West Virginia native Brandon Nida, a Berkeley PhD candidate, is using his archaeological expertise to help protect the West Virginia battleground where thousands of coal miners, in 1921, waged the largest labor insurrection in U.S. history.

Thanks to initial funding from the India-based Tata Consultancy Services, the Center for Computational Biology has launched a pioneering initiative to develop a software platform to analyze differences in people’s genomes and bring closer the day when one’s personal genome will be a starting point for health and medical advice.

Using a new technique called thermochronometry, UC Berkeley and Berkeley Geochronology Center scientists have detailed the 2.5 million year history of the beautiful and distinctive U-shaped glacial valleys of Fiordland National Park in New Zealand.

As China turns its attention to the social needs of its citizens, the School of Social Welfare is partnering with Beijing Normal University to develop a strategy to deliver services to China’s needy, thanks to a three-year planning grant from the Ford Foundation. Julian Chow, an associate professor of social welfare, will manage the Berkeley-Beijing Normal University initiative.

Berkeley Lab researchers have fabricated superlenses from perovskite oxides that are ideal for capturing light in the mid-infrared range, opening the door to highly sensitive biomedical detection and imaging. It may also be possible to turn the superlensing effect on/off, opening the door to highly dense data writing and storage.

Researchers at UC Berkeley and UCSF have launched the joint Center for Neural Engineering and Prostheses to develop technology that can translate brain signals into movements controlling prosthetic limbs, circumventing damaged or missing neural circuits in people suffering from disabling conditions.

In a three-pronged attack on one of the stubbornest problems in materials sciences, groups from Berkeley Lab, UC Berkeley, SLAC, and Stanford have produced the strongest evidence yet that the mysterious pseudogap, hallmark of high-temperature superconductors, is not a gradual transition to the superconducting phase, as long supposed, but instead is a unique and hitherto unknown phase of matter.

A sleepless night can make us cranky and moody. But a lesser known side effect of sleep deprivation is short-term euphoria, which can potentially lead to poor judgment and addictive behavior, according to new research from UC Berkeley.