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“Gathering for Impact!”, the 2013 International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) Planetary Defense Conference, will be held in Flagstaff, Ariz., on April 15-19. The conference brings together world experts on subjects related to planetary defense, including what we currently know about potentially threatening asteroids and comets, techniques that might be used to deflect a threatening object, and political and policy issues that might affect a decision to take action. The conference will include an exercise where participants develop civil protection and threat mitigation responses to a hypothetical threat.

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Potential connections between the biodiversity of soil microorganisms and the carbon cycle will be studied by Northern Arizona University and the Translational Genomics Research Institute under a $2 million grant from the National Science Foundation.

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Global warming may initially make the grass greener, but not for long, according to new research conducted at Northern Arizona University. The study, published this week in Nature Climate Change, shows that plants may thrive in the early stages of a warming environment but begin to deteriorate quickly

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Catastrophic wildfires are on the rise in the western United States and a set of conditions may be contributing to a perfect storm for more fires, according to NAU’s Scott Anderson, professor in the School of Earth Sciences and Environmental Sustainability.

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A strain of the potentially deadly antibiotic-resistant bacterium known as MRSA has jumped from livestock to humans, according to a new study involving two Northern Arizona University researchers and scientists from around the world.

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Researcher Alice Gibb of Northern Arizona University and her team have found that some fully aquatic fishes can jump effectively on land, which has significant implications for evolutional biology.

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An idea with its origins in ballistic prey catching—the way toads and chameleons snatch food with their tongues—may change fundamental views of muscle movement while powering a new approach to prosthetics. After a decade of work, lead author Kiisa Nishikawa, Regents’ professor of biology at Northern Arizona University, and an international team of collaborators have published their hypothesis about spring-loaded muscles.

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A state-funded project coordinated out of Northern Arizona University will for the first time combine two powerful interventions to prevent domestic violence. The Fatality Reviews and Safety Audits project, headed by Professor Neil Websdale, was recently awarded a $783,090 grant by the Arizona Governor’s Office for Children, Youth and Families.

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Employing technology that reads the entire DNA code, researchers led by the Translational Genomics Research Institute and the Technical University of Denmark have pinpointed the source of a cholera outbreak in Haiti that killed more than 6,000 people and sickened 300,000.

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Barbara Veltri talks about education reform in America with unvarnished urgency. The focus of her research and criticism is an organization known as Teach for America. But the assistant professor insists she is not on a mission to disband Teach for America. Instead, she is on a mission to change it.

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This season’s massive Arizona fires making headlines around the globe have destroyed dozens of structures and burned nearly three-quarters of a million acres. They also are contributing to global warming, scientists say, by upsetting the carbon balance while they are burning and for years to come.

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Forest experts have warned for years that millions of small-diameter trees are a threat to the nation’s forests, and the massive Wallow Fire in eastern Arizona is further evidence.

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Researchers are using high tech collars to collect information about how elk move across the land, ultimately helping to keep them from stepping into danger.

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Historical record in sediment deposits indicates the Southwest region should brace for an extended "megadrought" that may last hundreds to thousands of years.

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An international team of scientists have traced the plague back to its roots in China and paved the way for future bacteria research.

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The new ice lab at Northern Arizona University lends greater understanding of the frozen surfaces of dwarf planets Eris and Pluto.

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New research from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope is providing close-up views of near-Earth objects and aiding astronomers in determining the size, composition and origin of more than 100 known near-Earth asteroids so far. Observation of 600 additional near-Earth objects is planned over the next year.

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Discovery of a new species of turtle in the southeastern United States brings the number of the country's endemic species to 57, with approximately 320 species of turtle documented worldwide.

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The complex circulatory system of cephalopods teaches researchers how accessory hearts can remedy peripheral arterial disease in humans.

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Recently named interim chair for the U.S. National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity, NAU pathogen biology expert Paul Keim finds himself the national spokesperson when significant scientific findings are released.

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The melting of glaciers is well documented, but when looking at the rate at which they have been retreating, a team of international researchers steps back and says not so fast.

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A team of Northern Arizona University-led researchers is using nearly $1.3 million in new funding from the National Institutes of Health to continue with the world’s longest-running study on obesity and Type 2 diabetes.

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A phenomenon dubbed “Beetle Mania” is playing out in northern Arizona. As can be expected, it involves rock music, but instead of screaming fans there are cheering scientists who have found a way to drive bark beetles crazy with sound.

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Marty Crump’s new book, 'Sexy Orchids Make Lousy Lovers,' takes readers on a voyage of discovery into the world of extraordinary interactions involving animals, plants, fungi and bacteria.

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Professor's research bolsters evidence that humans influence climate change.

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An NAU professor is one of only a handful of researchers in the United States who have examined the unseemly topic of teacher sexual misconduct with students.

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1) Research facility is the only building in the United States to receive the Royal Institute of British Architects' 2009 International Award; 2) Award spokesperson says the building "might be claimed as perhaps the most environmentally efficient building to-date" in the U.S.

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When scientist Loretta Mayer set out to alleviate diseases associated with menopause, she didn't realize her work could lead to addressing world hunger and feeding hundreds of millions of people.

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The raging Australian wildfires that have killed more than 200 people and destroyed some 1,800 homes over the last few weeks can "absolutely happen in the western United States at any time this year," says forest ecosystem expert Wallace Covington.

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Northern Arizona University's Dr. David S. Brumbaugh, Director of the Arizona Earthquake Information Center, is available for comment about the earthquake in Los Angeles on Tuesday, July 29, 2008.

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The deceptively simple, remarkably fast feeding action of toads offers a new look at how muscles work. This fresh perspective could lead to designing more efficient electric motors, better prostheses and new medical treatments for neuromuscular diseases like Parkinson's. Science has long held that muscles behave largely like motors. Northern Arizona University researcher Kiisa Nishikawa suggests that muscle acts more like a spring.