A graduate student at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego and colleagues from NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries have discovered the world’s first known manta ray nursery.
Graphene electrodes could enable higher quality brain imaging thanks to new research by a team of engineers and neuroscientists at UC San Diego. The researchers developed a technique, using platinum nanoparticles, to lower the impedance of graphene electrodes by 100 times while keeping them transparent. In tests on transgenic mice, the electrodes were able to record and image neuronal activity (calcium ion spikes) at of large groups of neurons and individual brain cells.
a team led by researchers at UC San Diego’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC), has used machine learning techniques to develop models for simulations of water with “unprecedented accuracy.”
Fourteen musicians. Three time zones. One live concert. The UC San Diego Department of Music is set to stage a monumental feat, melding the artistry of a live concert with the technical hurdle of crossing oceans and connecting continents at lightning-fast speeds.
In a study published in the May 21, 2018 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team of researchers – aided with supercomputing resources from the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) based at UC San Diego – created a dynamic computer simulation to delineate a key biological process that allows the body to repair damaged DNA.
The graduating actors performed on both coasts for this year’s Graduate Actor Student Showcase, where casting agents, artistic directors, and television and film executives attended as an introduction to the students and their work. With two shows in each city, nerves ran high.
Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed tiny ultrasound-powered robots that can swim through blood, removing harmful bacteria along with the toxins they produce. These proof-of-concept nanorobots could one day offer a safe and efficient way to detoxify and decontaminate biological fluids.
Students participated in the very first, two-quarter undergraduate curating course: independent study opportunities made available by the Institute of Arts and Humanities and the Library’s Special Collections & Archives.
The winning submission in this year’s UC San Diego Adam Douglas Kamil Media Awards is an experimental narrative that focuses on urban landscapes, the environment and memory — a short film the Department of Visual Arts jury calls “striking and stunning.”
Scientists have identified a gene that helps prevent the harmful buildup of proteins that can lead to neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. As published in Nature, the researchers found that the “Ankrd16” gene acts like a failsafe in proofreading and correcting errors to avoid the abnormal production of improper proteins.
In an effort to help military veterans discover new careers or enhance their current skills, UC San Diego Extension provides a wide range of courses and certificate programs aimed at their success in the civilian workforce.
UC San Diego researchers have developed a test that can screen for pancreatic cancer in just a drop of blood. The test, which is at the proof-of-concept stage, provides results in under an hour. It's simple: apply a drop of blood on a small electronic chip, turn the current on, wait several minutes, add fluorescent labels and look at the results under a microscope. If a blood sample tests positive for pancreatic cancer, bright fluorescent circles will appear.
Fourteen-year-old UC San Diego Jazz Camp participant recognized with an outstanding soloist award at the Monterey Next Generation Jazz Festival. In its 16th year, the five-day UC San Diego Jazz Camp summer program is designed for intermediate to advanced level musicians taught by nationally- and internationally-known musicians and jazz educators.
From a gripper equipped with gecko-inspired adhesives, to artificial muscles and robotic joints, to talks on human-robot interaction and health care robotics, the University of California San Diego will have a strong presence at the 2018 International Conference on Robotics and Automation, May 21 to 25 in Brisbane, Australia.
Scientists have unraveled a mystery on how genes are activated. Genes are blocked by structures known as nucleosomes, which package DNA. How do these roadblocks clear out to allow genes to turn on? Scientists have identified a key factor that unravels nucleosomes and clears the way. They say the finding is useful in understanding diseases such as cancer.
Researchers in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UC San Diego mixed together unlikely materials to create a new hybrid form of crystalline matter that could change the practice of materials science. The findings, published in Nature, present potential benefits to medicine and the pharmaceutical industry.
University of California San Diego professor Natalia Molina has been awarded the 2018 China Residency at Wuhan University by the Organization of American Historians. Given in partnership with the American History Research Association of China, the residency will see Molina present a summer seminar on race and politics in the context of the United States.
University of California San Diego Department of History professor Karl Gerth was awarded two prestigious fellowships totaling $145,000 to further his research on the implications of Chinese consumerism.
By stretching the amount of time proteins can be simulated in their natural state of wiggling and gyrating, a team of researchers at Colorado State University has identified a critical protein structure that could serve as a molecular Achilles heel able to inhibit the replication of dengue virus and potentially other flaviviruses such as West Nile and Zika virus.
Autism is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder that affects an estimated 1 in 68 children in the United States, yet treatment options are limited. Could cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive compound found in cannabis, hold clues for developing effective therapies? Thanks to a major gift from the Ray and Tye Noorda Foundation, researchers at the University of California San Diego will embark on a multidisciplinary study to investigate the potential of cannabidiol as a treatment for severe autism.
An innovative, eel-like robot developed by engineers and marine biologists at the University of California can swim silently in salt water without an electric motor. Instead, the robot uses artificial muscles filled with water to propel itself. The foot-long robot, which is connected to an electronics board that remains on the surface, is also virtually transparent. The team, which includes researchers from UC San Diego and UC Berkeley, details their work in the April 25 issue of Science Robotics.
Scientists identified light-induced electrical activity as the brain mechanism controlling chemical code switching related to stress. While studying neurotransmitter switching in rats, they found that specific neurons were responsible, with implications for imbalances underlying mental illness.
Innovators aren’t born, they can be made, according to recent research from the University of California San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy. Existing theories and previous research on how innovation occurs largely assume that it is an ingrained quality of the individual and that only people with this innate ability seek and attain jobs that require it. However, economist Joshua S. Graff Zivin and professor of management Elizabeth Lyons tested these previously held notions by creating a contest for UC San Diego’s engineering and computer science students. The competition, outlined in their National Bureau of Economic Research working paper, was designed to answer the question: Are persuaded innovators less capable than those who naturally gravitate to innovative activities?
UC San Diego Alumni awards rising stars across science, technology, medicine, arts, education and social justice who are disrupting the status quo to help build a better world
UC San Diego biologists have created the world’s first gene drive system—a mechanism for manipulating genetic inheritance—in Drosophila suzukii, an agricultural pest that has invaded much of the United States and caused millions of dollars in damage to high-value berry and other fruit crops.
The Preuss School at UC San Diego will celebrate this milestone year at its annual benefit, the Preuss Promise, on April 20. The event will celebrate 20 years of academic achievement and excellence, in addition to raising funds for the school to continue to make an impact on future generations of students.
Imagine if all childhood vaccines could get delivered with an inhaler rather than shots; or wiping away tuberculosis bacteria in a patient’s lungs with an inhaler; or disinfecting a hospital room thoroughly with a diffuser. These are the goals of a research team led by Professor James Friend in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of California San Diego. Their efforts were recently boosted when Friend received a prestigious $900,000 research grant from the Keck Foundation, whose mission is to support pioneering discoveries in science, engineering and medical research.
Engineers have developed a tiny, ultra-low power chip that could be injected just under the surface of the skin for continuous, long-term alcohol monitoring. The chip is powered wirelessly by a wearable device such as a smartwatch or patch. The goal of this work is to develop a convenient, routine monitoring device for patients in substance abuse treatment programs.
A team of California researchers has developed a robotic gripper that combines the adhesive properties of gecko toes and the adaptability of air-powered soft robots to grasp a much wider variety of objects than the state of the art. Researchers will present their findings at the 2018 International Conference on Robotics and Automation May 21 to 25 in Brisbane, Australia.
For consumers looking to reduce their consumption of meat — particularly due to a greater understanding of the ethical treatment of animals — researchers have analyzed the leading cookbooks of 26 celebrity chefs to offer insight and guidance. Their findings show that not all chefs are what they appear: while some offer recipes that align with their public personas, others show great dissonance in what is said, and what is cooked.
Biologists have discovered evidence for a new path of evolution, and with it a deeper understanding of how quickly organisms such as viruses can adapt to their environment. The findings, which address mysteries of how genes acquire new functions and how mutations arise, apply to investigations of viral diseases.
A team of researchers has developed a wearable, non-invasive system to monitor electrical activity in the stomach over 24 hours—essentially an electrocardiogram but for the gastro-intestinal (GI) tract.
Someone who starts mining a crypto-currency shortly after it is listed on exchanges can potentially earn higher returns than average. But a speculator who enters the market shortly after the currency is listed might potentially earn lower returns. These are some of the findings from a study where computer scientists estimated the potential profitability of mining versus speculating for 18 crypto-currencies that are not Bitcoin and Litecoin--known under the general label of altcoin. Computer scientists also showed that returns from mining a random altcoin tend to be less risky to earn than returns from speculation.
Researchers have developed a stretchable, flexible patch that could make it easier to perform ultrasound imaging on odd-shaped structures, such as engine parts, turbines, reactor pipe elbows and railroad tracks—objects that are difficult to examine using conventional ultrasound equipment. The ultrasound patch is a versatile and more convenient tool to inspect machine and building parts for defects and damage deep below the surface.
The University of California San Diego today announced charitable gifts from more than a dozen descendants of Edward W. Scripps that will make possible two crucial and high-profile projects at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Included in the projects covered by the $4.6 million in family gifts is the replacement of the railing on the Ellen Browning Scripps Memorial Pier, and the reconstruction and modernization of the Center for Coastal Studies, which will be named after longtime supporters Charles and Lois “Beano” Scripps.
Soda and Swine. Photo by Zack Benson/Spoonfed AgencyThe University of California San Diego is renowned for its prime location, perched atop the cliffs of the Pacific Ocean. Now, as the campus undergoes an exciting transformation with the addition of new student housing and the creation of new living and learning campus neighborhoods, UC San Diego is working to improve campus retail offerings by attracting innovative and exciting dining, convenience services, and entertainment operators to elevate the campus experience for staff, faculty and students at the picturesque campus.
A team of researchers has developed a light-activated switch that can turn genes on and off in mammalian cells. This is the most efficient so-called “optogenetic switch” activated by red and far-red light that has been successfully designed and tested in animal cells—and it doesn’t require the addition of sensing molecules from outside the cells.
Based in part on an exceptional faculty with broad strengths in the philosophy of science, history of philosophy, philosophy of mind, and ethics, the University of California San Diego Department of Philosophy increased its international prestige by ranking as one of the top 20 Ph.D. philosophy programs in the United States.
The inaugural chair holder of the Junior Seau Foundation Endowed Chair in Traumatic Brain Injury at the University of California San Diego is Yishi Jin, Professor and Chair of the Section of Neurobiology in the Division of Biological Sciences. The chair was established by the Junior Seau Foundation in memory of Junior Seau, the beloved NFL Football Hall of Famer and longtime San Diego Charger.
A study published in the March 5 online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) describes how the supercomputers at the San Diego Supercomputer Center at UC San Diego were used to simulate the merger of a G-protein “mimetic nanobody” to a G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR), the largest and most diverse group of membrane receptors in animals, plants, fungi, and protozoa.
The Health Cyberinfrastructure Division of the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) at the University of California San Diego has expanded its cloud offerings to include a Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI)-compliant environment that is now available to researchers working with government contracts and grants.
A new computational resource called Recon3D provides a 3D view of genes, proteins and metabolites involved in human metabolism. Researchers used the tool to map disease-related mutations on proteins and also probed how genes and proteins change in response to certain drugs. The work provides a better understanding of disease-causing mutations and could enable researchers to discover new uses for existing drug treatments.
The University of California San Diego Department of Music is well known for its emphasis on experimental music and sound in composition, performance and scholarship, and brings this to the forefront at a special two-day conference March 2-3. “Sonic Fluidities: An Interdisciplinary Graduate Conference” is the first of its kind at UC San Diego, organized by a committee of current Integrative Studies program students.
The next computer-generated animals in King Kong or The Lion King could look a lot more realistic thanks to a breakthrough by computer scientists at the University of California. The researchers from UC San Diego and UC Berkeley developed a method that dramatically improves the way computers simulate fur, and more specifically, the way light bounces within an animal’s pelt.
Two University of California San Diego projects, along with a complementary University of Nevada, Reno project, have been selected as recipients of the Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California (CENIC) 2018 Innovations in Networking Award for Experimental Applications in recognition of work advancing IT and telecommunications technologies to help minimize potential damage caused by wildfires.
Presented together for the first time, seven internationally recognized artists are featured in the UC San Diego exhibition “Stories That We Tell: Art and Identity,” celebrating those who paved the way for greater inclusion by inventing new means to address issues of race and gender.
Computers have helped researchers develop a new phosphor that can make LEDs cheaper and render colors more accurately. An international team led by engineers at UC San Diego first predicted the new phosphor using supercomputers and data mining algorithms, then developed a simple recipe to make it in the lab. Unlike many phosphors, this one is made of inexpensive, earth-abundant elements and can easily be made using industrial methods. As computers predicted, the new phosphor performed well in tests and in LED prototypes.
A team of scientists has developed an algorithm that can accurately pinpoint, in large regions of the human genome, mutations favored by natural selection. The finding provides deeper insight into how evolution works, and ultimately could lead to better treatments for genetic disorders. For example, adaptation to chronic hypoxia at high altitude can suggest targets for cardiovascular and other ischemic diseases.
A collaborative group of researchers from the University of California San Diego traveled to Turin, Italy recently to digitally map an entire portion of the city — complete with historic architecture, expansive murals and stunning works of art. Digital data will be used by students and researchers on campus to explore the site’s buildings and artifacts, ultimately recreating an interactive, virtual-reality experience.
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