Texas Science

@texasscience

Official account for the College of Natural Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin.

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Texas Science@texasscience· 18d

1/6: Physicists have revealed the origin of a possible runaway black hole: two supermassive black holes smashed together, spawning gravitational waves that gave the resulting black hole a powerful kick. Read the paper in @physrevlett.aps.org: journals.aps.org/prl/abstract...

A black hole surrounded by a bright swirl of gas streaks through space with a trail of stars

Texas Science@texasscience· 22d

On this day in 1969, humans took their 1st steps on the Moon. It took years of work by a multitude of people, including Texas Science alum Frances “Poppy” Northcutt. Learn more about her & other UT alumni who played a part at txsci.net/CNSApollo #MoonDay #MoonLanding @poppynorthcutt.bsky.social

Texas Science@texasscience· Jun 9

Meet Chip Breier, a marine scientist developing cutting-edge robotics & other tools to explore some of the most extreme environments on Earth. 🌊🔬 Read our Q&A: www.texasscientist.cns.utexas.edu/articles/joh... @utmsi.bsky.social @whoi.edu

A man stands with arms folded next to a short wall, looking out at the ocean. Photo credit: Tico Mendoza

A man stands on the deck of a research vessel, working on a robotic submersible that looks like a large yellow box about the size of a small car. Photo credit: Chip Breier

A man leans against a railing on the deck of a research vessel. Behind him, a crane is lowering a robotic submersible that looks like a large yellow box about the size of a small car into the water. Photo credit: Chip Breier.

Texas Science@texasscience· Jun 1

Happy World Reef Day! 🪸🐠 Misha Matz, a coral biologist at The University of Texas at Austin is proposing a radical plan to save Caribbean coral reefs from collapse. Read more: cns.utexas.edu/news/feature... Photo captions & credits below in comments @heatshok.bsky.social @texas-ib.bsky.social

A man in a large greenhouse stands next to a tank of water with corals.

A large mound of vibrant corals underwater

An illustration showing the types of corals and their density in the Caribbean at three different times: Late Pleistocene to about 1978, 1980s and 2010s.

Texas Science@texasscience· May 27

By mapping protein networks in an ancient ancestor of all complex life, a U. of Texas at Austin-led team found new genes connected to three rare disorders. It might yield hundreds more. New study in Cell Genomics cns.utexas.edu/news/researc... @edwardmarcotte.bsky.social @jbwallingford.bsky.social

Cartoon of a microbe showing all its internal structures.

Caption: Inferred subcellular organization in LECA, the last eukaryotic common ancestor, based on its estimated gene content.

Credit: Cell illustration adapted from multiple graphics shared as open source by SwissBioPics.

Texas Science@texasscience· Apr 30

Congrats to UT mathematician Nataša Pavlović, who is 1 of 3 UT Austin professors being inducted into the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences this year! news.utexas.edu/2026/04/22/3...

Portrait of Nataša Pavlović with short dark hair, wearing glasses and a dark shirt.

Texas Science@texasscience· Apr 16

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

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.

Texas Science@texasscience· Apr 13

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

Texas Science@texasscience· Apr 10

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

Texas Science@texasscience· Dec 9

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

Texas Science@texasscience· Nov 13

The explosive death of a star at its earliest, fleeting stage has been revealed by the ESO & a group of astronomers — including UT’s J. Craig Wheeler. #Spectropolarimetry #Supernova @texasastronomy.bsky.social More: mcdonaldobservatory.org/news/release... Artist interpretation video by @eso.org:

Texas Science@texasscience· Oct 3

The Mexican honey wasp is a bit of an oddball: it makes and eats honey like a bee, but when it’s hankering for protein, instead of pollen, it eats other insects. A new study finds its gut microbiome is more like bees than wasps. Funded by USDA and NSF. journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Two Mexican honey wasps, which are bee-like insects with black bodies, yellow stripes on the lower abdomen and honey-colored wings. Photo credit: Alex Wild.

Texas Science@texasscience· Sep 4

To kill bacteria, antibodies usually need helpers, but a new method yields antibodies that can kill bacteria directly by busting up their outer membranes. Read more: lcid.utexas.edu/news/researc...

Two microscope images: one shows intact tube-shaped bacteria, the other shows a bacterium whose skin has burst, spilling its contents.

Texas Science@texasscience· Jul 18

Meet Neha Donthineni, Niels Levy-Thiebaut & Franchesca Untalan, three Texas Science students who won 2025 President’s Leadership Awards! Learn why at txsci.net/StarStudents. Bonus: Niels Levy-Thiebaut was also featured in our Texas Scientist magazine! Read his Q&A at txsci.net/Niels.

Neha Donthineni. A student with long, dark, curly hair wears a black top with white pants. She is wearing a Longhorn pendant on a gold chain and standing in front of a backdrop that is half white (left) and half burnt orange (right). Photo Credit: Matt Wright-Steel

Niels Levy-Thiebaut. A student with short dark hair is wearing a white t-shirt and light khaki pants. He is wearing a silver analog watch and standing in front of a white background. Photo Credit: Matt Wright-Steel

Franchesca Untalan. A student with long, straight black hair is wearing white shorts with a brown belt, a taupe top with matching high-heeled shoes and a white formal jacket with the sleeves rolled up slightly. She is wearing a small pendant on a gold chain and standing in front of a backdrop that is half white (left) and half burnt orange (right) and on top of a black drop cloth with her left hand on her hip. Photo Credit: Matt Wright-Steel

Texas Science@texasscience· Jul 15

This functional knee joint, with flexible ligaments & rigid bones, was 3D-printed via a precise new method seamlessly merging soft & hard properties into a single object by using different colors of light. Learn more at txsci.net/3DBreakthrough #TexasScience #UTAustin #3DPrinting

Texas Science@texasscience· Jul 11

Check out our latest issue of the Texas Scientist magazine! Learn about futuristic fuels, AI in STEM education & healthcare and much more. Read it now at txsci.net/TexasScientist — or grab a print copy at UT’s Texas Science & Natural History Museum on campus. #TexasScience #TheTexasScientist

Texas Science@texasscience· Jul 1

A set of weapons bacteria use to fight each other, called microcins, are much more widespread and diverse than previously thought. They might inspire new ways to combat antibiotic resistant bacteria. Learn more in Nature Communications: rdcu.be/eumkH

A grid of 20 petri dishes showcasing diverse bacterial colonies in varying colors and growth patterns, on a neutral gray background.

Texas Science@texasscience· May 23

There’s got to be an easier way to figure out how much carbon is stored by seagrass! Scientists have found "one weird trick" that involves listening to tiny bubbles. Hear our latest Point of Discovery podcast: cns.utexas.edu/news/podcast... @utaustin.bsky.social l‬ @cockrellschool.bsky.social

Four scientists struggle to push down a coring device through underwater sediment, while standing in waist-high water in a seagrass meadow along the Texas coast.

Texas Science@texasscience· May 12

Commencement 2025 is in the books, & we couldn’t be prouder of our Texas Science graduates! These world-changers, trailblazers, discovery-makers & innovators made a difference on the Forty Acres. And they’re all set for what comes next: making a difference in our wider world. #CNSGrad25 #UTGrad25

Two women wearing graduation garb smile and huddle together. The woman on the left is Black and wearing a First-Gen Student stole. The woman on the right is LatinX and is wearing a LatinX Grad stole and holding up her left hand in the Hook’Em Horns sign.

A bearded man wearing a Texas Mascot stole cheers as he holds his right hand above his hand with the Hook’Em Horns sign. Behind him, to his right is the mascot Hook’Em with both hands raised. Behind both of them to their right are several people seated in graduation garb cheering and smiling. A video screen is just visible above the seated people and reads “Alexander Wiedenhoefer” and shows the first man from a different angle.

A middle-aged LatinX man smiles and looks at the woman he is hugging with his left arm. The young woman smiles and looks back at him. She is carrying two bouquets of flowers and a burnt orange teddy bear that is wearing a graduation cap.

Four graduates stand shoulder to shoulder smiling. On the left is an Asian-American woman, to her left is an Asian-American man, to his left is a LatinX woman’s and to her left is a Black man wearing a First-Gen Grad stole.

Texas Science@texasscience· Apr 23

A big range might not save animals from climate change. The Bohemian waxwing (left) lives across a vast swath of the Arctic, yet it might be at higher risk than the chestnut-crowned laughingthrush, which has a much smaller range. Find out why: cns.utexas.edu/news/researc...

Two birds perched on branches. The left bird has sleek brownish-gray feathers, a black eye mask, a crest on its head, and yellow-red wing markings. The right bird features speckled brown-gray plumage with bright yellow wing patches and a reddish-brown head. Photo credits: Daniel Jauvin & Hemant Kirola; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library.

Texas Science@texasscience· Apr 11

The 2025 Technology & Science Undergraduate Research Forum just wrapped up and here are a few scenes from the event. Kudos to these outstanding students for their hard work, innovation and creativity! #TexasScience #UndergraduateResearchForum #UndergraduateResearch #UndergraduateResearcher

A young man explains their research to onlookers.

A young woman points to data on her research poster as she explains the work to an onlooker.

Two students have an animated discussion about the research on the poster behind them.

A young man gives two thumbs up with a big smile as he stands next to a young smiling woman. Both are standing in front of a research poster about Behavioral Neuroscience.

Texas Science@texasscience· Apr 8

Why were there so many galaxies and stars in the early universe? Astronomer Mike Boylan-Kolchin (@mbkplus.bsky.social) proposes a novel answer: dark matter was dense enough then to overcome feedback that normally slows star formation. academic.oup.com/mnras/articl...

Simulation of large scale mass distributing in the early universe. Red and blue dots stipple a black background in clumps and filaments. Credit: University of Texas at Austin.

Texas Science@texasscience· Mar 3

Congratulations to Andreas Matouschek, who was named Interim Dean of the College of Natural Sciences by David Vanden Bout! Matouschek has served on the college’s core leadership team since 2020. More at txsci.net/InterimDean #TexasScience @utaustin.bsky.social

Texas Science@texasscience· Feb 26

Congrats to Sophia Fente-Damers, Shreya Karthikeyan & Charlie Heding Zhang! This team of 3 UT Austin math students is 1 of 6 finalists for the 11th Munich Re Cup actuarial case competition, happening in Toronto, March 24-27th. Hook ’em! #MunichReCup #TexasScience #TexasMathematics

Three students stand in front of a wall studded with small circular mirrors. All three are wearing suit jackets and smiling while holding up the Hook ’em Horns sign with their hands. The left is a woman with brown hair wearing black-framed glasses. In the middle is a woman with dark brown hair. On the right is a man with black hair wearing wire-rimmed glasses.

Texas Science@texasscience· Feb 24

The Texas Science Festival began on Friday & we’ve already had fantastic fun at some exceptional events. We’ve got lots more in the works, including 2 events tonight and 3 tomorrow. Check out the full schedule at sciencefest.utexas.edu/events #TexasScience #TexasScienceFestival #UTAustin

A woman in a burnt orange t-shirt shows off a wall garden to a family of onlookers.

A woman in a pink t-shirt shows off a large toothed fossil of a young girl.

A woman wearing a mask and a pink t-shirt explains about a small fossil jaw she’s holding to two young boys and two young girls.

Three people sit on a stage having an animated discussion beneath a sign reading “Austin Film Society.”

Texas Science@texasscience· Feb 21

The two‑week Texas Science Festival starts today! Join us for interactive demos, talks, performance, film, panels & more. Find the full schedule of in-person, virtual & free sessions at sciencefest.utexas.edu #TexasScience #TexasScienceFestival

Texas Science@texasscience· Feb 5

At the Texas Science Festival, curiosity & discovery take center stage! Join us for daily experiences with science & the natural world, with interactive demos, talks, performance, film, panels & more. Sign up at sciencefest.utexas.edu to attend in-person, virtual & free sessions.

Texas Science Festival 2025 | Feb. 21 - March 6

Texas Science@texasscience· Jan 23

We need YOU to pick your favorite images in our 2025 Visualizing Science contest! Go to txsci.net/2025VisSciEntries to see the entries and vote to help us select our People’s Choice winner 🏆 #ArtinScience #ScienceArt #ScientificArt #ArtandScience #SciArt #VisualizingScience #TexasScience #UTAustin

Texas Science@texasscience· Jan 9

The innovative DexMimicGen project by UT’s Robot Perception & Learning Lab is reshaping how humanoid robots are trained with data generation from a small set of human demonstrations. #UTAustin #DexMimicGen #TexasAI #TechForGood #FutureOfHealthcare #RobotsInMedicine www.cs.utexas.edu/news/2025/re...

Texas Science@texasscience· Dec 6

Kudos to our 6 faculty on the 2024 list of Highly Cited Researchers! • Feliciano Giustino • Xiaoqin “Elaine” Li • Allan MacDonald • Jason McLellan • Nancy Moran • Jonathan Sessler Find the full list of Highly Cited Researchers from UT Austin at txsci.net/UTClarivate. #HighlyCited2024