UCF in the News

In one of the most rapidly developing countries in the world, there is a monument carved into sandstone, surrounded by date farms and dusty two-lane roads. This is Hegra. Also known as al-Hijr or Mada'in Saleh, Hegra is the crown jewel of Saudi Arabia's archaeological attractions and was the first place in the country inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list. Petra, the famous site in Jordan, was the capital of the Nabatean people, while Hegra was the kingdom’s southern outpost until it was abandoned in the 12th century. But most of their culture has been lost to history. Now, increased investment in archeology from the Saudi government means that more and more information is coming out of Hegra and other Nabatean sites. “We’ve all heard of the Assyrians, we’ve all heard of the Mesopotamians,” says Wayne Bowen, professor of history at the University of Central Florida. “But (the Nabateans) stood up to the Romans, they stood up to the Hellenistic Greeks, they had this incredible system of cisterns in the desert, controlled the trade routes. I think they just get absorbed in the story of the growth of the Roman Empire.”

UCF coach Gus Malzahn sat back in his chair at the College Football Hall of Fame with a sly grin and quiet confidence shortly before the Knight Nation's Big 12 Celebration event. This stop is the latest in a barnstorming tour across major metropolitan areas up and down the East Coast. Why? UCF is big time now. The Group of Five power is ready to make a splash when it joins the Big 12 on July 1 along with BYU, Houston and Cincinnati. The former longtime Auburn coach is not only ready for the transition, but also an opportunity to set the tone for the new era of UCF football. "This is a championship program. Our goal is to win the championship," Malzahn said.

Some restaurants in Central Florida are trying to stay afloat without raising food prices or cutting staff by charging customers a 20% service fee. Unlike a tip, a service fee is not optional. Sean Snaith, director of the Institute for Economic Forecasting at the University of Central Florida, explains how inflation is impacting the way we tip.

While there is water on the Moon, it’s not kept in convenient reservoirs, it’s locked away in the lunar soil. Now, a team of scientists has found that thirsty astronauts could one day refresh themselves fairly easily – by throwing a cup of Moon dirt in the microwave. That means future crewed missions to the Moon could pack a little lighter. A new study from scientists at The Open University and the University of Central Florida have demonstrated that a simple microwave oven can do the trick.

A new paper showing how water actually travels through a plastic membrane could make desalination more efficient. That’s good news for a thirsty world. “This is one of those major breakthroughs,” says Steve Duranceau, an environmental engineer at the University of Central Florida, who spent 15 years designing desalination plants before becoming a professor. “This will change the way that people start modeling, and interpreting how to design these systems.”

Since launching in 2016, Get Up And Go Kayaking has racked up hundreds of millions of social media views, thousands of five-star reviews, 20-plus franchises in Florida, and now earned the No. 33 spot on Entrepreneur's Top New & Emerging Franchises list. Owner Justin Buzzi explains how it all got started. What's your background? "I got my marketing degree from the University of Central Florida and was kind of pursuing a rap music career, but I ended up working for the Golf Channel in Orlando, first as a client support person, and then as a pricing analyst. I started Get Up And Go Kayaking while I was working there, so at night I would give bioluminescent tours where the water lights up as you paddle over it. I would get home around 3 a.m., be the weird guy washing off kayaks at 4 a.m., get to bed at 5 a.m., and then have to wake up and get to work by 8 the next morning. I did that for two summers, and then thankfully the business was at the point where I could quit the full-time job and focus on giving tours."

Billowing flames and clouds of smoke are typical for rocket launches. Destroyed launchpads and wreckage strewn far and wide across surrounding wetlands, however, are most definitely not. Then again, the April 20 test flight of SpaceX’s gigantic Starship—the largest vehicle ever flown—was no typical rocket launch. Expectations for Starship are sky-high because SpaceX intends the system’s unprecedented power and planned routine reusability to revolutionize spaceflight itself while also landing NASA astronauts on the moon as early as 2025. But the bar was much lower for this test flight, which sought to send Starship on a near loop of Earth: SpaceX officials stated simply clearing the launchpad would be a success. Starship exceeded that goal in more ways than one. Mounted atop its massive, 33-engine Super Heavy booster, Starship cleared the pad with such force that it left behind little more than a smoldering crater and far-reaching showers of pulverized debris. Observers were stunned by the sheer size of the dust cloud raised by the launch. “At first, I didn’t realize it was an anomaly of the launchpad—I thought it was just the nature of this rocket,” says Philip Metzger, a physicist at the University of Central Florida, who used to work on launchpad technology at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. “The amount of dust and smoke that came up from the launchpad was wild. I had never seen something that voluminous.”

Winter Park's streets and crosswalks could get major upgrades over the next two decades to make them safer for pedestrians and more efficient for drivers. The technology is called CAV infrastructure, which stands for "connected and autonomous vehicle." Basically, it means that all the traffic lights, crossing signals, road sensors, cameras, and even smart vehicles on the road can communicate with each other electronically. Basically, it means that all the traffic lights, crossing signals, road sensors, cameras, and even smart vehicles on the road can communicate with each other electronically. They send signals on when to stop or go, even letting vehicles know when there's something in the way that they can't see. Professor Yaser Fallah, who teaches computer engineering at UCF says the technology is closer than we think. "If this becomes reality it's going to have a big impact," he said. The technology can recognize cars and objects on the road, and switch signals or even prompt smart vehicles to stop. This will make crosswalks and intersections less risky for people and traffic. "What we envision is that all of these are connected together and talking to each other," Fallah said.

Do you like to offer your partner kind words and compliments? Or do you prefer to express your affection with gifts, or by taking care of the daily chores? A few years ago, in a bestselling book, Gary Chapman identified five different "languages of love" that we all unconsciously use: words of affirmation, physical touch, receiving gifts, acts of service, and quality time. But are some of the five particularly compatible with others or especially ill-suited? And how can you learn them? Helping out with daily tasks, to make your partner's life bit easier, is a powerful symbol of affection for some. Sejal Mehta Barden, executive director of the Marriage and Family Research Institute at the University of Central Florida, told Newsweek that these tasks could be as simple as filling the gas tank in your partner's car, doing the dishes or taking out the trash. "Acts that make us feel loved," she said. Barden recommends that couples discuss their love languages so they can work out how to spend time together in a way that makes both feel loved. "A classic example might be one of the partners has quality time as a love language and another partner has physical touch," she says. "You can easily put both of those together of having quality time, watching a movie, and making sure that you're not sitting on separate chairs, but you're choosing to sit on a sofa where you can also have physical touch associated together."