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)

Mars vs. Comet in 2014: Scientists Prepare for Red Planet Sky Show

  • CBS News
  • April 2, 2013
A close encounter between Mars and Comet C/2013 A1, also called Siding Spring, in 2014 is creating both opportunity and anxiety in scientific circles. "We are certainly expecting to observe Siding Spring with HiRISE and other MRO instruments," said Alfred McEwen, director of the UA Planetary Image Research Laboratory and principal investigator for HiRISE, the camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

UA Dedicates New School of Animal and Comparative Biomedical Sciences

  • UANews
  • April 1, 2013
The UA has established a new School of Animal and Comparative Biomedical Sciences that will bring together teaching, research and extension resources from across the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences to focus on animal health, growth, nutrition and disease, and human health challenges facing Arizona and the global community. The new school likely will host the proposed Arizona Veterinary Medical Education program.

UA Testing Vast, Open Online Courses

  • Arizona Daily Star
  • March 29, 2013
The UA is experimenting with massive open online courses to gauge their feasibility and popularity. The UA's Chris Impey is teaching a MOOC called "Astronomy - State of the Art," designed to attract the astronomy-savvy who want to explore topics such as exoplanets and dark energy. The course is global in reach, Impey said, with students from Brazil, India and elsewhere.

Plastic Wins UA Student an Innovator Award

  • Arizona Daily Star
  • March 29, 2013
Jared Griebel, the UA Student Innovator of the Year, was honored this week at Innovation Day at the UA. Greibel's discoveries could translate a problem - waste sulfur - into an opportunity to create batteries from his electrochemically active copolymer. Three companies with an interest in developing them are working with samples of his novel plastic.

Multi-Toxin Biotech Crops Not Silver Bullets, UA Scientists Warn

  • UANews
  • March 28, 2013
The widely used strategy of endowing crops with redundant toxins to fend off pests rests on flawed assumptions, UA researchers have discovered. Their study helps explain why pests are evolving resistance much faster than predicted and offers solutions for better agricultural management.

Engineering Professor Inspires Students with Keys to Robotic Car

  • UANews
  • March 28, 2013
The UA's Jonathan Sprinkle recently received an NSF Career Award for his work that could help bring to fruition futuristic ideas such as cars that drive themselves. Sprinkle will give the keys of a robotic car to high school students so they can test modeling techniques designed to keep the vehicle operating safely - while inspiring them to take an interest in engineering.

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