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AI galaxy hunters are adding to the global GPU crunch
Brant Robertson, a UC Santa Cruz astrophysicist, has had a front-row seat to this step change in science while supporting or using data from these missions. Robertson has spent the past 15 years working with Nvidia to apply GPUs to the problems of understanding space, first through advanced simulations testing theories about supernova explosions, and…
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Officers recall rescue of Bordeaux, sea lion found on Google campus in Sunnyvale
University of California, Santa Cruz professor of ecology and evolutionary biology Daniel Costa said that sea lions are also more comfortable around humans. “Sea lions are probably losing a little bit of their fear of people as they get more accustomed to it,” Costa said. “So, my first thought is that sea lion you guys…
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Apple at 50: How Cupertino’s tech giant changed what technology feels like
When Apple unveiled the App Store in 2008 with 500 apps, it helped launch a new economy, said UC Santa Cruz lecturer Nolan Higdon, who studies the tech industry. Tech companies had struggled to make money from the internet after the dot-com bust, but the App Store and the iPhone’s booming popularity fueled an explosion…
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How the K-shaped economy explains why it feels like we are in a recession
Some economists, like Pascal Michaillat at the University of California, Santa Cruz, pay special attention to labor market indicators to get a better sense of whether the economy has entered a recession. Michaillat said he looks at labor market data because this is the same data you’d want to use to look at whether we’re…
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Misinformation swirls online following White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting
Nolan Higdon, a professor of political history and media education at UC Santa Cruz, says several factors have created this environment. He noted that the “media diet” from legacy journalism, independent media, and social media influencers often prioritizes content that appeals to a divisive nature.
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California’s iconic trees may lose most of their habitat this century
“These trees are the backbones of our ecosystems,” said Blair McLaughlin, a climate change adaptation scientist at UC Santa Cruz and lead author of the study. “They grow nowhere else in the world and provide the essential habitat that native wildlife and humans alike depend on.”
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Climate change could create “zombie forests”
New research from UC Santa Cruz shows climate change is a greater threat to California’s native trees than previously thought. The study estimates in the next 30 years some species may lose as much as half of their habitat. Lead author Blair McLaughlin says the rising temperatures and droughts that come with climate change increase…
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Community sensors provide Pajaro Valley with air quality info
Javier Gonzaléz-Rocha, a Watsonville native and applied mathematics professor at UC Santa Cruz, is developing a network of drones and small sensors that can be attached to homes. He uses data collected from these monitors to try and paint a clearer picture of the air quality in the Pajaro Valley, as data that appears on…
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Talking Talmud On Tik Tok
Nathaniel Deutsch, professor of Jewish studies, was quoted in a story about Shalom Landau, a 48-year-old Hasidic rabbi in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn who has become an unlikely star on Instagram and Tik Tok.
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Gas spikes and geopolitics: Why the ‘Lithium Valley’ dream is charging back to life
When UC Santa Cruz Professor of Sociology Chris Benner and Manuel Pastor published Charging Forward in late 2024, they envisioned a steady, policy-driven climb toward a green energy future. They didn’t account for a legislative “sledgehammer” followed by a global oil shock.