News

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

UT Bridging Barriers

Cross-Cutting Edge: Good Systems Scholar Refines Alignment Research

Brad Knox, a UT computer scientist, focuses on ensuring AI systems act in ways that reflect human values.

A man holds a microphone and speaks to a group, in front of a banner that reads "Good Systems: A UT Grand Challenge Designing AI technologies that benefit society is our grand challenge" and a slide titled "AI systems that understand what humans want" as a cartoon girl's thought bubble reads "hidden state" and arrows pointing to the words dataset and estimate of hidden state are labeled "human input by psychological process" and "inverse algorithm derived from model of psychological process"

Dell Medical School

UT Austin Study Finds Diet Alters Breast Milk Composition

UT nutritional scientists found even small shifts in diet can quickly alter breast milk for infants.

A woman's arms are shown as she pours liquid from a plastic receptacle into a freezable bag.

Texas Global

Passport to Possibility: Inspiring Global Careers

Jennifer Fritz offers science students culturally immersive experiences combining academic rigor with the numerous benefits of studying in a different country.

A group of college students hold and examine sea urchins in a classroom

Features

Microbiology and Mentoring: Meet Grad Student Mariangel Correa Orellana

Driven by her love for the ocean, she is studying how Hawaiian shrimp interact with microbes and water temperature.

Collecting data for research.An image of Mariangel

Research

Unique Shape of Star’s Explosion Revealed Just a Day After Detection

Using the polarization of light, researchers revealed information about the geometry of the explosion that other types of observation cannot provide.

An exploding star is seen as a white ball of hot material in the center, surrounded by a ring of redder material

Research

Destroying Crazy Ant Nest Structure Makes Them Vulnerable to Pathogens

Research initiated at a UT field station keeps progressing. That is good news for a war on an invasive species.

Reddish brown worker ants tend small larvae which look like semi-transparent rice grains

Announcements

UT Doubles Size of Powerful AI Computing Hub

Already among the most powerful AI hubs of its kind, a UT center for AI is set to have 1,000 advanced GPUs soon.

A photo of scientists observing protein structures shown on a digital display.

UT News

From Research to Results: UT-City of Austin Partnership Delivers

Tim Keitt and Ed LeBrun are among the UT researchers helping Austin, combat invasive species and plan for tomorrow.

A firefighter stands near a trough of water by a pastoral road while other firefighters in and out of a small truck work.

Accolades

Taft Armandroff Elected to Chair Giant Magellan Telescope Board of Directors

With vice chair Brian Schmidt, the McDonald Observatory director will lead the next phase of construction.

Three men in suits smile in a room lined with book-filled bookshelves, while one of the men holds a cube with a representation of a unique telescope.

Accolades

Vernita Gordon Receives 2025 Regents Outstanding Teaching Award

The UT System award recognizes extraordinary classroom presence and innovative teaching methods.

A woman in a courtyard smiles in an image framed with graphics representing science and campus life.