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Radon Action Month, observed every January, is a reminder to protect your home and family from the dangers of radon exposure. Radon is a colorless, odorless, and tasteless radioactive gas that forms naturally from the breakdown of uranium in soil, rock, and water. It can seep into homes through cracks in foundations, construction joints, and other openings, building up to dangerous levels indoors. Prolonged exposure to high levels of radon is the second-leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S., surpassed only by smoking.

Dr. Colby Ruiz was a teenager when he watched his first surgery. He volunteered in the operating room at Valdosta’s South Georgia Medical Center, where his parents worked as nurses. Ruiz could have ended up in any of the hospital units except, at 14, he really didn’t want to wear the pink “candy striper” uniform of most hospital volunteers. When Ruiz learned that OR volunteers wore green, he was all in.

Compared to some of the long, more strenuous hikes at Yosemite National Park in California, the venture up the granite outcrop at Olmsted Point is short if a little steep. But an epic view awaits the 18 University of Georgia students who make the climb. High above Yosemite Valley, they gaze westward to make out Half Dome in the distance. Other peaks of various shapes and features stretch on endlessly. Class is now in session.

As shocking images of the fire-blasted hills around Los Angeles demonstrate, wildfires have become an increasing concern in the United States, particularly in regions where suppression strategies have dominated for decades. A new study by University of Georgia researcher Yukiko Hashida examines how prescribed burns could play a key role in mitigating wildfire risks.

William “Bill” D. Branch, Georgia Seed Development Professor in Peanut Breeding and Genetics in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, has been elected as Fellow for the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). Branch is the 17th UGA faculty member to receive this honor, which recognizes inventors whose innovations have had a significant impact on society, economic development and quality of life.

As the new year gets underway, let’s look back at the climate conditions of 2024 and look forward to what last year's trends may indicate for 2025. Data shows that 2024 was the warmest year on record since official global tracking began in 1880. Three main factors controlled the climate last year: the warming trend across the world caused by greenhouse warming of the planet, the El Niño that dominated the eastern Pacific Ocean in the first half of the year, and the unusual warming of the Atlantic Ocean.

In Associate Professor Kari Turner’s “Companion Animal Care” class, Penelope stands in front of the lecture hall, her large, brown eyes taking in her audience. Penelope, a piebald pit bull terrier mix, and her caretaker, Katlyn Davis, a fourth-year animal biosciences major, are there to tell their rescue story. Three years ago, the months-old pup was found abandoned, malnourished and covered in mange under an abandoned house.

People love the taste of sugar beets’ primary byproduct: white sugar. Soilborne cyst nematodes — parasitic, microscopic worms — enjoy the root vegetable, too, but as their sole food source. It’s an obstinate, expensive problem for farmers that researchers at the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences are working to solve.

Organic fruits and vegetables often face a higher risk of spoiling and harboring foodborne pathogens than their conventional farming counterparts. Because organic growers and packers must adhere to higher production standards and restrictions on chemical additives, University of Georgia experts are exploring alternative methods for protecting organic products and consumers through a new $3.5 million grant from the United States Department of Agriculture.

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could look inside a peanut kernel and see the nutritional content hiding there? It’s possible. A device calibrated and deployed by the Peanut Innovation Lab is allowing partners to test peanut seed where they are – avoiding time-consuming and expensive off-site lab tests – to see which plants have the desired oil content. The technology is saving money and speeding up the process to develop new high-oleic lines where people need them the most.