Science
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Diamond-based detectors may help unlock safer fusion reactors
At UC Santa Cruz, physicists have secured $555,000 to develop a next-generation monitoring system for future fusion plants. Their approach relies on an unlikely hero, artificial diamonds engineered to detect the nuclear “burn” products released during fusion reactions.
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An Ocean View, Pollution Included: Scientists at Rio Theatre Warn of Microplastics
UCSC adjunct and environmental toxicologist Dr. Myra Finkelstein spoke of her research on Midway Atoll in the South Pacific, which revealed dangerous amounts of plastic in the eggs and digestive tracts of seabirds such as albatross. “There is also a lot of evidence that humans are also ingesting microplastics,” she said.
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If another country tested nuclear weapons, here’s how we’d know
Seismologist Thorne Lay of the University of California, Santa Cruz has been involved with nuclear monitoring research for decades. Science News spoke with Lay to clarify what we know about nuclear testing around the globe.
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‘I never want to leave’: What it’s like to live on this S.F. island that’s full of young people
“Treasure Island is an example of the really critical tradeoffs that the housing shortage has forced cities like San Francisco to reckon with,” said Patrick Barnard, research director at UC Santa Cruz’s Center for Coastal Climate Resilience.
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Emergency funds for Second Harvest Food Bank, how the shutdown is impacting UCSC and CSUMB
UC Santa Cruz Vice Chancellor for Research John MacMillan spoke with KAZU about how the current federal government shutdown is affecting campus research activities.
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UCSC astronomy Ph.D. survived war and helped build Kosovo’s first observatory. Now she’s bringing the cosmos to Bay Area classrooms
After surviving the Kosovo War and witnessing her first solar eclipse as a child, UC Santa Cruz astronomy Ph.D. student Pranvera Hyseni turned a moment of wonder into a lifelong mission to bring astronomy education to her homeland.
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Santa Cruz’s king tides: How experts and residents are taking part in research
At UC Santa Cruz’s Center for Coastal Climate Resilience, researchers are also seizing the moment. Computer scientist Alex Pang and graduate student Mona Zhao are using webcams, machine learning and 3D modeling to track how beaches shift from day to day.
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Scientists deploy cutting-edge tech to combat looming threat to US coastline: ‘Fundamental to motivating action’
Researchers from UC Santa Cruz have teamed up with NVIDIA to help officials better understand the risks of coastal erosion and learn how to mitigate damage.
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Can a species ‘de-evolve’? Wild tomatoes in the Galápagos may provide compelling evidence
Beth Shapiro, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at University of California, Santa Cruz, said she finds the term to be a great way to engage more people in the concept of evolution.
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Alien worlds may be able to make their own water
“They can basically be their own water engines,” says Quentin Williams, an experimental geochemist at the University of California Santa Cruz who was not involved with the new work.
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Whale and Dolphin Migrations are Being Disrupted by Climate Change
Ari Friedlaender, an ecologist and professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who monitors whale migrations, said it could be that changing ocean conditions may be pushing the whales’ prey closer to shore.
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A research-backed defense of DEI programs
A trio of biomedical scientists at the University of California and University of Massachusetts have written a research-backed defense of DEI programs that was published in Nature Cell Biology. They assert that such programs broaden participation in and democratize science—ultimately producing more effective and supportive training environments for all scientists.