In this artist's impression of Voyager 2's 1989 encounter with Neptune, the gas giant's Great Dark Spot is visible in the distance. Thought to be a hole in the giant planet's cloud cover, winds in that area have been clocked at 1,500 miles per hour, the fastest in the solar system (not the subject of this study). (Photo: NASA)
Storms on Uranus, Neptune Confined to Upper Atmosphere Applying newly developed analysis techniques to data obtained by NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft in 1989, a team involving two UA planetary scientists discovered that weather phenomena on Uranus and Neptune are confined to the upper 680 miles of atmosphere instead of reaching deeper into the planets' interior as was previously thought.
Scheduled for launch in 2016, the OSIRIS-REx will travel to asteroid Bennu, scoop up a sample of pristine material leftover from the formation of the solar system, and return it to Earth in 2023.
UA-Led Asteroid Mission is a Go NASA has granted final approval of the OSIRIS-REx sample return mission led by the UA. The target asteroid, uniquely interesting scientifically, is one of the most potentially hazardous objects known - it has a one-in-2,000 chance of colliding with Earth in the late 22nd century. The asteroid could hold clues to the origin of the solar system.
One of many fresh impact craters spotted by the UA-led HiRISE camera, orbiting the Red Planet on board NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter since 2006. (Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/UA)
UA Mars Camera Reveals Hundreds of Impacts Each Year Taking before and after pictures of the Martian terrain, researchers with the UA-led HiRISE camera have identified nearly 250 fresh impact craters on the Red Planet. The results provide scientists with a better yardstick to estimate how frequently craters are blasted on Mars, allowing them to assess recently formed features with greater accuracy.
A scanning electron microscope image shows the tiny, 1-millimeter-long bladders used to catch small organisms by Utricularia gibba, the humped bladderwort plant (color added). The submerged growing plant is a voracious carnivore, with its bladders leveraging vacuum pressure to suck in tiny prey at great speed. (Photo: Enrique Ibarra-Laclette and Claudia Anahí Pérez-Torres)
Carnivorous Plant Throws Out ‘Junk’ DNA UA genomics experts have helped decipher the DNA of the carnivorous bladderwort. This genome is the smallest ever sequenced from a higher plant, and scientists say that nearly all of it - 97 percent - comprises genes that code for proteins, suggesting the majority of noncoding DNA may not be crucial for complex life.
Much more suited for arid environments than rubber trees, the guayule plant is a promising candidate for more sustainable, high-yield natural rubber production. (Photo: Jack Dykinga/USDA)
UA Receives $3M Grant for Sustainable Biorubber Production The UA's Dennis Ray will lead the effort of breeding guayule, a rubber-producing plant suited for arid environments, to achieve higher yields and reduced harvest cycle time. Tech Launch Arizona, a technology commercialization center at the UA, assisted with the UA partnership with Yulex Corporation, which is providing the grant.
In this artist's impression of Voyager 2's 1989 encounter with Neptune, the gas giant's Great Dark Spot is visible in the distance. Thought to be a hole in the giant planet's cloud cover, winds in that area have been clocked at 1,500 miles per hour, the fastest in the solar system (not the subject of this study). (Photo: NASA)
Scheduled for launch in 2016, the OSIRIS-REx will travel to asteroid Bennu, scoop up a sample of pristine material leftover from the formation of the solar system, and return it to Earth in 2023.
One of many fresh impact craters spotted by the UA-led HiRISE camera, orbiting the Red Planet on board NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter since 2006. (Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/UA)
A scanning electron microscope image shows the tiny, 1-millimeter-long bladders used to catch small organisms by Utricularia gibba, the humped bladderwort plant (color added). The submerged growing plant is a voracious carnivore, with its bladders leveraging vacuum pressure to suck in tiny prey at great speed. (Photo: Enrique Ibarra-Laclette and Claudia Anahí Pérez-Torres)
Much more suited for arid environments than rubber trees, the guayule plant is a promising candidate for more sustainable, high-yield natural rubber production. (Photo: Jack Dykinga/USDA)

New Green Fund-Supported Sustainability Projects Named

  • UANews
  • March 25, 2013
The Green Fund continues to support faculty, students and staff as they work together to make the UA a more environmentally sustainable institution, benefiting the campus and community. More than $470,000 have been granted to projects that expand sustainability efforts.

Dead Forests Release Less Carbon Into Atmosphere Than Expected

  • UANews
  • March 22, 2013
Contrary to predictions, trees killed in the wake of widespread mountain pine beetle infestations have not resulted in a large spike in carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere, a UA-led study involving large-scale field studies and satellite observations has found.

Study Reveals How Mushrooms Help Environment

  • Arizona Public Media
  • March 22, 2013
Mushrooms are crucial to the environment because they can break down fibrous materials, such as wood waste. They also play an important role in the production of food. Barry Pryor, a professor in the UA School of Plant Sciences, recently was awarded a grant to study mushrooms and their effectiveness at breaking down both landscape and consumer waste.

Observing Electrons in Real-Time Could Lead to Faster Computing

  • UANews
  • March 22, 2013
By observing electrons in real-time over a few millionths of a billionth of a second, physicists have demonstrated that organic molecules interact with the magnetic electrode in so-called spintronics devices, which use electron spin to encode information. The results open the possibility of manufacturing such data storage devices from cheaper, carbon-based materials instead of metals and silicon.

The Father of All Men is 340,000 Years Old

  • NewScientist
  • March 21, 2013
UA geneticists have discovered the oldest known genetic branch of the human Y chromosome - the hereditary factor determining male sex. The new divergent lineage branched from the Y chromosome tree before the first appearance of anatomically modern humans in the fossil record.

Startup Sees Role in Next-Gen 3-D Chips

  • Arizona Daily Star
  • March 20, 2013
nMode Solutions, a local tech startup involved in 3-D circuit design, launched successfully in 2010 as a tenant at the Arizona Center for Innovation, a high-tech business incubator at the UA Science and Technology Park. The company uses labs at the UA's Micro/Nano Fabrication Center for research.

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