insurance companies are expected to pick up the tab. In the meantime, for those who are uninsured or underinsured, the CDC is providing a Bridge Access Program to cover the cost of the shot through Dec. 31, 2024.

A poll released in May finds roughly two out of three people in the U.S. remove their shoes when they get home, either as a cultural practice or just a way to reduce the amount of germs and grime encountered in the outside world, including fecal matter. Charles Gerba, a professor of virology at the University of Arizona, discovered a grab bag of fecal matter when he conducted a study that entailed swabbing the bottom of 26 shoes. He found E. coli on more than a quarter of them and some kind of fecal bacteria on almost all.

Landing day for the University of Arizona-led OSIRIS-REx sample return was also launch day for the OSIRIS-APEX mission, as the spacecraft took on a new name, a new mission, and a new leader in assistant professor of planetary sciences Dani DellaGiustina. Over the next six years, DellaGiustina and her team will guide the spacecraft to its next target: a potentially dangerous near-Earth asteroid called Apophis.

University of Arizona Distinguished Professor of Astronomy Chris Impey discusses what makes a planet habitable and how learning about exoplanets can teach us more about our own world.

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.

Scientists from the University of Arizona and NASA working at the Johnson Space Center in Houston continue their preliminary analysis and inventory of the asteroid sample collected by the OSIRIS-REx ahead of an official unveiling scheduled for Oct. 11 during a livestreamed news conference. Mission leaders hope the "black dust and debris" will provide insight into the birth of the solar system some 4.5 billion years ago. Meanwhile, the spacecraft, now renamed OSIRIS-APEX, has embarked on a new journey to study the asteroid Apophis.

University of Arizona assistant professor of planning and sustainable built environments Ladd Keith discusses his work helping communities increase their heat resilience in a warming world.

NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission brought back asteroid samples untainted by Earth's atmosphere. Jessica Barnes with the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory is interviewed.