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From the College of Natural Sciences
Backstage Pass to the Texas Pettawatt Laser
Science writer and UT Austin alumnus Joe Hanson (Ph.D. '13) takes us on a tour of the Texas Center for High Intensity Laser Science, home of the Texas Pettawatt Laser. Photos by Robert Schults evoke the awe and mystery of this fundamental research. Read the article in the July/August 2014 edition of the Alcalde: 1,000,000,000,000,000 Wat...
Eel Genome Unlocks Mysteries of Electric Fish
Harold Zakon, professor of neuroscience and integrative biology, and his colleagues published new research demonstrating that the six electric fish lineages, all of which evolved independently, used essentially the same genes and developmental and cellular pathways to make an electricity-generating organ for defense, predation, navigation and ...
How Electric Fish Evolved Their Shocking Skills Independently at Six Different Times
New research demonstrates that the six electric fish lineages, all of which evolved independently, used essentially the same genes and developmental and cellular pathways to make an electricity-generating organ for defense, predation, navigation and communication.
Head Room: McDonald Observatory
Take a trip out to Fort Davis, under some of the darkest skies in North America, and meet the telescopes that are making astronomical history. Learn more at McDonald Observatory's website. Video by Jeff Mertz.
$2.4 Million Grant Expands UT Austin’s Freshman Research Initiative
Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) has awarded a $2.4 million grant to The University of Texas at Austin to expand its Freshman Research Initiative, a program that gives students the opportunity to take part in advanced research projects early in their academic careers.
Head Room: The UT Austin Greenhouses
Take a glimpse into two of UT's biggest and brightest (literally!) greenhouses. The BOT greenhouse holds a number of exotic plants for taxonomic study, while the Welch greenhouse hosts a variety of rich and important agricultural projects. As these horticulturalists make clear, no two greenhouses are ever the same!
Brain Control in a Flash of Light
One of the most exciting new tools to be developed in neuroscience in the past decade is called optogenetics. It allows researchers to turn individual neurons in the brain of a living human subject off and on without surgery or other invasive procedures. Researchers around the world are now using it in the hopes of unlocking countless mysteries of ...
How do you move 100,000 bees from Connecticut to Texas in August?
Nancy Moran and her students moved 100,000 bees from Connecticut to Texas in a minivan ... in August. To keep the bees from overheating, they kept the AC cranked to the max during the day and left the windows down at night. "It seemed unlikely that anyone would try to steal something from a van full of bees," says Moran. As part of the Behind the ...
Erin Dolan Appointed First Director of the Texas Institute for Discovery Education in Science
Erin Dolan has been appointed the first Executive Director of the Texas Institute for Discovery Education in Science (TIDES), a newly formed institute for education innovation in the College of Natural Sciences (CNS) at The University of Texas at Austin. The institute was proposed in the CNS 2013 Strategic Plan as a way to enhance the college’s leading role in STEM education.
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