News: Research
Read the latest news from the College of Natural Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin
The Texas Scientist
The Mating Game
Across the animal kingdom, males and females of the same species are often locked in an evolutionary battle of the sexes.
![Illustration of fish by Jenna Luecke.](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/fish_cover_final_v2.jpeg)
UT News
In Singing Mice, Scientists Find Clue to Our Own Rapid Conversations
UT Austin researchers have identified a brain circuit in mice that might enable the high-speed back and forth of human conversation.
![Alston's singing mouse.](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/singing-mouse700.jpeg)
New Drug Has Potential to Protect Brain Cells from Traumatic Injuries
Stephen Martin and James Sahn have demonstrated that a new compound protects brain cells in mice that have been subjected to brain trauma, raising the prospects...
![Illustration of the interior of the brain showing active neurons lit up](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/brain2400x1350.jpg)
New Material Might Lead to Higher Capacity Hard Drives
Researchers from the U.S. and Japan have demonstrated that they can store and retrieve information magnetically in a new class of materials.
![Computer hard drive](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/hard-drive2400x1350.jpg)
UT News
Central Texas Salamanders, Including Newly Identified Species, At Risk of Extinction
More severe droughts caused by climate change and increasing water use in Central Texas have left groundwater salamanders “highly vulnerable to extinction.”
![This newly identified, unnamed salamander lives near the Pedernales river west of Austin, Texas.](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/new-texas-salamander700.jpeg)
UT News
Evolution Used Same Genetic Formula to Turn Animals Monogamous
In five cases where vertebrates evolved monogamy, the same changes in gene expression occurred each time.
![The non-monogamous strawberry poison frog is pictured on the left and the monogamous mimic poison frog is pictured on the right.](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/combined-frogs700.jpeg)