News

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

Research

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.

Research

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.

Features

UT Scientists, Mathematicians and High Schoolers Partner for Success

Gold medalists in an astrophysics Olympic-style event, award-winners at a statewide science fair and budding genetic engineers who shared their research 2,000 miles away are...

The USA Team in Beijing. From left to right: Ioana Zelko (Team Leader), Sahil Pontula, Vincent Brian, David Yue (also a Texan), Andy Zhu, Texan and gold medalist Joseph McCarty, April Cheng and UT Austin graduate student Nastasa Dragovic (Team Leader). Photo from the USAAAO.

Accolades

Chemistry Graduate Student Awarded Prestigious Spanish Fellowship

Orhi Esarte Palomero was presented his award certificate by King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain.

Queen Letizia of Spain presents Orhi with his award certificate.

Research

Texas Astronomers Find that Dark Matter Dominates Across Cosmic Time

University of Texas at Austin astronomers report that they have stumbled on an extraordinary galaxy that may corroborate a recently contested theory about dark matter.

A series of red and blue globs against a black backdrop

UT News

Females Prefer City Frogs’ Tunes

Urban sophistication has real sex appeal — at least if you’re a Central American amphibian. Male frogs in cities are more attractive to females than...

Two chirping frogs on soil face opposite directions

Department of Computer Science

Professor Lili Qiu Named ACM Fellow

Lili Qiu, a faculty member in the Department of Computer Science, was recently named an Association for Computer Machinery (ACM) fellow.

Lili Qiu in a sunlit area indoors

Jackson School of Geosciences

Jackson School Turning Hill Country Ranch into Field Site of the Future

The White Family Outdoor Learning Center at The University of Texas at Austin is part of a planned, growing network of field sites used by...

A live oak tree and windmill are prominent in a bucolic Texas scene as gentle clouds cross the sky.

UT News

Newly Identified Gravitational Waves Help Pinpoint Black Hole

The scientists looking for gravitational waves reported that last year they observed four additional ripples in space-time. During about a nine-month period, scientists including UT...

Artists rendition of two black holes about to collide in space