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News

From the College of Natural Sciences

Posts highlighting some of the many articles mentioning College of Natural Sciences faculty and students in the media.

Texas, nation in need of computer scientists

In a story about the need for computer scientists, Computer Science Department chair Bruce Porter speaks with News 8 Austin.

Survival of the Fittest Sperm

Grad student Chad Smith lectured on the rivalry among sperm and the strategies that males and females undertake in the process of reproduction as part of Brackenridge Field Lab's Science Under The Stars public lecture series. Read more about it at The Horn.

Arsenic and Life

The Houston Chronicle's SciGuy, Eric Berger, speaks with astronomer Sally Dodson-Robinson about a big discovery that a type of bacteria can incorporate arsenic into its DNA in place of phosphorus. Read more at on Chron.com.

UTeach program transforms students

Of the 10 fastest-growing occupations in the United States, eight are science, math or technology-related. Yet, in many states - Texas included - there is a severe shortage of degreed science and math teachers to inspire students to go into the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields. UTeach...has transformed the way universit...

UT professor says profiling not effective against terror

Racial profiling is a “fundamentally flawed” method of catching terrorists, and is no more effective than random sampling techniques, according to a recent study by a UT computer science professor. Read more at the Daily Texan.

Dr. Unification: Steven Weinberg on Getting the Forces of Nature Together

For years the cosmos and the atom have been at odds with one another. If any physicist can reconcile them, it's Steven Weinberg. Read more at Scientific American.

Evolutionary trees help to convict men

In 2004, evolution itself served as a witness for the prosecution in the case of the State of Washington versus Anthony Eugene Whitfield. Whitfield contracted HIV in an Oklahoma prison, and first learned about his infection in 1992. After his release in 1995, he had more than a thousand sexual encounters with 17 different women, even fathering c...

Port A scientists to study the Arctic

It’s 86 degrees Fahrenheit and marine scientist Ken Dunton is kicked back in shorts and a T-shirt discussing how he thinks organic matter such as bark, leaves and twigs is affecting coastal lagoons in the Arctic... Read more at the Corpus Christi Caller Times.

Central Texas Creepy Crawlers

Behind the doors at the Brackenridge Field Lab is some people’s worst nightmare.

Double star's exoplanets found

An international consortium of astronomers, including undergraduate and graduate students at The University of Texas at Austin, have discovered a planetary system consisting of at least two massive Jupiter-like planets orbiting the extremely close binary star system NN Serpentis. The team used a wide variety of observations taken over two decades f...

Too Many Sisters Hurt Male Sexuality

Study finds that having too many sisters can hurt a male mouse's game.

Dinosaurs Just Want to Cuddle

Fossils suggest the Sarahsaurus was more like Barney than T-Rex.

UT researcher studies cancer

Lauren Ehrlich, assistant professor of molecular genetics and microbiology, is looking into why T-cells become cancerous.

UTeach Once Again Called A National Model For STEM-Teacher Prep

The UTeach program is one of seven promoted by a new organization called Change the Equation.

Wildflower Center to Get Arboretum

A $1.4 million gift to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center will establish an arboretum with samples of each oak tree species native to Texas, other native trees such as black walnut and pecan, and offspring from historically significant trees such as Austin's Treaty Oak. Read the full story at the Statesman.com.