University of Arizona in the News

Lawmakers, conference commissioners, NCAA President Charlie Baker, coaches and athletics directors will be at The Future of College Athletics summit, hosted by the University of Arizona.

JoRee LaFrance, a doctoral student in the Department of Environmental Science at the University of Arizona studying the Little Bighorn River watershed, writes about the use of water quality research to bring healing and sovereignty to the Apsáalooke.

Timothy J. Shaffer, the SNF chair of civil discourse at the Biden School for Public Policy and Administration and director of civic engagement and deliberative democracy with the National Institute for Civil Discourse at the University of Arizona, writes that as we celebrate Pride Month, it is worth recognizing this historic law not just for the dignity and respect for LGBTQ+ people it enshrined, but also for its somewhat undersung significance as a shining example of democratic civil discourse in action.

As the planet warms, low snow is starving the river at its headwaters in the Rocky Mountains, and higher temperatures are pilfering more of the Colorado River through evaporation. The seven states that draw on the river are using just about every drop it can provide, and while a wet winter and a recent deal between states have staved off its collapse for now, its long-term health remains in deep doubt. Drought and low water aside, there is another aspect of the canyon's future that worries Victor R. Baker, a geologist at the University of Arizona.

Tangles of huge organic molecules are drifting through a faraway galaxy, astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have discovered. Scientists have never spotted such molecules so far from Earth, and their presence suggests that their host galaxy was busy creating stars early in the history of the Universe. Feeding off that energy, the molecules grow large and eventually resemble smoke or soot particles floating in space.

Last week Gov. Katie Hobbs and the Arizona Department of Water Resources announced that overuse and the on-going drought mean some 4.9 million acre-feet of water will not be available to meet demand. As a result, new construction that requires the use of groundwater will be halted in the Phoenix metro area. If that move proves insufficient state officials have other options, according to Katherine Jacobs, director of the Center for Climate Adaptation Science and Solutions at the University of Arizona.

University of Arizona scientists have been monitoring the saguaro population since the 1960s, but recent counts found a record low number of new cacti. Peter Breslin, a postdoctoral researcher at the university's Desert Laboratory on Tumamoc Hill, discusses why the icon of the Sonoran Desert may be in decline.

An international team of astrophysicists this week announced the discovery of hundreds of horizontal or radial filaments – slender, elongated bodies of luminous gas – that potentially originated a few million years ago when outflow from Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole in the center of the Milky Way galaxy, interacted with surrounding materials. The filaments are relatively short in length, each measuring 5 to 10 light-years.

Many different types of bacteria, mold, and fungi can make an appearance in reusable water bottles, and many of those microbes come from the bottles' owners. University of Arizona professor of virology Charles Gerba explains how best to sanitize bottles correctly.

Tyina Steptoe, an associate professor of history at the University of Arizona, writes about the impact Little Richard had on the history of rock and roll.