Mike Peña
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American Astronomical Society honors four UC Santa Cruz affiliates at national meeting
At this week’s AAS national meeting, the society named UC Observatories Director Bruce Macintosh and two alumni, Laura Lopez and Mark Phillips, among the 24 new fellows chosen for 2025.
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Coral-reef restoration can be cost-effective for saving lives, money
A new study co-led by the Center for Coastal Climate Resilience (CCCR) at UC Santa Cruz shows coral reef restoration in Florida and Puerto Rico could save thousands of lives and prevent hundreds of millions of dollars in damage and economic interruption each year.
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Researchers link mysterious cosmic signals to collapsed stars
An international team of scientists has provided the clearest evidence yet that some fast radio bursts (FRBs)—enigmatic, millisecond-long flashes of radio waves from space—originate from neutron stars, the ultra-dense remnants of massive stars that have exploded in a supernova.
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A ‘remelting’ of lunar surface adds a wrinkle to mystery of Moon’s true age
In an “idea paper” published on December 18 in Nature, UC Santa Cruz Professor Francis Nimmo and his co-authors propose a “remelting” of the Moon’s surface 4.35 billion years ago due to the tidal pull of Earth causing widespread geological upheaval and intense heating.
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Scientists collaborate on immersive technology to address climate challenges
The UC Santa Cruz Center for Coastal Climate Resilience (CCCR) and a team of scientists and science communicators at UC San Diego have developed an initiative focused on immersive technology that uses advanced hardware and software to simulate environments and experiences.
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Mangroves save $855 billion in flood protection globally, new study shows
Mangroves have been shown to provide $855 billion in flood protection services worldwide, according to a new study from the Center for Coastal Climate Resilience at UC Santa Cruz. The research is featured in the World Bank’s 2024 edition of The Changing Wealth of Nations.
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Physics experiment proves patterns in chaos in peculiar quantum realm
Where do you see patterns in chaos? It has been proven, in the incredibly tiny quantum realm, by an international team co-led by UC Santa Cruz physicist Jairo Velasco, Jr. In the journal Nature, the researchers detail an experiment that confirms a theory first put forth 40 years ago stating that electrons confined in quantum…
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Magnetic tornadoes create Earth-size spots discovered at Jupiter’s poles
While Jupiter’s Great Red Spot has been a constant feature of the planet for centuries, a team of astronomers have discovered equally large spots at the planet’s north and south poles that appear and disappear seemingly at random.
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UC Santa Cruz, Monterey Bay Aquarium lead collaboration on kelp conservation
In May 2024, UC Santa Cruz and the Monterey Bay Aquarium convened a workshop aimed at bridging the gap between scientific research and the practical application of evolutionary resilience concepts for kelp.
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Fewer than 7% of global hotspots for whale-ship collisions have protection measures in place
A UC Santa Cruz scientist who specializes in research at the intersection of big data and marine-life conservation has contributed to a new study that shows the vast majority of “hotspots” where ships collide with whales in the world’s oceans lack protections for the majestic giants.
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$7.5 million awarded to UC Santa Cruz to support leadership in salmon-recovery science
UC Santa Cruz has received nearly $7.5 million from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) to vault scientific research on imperiled Pacific salmon populations into one of the nation’s most powerful collaborations between the agency and academia to save the vital species.
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Team discovers ultra-massive galaxies in early Universe that challenge standard cosmology
An international team of astronomers has identified three ultra-massive galaxies—each nearly as massive as the Milky Way—already in place within the first billion years after the Big Bang. The discovery is surprising because it indicates that the formation of stars in the early Universe was far more efficient than previously thought, challenging current models of…