News: Point of Discovery
Read the latest news from the College of Natural Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin
Presenting the Texas Podcast Network
Today we're doing something a little different. We're bringing you an excerpt from another great podcast produced here at the University of Texas at Austin...
![Logo of Texas podcast network](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/texas-podcast-network-horiz2400x1350.png)
The Case Against Spanking
Liz Gershoff thinks that as a society, we should get away from the idea that violence is integral to teaching children.
![Portrait of a woman with glasses](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/gershoff_2400x1350.jpg)
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](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/vampire-bats-moore2400x1350.jpg)
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](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/hyena-standoff-2400x1350.jpg)
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](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/covid_researcher_2400x1350.jpg)
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](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/50yrs-morley-2400x1350.jpg)
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](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/50years-humancell-2400x1350.png)
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](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/nautilus2400x1350.jpg)
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](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/50years-stone-2400x1350.jpg)
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](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/bray_podcast_2400x1350.jpg)