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The search for the cause of Alzheimer's has so far come up dry. Some researchers are now asking if germs play a role.

Living with Alzheimer's, during a pandemic.

Also on Arizona Spotlight: How a Tucson artist's meticulous style brings solace; and Part 2 of Youth Crossing Gender Borders, "Changing Expectations".
Pima County COVID-19 testing at the Kino Events Center, July 13.

Improving Arizona COVID-19 trends could drive testing declines, complacency

Experts say states need higher testing rates to gauge and improve COVID-19 responses.
Tangled proteins in the Alzheimer's affected brain harm communication between nerve cells.

UA scientists investigate connection between Alzheimer's and Down syndrome

The team is developing new ways to look at protein interaction in the human brain.
Jason Graham, director of wastewater plant operations with the city of Fort Collins, pulls a plastic jug from a sampling machine at the Drake Water Reclamation facility.

In Colorado, your stool is a tool in the fight against coronavirus

To track the next coronavirus outbreak, Western states look to the sewers.
In 1856, William Henry Perkin, an 18-year old chemistry student at the time, was trying to synthesize malaria drug, when accidentally developed a purple dye. This dye is believed to be one of the first steps of chemistry taking over the world.

What living in a world made from chemicals means for "The Sensitives".

Also on Arizona Spotlight: Jes Baker on making self-love a part of the pandemic; and a Summer 2020 insect update from "The King of Sting", Justin O. Schmidt.
This image, taken in the Spacecraft Assembly Facility's High Bay 1 at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, on July 23, 2019, shows a close-up of the head of Mars 2020's remote sensing mast.

ASU to launch cameras aboard new Mars rover, Emirates orbiter

ASU cameras have previously perched atop the masts of the Spirit, Opportunity and Curiosity Mars rovers.
A photo accompanying a UANews release about the university's antibody testing effort in partnership with the state.

UA expands antibody test

Participants can also opt in to yearlong immunity study.
Pima County COVID-19 testing at the Kino Events Center, July 13.

Epidemiologist: The goal for COVID-19 testing is speed and access, not absolute numbers

Delays to Arizonans getting test results make it hard to conduct effective contact tracing.
Scientists have been studying the Colorado River, shown here from above Deer Creek Falls, for nearly four decades to understand the environmental impacts of the Glen Canyon Dam on a water source used by around 40 million people in seven states. The environment, climate change, tribal rights and those water users will all be considered in river-management talks expected to begin later this year.

Humpback chub 'alien abductions' help frame the future of the Colorado River

While not considered very "charismatic," this keystone fish plays an important role in water policy.
Three spacecraft are set for launch from Earth toward Mars this month.

Mars missions prepare to launch

Three spacecraft are scheduled to depart for February 2021 arrivals at the Red Planet.
Arizona has its first COVID-19 test that uses saliva. More than 6,000 people have already been tested using the test, ASU scientists say.

ASU researchers develop cheaper, faster saliva test for COVID-19

Saliva tests may be even more accurate than nasal tests, the director of ASU's Biodesign Institute says.
Rain clouds near Tubac, July 2019.

Monsoon in Southern Arizona officially starts this week

It is monsoon awareness week.
Tucson candlelight vigil for George Floyd, held at the Dunbar Center on June 1st, 2020.

Adiba Nelson asks “What will it take for America to understand the pain of Black women?”

Also on Arizona Spotlight: Preserving the hidden history of one of Tucson's oldest Black communities; SpaceX launches a new era in space travel; and - was Speedway Boulevard ever really the ugliest street in America?
2019's Hurricane Dorian.

UA hurricane forecasters map summer season

The team has predicted 10 hurricanes for the North Atlantic, and drier summer for Southern Arizona.
In his book "At the Center of All Beauty: Solitude and the Creative Life", Fenton Johnson uncovers what role did solitude play in the lives of famous writers, thinkers and artists.

"At the Center of All Beauty": Author Fenton Johnson on the connection between solitude and creativity

Also on Arizona Spotlight: How a DNA test revealed a sensitive family secret; and essays from two young women about the changes the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to their lives.
Banner Health workers seal a collection kit at a drive-thru testing site, in this undated still image from video. Banner says the testing is by <a href="https://www.bannerhealth.com/patients/patient-resources/covid-19" target="_blank">appointment only</a>.

New model lays out different possibilities for COVID-19 in Arizona

How people will behave remains a great unknown for those trying to model the spread of the virus.

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