Yearly Archives: 2010

According to the 2000 census, nearly one-third of Texans ages 5 years and older speak Spanish at home. Add the under-5 population and the percentage is even higher. Due to continued immigration and globalism, the bilingual population will continue to grow in Texas. Five to 8 percent of preschoolers experience a speech-language disorder, one of…   » Continue Reading

Recovering a forgotten history of African American life was motivation enough for anthropology graduate student Nedra Lee and her peers to brave the Texas summer heat while excavating an old farmstead in southern Travis County. “Working outdoors always brought a few surprises. There were always toads hopping around; a huge bee tree was only a…   » Continue Reading

We measure our days in slices of time. Geologic Time as a Football Field Here’s a way to put geologic time scales in perspective. Lay out the 4.6 billion years since the Earth was formed on a football field and we can see where the milestones would appear: Start at the goal line and go…   » Continue Reading

When then-Harvard University Professor John Huehnergard and his wife and colleague Jo Ann Hackett first visited The University of Texas at Austin last spring, they couldn’t help but notice the ancient Phoenician and Hebrew letters that adorn the Tower. After all, Hackett, a Hebrew scholar, and Huehnergard, who teaches Semitic linguistics and writing systems, have…   » Continue Reading

A Q&A with Dr. Ed Theriot, professor, diatom wrangler and director of the Texas Natural Science Center. You must have JavaScript enabled and the Flash 8 plugin installed to view this content. Consult your browser’s help file for instructions to enable JavaScript. Why should people visit the Texas Memorial Museum? Whether they like dinosaurs and…   » Continue Reading

New students entering the fall semester at The University of Texas at Austin will be welcomed in grand style during the traditional Gone to Texas celebration at 8:30 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 24 on the university’s Main Mall. Gone to Texas takes place Tuesday, Aug. 24 at 8:30 p.m. on the university’s Main Mall. Experience Gone…   » Continue Reading

Andrew Blumberg became interested in the issue of “locational privacy” after his parents, who live in Boston, happened to leave their E-Z Pass electronic tolling device at his grandparents’ place in New York. “My grandparents mailed it back to them,” says Blumberg, an assistant professor of mathematics. “That month, all of these crazy charges turned…   » Continue Reading

Within weeks of the Haiti earthquake last January, five geoscientists and two engineers from The University of Texas at Austin traveled to the island nation to help assess the damage, identify future earthquake hazards, and make recommendations about how and where to rebuild. They surveyed Haiti from the air, land, coastline and sea.

As oil continues to gush into the Gulf of Mexico, The University of Texas at Austin is marshaling its expertise to respond. Mapping the Gulf Oil SpillYou must have JavaScript enabled and the Flash 8 plugin installed to view this content. Consult your browser’s help file for instructions to enable JavaScript. Engineers, scientists, researchers and…   » Continue Reading

Where do you expect to find yourself this summer? By the side of a pool, feet cooled by the water? Or on a bus rambling through a distant city? Maybe you just want a comfy chair in an air-conditioned room where you can beat the heat. Wherever you land, isn’t summer better when accompanied by…   » Continue Reading