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Just beneath their scales, Komodo dragons wear a suit of armor made of tiny bones. These bones cover the dragons from head to tail, creating a "chain mail" that protects the giant predators. However, the armor raises a question: What does the world's largest lizard – the dominant predator in its natural habitat – need protection from?

Boosting academic success does not have to derive from new teachers or curriculum; it can also come from changing students' attitudes about their abilities through a short online intervention, according to the latest findings from the National Study of Learning Mindsets published in Nature on Aug. 7. Faculty in the Department of Statistics and Data Sciences contributed to the research.

Dean Paul Goldbart sent a message to supporters of the College of Natural Sciences serving on its Advisory Council, in light of a University of Texas Regents decision that will allow students from households earning $65,000 or less to have their tuition at UT Austin fully covered beginning in fall 2020.

David Booth, co-founder and executive chairman of Austin-based Dimensional Fund Advisors and a visionary philanthropist, has committed a $10 million gift to The University of Texas at Austin. His philanthropic investment will be used to advance Texas Science and the construction of the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT). Once completed, the GMT will be the world's largest telescope and have the capability to provide unprecedented views of the universe.

The University of Texas at Austin Marine Science Institute can feel like the edge of the world. It stands on a corner of Mustang Island, surrounded by windswept grassy dunes and a seemingly endless expanse of Gulf water. But this unassuming campus is perfectly positioned to study our planet's largest resource. MSI isn't an edge; it's a forefront.

National Instruments co-founders James Truchard and Jeff Kodosky, who founded one the country's pioneering technology companies while working at The University of Texas at Austin, have been selected as 2019 inductees of the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Together, the two software pioneers invented LabVIEW^TM (Laboratory Virtual Instrumentation Engineering Workbench) — a programming language that revolutionized the way engineers and scientists measure, test and control applications.

This message acknowledges President's Staff Awards, which is celebrated on campus in April 25.

Jacob Van Geffen graduated in 2018 as a Dean's Honored Graduate in Computer Science with Honors, receiving a B.S. in Computer Science and a B.S. in Mathematics, with the Pure Mathematics option. A member of both Dean's and Turing Scholars, he was recognized for his achievements in research, academics and leadership. Today, he is on fellowship in the University of Washington's computer science graduate program.

Sana Saboowala graduated in 2018 as a Dean's Honored Graduate in Biology. She received an Honors B.S.A. in Biology, an Honors B.A. in Anthropology, and a Bioarchaeology in Museums Certificate through the Polymathic Scholars Honors program. Sana was recognized for her excellence in research and her thesis, "Ankh-Hap: A Case Study on the Display of Egyptian Mummies in America."

Wesley Godfrey graduated in 2018 as a Dean's Honored Graduate in Biology. He was recognized for his excellence in research and his thesis, "Myeloid Cells Support Murine T-ALL Growth In Vivo." Today he is enrolled in the M.D./Ph.D. program at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, with full funding awarded through the NIH's Medical Scientist Training Program.