Here's a few tales from 2017 sure to make you smile.

Five UNLV graduates will be recognized by President Len Jessup during winter commencement for their combination of academic excellence and service to the community.

Med student and community leader share a vision for a healthier Las Vegas.

UNLV Prof. Brian Hedlund is studying microorganisms in a Nevada hot spring; the results could help evaluate whether extraterrestrial life exists.

Physics professor Michael Pravica teams up with Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch in Bleacher Report web series.

Excited about UNLV’s diversity and upward trajectory, this new life sciences professor is looking forward to involving more undergraduates in her research.

The university won a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation to house a new multiphoton laser-scanning microscope, the first of its kind in Nevada.

UNLV welcomes inaugural SEA-Phages class, a two-semester, discovery-based undergraduate research course.

UNLV research efforts have consistently grown over its 60-year life span, setting us on track to someday becoming one of the premier research universities in the nation.

UNLV geoscientists and students like undergraduate Amber Turner (left, with alumna Lisa Danielson) are studying our planet and others to understand the impacts humans are having on Earth and the possibilities of life beyond it.

What do a heist thriller, the evolving human diet, water quality, consumer behavior, literature, and Mars have in common? All were the foundation of research awards UNLV faculty gar-nered this year.

Get ready for the sun to go dark during the day, but don't grab your shades. UNLV astrophysicist Jason Steffen on being humbled by the universe.