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Profiles in Discovery: Nick Spitzer – The Ever-Changing Brain: From Embryo To Adult
Early neurological dogma was that a brain’s neurons were hardwired to be only one type of signaling molecule and nothing else. Turns out, this belief was wrong. Nick Spitzer, UC San Diego professor and director of the UCSD Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind, proved that neurons could change from one type of transmitter to […]
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The Domestication of Animals and Human Evolution
What can the changes that made cuddly pets from steely predators tell us about ourselves? What do differences such as pointy ears or floppy ears, a long snout or a short one, a protruding jaw or a child-like face, or the timing and pace of brain development tell us? These are just a few of […]
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Michael Pollan: “Don’t buy any cereal that changes the color of the milk.”
This year, renowned journalist, author, and food intellectual Michael Pollan received the 2014 Nierenberg Award for Science in the Public Interest. “Michael Pollan has shown that an English major can do great service to science in the public interest,” said Walter Tschinkel, one of many who introduced Pollan. “Science very much needs writers like Michael […]
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What Part Neanderthal Are You?
Turns out, there’s a little Neanderthal in all of us. • In 2010, Svante Pääbo and his colleagues unveiled the Neanderthal genome. • Pääbo is a biologist and evolutionary anthropologist. He is also the director of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. • His research shows that Humans and Neanderthals interbred in the prehistoric […]
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Eight (Really) Big Ideas in Science
Eight UC Berkeley Lab scientists present eight game-changing concepts in eight minutes each. You can watch one at a time, but once you get started, you might not want to stop. Inspired by the problems of our time and the mysteries of the universe, these scientists are working to answer questions we may have never […]
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That’s One Smart Puppy!
Hey! Do you want to know what causes magnetism, have a real sense of how small atoms are, or see that sometimes physics allows things that, well, seem like magic? Or, do you just want to watch cute puppies and kitties? Well, now you can have both! Smart Puppy and Friends is a new series […]
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Genome: Unlocking Life’s Code
Have you ever wondered where your eye color comes from, or why a certain disease runs in your family? As DNA sequencing becomes more common, you may soon have the opportunity to learn how your genomic makeup contributes to your traits and to your health. New discoveries in genomic medicine are being made every day. […]
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How Does an El Niño Affect California?
Mola-Mola in Valdez Alaska? Striped Marlin off Oregon? On one hand, an El Niño event may bring torrential rains, flooding, mudslides, huge pacific storms and coastal erosion. On the other, it warms the ocean, generates big surf, saves on heating costs, and increases surplus water supplies. Is it all bad? Renowned El Niño prediction expert […]
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Computer Models Aid Scientific Discovery
When things are too big, too small or impossible to manipulate safely, scientists turn to computer models to reproduce the behavior of natural and man-made systems. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s popular series, Field Trip in the Lab, returns with four new lectures that look at research enabled by computational modeling. Each lecture highlights cutting-edge science […]
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Sharks Without Borders: A Binational Effort to Study and Conserve Threatened Shark Species
Sharks have been around, essentially unchanged, for 400 million years. Their size, power, and massive jaws fill us with terror and fascination. And even though sharks kill fewer people than dogs each year, media coverage and movies of shark attacks have portrayed them as insatiable killing machines. They may rule the ocean, but sharks are […]