Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Brian Maffly @brianmaffly.bsky.social · Aug 20

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

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...

attheu.utah.edu

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Brian Maffly @brianmaffly.bsky.social · Aug 18

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

Brian Maffly @brianmaffly.bsky.social · Aug 18

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...

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.

attheu.utah.edu

Brian Maffly @brianmaffly.bsky.social · Aug 18

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

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.

attheu.utah.edu

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Brian Maffly @brianmaffly.bsky.social · Jul 8

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.

KUER @kuer.org · Jul 8

Utah’s efforts to lower the Coyote population could possibly backfire, according to science.

Coyotes remain as wily as ever, even as Utah has paid millions in bounties

“For a long time, we've had bounties and government agents out after them, trying to kill them. It never works,” one researcher said, describing the coyote’s resilience to hunting.

buff.ly

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Reposted by Brian Maffly

KUER @kuer.org · Jul 8

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.

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.

www.kuer.org

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Brian Maffly @brianmaffly.bsky.social · Jul 8

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

The Salt Lake Tribune @sltrib.com · Jul 8

Proposed cuts to the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation “would cause immense and largely irreversible damage to the successful American scientific enterprise,” write Jerry Kaplan and Dana Carroll in an op-ed.

Voices: Federal funding cuts to genetic research will be devastating for years to come

Proposed cuts to the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation “would cause immense and largely irreversible damage to the successful American scientific enterprise,” write Jerry Kaplan and Dana Carroll in an op-ed.

www.sltrib.com

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Brian Maffly @brianmaffly.bsky.social · Jul 2

@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...

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.

magazine.utah.edu

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Brian Maffly @brianmaffly.bsky.social · Jun 18

‘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...

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...

attheu.utah.edu

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Brian Maffly @brianmaffly.bsky.social · Jun 11

@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...

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.

attheu.utah.edu

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Brian Maffly @brianmaffly.bsky.social · May 27

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...

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.

www.npr.org

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Reposted by Brian Maffly

Diane Maggipinto @dianemaggipinto.bsky.social · May 23

Our energy future?
Cue Fred Flintstone

@washingtonpost.com

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Brian Maffly @brianmaffly.bsky.social · May 23

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-...

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

attheu.utah.edu

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Reposted by Brian Maffly

The University of Utah @utah.edu · May 7

“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 ⬇️🤿

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.

attheu.utah.edu

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Reposted by Brian Maffly

The University of Utah @utah.edu · May 8

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.

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

attheu.utah.edu

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Reposted by Brian Maffly

The University of Utah @utah.edu · May 13

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."

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.

attheu.utah.edu

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Reposted by Brian Maffly

The University of Utah @utah.edu · May 14

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...

Photo of Douglas Brick from The Daily Utah Chronicle, 1973

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Brian Maffly @brianmaffly.bsky.social · May 20

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

KUER @kuer.org · May 20

“We live in an amazing place, and it has a lot of species that you might not expect.”

IguanaThon takes Utahns into the desert with tiny lassos for rare lizards

Researchers in southwest Utah use the annual event to gather data about the elusive desert iguanas. It illustrates how community science could help a rare species survive.

buff.ly

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Brian Maffly @brianmaffly.bsky.social · May 20

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

Reposted by Brian Maffly

KUER @kuer.org · May 20

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.

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.

www.kuer.org

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Reposted by Brian Maffly

Sammy Roth @sammyroth.bsky.social · Apr 25

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

Los Angeles Times @latimes.com · Apr 25

Our friendly neighborhood fence lizard: Why Californians love this reptile

According to one app for nature observers, it's the most commonly seen creature in California: the western fence lizard. Why? The answer reflects how humans have invaded its space and how it has adapted to ours.

www.latimes.com

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Reposted by Brian Maffly

The University of Utah @utah.edu · Apr 25

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.

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.

attheu.utah.edu

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Reposted by Brian Maffly

The Salt Lake Tribune @sltrib.com · Apr 25

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.

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.

www.sltrib.com

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Brian Maffly @brianmaffly.bsky.social · Apr 18

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...

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.

attheu.utah.edu

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Brian Maffly @brianmaffly.bsky.social · Apr 17

Woodrats are basically desert superheroes, able to eat toxic plants and survive rattlesnake bites. But @utah.edu researchers find their venom resistance drops when it’s cool. @uofubiology.bsky.social
attheu.utah.edu/research/woo...
#ScienceNews #VenomResistance #Ecology

Woodrats’ immunity to snake venom changes with the weather - @theU

Researchers looking at effects of the desert rodent's toxic diet discover cool temperatures reduce the critter's ability to survive rattlesnake bites.

attheu.utah.edu

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