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The yellow-bellied sea snake is the only pelagic species in the order Squamata (snakes and lizards).

Sea Snake Skin More Resembles Elephant Skin Than Snake Skin

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — New research led by University of Florida Professor of Biology Harvey Lillywhite uncovers an odd similarity between elephant skin and the skin of the yellow-bellied sea snake (Hydrophis platurus) — namely, its ability to create a water sheath around the animal. In addition, sea snake skin has evolved to permit the animal […]

Sahara Desert Sunset

Writing Across the Sahara

UF professor receives NEH fellowship to research under-studied African writing traditions

Professor Gayle Zachmann Is a Producer of a New Film on French Jew Who Survived the Occupation

The University of Florida Center for Jewish Studies and the Jewish Council of North Central Florida will host a special rough-cut preview of Cojot, a feature-length documentary that follows the life of Michel Cojot-Goldberg, a Nazi hunter, Entebbe hostage, and ultimately, a Klaus Barbie trial witness.

SPOHP Announces New African American Oral History Symposium

November 4, 2018: For Immediate Release The Samuel Proctor Oral History Program at the University of Florida announces: From Segregation to Black Lives Matter. A Symposium and Celebration of the Opening of the Joel Buchanan Archive of African American Oral History at the University of Florida Contact: Tamarra Jenkins, (352-392-7168), aahpsymposium@gmail.com Organized by the Samuel […]

Ancient Mayan deforestation had long-term effects on watershed carbon cycles

Researchers: Mark Brenner, brenner@ufl.edu, 352-392-7226, Jason Curtis, curtisj@ufl.edu PIO: Rachel Wayne, 352-872-2620 The lowlands of Mexico and Guatemala experienced widespread deforestation by the Maya beginning about 4,000 years ago. The region has never fully recovered. Ancient Maya environmental impact provides a case study for the long-term effects of deforestation, and according to a new Nature […]

young man in white lab coat holding clipboard

Goldwater Scholars

University of Florida student Aaron Sandoval, a sophomore, has been awarded a Goldwater Scholarship for the 2018-2019 academic year. Andrew Sack, a junior, was recognized with an Honorable Mention. Both are members of the UF Honors Program. Sandoval is a biology major and plans to earn an M.D. and a Ph.D. in Stem Cell and […]

ADMX announces breakthrough in axion dark matter detection technology

Forty years ago, scientists theorized a new kind of low-mass particle that could solve one of the enduring mysteries of nature: what dark matter is made of. Now the search for that particle has begun in earnest.

birds sitting in trees

The Starving Snakes of Seahorse Key

Mysteriously vanished waterbirds. Cannibalistic snakes. An island with no freshwater except for rainfall. It may sound like a Crichton novel or SyFy original movie, but it’s the reality of Seahorse Key, part of the Gulf Coast Cedar Keys that University of Florida biologists have been researching since the 1930s, when the renowned late zoologist Archie Carr first began studying the unusually large cottonmouth population there.

The artist's rendering (left) of GRB 050709 depicts a gamma-ray burst that was discovered on 9 July, 2005 by NASA's High-Energy Transient Explorer. The burst radiated an enormous amount of energy in gamma-rays for half a second, then faded away. Three days later, Chandra's detection of the X-ray afterglow (inset) established its position with high accuracy. A Hubble Space Telescope image showed that the burst occurred in the outskirts of a spiral galaxy. This location is outside the star-forming regions of the galaxy and evidence that the burst was not produced by the explosion of an extremely massive star. The most likely explanation for the burst is that it was produced by a collision of two neutron stars, or a neutron star and a black hole.

Solving Cosmic Puzzles

Neutron stars are dead stars collapsed into the densest form of matter known to humans, with a teaspoon of neutron star matter weighing a billion tons, and their collision creates a swath of galactic debris. Decades ago, stargazing scientists formed plans to detect signals from this debris. Now, in the new era of aptly named “multi-messenger astronomy,” two international projects have achieved this goal: On August 17 of this year, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO)’s two U.S.-based interferometers and the Virgo Collaboration’s Italy-based interferometer detected for the first time gravitational waves — ripples in space-time traveling at the speed of light — from the collision and subsequent merger of two neutron stars. The detection occurred just three days after yet another “chirp” from colliding black holes.

illustration of neurons interacting

A Route to Recovery

UF psychologist Lori Knackstedt studies an antibiotic that may cure cocaine addiction. Lori Knackstedt, professor of psychology, is seven years deep into research that’s yielded some surprising results: in cocaine-addicted rats, an antibiotic reduces their drug-seeking behavior and may prevent relapse. The drug Ceftriaxone appears to increase reuptake of glutamate, a neurotransmitter that regulates dopamine, […]

red eyed frog sitting on flower

From K–T to Kermit

Among UF’s renowned team of extinction experts is David Blackburn, whose appreciation for frogs has led to his work on a groundbreaking new study. A paper published in July in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that although frogs have been around for longer than dinosaurs, most of the world’s 6,700-plus living species of frogs evolved after a mass extinction 66 million years ago made way for new biodiversity.

pair of two black holes

Third Time’s a Charm

LIGO detects third set of gravitational waves from colliding black holes. UF physicists have played a key role in these detections.

fish swim over coral reef

Makin’ Waves

Marine biologist and UF Biology alumnus Mike Gil PhD’15 has been named a TED Fellow and is one of 21 international experts who will attend and speak at this year’s TEDGlobal, TED’s annual conference, which will take place in Arusha, Tanzania in August. “I'm truly honored by the distinction,” says Gil.

blue and green Rorschach image

You May Recycle, But You’re Still Not Cool

UF researchers conduct first implicit bias research on environmentalist attitudes and behaviors.

illustration of dengue virus

Most dengue infections transmitted in or near home

Study findings could aid in interrupting transmission chains and reducing severe illness The majority of dengue virus infections appear to happen very close to home and are transmitted from the same family of mosquitoes, suggests new research led by the University of Florida and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The findings, published […]

pipelines with oil refinery in distance

Feet to the Fire

Environment impact assessments are good for corporations and the planet. For 16 years, the Emerging Pathogens Institute’s Burton Singer has tracked a little-known undercurrent of environmental regulation. Although many scientists and activists are rightfully concerned about the effects of corporate development in vulnerable areas, such development has an important benefit: required environmental impact assessments (EIAs). […]

A vineyard in a valley in Ensenada, Mexico in Baja California.

Geography Department Receives NSF Grant

Robert Walker of the Center for Latin American Studies and international team receive award to study effects of neoliberal policy on Mexican farming practices and their impact on deforestation. UF’s Department of Geography and Center for Latin American Studies have received a major award from the National Science Foundation to study shifting agricultural practices in […]

illustration of dengue virus

UF Researchers Tackle Dengue

Dengue vaccine could cause more severe infections in some settings. Dengue (pron. DEN-gay) is one of the most common viral infections around the world, with widespread occurrence in Africa and Southeast Asia, and can lead to the life-threatening hemorrhagic fever. Although most people recover well, UF researchers have found the first approved dengue vaccine may […]

rendering of gold nanoparticles

Setting the Gold Standard

UF chemistry professor is first to use light to make gold crystal nanoparticles A team of University of Florida researchers has figured out how gold can be used in crystals grown by light to create nanoparticles, a discovery that has major implications for industry and cancer treatment and could improve the function of pharmaceuticals, medical […]

milky way galaxy

Peeking into our galaxy’s stellar nursery

Astronomers have long turned their telescopes, be they on satellites in space or observatories on Earth, to the wide swaths of interstellar medium to get a look at the formation and birth of stars. However, the images produced over the last 50 years look more like weather maps showing storm systems instead of glittering bursts […]