News

Read the latest news from the College of Natural Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin

Announcements

U.S. News Ranks UT Austin Computer Science Among Best in Graduate Program Rankings

The 2024-2025 rankings tout computer science at The University of Texas at Austin as among the seven best nationally.

An outdoor view of the Gates-Dell Complex, a series of brick buildings on the UT campus.

Weinberg Institute

Postcards from the Field: First Light for a New High-Desert Telescope

High in a Chilean desert, scientists at the Simons Observatory probe the cosmic microwave background for clues about the history of the early universe.

A telescope enclosure sits in front of mountains under a blue sky

Announcements

New Advanced Quantum Science Institute Will Bridge Basic Research and Applied Science

Elaine Li and Xiuling Li will co-direct the new Texas Quantum Institute.

Illustration shows how atom-thin materials enable control of individual photons of light

Accolades

NASA Awards Fellowships to Two UT Austin Postdocs

Jed McKinney and Cheng-Han Hsieh will pursue independent research in the formation of galaxies and solar systems.

Portraits of two scientists

Announcements

Fashion Meets Science in New Exhibition at Texas Science & Natural History Museum

A new exhibition features plant-based compostable materials for use in the fashion industry.

White background with black gloves covered in orange sustainable sequins

Research

Study Challenges Popular Concept of Spread of Cultural Innovations

Researchers find that Eurasia’s East-West orientation likely did not aid in cultural domination.

Antique style world map with Europe and Asia centered

Research

Red Flags: I’m Not the Bug for You!

The matador bug’s vibrant red hind-leg flags are neither a mating display nor a distraction tactic, they’re part of an elaborate defense strategy.

A black and yellow bug with red flaps on its hind legs sits on a green leaf

McDonald Observatory

Astronomers Use James Webb Space Telescope to Probe an Extreme Starburst Galaxy

Messier 82, 12 million light-years away, is relatively compact but hosts a frenzy of star formation activity.

A galaxy with a ban of stars, bright spots and cosmic clouds appear from the blackness of space.

UT News

What Can A Total Solar Eclipse Teach Us About Our Universe?

Astrophysicists and astronomers at UT Austin have used these rare phenomena to help answer fundamental questions about our universe.

A man on a ladder works on a small white building in a desert

McDonald Observatory

UT Astronomy Graduate Student Receives Fellowship to Study Exoplanets

The Heising-Simons Foundation has awarded Quang Tran, Ph.D. candidate in UT astronomy, one of its eight prestigious 51 Pegasi b Fellowships.

A young scientist stands in a portico of an academic building