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From the College of Natural Sciences
Professor Profile: Michael Starbird
Michael Starbird, a professor of mathematics and a member of the Academy of Distinguished Teachers, joined The University of Texas at Austin in 1974 and served as an associate dean in the College of Natural Sciences from 1989 to 1997. Throughout his career, Starbird has demonstrated a dedication to teaching, particularly in his efforts to make math...
Actuarial studies position in mathematics funded by Buck Consultants
AUSTIN, Texas—Buck Consultants, one of the world’s leading human resource and benefits consulting firms, announced today that it has funded the position of Buck Consultants Assistant Director of Actuarial Studies at The University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Leslie Vaaler will be the initial Buck Consultants Assistant Director of Actuarial Studies. Sh...
New Texas Natural Science Center offers education, exhibits and research
AUSTIN, Texas—The University of Texas at Austin will combine the Texas Memorial Museum, nationally known natural history research collections, public exhibits, and science education and outreach efforts in a new Texas Natural Science Center. The center, which hosts a variety of science outreach programs such as Austin Science Fun Day, will be a un...
Boyer, Kaufmann and Moore awarded the 2005 ACM Software System Award for the Boyer-Moore Theorem Prover
AUSTIN, Texas—University of Texas at Austin professors Robert Boyer and J Stother Moore and Senior Research Scientist Matt Kaufmann were awarded the 2005 Software System Award by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) for their work on the Boyer-Moore Theorem Prover. Used by computer scientists to verify that computer systems are functionin...
Learning Machines
On a small practice field on the first floor of Taylor Hall, robot dogs playing soccer scuttle around the field like infants crawling across a playpen. They survey their field with Cyclops-like camera eyes and nudge balls around with silver chins. And like little humans, these robots learn to walk, recognize color, and hold a ball. They experiment ...
Poison dart frog mimics gain when birds learn to stay away
AUSTIN, Texas—When predators learn to avoid a highly toxic frog, they generalize, and this allows a harmless frog to mimic and be more abundant than a frog whose poison packs less punch, biologists at The University of Texas at Austin studying poison dart frogs in the Amazon have discovered. Catherine Darst and Molly Cummings report their findings...
Convergent evolution of molecules in electric fish
AUSTIN, Texas—Having a set of extra genes gave fish on separate continents the ability to evolve electric organs, report researchers from The University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Harold Zakon and colleagues, in a paper recently published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, show that African and South American groups of fish independe...
Student scientists create living bacterial photographs
AUSTIN, Texas—Using Petri dishes full of genetically engineered E. coli instead of photo paper, students at The University of Texas at Austin and UCSF successfully created the first-ever bacterial photographs. Their work is published in this week’s issue of Nature (Nov. 24, 2005), which is focused on the emerging field of synthetic biology. The s...
UT Department of Mathematics honored for graduating most Latinos in math in the nation
AUSTIN, Texas—The University of Texas at Austin Department of Mathematics has been named the 2005 Example of Excelencia for its efforts to boost Latino participation, graduation and pursuit of teaching in mathematics. The announcement was made in Washington, D.C. at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund...Read It Now
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