OUP Blog — Darwin’s tree of life and Mendeleev’s periodic table of the elements share a number of interesting parallels, the most meaningful of which lie in the central role that each plays in its respective domain. Darwin’s tree of life, incidentally the only diagram of which appears in his book The Origin of Species...
YAHOO NEWS — Archaeologists have been trying to figure out what happened to the Maya for 100 years - after Mayan cities were mysteriously depopulated in the ninth century. One theory was that a series of droughts occurred in the Yucatan Peninsula of southeastern Mexico and northern Central America. But new analysis by researchers by...
HONOLULU CIVIL BEAT - One day in March, Big Island avocado farmer David Cox discovered colonies of tiny, black bugs on some of the trees in his orchard. About the size of a pin prick, the voracious insects were stuck to the underside of the leaves, sucking up a meal of green chlorophyll. Soon, leaves...
THE HILL - Scientists in California tried to study Alzheimer’s disease from a different perspective and the results may have led them to the cause of the disease. Researchers at the University of California- Riverside (UCR) recently published results from a study that looked at a protein called tau. By studying the different forms tau...
THE LOS ANGELES TIMES - Studying the complexity of mud on the ocean floor is a life’s work for Timothy Lyons, so when the tall and lean biogeochemist asks you to join an expedition in search of chemical mysteries buried deep beneath the waves, be prepared to get wet and dirty. On a recent foray...
SCICOMMUCR/BEYOND THE BENCH PODCAST - SciCommUCR is a student organization working to communicate science in creative ways and bring science communication training to the University of California, Riverside community. In 2019, SciCommUCR started with their communication workshop, Let's Talk Science. They are currently producing the second season of their podcast, Beyond the Bench. Beyond the...
LOS ANGELES TIMES - If you care about bees — well, let’s be real: If you care about eating (since bees pollinate the plants that produce our food) — two new studies underscore two simple things home gardeners in and around Los Angeles can do to help those busy buzzers live longer, healthier lives: 1...
KVCR - The United Nations released its much anticipated report on climate change on August 9, and the consensus is that our planet is on a course to experience some irreversible changes like sea level rise and more frequent extreme weather events. There is however still time to limit some of the devastation. KVCR's Megan...
THE ATLANTIC - In the race to build the world’s first round of coronavirus vaccines, the spike protein—the thorny knobs that adorn each of the pathogen’s particles—was our MVP. Spike is a key ingredient in virtually every one of our current pandemic-fighting shots; it has been repeatedly billed as essential for tickling out any immune...
BAKERSFIELD.COM - Researchers in Riverside and Maryland may have come up with a breakthrough in the fight against a pest-borne bacterial disease threatening to wipe out California's citrus industry. A kind of virus first spotted in the 1950s, when the leaves on four limequat trees in Indio developed yellow veins, has been found to spread...
LOS ANGELES TIMES - Since the early days of the pandemic, we’ve all wanted to know when and how it will end. Many of us assumed that COVID-19 vaccines were the answer, and the U.S. government poured more than $18 billion into Operation Warp Speed to develop and test them. That research has yielded three...
SCIENCE NEWS - Fingers crossed for finding nothing: July marks the main trapping season to check for Asian giant hornets still infesting Washington state. The first of these invasive hornets found in North America in 2021, in June, was probably not from a nest made this year, scientists say. So that find doesn’t say how...
WAMU - As demand for electric vehicles heats up, there’s concern about a shortage of the key minerals needed to make them. The Biden administration has called for boosting domestic production of such minerals, including lithium for the lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles. And that has many hoping for big business in a desolate...
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER - “Let’s get started with the latest mid-air meltdown by an unruly air flight passenger that is raising alarms about safety in the sky,” reported Sheryl Underwood on the June 14 episode of The Talk while reading from a Teleprompter. But viewers were quick to spot an unruly passenger over Underwood’s shoulder...
WESTERN FARMPRESS - University of California scientists have discovered genetic data that will help food crops like tomatoes and rice survive longer, more intense periods of drought on our warming planet. Over the course of the last decade, the research team sought to create a molecular atlas of crop roots, where plants first detect the...
SCIENCE NEWS - May 18 (UPI) -- Scientists have identified several new genes responsible for root growth in tomato and rice plants. The discovery, described Tuesday in the journal Cell, could help scientists develop more drought-resistant crop varieties. Root networks operate like a central nervous system, allowing plants to sense their surroundings. Plants use their...
KTNV - All eyes are on COVID-19 vaccines, but researchers are still working on protection against other serious illnesses. A Southern California virologist is racing against the clock to create a vaccine for the Zika virus. Dr. Rong Hai's job is to study viruses and their virulence at the University of California, Riverside. He's also...
PCT Online - The Eastern U.S. is about to see something that hasn't happened since the final episode of Friends aired on NBC: massive swarms of Brood X cicadas. Billions of the red-eyed, black-bodied insects are taking to the skies after 17 years underground, buzzing loudly to attract mates before they die. Not only is...
SALON - Doug Yanega studies insects for a living, yet he has repeatedly missed out on one of North America's most awe-inspiring entomological events: the septdecennial (meaning once every 17 years) emergence of a swarms of cicadas known as Brood X. Part of the reason for this is that Yanega, who works as senior scientist...
THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE - Two bobcat kittens and their mother have been exploring the grounds at UC Riverside’s Botanic Gardens this week. A brief video shared on the gardens’ social media this week shows one kitten treading carefully on the grounds. “Walk softly and you might see our newest additions,” the caption reads. The 40-acre botanical...
