UCF in the News

Sneezing? Feeling congested? Coughing? Are these signs of flu season, a cold or allergies, or are they symptoms of COVID-19's rapidly spreading omicron variant? (Or delta, delta's still out there...) Without testing, it is difficult to determine whether the congestion is more than the flu, but either way, don't panic, say medical experts, just take proper precautions. "If you feel sick, don’t diagnose yourself," said Dr. Deborah German, Vice-President for Health Affairs and Dean, University of Central Florida College of Medicine. "Call your healthcare provider – don’t just show up to the clinic. Your provider can determine if you need to be tested for COVID-19 and what treatments you need."

Dec. 7, 2021 marks 80 years since the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. It claimed the lives of 2,403 Americans and launched the United States into World War II. University of Central Florida’s Barbara Gannon, a professor of military history, spoke with WMFE’s Joe Byrnes about the American veterans of that war and what her students can learn from them. She leads the UCF Community Veterans History project, which records their stories.

Just a day after South African scientists first announced the discovery of the Omicron variant, Europe reported its first case: The new coronavirus variant was in Belgium. Before the weekend was out, Australia, Britain, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Israel, Italy and other countries had all found cases. But in the United States, scientists kept searching. “If we start seeing a variant popping up in multiple countries across the world, usually my intuition is that it’s already here,” said Taj Azarian, a genomic epidemiologist at the University of Central Florida.

UCF has accepted an invitation to the 2021 Gasparilla Bowl and will face the Florida Gators on Dec. 23 at 7 p.m. inside Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, the team announced Sunday. This will mark the first time UCF and Florida will meet in a bowl.

University of Central Florida researchers have developed a device that detects viruses like SARS-COV-2 in the body as fast as and more accurately than current, commonly used rapid detection tests. The optical sensor uses nanotechnology to accurately identify viruses in seconds from blood samples. Researchers say the device can tell with 95% percent accuracy if someone has a virus, a significant improvement over current rapid tests that experts warn could have low accuracy. Testing for viruses is important for early treatment and to help stop their spread. The results are detailed in a new study in the journal Nano Letters. The researchers tested the device using samples of Dengue virus, a mosquito transmitted pathogen that causes Dengue fever and is a threat to people in the tropics. However, the technology can easily be adapted to detect other viruses, like SARS-COV-2 , says study co-author Debashis Chanda, a professor in UCF's NanoScience Technology Center.

Protecting the Earth from celestial threats took a big step forward Tuesday night with the launch of a mission to move an asteroid. The mission headed by NASA, Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), was sent on its journey with a launch of the first SpaceX mission that sent a payload into deep space. Dr. Kerri Donaldson Hanna, a planetary geologist at the University of Central Florida who will study samples of the asteroid Bennu when they return to Earth, said getting the opportunity to study these asteroids up close will provide invaluable information — on top of what NASA may learn while attempting to alter the course of an asteroid. “It also tells us about the property and the surface materials, which is what I’m most excited about and what we study here at UCF,” Donaldson Hanna said. “And so, this will give us a better understanding of how porous the rock is and the structure of the rock, and that will certainly tell us more about other asteroids in the main asteroid belt and the near-Earth population.”

The University of Central Florida is working on propulsion technology that can travel at least five times the speed of sound or greater as the U.S. chases China and Russia in developing the latest air defense technology. The Department of Defense awarded UCF researchers $1.5 million to advance its hypersonic propulsion technology in the hopes of surpassing China, which successfully tested new hypersonic missiles last August, a feat the U.S. has yet to accomplish. “Hypersonics are the new set of technology that everyone is interested in weaponizing,” said Tom Dolan, UCF associate professor at the School of Politics, Security, and International Affairs. “The concern is that hypersonics could represent a complete revolution of technology that changes everything but we don’t know for sure.” UCF’s three-year award is part of 18 other projects the DOD is funding to advance hypersonic research and build a workforce around it. Kareem Ahmed, an associate professor in UCF’s department of mechanical engineering and an expert in hypersonic propulsion engineering, is the lead researcher.

A $3.3 million University of Central Florida research project aims to help law enforcement agencies better recognize potential domestic violence situations through enhanced risk assessments that could lead to changes that prevent recent cases like Gabby Petito and Miya Marcano. Bethany Backes, UCF researcher and the project’s co-lead, said the research aims to decrease homicide and violence against people during the pretrial period, as well as ensure the assessment tools created are culturally significant.

Protecting the Earth from celestial threats took a big step forward Tuesday night with the launch of a mission to move an asteroid. The mission headed by NASA, Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), was sent on its journey with a launch of the first SpaceX mission that sent a payload into deep space. Dr. Kerri Donaldson Hanna, a planetary geologist at the University of Central Florida who will study samples of the asteroid Bennu when they return to Earth, said getting the opportunity to study these asteroids up close will provide invaluable information — on top of what NASA may learn while attempting to alter the course of an asteroid.