As digital assistants like Siri and Alexa become more common in our lives, people increasingly see them as companions that accompany them throughout their day. Young children, especially, are more apt to see these devices as real people or friends.

The Protect Texas Together app will allow people to track their COVID-19 symptoms, record test results, get connected to medical resources and — potentially, in the future — even assist in contact tracing.

UT researchers have been working with Southeast Texas Regional Advisory Council (SETRAC) over the past three years to build a more efficient model that would show, very clearly, where flooding is expected during major storms. SETRAC could then use that model to decide where to stage assets like ambulances and how to evacuate patients.

As Texas’s population is expected to nearly double in the next 30 years, Planet Texas 2050 grand challenge researchers find it important to understand what effect rapid urbanization will have on the natural environment.

University of Texas researchers argue that information scientists have a bigger role to play in the COVID-19 crisis because of the proliferation of conflicting messages. We asked three experts, who have been sheltering-in-place for the past two months in Austin, Texas, to tell us more about their perspectives on the pandemic.

This story highlights how we’re committed to developing technology that puts information about indoor air quality into the hands of the people who can use it most.

When COVID-19 began actually infecting bodies around the globe earlier this year, UT community and regional planning associate professor Junfeng Jiao decided to look at the transportation system as a way to predict the virus’ spread.

The 50th anniversary of Earth Day offers Planet Texas 2050 a chance to reflect on how defining moments can mobilize millions to envision more just and healthy futures. How crises, whether they be COVID-19 or climate change, can rouse us to redress inequities and ensure the vitality of all people and places as we plan for the days, years, and decades ahead.