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From the College of Natural Sciences
Learning Machines
On a small practice field on the first floor of Taylor Hall, robot dogs playing soccer scuttle around the field like infants crawling across a playpen. They survey their field with Cyclops-like camera eyes and nudge balls around with silver chins. And like little humans, these robots learn to walk, recognize color, and hold a ball. They experiment ...
Poison dart frog mimics gain when birds learn to stay away
AUSTIN, Texas—When predators learn to avoid a highly toxic frog, they generalize, and this allows a harmless frog to mimic and be more abundant than a frog whose poison packs less punch, biologists at The University of Texas at Austin studying poison dart frogs in the Amazon have discovered. Catherine Darst and Molly Cummings report their findings...Convergent evolution of molecules in electric fish
AUSTIN, Texas—Having a set of extra genes gave fish on separate continents the ability to evolve electric organs, report researchers from The University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Harold Zakon and colleagues, in a paper recently published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, show that African and South American groups of fish independe...UT Department of Mathematics honored for graduating most Latinos in math in the nation
AUSTIN, Texas—The University of Texas at Austin Department of Mathematics has been named the 2005 Example of Excelencia for its efforts to boost Latino participation, graduation and pursuit of teaching in mathematics. The announcement was made in Washington, D.C. at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund...University of Texas at Austin astronomers invite hurricane evacuees to view Moon, planets
AUSTIN, Texas—University of Texas at Austin astronomers will be hosting nightly “star parties” for the evacuees of Hurricane Katrina. Each night through Thursday, Sept. 22, they will set up two telescopes on the west side of the Austin Convention Center, at the intersection of Third and Red River streets, to share views of the Moon and planets. Wea...Global warming's impact on U.S. plants, animals determined from review of dozens of studies
AUSTIN, Texas—Global warming has forced U.S. plants and animals to change their behavior in recent decades in ways that can be harmful, according to a new report prepared for the Pew Center on Global Climate Change. The Pew Center review of more than 40 studies is co-authored by Camille Parmesan, integrative biologist at The University of Texas at...A Curious Life: Bard Stays Focused on Colleagues, Fundamental Research
Curiosity may be the most powerful scientific tool, but hard work runs a close second. So says Dr. Allen Bard, who has used both to great effect in a scientific career that has spanned nearly half a century so far. During that time, Bard has amassed an impressive list of discoveries, publications and scientific awards. Among the highlights, he co-...
Strongest evidence of global warming provided in new research study
AUSTIN, Texas—A biologist at The University of Texas at Austin has teamed up with an economist to provide the strongest statistical evidence yet that global warming is affecting the natural world. Even when the pair considered habitat destruction or other possible underlying causes for behavior changes in plants, animals and other wildlife, the ana...UT Austin researcher presents hot new evidence of global warming
AUSTIN, Texas—Ecologists from around the world are finding provocative signs that global warming already may be altering the Earth's flora and fauna. And they worry that next century, when the climate is expected to change more abruptly than it has in at least 10,000 years, plants and animals will be pushed to the limit. If the Earth heats up, wil...Read It Now
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