Earth & Space
-
An Earthling’s guide to planet hunting
Earth’s turbulent atmosphere makes it hard to detect new planets from the ground. UC Santa Cruz astronomer Rebecca Jensen-Clem is working out how to find them anyway.
-
As Federal Government Retreats, A Private Fund to Save Sea Otters Steps in
“Adding sea otters completely changes the configuration of the food web and that has profound consequences for the structure of the nearshore ecosystem,” says Tim Tinker, an independent sea otter scientist who does research for the University of California at Santa Cruz. The Sea Otter Fund is financing Tinker’s work, recruiting him to model restoration…
-
California may be at high risk of ‘supershear’ earthquakes. Scientists fear we’re not ready
Past large supershear earthquakes have occurred on shearing faults that are long, straight and shallow, said Thorne Lay, a distinguished professor of earth and planetary sciences at UC Santa Cruz. The San Andreas fits this description.
-
After deadly year for whales in Calif., new map offers a lifeline
“I hope this new platform can demystify the scientific data we collected, making it accessible for people who are interested in whales and biology,” said Ari Friedlaender, a UC Santa Cruz ecologist who tagged many of the featured whales. “It’s great if it also brings people closer to the animals, helping foster empathy and responsibility.”
-
Tracey Weiss, Our Ocean Backyard | NEXTies: Earth & Sea celebrates Santa Cruz changemakers
Professor Andrew Fisher won the “Brainwave Award” for his groundbreaking hydrological research on urban flooding, saltwater intrusion and freshwater supply in the Pajaro River Valley. Darryl Wong and Gage Dayton of the Center for Agroecology won the “Big Idea Award” for their work on UC Santa Cruz’s recent land acquisition that strengthens conservation, sustainable agriculture…
-
San Jose: $197 million project completed to improve flood protection along south San Francisco Bay shoreline
“We’ve built megacities of the world on coasts,” said Gary Griggs, a distinguished professor of earth sciences at UC Santa Cruz, in 2022 when the Alviso project broke ground. “We didn’t think of sea level rise 100 years ago, and now we are having to pay the price.”
-
Lasers, fiber optics and tiny vibrations tease a way to warn about earthquakes
Emily Brodsky, a professor of earth sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who was not involved in the research, said “earthquake early warning could be dramatically improved tomorrow” if scientists are able to broker widespread access to existing telecommunication networks. Additional coverage in SFGate.
-
Earthquakes Release Energy Mostly Through Heat, Not Ground Shaking
A new laboratory study in AGU Advances finds that shaking accounts for only 1 to 8 percent of the energy released in an earthquake, while up to a whopping 98 percent of that energy dissipates as heat. One advantage of the work is that it used a new technique measures the alignment of magnetic minerals…
-
Caltrans to reopen Highway 1 at Regent’s Slide in Monterey County in March 2026
Professor Gary Griggs estimates that large slides on Highway 1 in Big Sur each cost some $50 million to fix, and proposes a toll for motorists to travel the stretch of highway. Caltrans estimates the total cost of repairing Regent’s Slide at $82 million.
-
An interstellar object is passing through our solar system. This UC program says to stay calm and carry on
One of those scientists who you can shadow is Raja GuhaThakurta, faculty director of UC Santa Cruz’s department of Creating Equity in STEAM. For GuhaThakurta, who started the Shadow the Scientists program in 2020, the hysteria around the alien spaceship — or artifact — theory is not only misguided. “This kind of sensationalism ends up ultimately… causing…
-
Brightest fast radio burst ever detected could help solve an enduring cosmic mystery
Prior to the Outrigger telescopes’ capability to triangulate a fast radio burst to its source, “it was like talking to someone on the phone and not knowing what city or state they were calling from,” said study coauthor Bryan Gaensler, dean of the University of California, Santa Cruz science division. Also covered by Gizmodo.
-
Steam Worlds Have Atmospheres Like a Sweltering Sauna, Made Entirely of Hot Water Vapor
“The interiors of planets are natural ‘laboratories’ for studying conditions that are difficult to reproduce in a university laboratory on Earth. What we learn could have unforeseen applications we haven’t even considered. The water worlds are especially exotic in this sense,” said co-author Natalie Batalha, a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of…