Three UC Berkeley scholars elected to American Philosophical Society
Three UC Berkeley scholars have been elected to America’s oldest learned society, the American Philosophical Society, which was founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1743.
Immigrants often eat high-calorie American junk food to fit in
A new study by researchers at UC Berkeley and the University of Washington suggests immigrants and their children often gain weight because they eat junk food to fit in with American culture. The findings will be published in the June issue of Psychological Science.
Big Ideas @ Berkeley winners announced
Big Ideas @ Berkeley, an annual student competition at UC Berkeley, has announced its 2011 winners. The contest challenges student teams to develop projects aimed at solving the world’s most pressing problems. Out of more than 200 entries, some 50 teams were selected and will share $265,000 in prizes.
Why the eye is better than a camera
The human eye long ago solved a problem common to both digital and film cameras: how to get good contrast in an image while also capturing faint detail. New experiments by UC Berkeley neurobiologists show how the eye achieves this without sacrificing shadow detail.
Panel discussion: Berkeley Lab’s 'Carbon Cycle 2.0 Big Questions'
Experts from around the Lawrence Berkeley Lab and beyond will come together to tackle some of the Big Questions facing scientists in areas relating to energy and climate, Tuesday, May 3, at 3 p.m.
Fungus may be to blame for historic amphibian decline
A fungal pathogen may be the culprit behind the rapid decline of amphibians in recent decades, according to a new study by researchers at UC Berkeley and San Francisco State University. By swabbing the skin of amphibians preserved in UC Berkeley’s Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, scientists confirmed through DNA the presence of the deadly Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, or Bd, fungus. They also determined that salamanders in parts of Mexico and Guatemala, and frogs and salamanders in Costa Rica’s Monteverde cloud forests began to disappear at the same time the fungus first appeared in these areas.
Pain and itch connected down deep
A new study of itch adds to growing evidence that the chemical signals that make us want to scratch are the same signals that make us wince in pain.
Backyard buzz: Bees in your garden
Student multimedia specialists from the J-School chronicle the Urban Bee Project, where researchers in a small Berkeley garden are working to make sure the world’s top pollinators keep busy.
Undergrad wins Young Botanist of the Year award
Berkeley senior Gracie Benson-Martin, a plant and microbial biology major, has been honored by the Botanical Society of America, for her research on a genus of tropical plants found throughout South and Central America.
Architect named Fulbright NEXUS scholar for Western Hemisphere research on sustainable, affordable housing
María-Paz Gutierrez, a University of California, Berkeley, assistant professor of architecture, has been named to the 2011-2012 Fulbright Regional Network for Applied Research (NEXUS) Scholar Program as part of a 20-member team working to promote best practices in fighting poverty and inequality in the Western Hemisphere. She will be focusing on building a sustainable, affordable housing prototype for deployment in an emergency, especially flooding.