The Arctic sky is thick with flying mosquitoes. Photo credit: Jesse Krause.

A mosquito rests on the fabric of a scientist's shirt. Photo credit: Jeff Kerby.

Mosquitoes land on the face of a stoic-looking bird. Photo credit: Jeff Kerby.

The pant leg of a scientist is covered in mosquitoes. Photo credit: Jesse Krause.

Iceland was the only Arctic country w/o mosquitoes. Now, thanks to human activities, they’ve made the leap. In a new editorial in Science, UT Austin biologist Amanda Koltz warns of more changes to come and calls for more Arctic research. doi.org/10.1126/scie... @texas-ib.bsky.social

Check out our latest issue of the Texas Scientist magazine!

Read it now at texasscientist.cns.utexas.edu — or pick up a print copy on your next visit to the Texas Science & Natural History Museum.

#WhatStartsHere #DiscoveryStartsHere⁠ #TexasScience #TheTexasScientist

Julian Munoz, a UT Austin astronomer, may have solved a cosmic mystery about why the earliest #galaxies seen by #JWST are much brighter than models predicted. Read the paper: academic.oup.com/mnras/articl... #JamesWebbSpaceTelescope #Astronomy #Space #ScienceNews #BigBang

5 Questions with Public Health Senior Ammad Hasan The Class of 2026 graduate works to boost heart health, with a legacy that will endure on the Forty Acres.

Happy #NationalPublicHealthWeek! We asked Ammad Hasan, a graduating public health senior, about co-founding the #UTAustin chapter of the #AmericanHeartAssociation’s “Heart Club” and his time at UT. ❤️‍🩹🏥 cns.utexas.edu/news/feature...
#PublicHealth #HookEm #HeartHealth #CPR #CPRSavesLives #FirstGen

Refresh your synapses with 🎼🎹 TOMORROW at noon: Anton Nel performs at @texasscience.bsky.social , @utaustin.bsky.social #musicscience #WhatStartsHere #HookEm

Bioblitz 2026 UT's Brackenridge Field Laboratory Celebrate Earth Day weekend by becoming a citizen scientist at UT's Brackenridge Field Lab. Registration Required.

We're excited to announce the 2026 BioBlitz at Brackenridge Field Lab! Drop in anytime Sat Apr 25 - 10 AM–10 PM. Try iNaturalist, enjoy hands-on activities, and join a nighttime insect survey. Special all-ages programming from 10 AM–12 PM. Learn more and register: www.eventbrite.com/e/bioblitz-2...

A Secret Weapon from Salmonella Could Help Us Maintain Healthier Microbiomes The discovery could also lend itself to the development of future antibacterial therapies.

Researchers at @utaustin.bsky.social have discovered toxic weapons salmonella use to poison other bacteria, offering new ways to limit gut pathogens without relying on broad-spectrum antibiotics. cns.utexas.edu/news/researc...

#Microbiome #GutHealth #Microbiology #AntibioticResistance
#ScienceNews

5 Questions With Senior Krithik Vishwanath Triple-majoring in math, chemistry and computational engineering, the senior won the prestigious Churchill Scholarship.

UT senior & triple-major Krithik Vishwanath will receive the highly selective Churchill Scholarship.

We asked him five questions about his time on the Forty Acres and what comes next.

#ChurchillScholarship #UT26 @cockrellschool.bsky.social
cns.utexas.edu/news/accolad...

Which Mating Call to Choose? People Are in Accord with Bugs, Bats and Frogs Music to the ears of amorous amphibians and other creatures sounds best to humans, too, a new study finds.

You probably like the same sounds as frogs, birds and even bugs! 🐸

@utaustin.bsky.social researchers recently discovered that humans prefer the same mating calls as other animals.

Read more here: cns.utexas.edu/news/researc...

Experimental Chemo Drug May Trick the Immune System Into Fighting Cancer The finding suggests other chemo drugs, too, may be making cancer cells cause a surprising immune-system reaction.

New research from UT Austin & MD Anderson Cancer Center reveals why some chemotherapy drugs not only eliminate cancer cells directly — but can also trigger the immune system to attack cancer cells as well.

#CancerResearch #Chemotherapy @mdanderson.bsky.social
cns.utexas.edu/news/researc...

A Secret Weapon from Salmonella Could Help Us Maintain Healthier Microbiomes The discovery could also lend itself to the development of future antibacterial therapies.

The Bayer-Santos Lab, along with researchers at the University of São Paulo, have discovered salmonella toxins that could lead to healthier microbiomes and new targetted antibacterial therapies. See: cns.utexas.edu/news/researc...

A Step Towards Needed Treatments for Hantaviruses in New Molecular Map An innovative imaging technique enabled dramatically higher resolution structures than previous efforts.

Hantaviruses kill nearly 40% of those infected and there’s no approved treatment or vaccine, making them a concern for future pandemics. The most detailed 3D map yet of a key protein complex on the virus might yield new treatments. cns.utexas.edu/news/researc...

Visualizing Science Contest Winners for 2026 Span Disciplines The college’s 2026 Visualizing Science competition finalists span a number of disciplines.

Presenting our 2026 Visualizing Science contest winners!

Learn the science & background behind each at txsci.net/VizSci2026.

And check out our 3D virtual gallery exhibition, with more than a decade of winning images: txsci.net/VisSciShowcase2026.

#ScienceArt #ScientificArt #ArtandScience #SciArt

Student researchers in the Supra Sensors stream of the Freshman Research Initiative have been using analytical sensing tools to classify complex biological samples & study their chemical composition — including drops of wine.

#HappyFRIday #TexasScience #Enology #Viticulture #WineScience

CosmicAI team presenting "AI Among the Stars: How Machines Help Us Explore the Universe" at Texas Science Festival 2026! Join our email list/slack to stay posted on future events! cosmicai.org/get-involved @texasscience.bsky.social @taccutexas.bsky.social

A Break in a Longstanding Mystery about Origin of Complex Life Breathe easy. It appears our microbial ancestors used oxygen, too.

Some of our earliest microbial ancestors, the Asgard archaea, were able to use oxygen, says new study in @nature.com. It may solve a mystery about how complex life first arose.

#AsgardArchaea #MicrobialEcology #Eukaryogenesis #TexasScience @utmsi.bsky.social @archaeal.bsky.social

Texas Science Festival Invites Community to Partake in the Joys of Discovery From a talk-show themed night featuring science comedy to a campus-wide day for hands-on STEM exploration to special events spotlighting the latest scientific discoveries, the 2026 Texas Science Festi...

Follow your curiosity to the Texas Science Festival for two full weeks of science-inspired offerings!

#TexasScience #TexasScienceFestival
news.utexas.edu/2026/02/11/t...

Austin in person event w/ CosmicAI and Texas Science Festival! “AI Among the Stars: How Machines Help Us Explore the Universe”
Feb 25
1-2pm
Peter O'Donnell Building, Avaya Auditorium, Room 2.302 201 E. 24th St sciencefest.utexas.edu/events/exper...
@taccutexas.bsky.social @texasscience.bsky.social

We are excited to announce the 2nd Annual Cosmic Horizons Conference hosted by the NSF-Simons AI Institute for Cosmic Origins and @thenrao.bsky.social!

We are now accepting abstract submissions for both speakers and posters!

July 13th to 16th, 2026
Charlottesville, VA
go.nrao.edu/Cosmic-Horiz...

UT Undergrad Uncovers Country-Specific Factors Linked to Improved Cancer Outcomes UT biochemistry major Milit Patel collaborated with researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center on research published in a top cancer journal.

Meet Milit Patel, who got his start in the award-winning Freshman Research Initiative at UT. Now a biochem senior & statistics & data science minor, he is corresponding author on a major paper in the Annals of Oncology.

#TexasScience #CancerResearch #HappyFRIday
cns.utexas.edu/news/feature...

Photograph of Dan Jaffe in front of an image of the Giant Magellan Telescope

UT Astronomer Appointed President of Organization Building World’s Most Powerful Telescope

mcdonaldobservatory.org/news/release...

5 Questions for Vernita Gordon A 2025 University of Texas System Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award recipient reflects on why certain approaches in the classroom create lasting impact for students.

What approaches in the classroom create lasting impact for students?

Vernita Gordon, a UT Austin physics professor who recently won a UT System Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award, has given that a lot of thought.

#STEMEducation #TexasScience #UTAustin

Mental Health Intervention Reduces Severe Depression, Anxiety for Vulnerable Groups The study highlights the importance of care tailored to the needs of particular communities, including immigrants and people in minority populations.

Gabriela Livas, chair of UT’s Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, helped create a community health program that reduces mental health symptoms in 80% of participants, erasing clinical symptoms altogether for many.

#MentalHealthCare #TexasScience

cns.utexas.edu/news/researc...

Calling all postdocs! Applications are open for Dept. of Molecular Biosciences 3rd Trailblazers Postdoctoral Symposium @utaustin.bsky.social. Come to Austin, meet your peers, showcase your work. Application is easy and all expenses are paid! Spread the word!

tinyurl.com/yw7ffjn9

Exalton Delco: UT’s First African American Ph.D. in Zoology This article is about one of the early black Ph.D.s in Zoology at UT: Exalton Delco

We honor Dr. Exalton Delco, UT Austin’s first African American Ph.D. in Zoology, who passed last week. He studied here in the 1950s with noted ichthyologist Dr. Clark Hubbs. Learn more about his remarkable life in a 2017 interview from the Integrative Biology History Project: tinyurl.com/mwbskc4y

Public voting is now open for our 2026 Visualizing Science contest!

See this year’s entries & vote at txsci.net/2026VisSciEntries

#SciArt #ArtinScience #ScienceArt #ScientificArt #ArtandScience @texas-ib.bsky.social @utaustinchemistry.bsky.social @texasastronomy.bsky.social @utmsi.bsky.social

Collaboration for Understanding | Searching for the Asgards YouTube video by Schmidt Ocean

That’s a wrap for #AsgardArchaea expedition, w/ @archaeal.bsky.social fr @texasscience.bsky.social! In the coming months and years, this research will likely open the door to new medical breakthroughs and unlock answers to questions about the origins of complex life.

youtu.be/mgmEh_qag5E?...

That's a wrap, what an amazing expedition!

#AsgardArchaea
@schmidtocean.bsky.social
@moorefound.bsky.social
@texasscience.bsky.social
@utmsi.bsky.social

Microbiology and Mentoring: Meet Grad Student Mariangel Correa Orellana Meet a UT PhD student and Gilliam Fellowship recipient.

Meet Mariangel Correa Orellana, 3rd-year grad student & 1st UT Austin person to earn HHMI’s prestigious Gilliam Fellowship — making a difference with microbial ecology research & mentorship.

@cientificolatino.com @sacnas.bsky.social @texas-ib.bsky.social @hhmi-science.bsky.social

Want to know why UT’s Brett Baker and other scientists are seeking our microbial ancestors in the depths of the ocean? This video from Schmidt Ocean Institute does a fantastic job of explaining!

#AsgardArchaea @archaeal.bsky.social @schmidtocean.bsky.social @utaustin.bsky.social