University of Arizona in the News

In this guest column, University of Arizona Distinguished Professor of Astronomy Chris Impey writes in praise of failure. "The public perception of science as a constant upward trajectory toward greater knowledge is wrong. Science is full of setbacks, twists and turns, and dead ends. Nearly everything that happens in the lab will never make it into print."

The Pima Joint Technical Education District this month broke ground on the Mel and Enid Zuckerman Center for Health and Medical Careers. The two-story, 50,000-square-foot facility at the University of Arizona Tech Park at The Bridges will provide local high school students with access to health, medical and veterinary science education opportunities.

University of Arizona visiting assistant professor of landscape architecture Seth Asare Okyere, and colleagues, write about their research into fire risks at urban markets in Ghana which concludes any efforts to convey safety information to vendors must draw on community knowledge and practices.

Efforts by businesses to increasingly prioritized diversity, equality, and inclusion, has greatly improved their ability to cater to diverse populations and particularly benefited individuals with disabilities. University of Arizona professor of architecture Teresa Rosano leads a semester-long studio for third-year students focusing on the principles of Universal Design – the concept that a building or environment can be designed in a way that makes it accessible and understood to everyone, regardless of disability, age, or other variables.

Forecasters with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predict the Atlantic hurricane season, which begins next week, will be near average, one with 12 to 17 named storms, five to nine of them becoming major hurricanes. A model created by University of Arizona professor of hydrology and atmospheric sciences Xubin Zeng predicts nine named storms, five of them major.

In this guest column, University of Arizona Distinguished Professor of Astronomy Chris Impey writes in praise of failure. "The public perception of science as a constant upward trajectory toward greater knowledge is wrong. Science is full of setbacks, twists and turns, and dead ends. Nearly everything that happens in the lab will never make it into print."

University of Arizona Regents Professor Emeritus of Law Robert Glennon writes that last week's agreement over Colorado River allotments "strongly repudiates" the need to revamp the century-old agreement between the seven states, which rely on the river's water, adding "a broader, longer-lasting overhaul of the compact ... will be even more challenging."

An exploding star spotted in the Pinwheel galaxy, 21 million light-years from Earth, offers a rare chance to watch a supernova unfold in real time. Telescopes across the world were trained in its direction "within hours of its discovery," said Azalee Bostroem, a researcher in the University of Arizona Steward Observatory, deducing it was probably a type II supernova, in which a supergiant star runs out of fuel and collapses in on itself before exploding. "This is going to be like a Rosetta Stone supernova," Bostroem added.

This week's deal on how to share the Colorado River's water relies heavily on cuts to the agricultural sector, which is responsible for 80% of the region's water use. "Water is a valuable asset, and I think people are nervous about parting with it, because it kind of suggests that you don’t really need it after all," said University of Arizona extension specialist George Frisvold, earlier this week. "I think there's real concern that this is voluntary now, but it could come back and bite you."

This week — after months of tense negotiations and a couple of blown deadlines — Arizona, California, and Nevada agreed to massively cut their use of Colorado River water for agriculture in order to sustain cities. However, that deal will face renegotiation in 2026 and those talks could look a lot different from the Colorado River Compact negotiations of 100 years ago, with Tribal nations playing a more meaningful role.