News: Research

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

Research

Dark Matter Might Have Formed Earlier than Thought

The new model is called WIFI, which stands for dark matter production during Warm Inflation via Freeze-In.

A horn-shaped illustration shows how the universe expanded rapidly during a period called cosmic inflation, with black dots representing the formation of dark matter particles throughout this period

Research

Surprising Patterns in Infant Growth After Gestational Diabetes Exposure

Infants exposed to gestational diabetes in utero may not have as weighty of challenges as previously believed.

A pregnant woman (left) holds out her right hand as a doctor (right) performs a blood sugar test.

Research

Scientists Use Ancient DNA to Shed Light on Adaptation of Early Europeans

By using ancient samples, the scientists managed to look back in time to uncover novel signatures of adaptation at the dawn of the agricultural revolution.

An excavation of a human burial site.

Research

This Enzyme Plays a Key Role in Protecting Cells from Aging and Disease ​

Researchers from UT Austin have discovered insights about an enzyme that can protect cells from oxidative stress.

A representation of a n enzyme and a blob with a glowing reaction sparked by it

Research

Ultra-Processed Foods Pose Unique Dangers for People With Type 2 Diabetes

Researchers found ultra-processed foods, even diet ones, bring distinct risks for people with diabetes.

Image of red blood cells overlaid with images of a woman's face, potato chips, cola with ice and a woman injecting her bicep with diabetes medication.

Research

Researchers Identify Promising Combination Therapy for Common Blood Cancer

By exploiting the metabolism of cancer cells, researchers can make hard-to-treat cancers more susceptible to existing drugs.

A green tray holds a clear plastic tube with red liquid with a hand covered in a green glove holds a swab in the tube.

Research

UT Astronomers Find JWST Data Conflicts with Reionization Models

Observations from the James Webb Space Telescope spawned a new tension around when a major change in the universe happened.

An abstract pattern of blue, purple and black areas represents the output of a computer simulation of galaxies ionizing hydrogen gas during the epoch of Reionization

UT News

UT Astronomers Race To Capture Image of Exoplanet Near Star

Brendan Bowler was part of a team to help find the lowest-mass/closest-to-its-host-star distant planet ever found.

An astronomical digitialized sky survey shows stellar patches with various levels of brightness. In a pull-out nearby, a circle is labeled JWST, with a brightest section labeled AF Lep b near a host star. Comparison lines nearby indicate how the Jupiter-Sun Distance and Earth-Sun distance compare.

Jackson School of Geosciences

The ‘Lost’ Prehistoric Cats of Natural Bridge Caverns

Melissa Kemp is part of a team studying recently recovered cat fossils from a Texas cave that are about 11,500 years old.

The silhouette of a person standing inside a large cavern

Research

AI Trained on Evolution’s Playbook Develops Proteins that Spur Drug and Scientific Discovery

EvoRank offers a new and tangible example of how AI may help bring disruptive change to biomedical research and biotechnology more broadly.

A colorful ribbon with twists and turns represents the three-dimensional structure of a molecule