Science Articles
![UF researcher links muscles to immune response](/media/newsufledu/images/2021/04/UF-News_Skeletal-Muscle-research.jpg)
A team of investigators, led by Thomas Clanton, Ph.D. from the Department of Applied Physiology and Kinesiology, College of Health and Human Performance, demonstrated for the first time that skeletal muscles do indeed play an important but poorly understood role in immunity.
![With beginning of Florida blueberry season comes new UF/IFAS variety](/media/newsufledu/images/2021/04/UF-News_blueberry.jpg)
As April starts this week, we’re getting into another Florida blueberry season and the sweet taste that comes with the fruit. You can pick them yourself or buy them from the store. Recently, the University of Florida developed and released another tasty blueberry variety.
![UF study: Silent MRSA carriers have twice the mortality rate of adults without the bacteria](/media/newsufledu/images/2021/04/UF-News_MRSA.jpg)
A University of Florida study of middle-aged and older adults finds those who unknowingly carry methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, on their skin are twice as likely to die within the next decade as people who do not have the bacteria.
![UF researchers use AI datasets to track feral pigs, minimize disease risk](/media/newsufledu/images/2021/03/UF-News_Feral-pigs.jpg)
Feral pigs cost the agriculture industry at least $1.5 billion in damage, disease and control costs around the United States annually, running rampant on large swaths of grazing lands. The swine root in soil and eat most everything in sight.
![Invasive big-headed ants pose a major threat to a Kenyan ecosystem](/media/newsufledu/images/2021/03/UF-News-big-headed-ant.jpg)
Anew paper published in Ecology Letters brings attention to a species of invasive ants that are wiping out the local population of ants and harming plant life in Kenya.
![Florida-grown coffee? How UF scientists are using AI to serve up the possibilities](/media/newsufledu/images/2021/03/UF-News_Coffee.jpg)
Most of the world’s coffee is grown in tropical regions. However, a changing climate could allow coffee to grow farther north — for example, in Florida. This project is just one example of how UF researchers are using artificial intelligence to advance Florida’s agricultural sector.
![These moths are one of Hawaii’s oldest animal groups. Can they survive the next century?](/media/newsufledu/images/2021/03/UF-News_Hawaiian-Moth.jpg)
Shrinking habitat, disease and invasive species have wiped out much of Hawaii’s native flora and fauna, and more than 530 species on the islands are federally listed as endangered or threatened. Somehow, these micromoths, with a wingspan the length of an eyelash, have persisted.
![New AI tool to be tested in NIH-funded study to improve diagnosis of Parkinson’s and related disorders](/media/newsufledu/images/2021/03/UF-News_AI-tool.jpg)
University of Florida researchers will broadly test a new artificial intelligence tool aimed at distinguishing the precise diagnosis for patients with early Parkinson’s disease or two related but distinct Parkinson’s-like syndromes under a new $5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.
![Extinct Caribbean bird’s closest relatives hail from Africa, South Pacific](/media/newsufledu/images/2021/03/UF-News_FL-museum.jpg)
In a genetic surprise, ancient DNA shows the closest family members of an extinct bird known as the Haitian cave-rail are not in the Americas, but Africa and the South Pacific, uncovering an unexpected link between Caribbean bird life and the Old World.
![UF professor and students work to free the Ocklawaha River](/media/newsufledu/images/2021/03/UF-news_Ocklawaha.jpg)
Fifty miles separates the University of Florida campus from the Ocklawaha River, considered one of the most endangered rivers in America. For 50 years, UF faculty and students have been helping to free it by applying science and design with advocates for the river.
![UF scientists predict potential spread of disease vector mosquito new to Florida](/media/newsufledu/images/2021/03/UF-News_mosquito.jpg)
UF/IFAS scientists predict where in Florida environmental conditions may be suitable for the mosquito Aedes scapularis to spread, now that it has invaded the Florida Peninsula.
![UF professor receives NSF grant to study effects of introducing AI education to middle school students](/media/newsufledu/images/2021/03/UF-News_grant.jpg)
Kristy Boyer, an associate professor in the Department of Computer & Information Science & Engineering, recently received a $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to investigate artificial intelligence (AI) education for middle school students.