Hindu kids more apt to echo propaganda that ‘Indian equals Hindu’
Teeter totters as activism: How the border wall became a playground
Hindu and Muslim children show unexpected religious tolerance
History professor’s ‘Work of the Dead’ wins 2018 Shannon Prize
Berkeley part of new international Buddhist Studies network
A research experience to smile about
On the ground in Greece, students test tech to help refugees
European Patent Office to grant UC a broad patent on CRISPR-Cas9
Renewable energy has robust future in much of Africa
Researchers unveil new initiative on human migration
UC Berkeley researchers today announced the launch of the Berkeley Interdisciplinary Migration Initiative, a joi
Berkeley SETI turns Australian telescope on nearest exoplanet to Earth
To improve Beijing’s air quality, cut household fuel use too
China’s plans to curb Beijing’s health-damaging air pollution by focusing on restricting emissions from power plants and vehicles may have limited impact if household use of coal and other dirty fuels is not also curtailed, according to a new study.
Taiwan’s Tang Prizes awarded to Doudna, Rosenfeld
Taiwan’s top science award, the Tang Prize, has gone to two UC Berkeley scientists well-known in the fields of biochemistry and physics: Jennifer Doudna, for her invention of CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing, and Arthur Rosenfeld, often called the “godfather of energy efficiency.”
The case for accepting more, not fewer, Syrian refugees
Kate Jastram, an attorney and UC Berkeley expert in forced migrations, says closing U.S. doors to Syrian refugees would deepen America’s anti-Muslim reputation and alienate the 3.3 millions Muslims already living here.
UC Berkeley first university to house a center for Bangladesh studies
The first university-housed center for Bangladesh studies officially opens at UC Berkeley on March 30 with Chancellor Nicholas Dirks presiding over an invitation-only ribbon-cutting ceremony followed by a talk by Sir Fazle Abed, founder and CEO of BRAC, one of the world’s largest NGOs.
Long dry spell doomed Mexican city 1,000 years ago
The former city and now archaeological site called Cantona in the highlands east of Mexico City appears to have been abandoned nearly 1,000 years ago as a result of a prolonged dry spell that lasted about 650 years, according to a new study.
Bangladesh takes center stage with Subir and Malini Chowdhury Center
Bangladesh may be known mostly for its poverty, environmental vulnerability and deadly factory fires, but the new Subir and Malini Chowdhury Center for Bangladesh Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, is ready to prove that this South Asian country of over 160 million people has a lot more to teach the rest of the world.
Michael Dear Receives AAG Global Book Award
Michael Dear’s Why Walls Won’t Work: Repairing the US–Mexico Divide, published by Oxford University Press, has been selected by the Globe Book Award Committee to receive the 2013 Association of American Geographers Globe Book Award for Public Understanding of Geography.
Magnes exhibition explores intellectual migration
Launch of antimalarial drug a triumph for UC Berkeley, synthetic biology
Twelve years after a breakthrough discovery in his University of California, Berkeley, laboratory, professor of chemical engineering Jay Keasling is seeing his dream come true.
New AIDS research uses models to see through lies about sex, inform HIV policy
The increasingly couples-focused public-health policy for AIDS prevention in sub-Saharan Africa underestimates the role that cheating spouses play in transmitting the virus, according to a new study from the University of California, Berkeley.
Playwright/alum Stan Lai to discuss creativity, theater
Stan Lai, considered the leading playwright/director in Asia and one of the region’s most prolific, is taking a break from his hectic schedule and heading back to his alma mater, the University of California, Berkeley, for a series of public talks and workshops about his own artistic practice and the state of modern theater.
Berkeley Law Launches Center on Reproductive Rights and Justice
On the eve of the 40-year anniversary of Roe v. Wade, UC Berkeley School of Law today announced the formal launch of its new Center on Reproductive Rights and Justice (CRRJ). It is one of the first research centers to study the legal, economic, and social impact of reproductive laws on women, families, and communities.
Thnx4.org goes live to both teach and research the power of gratitude
UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center is providing an easy way to give thanks and, at the same time, contribute to a national research project on the power of gratitude
Probing the depths of poll work
About a million Americans — 100,000 of them in California — will spend Election Day as poll workers. Karin Mac Donald and Bonnie Glaser, director and research specialist, respectively, at Berkeley Law’s Election Administration Research Center, say it’s a role that’s stressful and underappreciated.
New GOTV efforts could help Latino voters achieve political potential, says researcher
Lisa García Bedolla, a University of California, Berkeley, expert on voter mobilization, says Latinos are far from casting votes in numbers that truly reflect their growing population and potential political power.
Food Day report: Minimum-wage hike would raise food prices pennies, help millions
A new report released today (Wednesday, Oct. 24), national Food Day 2012, says that a proposal pending in Congress to raise the minimum wage would increase retail food prices for American consumers by at most 10 cents a day, while helping nearly 8 million food workers and 21 million workers in other industries.
California Leads Nation in Exonerations of Wrongfully Convicted
Survey shows program boosts Latino parents’ child knowledge, confidence
While many Latino children enter school hampered by weak preliteracy skills, a new program tied to Head Start successfully equips parents to close these gaps, according to findings out today from the University of California, Berkeley.
Arsenic water filter recognized with international prize
A team led by Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (Berkeley Lab)’s Ashok Gadgil is the recipient of the 5th Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water. Gadgil, head of the Lab’s Environmental Energy Technologies Division and a Professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, will receive the Creativity Prize on behalf of the team.
BPA linked to thyroid hormone changes in pregnant women, newborns
Bisphenol A (BPA), an estrogen-like compound that has drawn increased scrutiny in recent years, has been linked to changes in thyroid hormone levels in pregnant women and newborn boys, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.
Reports shows political preferences of California’s Asian Americans
Asian Americans, who account for 10 percent of registered voters in California, support a tax measure proposed by Governor Jerry Brown, are closely divided on the death penalty ballot measure, overwhelmingly support affirmative action, and support tax increases, according to two new reports from the National Asian American Survey.
Voters act on performance, not policy, new book says
Voters in U.S. presidential races make choices based on a candidate’s performance rather than on his or her policy positions – even when those stances run counter to the voters’ own, according to a new book by a University of California, Berkeley, political scientist.
Eye proteins have germ-killing power, could lead to new antimicrobial drugs, study finds
A team of UC Berkeley vision scientists has found that small fragments of keratin protein in the eye play a key role in warding off pathogens.
New International House director to step up cross-cultural training, spread the ‘international bug’
Giesecke, 56, who most recently served as president of Anatolia College in Thessaloniki, Greece, is warming up as the fifth director of I-House. The residential community of some 600 undergraduate and graduate UC Berkeley students, currently from 65 countries, was launched in 1930 to break down cultural barriers between overseas and U.S. students.
Prop. 30 project set to rapidly expand knowledge through social networks
Conference explores California’s fiscal crisis
The University of California, Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS) is sponsoring an all-day conference on Sept. 21, to explore “California’s Fiscal Crisis: Prospects for Deficit Reduction and Pension Reform in the Golden State.”
Public-health expert’s work to understand bullying ‘puts a fire in me’
UC Berkeley professor's study shows nearly half of U.S. adolescents with autism spectrum disorder have been bullied at school.
Symposium targets sleep, stress and obesity
One of the first scientific conferences to focus on how the health risks of sleep loss, obesity, and stress interact will be held next week at the University of California, Berkeley.
Crowd-sourced online reviews help fill restaurant seats, study finds
A new study by UC Berkeley economists analyzed restaurant ratings on Yelp.com and found that, on a scale of 1 to 5, a half-star rating increase translates into a 19 percent greater likelihood that an eatery’s seats will be full during peak dining times. The study, published this month in the Economic Journal, found that the increase is independent of changes in price or in food and service quality.
Affluent people less likely to reach out to others in times of chaos, study suggests
While chaos drives some to seek comfort in friends and family, others gravitate toward money and material possessions, new UC Berkeley study finds.
Temp workers face increased likelihood of poverty
Intense prep for law school admission test alters brain structure
Intensive preparation for the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) actually changes the microscopic structure of the brain, physically bolstering the connections between areas of the brain important for reasoning, according to neuroscientists at the University of California, Berkeley.
Girls with ADHD more prone to self-injury, suicide as they enter adulthood
“Like boys with ADHD, girls continue to have problems with academic achievement and relationships, and need special services as they enter early adulthood,” said Stephen Hinshaw, UC Berkeley professor of psychology and lead author of a study that reports after 10 years on the largest-ever sample of girls whose ADHD was first diagnosed in childhood.
Why are people overconfident so often? It’s all about social status
The lure of social status promotes overconfidence, explains Haas School Associate Professor Cameron Anderson. He co-authored a new study, “A Status-Enhancement Account of Overconfidence,” with Sebastien Brion, assistant professor of managing people in organizations, IESE Business School, University of Navarra, Haas School colleagues Don Moore, associate professor of management, and Jessica A. Kennedy, now a post-doctoral fellow at the Wharton School of Business.
I School grad student profiles rural Chinese Internet users
China has more than half a billion Internet users, 136 million of whom live in rural areas. School of Information PhD student Elisa Oreglia, in an award-winning ethnographic study, looks at how older, less-educated villagers — many of whom claim to be Web illiterate — often become comfortable with computers by observing their younger family members.
AFRON builds robotics education, research, industry in Africa
Roboticists in Ghana and at UC Berkeley this week launched AFRON, the African Robotics Network, an initiative to enhance robotics education, research and industry in Africa. Co-founder is professor Ken Goldberg, a fellow with IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers).
Cal Energy Corps interns prep for sustainable future
Some 32 Berkeley undergraduates will spend up to 12 weeks working on sustainability projects in the Bay Area and across nine far-flung countries.
UC Berkeley leads $4 million program to train slum health researchers
The Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health has awarded $4 million to UC Berkeley to train and educate researchers, educators and professionals who can tackle global health challenges specific to slum dwellings. UPDATE: Project renewed for an additional 5 years. See the project website.
Responding to the Radiation Threat
Berkeley Lab Researchers Developing Promising Treatment for Safely Decontaminating Humans Exposed to Radioactive Actinides
Berkeley Engineering launches collaboration with Shanghai innovation hub
The College of Engineering at Berkeley is partnering with the Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park to develop a platform for expanding industrial and academic research collaborations in Asia and fostering global learning opportunities with Berkeley students.
Transatlantic Science Week brings Norway to Berkeley to tackle global energy challenges
The deep cultural ties that bind UC Berkeley and Norway inspired a call-to-action for greater collaboration on global energy challenges at the launch of Transatlantic Science Week 2011.
Center for Buddhist Studies announces 2011 “Toshi” Book Prize winner
UC Berkeley’s Center for Buddhist Studies has awarded the 2011 Toshihide Numata Book Prize to Todd Lewis and Subarna Man Tuladhar for their book about the epic poem about the life of Buddha by Nepalese poet Chittadhar Hridaya.
Nuclear Experts Say U.S. Safe from Japan Radiation
Radiation from a tsunami-crippled nuclear power plant in Japan does not pose a public safety risk to people outside of the disaster area, UC Berkeley nuclear engineers told an overflow audience of about 100 people at the Institute for East Asian Studies.
Using religion to address health needs in underserved communities
In Alameda Country, researchers from the School of Public Health and Kaiser Permanente are reaching out, through local churches, to offer health screening and education to two groups — African Americans and Afghan refugee women.
Third human species discovered in Siberian cave
Fernando Botero Exhibit Exploring Abu Ghraib Abuses Opens at Berkeley Art Museum
Colombian artist gifts 56 paintings and drawings to Cal.