News
Read the latest news from the College of Natural Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin
UT News
Cancer Drug with Better Staying Power and Reduced Toxicity Shows Preclinical Promise
The texaphyrin molecule is designed to be more easily absorbed by cancerous cells than healthy human cells, reducing the drug’s side effects.
![The drug candidate, called OxaliTEX, is made of two parts.](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/oxalitex1400.jpeg)
UT News
Coronavirus Spreads Quickly and Sometimes Before People Have Symptoms, Study Finds
Measures including isolation, quarantine, school closures, travel restrictions and cancellation of mass gatherings may be warranted.
![Artist rendering of a magnified coronavirus](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/coronaviruscdc-1200x800-c-default.jpeg)
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)
UT News
Demographics Linked to Choice Not to Vaccinate Children in Texas, Study Finds
The findings could help public health officials identify pockets of low vaccination rates where communities within the state are at higher risk for an outbreak.
![A young boy on the left receives a vaccination in his arm from a woman in a lab coat on the right](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/cdc_vaccination_2_1400px-1200x800-c-default.jpeg)
Joydeep Biswas Builds Robots to Navigate the Real World
Joydeep Biswas leads the Autonomous Mobile Robotics Laboratory (AMRL) at UT
![Robotic car](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/robotic_car.jpeg)
Four Natural Sciences Faculty Receive President’s Associates Teaching Excellence Awards
Michael Drew, Janice Fischer, Marci Gleason and Vernita Gordon received President's Associate Teaching Excellence Awards.
![Profile photos side by side of 2020 President's Associates Teaching Award winners Michael Drew, Janice Fischer, Marci Gleason and Vernita Gordon.](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/b2ap3_large_2020-teaching-excellence-award-winners-_20200306-182717_1.jpeg)
The Texas Scientist
One Photon at a Time
Xiaoqin Elaine Li explores how to control light emission from ultrathin materials stacked at slight angles, a single photon at a time
![Ultrathin materials get stacked at a slight angle.](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/one-photon-at-a-time.jpeg)
The Texas Scientist
20/20 Foresight
So what will the next 50 years bring? Absent a crystal ball, your best bet would be to ask a scientist.
![Illustration by David Steadman.](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/feature-next-fifty-years.jpeg)
UT News
New Sandboxing Approach in Web Browser Increases Security
A powerful new approach to securing web browsers, using a tool called WebAssembly, is getting its first real-world application in the Firefox browser.
![Hovav Shacham, professor of computer science at UT Austin.](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/shacham_hovav700.jpeg)
UT News
Planet Finder Validates Its First Habitable-Zone Exoplanet, a Mini Neptune
Bill Cochran was a part of the research team that detected an exoplanet twice the size of Earth and possibly 12 times as massive, believed...
![A large and modern apparatus has tubes, metal boxes, wires and insulation](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/habitable-planet-finder.jpeg)