Brian Maffly

Persian Gulf desalination plants could become military targets in regional war Key sources of drinking water have been targets in past conflicts. And Iranian strikes have already hit close to some.

What could happen if Iran launches retaliatory strikes on Persian Gulf’s vital desalination plants? @utah.edu
historian @mchrislow.bsky.social offers this great analysis. theconversation.com/persian-gulf...

Only two species can survive in Great Salt Lake? Scientist says — hold my Nalgene Scientist Julie Jung set out on a hike along the Great Salt Lake to find nematodes. She ended up discovering a new species.

#GreatSaltLake biome is getting more crowded with @utah.edu’s discovery of new nematode species, one of which was just named, D. wo’aabi, for the Shoshone word for worm. Worm discoverer @drjuliejung.bsky.social talks about it on @npr.org www.npr.org/2025/12/16/n... @uofubiology.bsky.social

USU Lab Contributes to New Documentary on Findings Beneath Greenland Ice Sheet A new documentary shows how USU researchers are helping determine when life last existed where the Greenland Ice Sheet is now.

Documentary, The Memory of Darkness, Light, and Ice, details how @utahstate.bsky.social geoscientist Tammy Rittenour helped reveal climate secrets locked in Greenland’s ice sheet. Her Luminescence Lab dated old ice cores, pinpointing time when Greenland was ice free. www.usu.edu/today/story/...

Who benefits from neighborhood parks? - @theU A first-of-its-kind study found that public greenspaces are unevenly distributed in nearly all U.S. communities, leaving some residents—particularly those in ethnic enclaves—without access to a...

Inequities in park access along racial and ethnic lines abounds in the US, despited the many benefits public green space provides people, new @utah.edu study finds. Time to overhaul funding models to improve access for underserved communities. attheu.utah.edu/facultystaff...

Seismology meets botany: U geologist applies vibration science to saguaros - @theU Research uses earthquake-monitoring tools to measure how towering cacti resonate from wind and ground motion without harming them.

Seismology meets botany: Here’s what ambient vibrations reveal about dynamic properties and structure of towering saguaro cacti. @utah.edu attheu.utah.edu/research/sei...

The poop-pile time capsules of Range Creek Canyon - @theU Paleoecologist Marti Sorensen analyzes pack rat middens to reconstruct the ecology of NHMU-managed archaeological preserve.

Curated by ancient rodents and hardened with their pee: What pack rat middens reveal about Range Creek’s past. Geographers look to pollen grains and macrofossils preserved in poop piles to reconstruct Utah canyon's paleoecology. attheu.utah.edu/feature/the-... @utah.edu

Industry managed forests more likely to fuel megafires - @theU Forests managed by timber companies were more likely to exhibit the conditions that megafires love—dense stands of regularly spaced trees with continuous vegetation connecting the...

Private timberlands managed for industrial logging are more prone to severe burning in wildfires than national forests. LiDAR-based study led by @utah.edu shows why.
@wilkescenter.bsky.social attheu.utah.edu/facultystaff... 2018 imagery mapped forest structure in Sierra before region burned

Utah’s #BonnevilleSaltFlats have shrunk by 75% since 1925.
@utah.edu geologists Brenda Bowen and Mark Radwin use remote satellite, aerial imagery to analyze loss of halite crusts sciencedirect.com/science/arti... At current decline rate, 185-358 acres a year, they could be gone by 2072

The 8,000-year history of Great Salt Lake and its watershed is recorded in sediments - @theU Geoscientist's analysis of carbon and oxygen isotopes documents profound human-driven changes arising from agriculture and rail causeway.

Sediment records from #GreatSaltLake show post-Mormon settlement irrigation and the 1959 railroad causeway triggered environmental shifts unseen in 2,000 years.
@utah.edu
attheu.utah.edu/research/the...

Industrial pollution’s imprint lasts generations - @theU According to new analysis using Utah Population Database, a woman’s prenatal exposures can increase risk of intellectual disabilities in daughter’s children.

Transdisciplinary study from #UniversityofUtah concludes unborn children are at higher risk of intellectual disabilities from their mothers’, even grandmothers’ exposure to air pollution while pregnant. attheu.utah.edu/facultystaff... @utah.edu

After 13 years of pouring money down this rathole, the state of Utah still pays people to indiscriminately kill coyotes, despite reams of evidence that this cruel policy does little to control this resilient predator, not to mention flagrant fraud on the part of some bounty collectors.

In its first year of work, Utah’s AI office laid out mental health best practices AI has a role to play in mental health care, but it also comes with potential risks.

AI chatbots can be an asset in mental health treatment. But things get risky when they try to do work that requires a license for humans.

Thanks to federal funding and curious scientists, the U.S. has long driven life-saving discoveries in genetics. That legacy is in serious jeopardy under proposed cuts to NSF and NIH. Retired @utah.edu biomedical researchers explain what's at stake in @sltrib.com op-ed

A Tree Grows on Campus - The University of Utah Magazine As Utah’s official state arboretum, the U campus and Red Butte Garden & Arboretum contain an impressive collection of awe-inspiring trees.

@utah.edu campus is Utah’s official arboretum with 11,600 trees spanning 300 species, from Walter Cottam’s legendary gambel oak hybrids to majestic Japanese zelkova in Cottam’s Gulch. Read the university magazine cover story by Lisa Anderson. @redbuttegarden magazine.utah.edu/issues/summe...

New monstersaur species a ‘goblin prince’ among dinosaurs - @theU Discovery of Bolg amondol, a name inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” universe, reveals the complex evolutionary history of giant Gila monster relatives that roamed Utah’s prehistoric tro...

‘Jar of bones’ recovered from Utah’s public lands and held for 20 years in the collections of @nhmu.bsky.social found to be those of a Cretaceous lizard previously unknown to science. Study by @utah.edu gives it a name: Bolg amondol, relative of modern Gila monster. attheu.utah.edu/facultystaff...

A new look at the Stateville prison malaria experiments - @theU Utah scholars pull back the curtain on the untold story of Black prisoners and the science of preventing adverse drug reactions.

@utah.edu medical ethicists are revealing untold story of Black inmate used in malaria experiments at #Stateville Penitentiary and how it led to discoveries that help prevent adverse drug reactions today.
attheu.utah.edu/health-medic...

How LED lights can help birds avoid fatal run-ins with windows Shining ultraviolet lights on windows can substantially decrease the number of birds that fly into them and die, new research at Utah State University shows.

LED lighting doesn't just save electricity, it can also prevent bird collisions with buildings, which kills millions a year. Researchers with @utahstate.bsky.social figure out how shining ultraviolet light on glass makes windows appear solid. www.npr.org/2025/05/26/n...

Our energy future?
Cue Fred Flintstone

@washingtonpost.com

As climate warms, migratory songbirds’ fall feather molt advances by a day every year - @theU Study by U biologists taps data from 22,000 songbirds captured at Bonderman Field Station to reveal changes in how they replace their feathers

Climate change is not just disrupting songbirds’ breeding and migration schedules. The timing of their fall molt is occurring earlier every year, according to bird banding research from @utah.edu @sekercioglu.bsky.social @uofubiology.bsky.social attheu.utah.edu/research/as-...

Secrets of the Haenyeo divers - @theU “It’s like they have a superpower”: Genetic analysis of all-women extreme divers finds changes linked to blood pressure, cold tolerance.

“It’s like they have a superpower.” Genetic analysis of all-women extreme divers finds changes linked to blood pressure, cold tolerance.

Secrets of the Haenyeo divers ⬇️🤿

Spring runoff is older than you think - @theU Research by U hydrologists finds water flowing out of Western ranges is, on average, more than 5 years old, demonstrating that runoff has a prolonged underground journey

Spring runoff is older than you think: Research by #UofU hydrologists finds water flowing out of Western ranges is, on average, more than 5 years old, demonstrating that runoff has a prolonged underground journey.

U and XPrize partner to revolutionize healthy aging - @theU The U’s Utah Data Coordinating Center will validate the science of teams vying for the $101 million XPRIZE Healthspan, a competition aimed at closing the gap between health and lifespan.

We're partnering with @xprize.org to revolutionize healthy aging. The $101-million, 7-year global competition will leverage our Utah Data Coordinating Center to validate the science of competing XPRIZE teams, who are working toward a goal of extending "health spans."

Photo of Douglas Brick from The Daily Utah Chronicle, 1973

University Police find answers in 1973 missing student cold case:

“We never stopped hoping for answers about Doug’s disappearance. We are relieved to finally have some answers. After 52 years, this result, while sad, is nothing short of a miracle.”

📰 attheu.utah.edu/safety/unive...

Utah needs more herpetologists like Geoff Smith. Here's the latest news from IguanaThon

This guy is onto what could be an awesome board game!

A psychedelic sacrament. A Provo police raid. What counts as a religion? A Provo group uses hallucinogenic mushrooms to commune with God. Provo authorities don’t think they’re a legitimate religion.

Singularism involves a “tea ceremony” with hallucinogenic mushrooms that allow participants to “have these overwhelming, powerful mastery experiences.”

Provo sees it as a covert way of selling drugs.

You won’t regret reading this delightful story by @sean-greene.bsky.social.

Parts of our DNA may evolve much faster than previously thought - @theU Knowing how human DNA changes over generations is essential to estimating genetic disease risks and understanding how we evolved.

Researchers from @uuhsresearch.bsky.social and other institutions have developed the most comprehensive atlas of genetic change through generations.

It shows parts of the human genome change much faster than we thought, providing insight into human disease & evolution.

Nearly a dozen Utah international student’ visas reinstated after reversal by Trump administration Nearly a dozen Utah international students have had their visas reinstated, hours after the Trump admin announced it was halting orders, for now, to revoke some 1,500 visas nationwide.

UPDATE: At least 10 international students attending Utah colleges and universities on recently revoked student visas saw their status reinstated Friday — but The Tribune has learned that one student already left the U.S. about a week ago.

Major dust-up for water in the Colorado River - @theU Using pioneering remote sensing techniques, new research could help predict the timing and magnitude of snow darkening and impacts on melt rates on snowpacks, in real time.

Faster melts, drier futures. Dust storms darken the snowpack, speed up melt and make runoff predictions harder, according to @utah.edu research. Hydrologists use 23 years of satellite data to reveal how much sooner Colorado Plateau snow melts. attheu.utah.edu/facultystaff...