Like homing pigeons, humans have a nose for navigation because our brains are wired to convert smells into spatial information, new research shows. Similar investigations have been conducted on birds and rodents, but this is the first time smell-based navigation has been field-tested on humans. The results evoke a GPS-like superpower one could call an “olfactory positioning system.”
UC Berkeley researchers have developed an easy way to put bacteria under a molecular lock and key in order to contain its accidental spread. The method involves a series of genetic mutations that render the microbe inactive unless the right molecule is added to enable its viability.
The problem is simple to understand. Molecules of carbon and other greenhouse gases absorb heat. The more greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere, the warmer the atmosphere becomes, exacerbating global climate change. Solving the problem is not so simple, especially with regards to aviation – the source of two-percent of the annual greenhouse gas emissions from human activity.
Jill Banfield, professor of EPS and ESPM, and grad student Christopher Brown discovered a large number of new groups or phyla of bacteria, suggesting that the branches on the tree of life need some rearranging. The more than 35 new phyla equal in number all the plant and animal phyla combined.
Three early-career researchers at UC Berkeley have been selected as this year’s Pew scholars, a program for investigators of outstanding promise in science relevant to the advancement of human health.
Paul Wright is the first director of the Berkeley Energy and Climate Institute (BECI) at UC Berkeley.
Sharp images obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope confirm that three supernovae discovered several years ago exploded in the dark emptiness of intergalactic space, having been flung from their home galaxies millions or billions of years earlier.
Schools that participated more in the nationwide Healthy Schools Program saw greater reductions in student obesity, says a new report by UC Berkeley researchers. Researchers evaluated 281 California schools enrolled in the program from 2006 to 2012.
Gender stereotyping in which men are more strongly associated with science than women has been found in some unlikely countries, with the Netherlands leading the list and the United States in the middle at 38th.
Sleep may be a missing piece of the Alzheimer’s puzzle. The toxic protein that is the hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease blocks the deepest stages of sleep, resulting in memory decline, according to new research.
