University of Arizona in the News

Rather than rely on boilerplate job-posting language, some employers have tried customizing job descriptions to the department or division. That's especially helpful at large institutions like the University of Arizona, which has over 400 units, said Helena Rodrigues, the university's vice president and chief human resources officer. "When you are posting a position, how do you speak to the environment that that individual's going to encounter? What's unique about that department?

New research suggests the asteroid Didymos spins so rapidly it casts off a stream of rocks and dust, and that the phenomenon may be the origin of its moonlet, Dimorphos, which was redirected by NASA's DART spacecraft last October as an initial test of a proposed planetary defense system. Right now the work is based almost entirely on remote observations gathered before the DART mission. "It's a good place to start, and that's all we can do," said University of Arizona Regents Professor of Planetary Sciences Dante Lauretta.

University of Arizona astronomers have joined an international effort to study the aftermath of the brightest flash of gamma rays ever observed. "When you compare the energy in this jet, it's very similar to the energy of jets we've seen in other GRBs," said University of Arizona assistant professor of astronomy Kate Alexander. "So then, why was it so bright? It turns out that all of the energy in this jet was focused into a very narrow angle.

Crane flies have emerged in enormous numbers in Texas. While they resemble their "cousin," the mosquito, crane flies do not bite. As adults, the insects have very short lives, generally one week or two. According to the University of Arizona, most crane flies species mature into adulthood, mate, and then die. Much of their lifespan is in the larval stage, where they can be found in moist soils, typically feeding on decaying organic matter.

This column calls on the Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data to release data under its control. University of Arizona professor of ecology and evolutionary biology Michael Worobey and other scientists used this data to complete a recent analysis that bolsters evidence the COVID-19 pandemic began when wild animals sold at a market in Wuhan, China, spread the coronavirus to people.

Recorded at Centennial Hall, the popular radio quiz show hosted by Peter Sagal featured guest David Axelrod and panelists Paula Poundstone, Jessi Klein and Hari Kondabolu.

As spring blooms across much of the state, University of Arizona researchers hope the public will contribute to The Great Arizona Tick Check. By sending in ticks when they find them, Arizonans can help build the state's first-ever distribution database of ticks and the diseases they carry, notably the deadly Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

Three years after COVID-19 forced a worldwide shutdown, the origins of the virus that has claimed upwards of 7 million lives remain the source of questions for some. Photos taken in 2014 at a market in Wuhan, China show raccoon dogs in cages for sale alongside poultry, rodents and snakes in the same area of the market where positive samples of COVID-19 would be found in 2020.

The University of Arizona and the Coronado National Forest Service on Wednesday signed a 60-year lease agreement on the Santa Rita Experimental Range. University researchers have studied the ecology and management of semiarid grasslands on the now 53,000-acre site since its creation by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1902.

The Supreme Court seemed divided on Monday as it weighed Arizona v. Navajo Nation, in which Nation contends the U.S. government denied it sufficient access to water from the Colorado River. An amicus brief filed in support of the Nation's case urges the justices to respect the Winters water rights doctrine, which the court established 115 years ago, and to enforce the tribe's trust relationship with the U.S. concerning water for the Nation.