News

Deploying drones to follow the water

Drones will play a key role in assessing the impact of highly variable water resources around the state thanks to a new $2.2 million grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

Three innovators elected to National Academy of Inventors

Three faculty members – Tsu-Jae King Liu and Eli Yablonovitch of electrical engineering and computer sciences and Daniel Portnoy of molecular and cell biology and public health – have been named fellows of the National Academy of Inventors.

MACHOs are dead. WIMPs are a no-show. Say hello to SIMPs.

The intensive, worldwide search for dark matter has so far failed to find an abundance of dark, massive stars or scads of strange new weakly interacting particles, but a new candidate is slowly gaining followers and observational support.

California’s dry regions are hotspots of plant diversity

The first “big data” analysis of California’s native plants, using digitized information from more than 22 herbaria and botanical gardens around the state, provides some surprises about one of the most thoroughly studied and unique areas in the country.

New robots can see into their future

Researchers have developed a robotic learning technology that enables robots to imagine the future of their actions so they can figure out how to manipulate objects they have never encountered before.

A research experience to smile about

Neha Zahid came to Puranchaur and Hansapur in the winter of 2016 with Karen Sokal-Gutierrez in collaboration with a local Nepali non-profit organization, Jevaia Oral Health Care, to teach proper nutrition and oral hygiene.

Six UC Berkeley faculty elected AAAS fellows

Six scientists are among the 396 newest fellows elected to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) for “advancing science applications that are deemed scientifically or socially distinguished.”

Saguaro and other towering cacti have a scrambled history

Visitors to Mexico and the U.S. Southwest can’t help but stand in awe of the solitary and majestic saguaro, the towering clusters of the organ pipe cactus and Baja’s cardón, the appropriately named “elephant” cactus and the largest cactus in the world.

Are politicians smarter than CEOs?

Though Americans can’t seem to say enough bad things about their elected representatives, new research from Berkeley-Haas shows that politicians aren’t necessarily a bunch of good-for-nothings — at least in Sweden.

How some are closing compensation gap for pre-K teachers

Researchers at the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment reveal how some states and cities are working to narrow the pay and benefits gap between equally qualified pre-kindergarten teachers and kindergarten and elementary school teachers.

Biomedical startups featured in the New York Times

Two biomedical startups founded by current and former UC Berkeley students are making big news for their small devices that monitor asthma and heart health. These medical devices started as senior design projects in the BioE 192 Senior Capstone Design course and are now on the pages of the New York Times.

Climate policies study shows Inland Empire economic boon

According to the first comprehensive study of the economic effects of climate programs in California’s Inland Empire, Riverside and San Bernardino counties experienced a net benefit of $9.1 billion in direct economic activity and 41,000 jobs from 2010 through 2016.

Climate change causing suicides in India as crops fail

Climate change has already caused more than 59,000 suicides in India over the last 30 years, according to estimates in a study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) that suggests failing harvests that push farmers into poverty are likely the key culprits.

Noise pollution loudest in black neighborhoods, segregated cities

As the number of white residents in a neighborhood declines, noise rises. But noise pollution is inescapable in segregated cities, where it is worse for everyone, according to the first breakdown of noise exposure along racial, ethnic and socioeconomic lines in the United States.

Researchers discover how CRISPR proteins find their target

UC Berkeley researchers have discovered how Cas1-Cas2, the proteins responsible for the ability of the CRISPR immune system in bacteria to adapt to new viral infections, identify the site in the genome where they insert viral DNA so they can recognize it later and mount an attack.

Defense department pours $65 million into making CRISPR safer

With one eye on potential bioterrorism threats, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency today announced $65 million in funding to seven projects around the country – including one led by UC Berkeley – to improve the safety and accuracy of gene editing.

Making chicken feathers

The rubber-like elasticity of skin, which contracts to its original shape after being stretched, is key to the development of regularly spaced hairs and sweat glands during development, according to new research at the University of California, Berkeley.

Smelling your food makes you fat

Our sense of smell is key to the enjoyment of food, so it may be no surprise that in experiments at the University of California, Berkeley, obese mice who lost their sense of smell also lost weight.

Meet the most nimble-fingered robot ever built

Grabbing the awkwardly shaped items that people pick up in their day-to-day lives is a slippery task for robots. Roboticists at UC Berkeley have a built a robot that can pick up and move unfamiliar, real-world objects with a 99 percent success rate.

Waves of lava seen in Io’s largest volcanic crater

Taking advantage of a rare orbital alignment between two of Jupiter’s moons, Io and Europa, researchers have obtained an exceptionally detailed map of the largest lava lake on Io, the most volcanically active body in the solar system.

Making molecular movies with X-rays

Leone and coworkers have developed a bench top laser based soft X-ray, and used it to follow photoexcited ring opening in cyclohexadiene (CHD). With their new ultrafast X-ray source, the researchers are able to characterize and distinguish between the structure of the electron clouds and atomic arrangement in the critically important intermediate of photoexcited CHD that eventually leads to ring opening.

Renewable energy has robust future in much of Africa

As Africa gears up for a tripling of electricity demand by 2030, a new Berkeley study maps out a viable strategy for developing wind and solar power while simultaneously reducing the continent’s reliance on fossil fuels and lowering power plant construction costs.

UC Berkeley, power company Enel launch innovation hub

The UC Berkeley campus has a new innovation hub that is the result of a partnership between Enel, a multinational power company, and the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS) and the Banatao Institute.

How a butterfly builds its wings

UC Berkeley biologist Patel and his team are using innovative techniques to try to figure out something that’s fascinated but eluded scientists for years: How butterflies develop their extraordinary colors and patterns.

Megamovie project to crowdsource images of August solar eclipse

With only six months to go before one of the most anticipated solar eclipses in a lifetime, the University of California, Berkeley, and Google are looking for citizen scientists to document and memorialize the event in a “megamovie,” and help scientists learn about the sun in the process.

Physiological Changes Tracked Moment to Moment

Imbedded in a sweatband, a network of sensors devised by Ali Javey can monitor moment-by-moment changes in electrolytes and metabolites, a potential boon to weekend athletes, diabetics and people exposed to heavy metal concentrations.

Researchers unveil new initiative on human migration

UC Berkeley researchers today announced the launch of the Berkeley Interdisciplinary Migration Initiative, a joint project of faculty, researchers and students that will explore such timely issues as refugee crises, human rights, mmigration, nativism and border control concerns.

Why the lights don’t dim when we blink

Every few seconds, our eyelids automatically shutter and our eyeballs roll back in their sockets. So why doesn’t blinking plunge us into intermittent darkness and light?

The yin-yang of cancer and infectious disease

Doctors have had great success using vaccines to boost the immune system to fight infectious diseases like smallpox and measles, but only recently have immune system boosters been tried against cancer.

Aiding Cells’ Strategy to Survive

The Bakar Fellows Program supports James Hurley’s research to develop a drug that can help neurons and other cells clear out debris – a process essential for cell survival.

Noise pollution from fracking may harm human health

Fracking creates noise at levels high enough to harm the health of people living nearby, according to the first peer-reviewed study to analyze the potential public health impacts of ambient noise related to fracking.

A Chain Reaction to Spare the Air

Jeffrey Long reported devising a new material that can capture and release CO2 at a lower temperature and in a much greater volume than present-day technologies.