News: Research
Read the latest news from the College of Natural Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin
UT News
Sodium-based Material Yields Stable Alternative to Lithium-ion Batteries
A new sodium-based battery material is highly stable, capable of recharging as quickly as a lithium-ion battery and might deliver more energy than current battery...
![Microscope images of the surface of two materials, one with noodle-like lumps and the other much smoother](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/comparison_of_nst_to_na.png)
UT News
Potential New Gene Editing Tools Uncovered
New research dramatically expands the number of naturally occurring versions of CRISPR-associated transposons (CASTs), giving researchers a wealth of potential new tools for large-scale gene...
![Illustration of DNA helix](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/dna-gov-1400px.jpg)
Texas Scientist
UT Austin Harnesses Power of Biology in Partnership with Army Research Laboratory
Inside the "biological foundry" at the Army Research Lab's ARL-South partnership on the campus of UT Austin
![A scientist leans into a laboratory hood and moves samples under a robotic arm](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/i-tktq4r6-4k.jpg)
Switchgrass Genes Offer Advantages as Climate Change Tool
This native grass can capture atmospheric carbon in its substantial root system.
![Large bundles of swtichgrass in a field.](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/b2ap3_large_20171023_144743-1.jpeg)
UT News
Texas Astronomers Discover Strangely Massive Black Hole in Milky Way Satellite Galaxy
UT astronomers María José Bustamante, Eva Noyola, Karl Gebhardt and Greg Zeimann, with colleagues from Germany’s Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, made the discovery.
![An inset within a larger picture of the Milky Way shows both luminous stars and an apparent anomoly](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/mwleoisdssinset_left.png)
Department of Molecular Biosciences
Breakthrough in Fight on Tick-Borne CCHF Virus is Latest Use of New Strategy Against Diseases
Scientists are developing vaccines and other treatments for the tick-borne Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF)
![A multicolored molecule](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/gc-proteinantibodies1660-taller.png)
UT News
As We Develop, the Brain Connects Lessons Learned Differently
A new study of brain activity patterns in people doing a memory task finds that the way we make inferences changes dramatically as we age.
![Two scientists look at a computer monitor with brain scan images](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/brain-scans830.jpg)
First-Gen Student Navigates Own Path, Helps Others Chart Theirs
Guillermo Lezama who studies physics at UT Austin talks about how he became interested in the subject and his experience being a first-generation college student.
![Portrait of a young man](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/guillermo2400x1600.jpeg)
New Gravitational Wave Catalog Reveals Black Holes of ‘All Shapes and Sizes’
In a paper published Nov. 7th on the preprint server ArXiv, the team has detected a further 35 gravitational wave events since the last catalog release in...
![Chart showing masses of more than 100 black holes and neutron stars detected by gravitational waves](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/stellar-graveyard_2400x1350.png)
UT News
How a Natural Disaster Can Bring Couples Closer
A new study has implications for how to help families in the aftermath of natural disasters.
![An older man in a yellow rain coat holds the arm of an older woman, right, as they wade through ankle-deep flood waters during Hurricane Harvey](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/harvey-1200x800-c-default.jpeg)