University of Arizona in the News

On Monday, the Food and Drug Administration approved updated COVID boosters. On Tuesday the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended them for everyone age six months and up. "I think there's every reason to expect that people will make decent antibodies against the variants that we know about right now," said University of Arizona professor of immunobiology Deepta Bhattacharya.

David L. Graizbord, an associate professor of religious studies at the University of Arizona, writes that while the Jewish High Holidays may seem like days of individual soul-searching and repentance alone, their focus is actually communal, taking stock of an entire people's identity and traditions.

Josephine Korchmaros, a professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Arizona, writes that emerging research shows that when police get suspected drug abusers treatment rather than arresting them, those people are less likely to abuse drugs or commit drug-related crimes in the future.

A new study concludes the spice turmeric – often sold in supplements as curcumin – could be effective at alleviating stomach discomfort. Previous research led by University of Arizona professor of medicine Dr. Janet Funk found curcumin supplements probably helped relieve for osteoarthritis and provided some benefit to people with insulin resistance or diabetes. However, some products can contained industrial solvent residues, albeit below toxic levels.

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.

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.

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.