News: Point of Discovery

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

Podcast

Do Sick Animals Socially Distance?

According to a new review in the journal Science, when highly social animals — such as ants, mice and bats — get sick, their social interactions change...

A group of common vampire bats just hanging around

Podcast

Artificial Intelligence Revs Up Evolution’s Clock

When Risto Miikkulainen and Padmini Rajagopalan simulated hyenas forming mobs to steal prey from lions, they found something surprising.

A lion faces a mob of hyenas

Podcast

Ask the COVID-19 Experts

An epidemiologist and two molecular bioscientists get to the bottom of your burning COVID-19 questions.

Illustration of a physician in a white lab coat

Podcast

The Next 50 Years: Anybody Out There?

Astronomer Caroline Morley speculates on the possibility of finding life on other planets in the near future.

Giant microbes float alongside planets

Podcast

The Next 50 Years: A Model of Life on the Atomic Scale

Can we simulate life — in all its messy complexity and at the scale of each individual atom — in a computer?

Illustration of a biological cell

Podcast

Science Amid the Social Distance

A compilation from our previous episodes that we hope will help you find some solace right now: in rediscovering life, the people we're closest with...

A cross-section of a nautilus shell

Podcast

The Next 50 Years: An A.I. Designed to Make Life Better

Artificial intelligence is becoming more and more a part of our daily lives. But will AI have mostly positive or negative impacts on society?

Illustration of a robot walking through a cloud of symbols for money, driving, housekeeping and health care float by

Podcast

The Next 50 Years: Your Perfect Meal and Exercise Plan

Have you ever wondered why some people seem to be able to follow a specific diet or exercise plan and others fail? The answer might...

A line indicating a heartbeat moves through a field of floating fruits

Podcast

The Next 50 Years: A Global Census of Life

Biologist David Hillis aims to discover the 80 percent of species on Earth that scientists know nothing about in the next few decades.

A montage of beetles, leaves, butterflies and DNA

Podcast

Coming Soon: A New Podcast Miniseries

In January 2020, we will be releasing a new miniseries called The Next 50 Years.

Logo consisting of a microscope in front of an abstract background