Is the ‘Love Hormone,’ Oxytocin, Also the ‘Friendship Hormone’?
A UC Berkeley study found that social prairie voles lacking the receptor for oxytocin are slow to form friendships and less aggressive toward unfamiliar peers.
Research Finds Link Between Ocean Swimming and Urinary Tract Infections
UC Berkeley student spearheaded a study after recent evidence suggested that UTIs may be caused by environmental contamination.
Researchers Develop Efficient Memory Sensor for Wet, Salty Environments
New research explains how a new material can enable electronic sensors to function like biological neurons.
Pups in Tow, Yellowstone-Area Wolves Trek Long Distances To Stay Near Prey
For the first time, a UC Berkeley-led research team has observed gray wolves outside of the Arctic migrating during pup-rearing season.
Repairing the Heart: If Zebrafish Can Do It, Why Not Humans?
UC Berkeley and Caltech researchers tracked down genes that help zebrafish regenerate injured heart muscle.
Wildfire Season Is Here. Scholars Are Helping Communities Prepare.
A UC Berkeley professor and his students are applying advanced wildfire simulation tools to help Bay Area neighborhoods understand their specific wildfire risks.
Dinosaurs Were Likely Different From What Most of Us Picture
A UC Berkeley paleontologist explains how new discoveries challenge our long-held beliefs about the world of paleontology.
Scientists Complete the Thorough Analysis of India’s Genetic Diversity
A new analysis of more than 2,700 complete genomes from South Asians uncovers a wealth of ancient and recent diversity and genetic links to disease.
Climate Change Cuts Global Crop Yields, Even When Farmers Adapt
A new study estimates that for every additional degree Celsius of global warming, food production could diminish by an alarming 120 calories per person per day.
Flamingos Create Water Tornados To Trap Their Prey
Researchers have documented how flamingos use their feet, heads and beaks to create a storm of swirling tornados, or vortices, in the water to efficiently concentrate and slurp up their prey.
What We Really Need in the Fight Against Extinction
Berkeley professors work to leverage technology to support biodiversity conservation and environmental stewardship.
Got Eggs? This UC Berkeley Museum Has Tens of Thousands
The Museum of Vertebrate Zoology has one of the largest collections of eggs in North America, and it's vital to researchers worldwide.
A Single Dry Winter Decimated California’s Salmon and Trout Populations
Severely dry winter conditions has blocked some species of salmon and steelhead trout from accessing their breeding grounds, wiping out their populations.
Iguanas Floated One-Fifth of the Way Around the World To Colonize Fiji
Researchers find that Fiji iguanas are most closely related to the North American desert iguana.
Investigating the Psychedelic Blue Lotus of Egypt, Where Ancient Magic Meets Modern Science
Berkeley researchers use liquid chromatography to analyze the blue lotus plant at a chemical level.
This Shy California Shrew Avoided the Camera and the Limelight — Until Now
UC Berkeley students have photographed California’s most elusive mammal alive for the first time.
How Urbanization Shapes Coyote Behavior and Connectivity in LA
A new study led by UC Berkeley researchers finds that wealth, pollution and human population density are strong predictors of how coyotes move around the city.
Diversity in Coho Salmon Could Be Key to Species Survival
Berkeley Stone Center researchers uncover new link between species diversity and resilience.
Increased Risk of Valley Fever Linked To Fine Mineral Dust Exposure
A new census tracts with higher concentrations of fine mineral dust had higher incidence rates of Valley fever.
In Pursuit of a Poison Frog — and a Culturally Appropriate Name
A Berkeley professor and her colleagues tracked down a new species along that country's pacific coast, naming it in honor of an Afro-Colombian music style.
Balancing Action and Acceptance Amidst Rapid Environmental Change
Berkeley researchers examined efforts to manage the European green crab, an invasive marine species that has spread to every continent except Antarctica.
California’s Most Elusive Mammal Photographed for the First Time
A tiny, elusive mammal native to a small stretch of the Sierra Nevada has been photographed for the first time by a team led by UC Berkeley student researchers.
Fly vs. Wasp: Stealing a Defense Move Helps Thwart a Predator
Berkeley biologists have shown that some fruit flies have stolen a successful defense from bacteria to survive predation by parasitic wasps.
Citizen Scientists Discover More Virulent Form of Sudden Oak Death
Every year, the UC Berkeley-led SOD Blitz Project surveys thousands of California trees for signs of the fungus-like pathogen.
New Plant Bug Species Discovered in French Polynesia
Seventeen new species of plant bugs have been identified on the islands of French Polynesia.
California Wolf Project Will Advance Science and Management of Gray Wolves
Partnership between researchers at Berkeley and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife will advance the science and management of gray wolves in California.
Can Toddlers Help Explain the Origins of Our Bias for Wealth?
The second year of life may be a critical time when children recognize and prefer people who have more resources, new UC Berkeley research shows.
Planning for Climate Resilience in California’s Freshwater Ecosystems
A new perspective published this week calls on California leaders to do more to recover degraded freshwater ecosystems and protect the resilience, health, and viability of existing ecosystems.
Size of Tropical Glaciers at Lowest Point in at Least 11,000 Years
The high Andes mountains host many glaciers. Study shows four of them have shrunk to a size not seen since the rise of human civilization.
Why Parrots Sometimes Adopt — or Kill — Each Other’s Babies
New research suggests that competition over love and real estate drives two extreme behaviors in green-rumped parrotlets.
The Double-Fanged Adolescence of Saber-Toothed Cats
Berkeley researchers suggest saber-toothed cats held onto their baby teeth to stabilize their sabers.
How Childhood Exposure to Environmental Pollutants and Social Stress Has Lifelong Affect
Berkeley professor works to identify potential solutions that can eventually mitigate the effects of cumulative exposure to chemicals and psycho-social stressors.
UC Berkeley Anthropology Commentary: Exploitation of Human Remains for Educational Purposes Lasted Centuries
Berkeley Professor sheds light on the historic red market trade of human skeletons from India and the ethics of using them for educational purposes.
The Heat Index — How Hot It Feels — Is Rising Faster Than Temperature
Berkeley researcher points out that the way most government agencies calculate the heat index is inaccurate when dealing with the temperature and humidity extremes we're seeing today.
What Artificial Streams Can Teach Us About Insects, Algae and Our Changing Climate
By the end of the century, drought may reshape California's mountain waterways and the ecosystems that depend on them.
Museums’ Vertebrate Collections Go Online — In 3D
A six-year project, called openVertebrate (oVert), offered researchers a glimpse of how the data might be used to ask new scientific questions and spur the development of innovative technology.
Seismic Station on Remote Farallon Islands Gets Critical Upgrade
Seven engineers from the Berkeley Seismological Laboratory helicoptered into the Farallon Islands on an eight-day mission to upgrade one of the lab’s most critical seismic stations.
Wildfire Smoke Disproportionately Affects California’s Indigenous Communities, New Research Shows
Using a novel series of metrics, researchers found that these communities were exposed to about 1.7 times as much wildfire smoke as would be expected based on their statewide populations.
Highly Targeted CRISPR Delivery Advances Gene Editing in Living Animals
Precision-targeted gene editing on specific subsets of cells while still in the body is a step toward a delivery method that would eliminate the need to obliterate patients' bone marrow and immune system before giving them edited blood cells.
Neanderthals and Humans Lived Side by Side in Northern Europe 45,000 Years Ago
Genetic analysis of bone fragments from German archaeological site proves that modern humans reached northern Europe not long after they emerged from Africa.
White House Rule Dramatically Deregulated Wetlands, Streams, and Drinking Water
New research published by a team at the UC Berkeley used machine learning to more accurately predict which waterways are protected by the Clean Water Act.
Sparrows Uniquely Adapted to Bay Area Marshes Are Losing Their Uniqueness
UC Berkeley researchers find that increased interbreeding due to loss of tidal marsh habitat caused saltwater-adapted Savannah sparrows to lose their genetic distinctiveness.
As Carbon Offsets, Cookstove Emission Credits Are Greatly Overestimated
Aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, UC Berkeley researchers compared five methodologies for evaluating the emission reductions of cookstoves in developing countries.
Historic Santorini Eruption Pales in Comparison to Ancient Blowout
UC Berkeley researchers discovers evidence for huge underwater eruption 500,000 years ago, part of a still-active volcanic arc in the Aegean.
Pacific Kelp Forests Are Far Older Than We Thought
A new UC Berkeley study shows that kelp flourished off the Northwest Coast more than 32 million years ago, long before the appearance of modern groups of marine mammals, sea urchins, birds and bivalves that today call the forests home.
Chimps and Bonobos Can Recognize Long-Lost Friends and Family
UC Berkeley comparative psychologist have found that great apes and chimpanzees can recognize groupmates they haven't seen in over two decades.
Twenty-Year Study Confirms California Forests Are Healthier When Burned — Or Thinned
An experiment in the Sierra Nevada confirms that different forest management techniques are effective at reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfire in California.
Formaldehyde, a Carcinogen, Is Also Used by the Body To Regulate Our Genes
Formaldehyde is used by the body to regulate epigenetic change, and it may suppress the body's attempts to prevent the expression or overexpression of certain genes.
Tiny Agents, Global Scale
Viruses of coral symbionts offers clues about deadly disease across coral reef communities.
Fostering Coexistence With San Francisco’s Urban Coyotes
New study analyzes the coexistence of humans and coyotes in San Francisco.