Critters
April 5, 2024
Undiscovered Insects Lurk in Plain Sight Across Texas. Meet the Newest: The Houston Tiger Beetle.
The jewel-toned bug may have been found just in time to save it, said Rice University biologist Scott Egan.
Science
Reporting and analysis about scientific research and innovation in Texas
News & Politics
March 28, 2024
A Baylor Scientist Transforms Education for the Blind
Inspired in part by his son, Bryan Shaw is leading a team that's reenvisioning the college chemistry lab.
Critters
March 13, 2024
How Some of Texas’s Most Terrifying Species Are Inspiring Engineers
Fire ants and carnivorous plants are among the tenacious flora and fauna researchers are looking to for inspiration.
Critters
March 8, 2024
Big Oil vs. a Little West Texas Lizard
Texas A&M herpetologist Lee Fitzgerald has been documenting the lizard’s decline in the Permian Basin since 1993. He's battling much of the oil and gas industry to get it listed as endangered.
Critters
March 4, 2024
Why a Rare Underwater Worm May Be Key to Saving Baffin Bay
Marine scientists are trying to save reef-building serpulid worms, which keep fish (and anglers) coming. Can they resurrect the reef in time?
Critters
February 28, 2024
Africa’s Smallest and Deadliest Wildcat Is Making a Comeback in Texas
Thirteen black-footed cats have been born at Fossil Rim Wildlife Center, in Glen Rose. The felines weigh barely four pounds, but watch out: they’re killers.
Business
February 22, 2024
Texas Finally Reclaims the Moon
A Houston company’s vessel returns America to the most remote portion of our state for the first time since 1972.
Health
February 1, 2024
How Used Coffee Grounds May Fend Off Parkinson’s
A UT–El Paso study demonstrates that a by-product of your morning cup of joe could prove useful in fighting neurodegenerative disease.
Style & Design
January 30, 2024
Topaz Hunting at the End of the World
For decades, Hill Country ranches let “rock hounds” come and hunt for rare Texas blue topaz. Now access is closed—unless you know a secret spot.
Travel & Outdoors
January 11, 2024
Shhhhh! The Official State Mushroom of Texas Is Hissing.
The Texas star—our official state mushroom—puts on a show every winter.
Health
December 14, 2023
A Chinese Drug Made of Insects May Help Cardiac Patients
UT Southwestern researchers rigorously tested a traditional herbal medication, yielding surprising results—and inviting plentiful skepticism.
Health
November 20, 2023
The UT Professor War-Gaming the Next Pandemic
Mathematical epidemiologist Lauren Ancel Meyers knows you're sick of thinking about infectious disease threats. But that's her job.
Best Thing in Texas
November 14, 2023
A Guy in Grapevine Had the Best Hike Ever: He Discovered a New Dinosaur.
Roughly the weight of a standard schnauzer, the plant-eating dino roamed North Texas 96 million years ago.
Critters
October 25, 2023
This Texas Scientist Trains Dogs to Sniff Out Invasive Species
Nathaniel Hall’s canines can also find pollutants and agricultural pests.
Health
October 11, 2023
Is a New Study Linking Autism to Aspartame Overblown?
Researchers in San Antonio found that boys whose mothers drank diet soda were more likely to be on the spectrum, but critics point out the data’s shortcomings.
Being Texan
September 21, 2023
Austin’s Only Natural History Museum Nearly Went Extinct. Now It’s Back and Better Than Ever.
The newly renovated Texas Science and Natural History Museum (formerly the Texas Memorial Museum) opens September 23.
Health
August 8, 2023
The Monkeys Who Died to Fight COVID
Texas Biomedical Research Institute helped subdue the coronavirus and has big plans for combating future disease threats—with controversial help from its thousands of research primates.
Critters
August 7, 2023
One of the World’s Rarest Whales Swims off the Texas Coast. Only About Fifty Are Left.
Just as scientists begin to understand the Rice’s whale, environmentalists contend in a lawsuit that it may be threatened by a proposed offshore oil terminal.
Critters
July 25, 2023
Emerald Ash Borers Are Decimating Texas Trees. Wasps Might Help Defeat Them.
As the invasive beetle carves a path through Texas, state and federal officials are searching for solutions.
Business
June 29, 2023
Mapping the Mysteries—And the Dangers—of the Ocean Depths
Founded by a pair of former Navy SEALs, Austin-based Terradepth has ambitious plans to deploy a fully autonomous fleet of submersibles to continually monitor the seafloor.
News & Politics
June 27, 2023
The Texan Who Never, Ever Ran Out of Energy
Remembering John Goodenough, who was well into his fifties when he developed a battery that changed the world.
Critters
May 30, 2023
The Hell Pig, the Texas Titanosaur, and Seven Other Outlandish Beasts That Once Roamed Big Bend
West Texas is home to some of the world's most spectacular fossils, from the gentle moose camel to the fearsome tusked swamp beast.
Health
April 3, 2023
These Tiny Beads May Offer Big Hope to Ovarian Cancer Patients
A Rice University bioengineer’s mini “drug factories” could save thousands of lives.
Critters
March 28, 2023
UT Scientists Discovered a Beaver Fossil and Named It After Buc-ee’s
Collected in 1941, A. buceei languished in a drawer for decades.
Books
March 24, 2023
Her Grandfather Dug For Fossils in Big Bend. Now Her Photos Celebrate His Spirit of Adventure.
Sarah Wilson's ‘DIG’ combines photos, her grandfather’s Kodachrome teaching slides, and creatively staged paleontological artifacts.
Critters
March 13, 2023
The Hunt for Wildcat Fossils in Central Texas
In a dark corner of Natural Bridge Caverns, near San Antonio, wildcat bones lay undisturbed for thousands of years. Scientists are just beginning to unlock their mysteries.
Critters
March 2, 2023
Texas’s Biggest Coastal Wildlife Rescue Center Is Now Open in Corpus Christi
Visitors can watch injured sea turtles and dolphins recover at the state-of-the-art facility.
Critters
February 27, 2023
West Texans Are Learning What It Means to Live in Bear Country
Scientists are using GPS collars to gather surprising data—including on one bear that walked 35 miles to dumpster dive.
Best Thing in Texas
February 23, 2023
A Texas Professor Has Cured Hiccups, Folks
No, it doesn't involve a spoonful of sugar.
Travel & Outdoors
February 6, 2023
One of Texas’s Coolest Caves Lies Beneath an Upscale San Antonio Neighborhood
Robber Baron Cave once hosted fortune tellers, dance performances, and even a zip line.
News & Politics
October 27, 2022
It’s Okay to Fear the Robot Dogs Coming to UT
Scientists are unleashing the computerized canines on the Austin campus to study how humans interact with them.
Health
October 11, 2022
This UT Scientist Helped Spare Millions From COVID-19. Now He’s Unmasking Other Killer Viruses.
Jason McLellan’s groundbreaking research is changing the way vaccines are developed—including those for another formidable pathogen, RSV.
Texas Country Reporter
September 16, 2022
This Boys Ranch ISD Teacher Is Building a Reputation for Rocketry
Barre Wheatley leads an ambitious program that encourages students to shoot for the moon.
Texas Country Reporter
August 18, 2022
The Texas “Moth Man” Is Retired But Still Clicking
Stuart Marcus has spent years identifying and photographing hundreds of species of moths near the Trinity River, but he still has more to go.
News & Politics
August 15, 2022
This UT Lab Conjures Clean Drinking Water Out of Thin Air
Chemical engineer Guihua Yu’s team works with tiny particles to try to solve some of the world’s biggest problems.
Libations
June 6, 2022
Texas Brewers Are Using Native Yeasts to Create Some Truly Wild Beers
San Antonio’s Community Cultures Yeast Lab—the only one of its kind in the southern U.S.—collects indigenous strains for craft breweries.
News & Politics
April 22, 2022
Texas Beaches May Be Filthier Than We Realize
A&M researchers say more-robust testing is needed to understand just how much human feces ends up in Gulf waters.
Health
April 21, 2022
How Okra Could Clean Up Our Drinking Water
Researchers at Tarleton State have found an all-natural way to prevent Texans from imbibing quite so many tiny plastic particles.
Critters
April 1, 2022
Apocalyptic, Acid-Spewing Crazy Ants Invaded Texas. Now Scientists Have a “Silver Bullet” to Obliterate Them.
Even nastier than fire ants, the insects disable electronics and swarm over people and animals. UT researchers have found a pathogen that destroys them.
Health
March 21, 2022
Your Pets Have Been Getting COVID-19 Too. Here’s Why That Matters.
A team of scientists at Texas A&M has been testing cats and dogs throughout the pandemic. The CDC is furry interested.
Texas History
March 15, 2022
The Forgotten Texas Scientist Who Helped Develop the Polio Vaccine
Northeast Texas–born Byron Bennett was one of four key researchers on the team that created the lifesaving vaccine, but the spotlight shone only on Jonas Salk.
Health
February 23, 2022
This $14,000 Air Filter Promises to “Kill” COVID. Is It Worth the Price?
Taxpayers have spent millions for purifiers promoted by former governor Rick Perry. Could they have gotten the same benefits for far less money?
Critters
February 22, 2022
How the Turtle Lady of South Padre Helped Save the Kemp’s Ridley
Ila Loetscher took costumed turtles on late-night TV and founded a nonprofit that has rescued thousands of the creatures.
Critters
January 27, 2022
The Spider Lady of East Texas Aims to Ease Your Black Widow Fears
Nacogdoches researcher Ashley Wahlberg, whose arachnid collection is nightmare fodder for many, says spiders help us more than they hurt us.
Critters
January 26, 2022
Why Scientists Keep Discovering Strange New Wasps on the Rice University Campus
The newest species is named after the grad student pub Valhalla, on whose grounds it was found.
Texas History
January 17, 2022
The Secrets of Bonfire Shelter
Archaeologists are uncovering new clues at a canyon where ancient Texans once hunted bison en masse.
Business
December 15, 2021
Can This UT Professor Clean Up Outer Space?
Moriba Jah, a self-proclaimed “space environmentalist,” has joined a new effort to map the millions of bits of discarded debris orbiting the Earth.
News & Politics
November 16, 2021
The Most Powerful Telescope Ever Made Will Launch Next Month. A Texas Astronomer Is Leading Its Biggest Project.
UT’s Caitlin Casey will use the Webb Telescope to peer nearly 14 billion years back in time.
True Crime
November 9, 2021
How Walker County Jane Doe Was Identified at Last
Since 1980, police and an army of amateur sleuths have puzzled over the East Texas cold case. New forensic DNA techniques have finally given a name to the teenage girl whose brutal murder has haunted so many for so long.
News & Politics
October 20, 2021
Can This Company Take Pet Cloning Mainstream?
You love your pet. You love her so much that if you could, you’d buy an exact copy of her. Well, you can! Take it from Blake Russell, president of ViaGen Pets & Equine—and owner of a very unusual horse farm.