For nearly a decade, Jillian Banfield and her UC Berkeley colleagues have been studying the microbe community that lives in one of the most acidic environments on Earth: the drainage from a former copper mine in Northern California. One group of these microbes seems to be smaller, and weirder, than any other known, free-living organism.

Leslie Kurke, professor of classics and comparative literature, and John Searle, professor of philosophy, have been elected to the American Philosophical Society.

The African clawed frog, Xenopus, has helped scientists understand how embryos develop and the many chemical reactions going on inside dividing cells. Now, scientists report the first draft genome sequence of Xenopus, setting the stage for a more complete genetic analysis of this popular frog.

Two University of California, Berkeley, faculty members were elected members of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and a third professor was elected a foreign associate.

A Haitian orchid is enjoying celebrity status at the UC Botanical Garden, after scientists discovered that the long-time Garden resident is a distinct new species. The orchid has been named for the UC Berkeley research associate who found it in the wild.

Since 1965, California counties have been required to hand tally one percent of all ballots after an election to validate the machine count, despite the fact that available auditing techniques lack any statistical basis. UC Berkeley's Philip Stark has now provided statistically sound methods for conducting these audits, and a proposed bill, AB 20203, will establish a statewide pilot program to test these methods.

Nine UC Berkeley faculty members have been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, bringing to 234 the total number of faculty now members of one of the nation's oldest and most prestigious honorary societies.

Five Berkeley professors have been named 2010 Guggenheim fellows, an award conferred for "achievement and exceptional promise."

Finding ways to better manage the overlapping infrastructure systems in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta is the goal of a four-year, $2 million project headed by UC Berkeley researchers and funded by the National Science Foundation.

UC Berkeley Professor Dan Kammen has been appointed a special State Department envoy to our neighbors in the Western Hemisphere to encourage cooperation in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting sustainable energy.