News: Research

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

Research

Those Toddler Foods on Grocery Shelves? More than 80% Are Ultraprocessed

UT nutritional scientists found that nearly half of the foods exceeded recommended sugar, sodium, fat or calories.

A toddler in a grocery cart holds a bread roll that has been partially eaten.

Research

Teens who Start the Day with Breakfast, Especially Foods with Protein, Eat Better Overall

Teens who ate breakfast took in more nutrients and consumed less daily fat and sugar than those who skipped it.

A photo of a person ladeling sauce on a plate of meaty tacos

Research

One Idea, Two Cosmic Mysteries: Linking Little Red Dots and Globular Clusters

In a preprint publication, John Chisholm and colleagues find that LRDs may be an early form of global cluster.

Two images from space: On the left, a central yellowish dot is surrounded by a red glow. On the right, a cloud of white dots becoming more concentrated in the center.

Research

Publishing in a Leading Journal as Undergraduates

Three undergraduate researchers published with a team in Nature, shedding new light on a microbe and its host.

Two adult aphids and nymphs on a stem

Research

Inside UT’s Quantum Ecosystem: From Breakthroughs to Possibilities

The University of Texas at Austin is charging ahead with quantum innovations, built on a history of quantum science leadership.

Three scientists in PPE work in a laser facility.

McDonald Observatory

Nearby “Super Earth” May Be a Better Candidate for Life Than Previously Thought

The planet, known as GJ 3378b, orbits a small, cool star is 25 light-years from Earth and is in its star’s “habitable zone.”

An artistic rendering depicting the view from another planet with glowing liquid and a reddish star behind clouds.

Research

Limited Connections: How Stress Affects Our Brain

A study by Alison Preston and colleagues focused on how old and new memories are integrated in the hippocampus.

An illustration of a semi-transparent human head with a glowing feature representing the hippocampus region of the brain

McDonald Observatory

HETDEX Opens Massive Cosmic Dataset to Scientists, Novices, and AI

The largest survey ever of the early universe contains 600 million spectra, covering part of the sky equal to 2,000 full Moons.

An illustration mapping the location of more than one million galaxies in relation to the Milky Way. Rainbow colored lines emanate out in all directions from a central point.

Research

Scientists Map Proteins From Ancient Organism and Discover New Links to Rare Diseases

New ‘treasure map’ of ancient life holds clues to modern human diseases.

Cartoon of a microbe showing all its internal structures.

McDonald Observatory

Black Hole Found that Formed Before Its Galaxy

Findings help explain how black holes millions to billions of times the mass of the sun formed so soon after the Big Bang.

A view of space with galaxies and stars