The UF newsroom’s favorite stories from 2024News

As 2024 comes to a close, University of Florida students, faculty, and staff are looking back on an amazing year. Forbes recognized UF as a “New Ivy," the university reached new heights with the launch of the UF Astraeus Space Institute, and a historic partnership was formed with UF Health providing care to Team USA in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Those of us in the UF newsroom wanted to revisit our favorite stories from the last 12 months. Here are our top 10.

UF scientist Rob Ferl completes historic space mission

In August, UF scientist Rob Ferl took a giant leap for research when he became the first NASA-funded university researcher to conduct his own experiments in space during a flawless sub-orbital mission on Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket.

UF experts weigh in on Olympics economy and tourism

The 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games took place from July 26 to Aug. 11 and was the largest event ever organized in France, according to the International Olympic Committee. UF faculty shared expertise and context on how this global event affected the economy and tourism of an Olympics host city.

Gene therapy restores vision in first-ever trial for rare, inherited blindness

A gene therapy developed by UF scientists restored useful vision to patients with a rare, inherited blindness. The results were so dramatic that one patient saw her first star and another saw snowflakes for the first time.

Engineering students solve soldiers’ problem at lightning speed

What started as a class project for UF engineering students became a viable solution for soldiers who needed an easier, faster, and safer way to camouflage their vehicles on the battlefield. Students in a mechanical engineering capstone course received real-world training to design and produce a vehicle camouflage deployer for the U.S. Army.

We date, marry people who are attractive as we are, new analysis finds

In good news for our egos, both men and women were pretty accurate at rating their own physical attractiveness, according to a new study. Couples also tended to be well-matched in their attractiveness, suggesting that we largely date and marry people in our own “league,” at least as far as beauty is concerned.

Wasting away again in Gainesville? New Jimmy Buffett course comes to UF

It’s always 5 o’clock in UF’s Jimmy Buffett course, (Un)Common Arts: “Son of a Son of a Sailor,” even though it starts at 5:10 p.m. The fall launch of the new one-credit honors elective came at a fitting time, considering Aug. 30 was Jimmy Buffett Day and Sept. 1 marked the one-year anniversary of the singer-songwriter’s death.

Scientists CT scanned thousands of natural history specimens now available for free access

The openVertebrate project was a five-year initiative funded by the National Science Foundation to make 3D models of museum specimens freely available to scientists, students, teachers, and the public. The project members took CT scans of more than 13,000 specimens, with representative species across the vertebrate tree of life.

Listen carefully: UF study could lead to better deepfake detection

UF researchers recently concluded the largest study on audio deepfakes to date and found humans had a 73% accuracy rate but were often fooled by details generated by machines, like British accents and background noises. Want to test your ability to detect deepfakes? Click on the article to take the quiz.

Fueled by determination, UF alum survives 30 hours on a Colorado mountain

Freezing rain poured down on Steve Stephanides as he narrowly faced death on Colorado’s 14,231-foot Mount Shavano. The 47-year-old UF graduate had gone on a company-led charity hike with his co-workers. After reaching the summit, Stephanides prepared to head down the peak. The next several hours would test his faith and his fortitude.

Quincy Jones mastered the art of arrangement

UF professor and Latin GRAMMY-winning musician José Valentino Ruiz reflected on the career and legacy of Quincy Jones, who died on Nov. 3, 2024 at the age of 91. Jones transformed our understanding of musical arrangement, which is the art of deciding how a song unfolds.