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College of Natural & Agricultural Sciences

Latest CNAS in the Media

Termites wreak havoc on California homes. A new species was just discovered.

SFGATE - Described by researchers as one of the most serious wood-destroying pests in the world, subterranean termites cause an estimated $32 billion in damage globally per year, and California is a battleground where both native and non-native species flourish. Now, unfortunately for squeamish homeowners, researchers at UC Riverside said there may be even more...
By Ariana Bindman | SFGate |

Rivers are turning orange. The effects are disastrous.

POPULAR MECHANICS - For the past several years, dozens of rivers throughout the Arctic watershed have been undergoing a shocking transformation: They’re turning orange. When rivers sport these troubling hues, humans are usually the culprit—whether through mining operations, agricultural runoff, or criminally dumping hazardous materials into waterways. With these rivers mostly tucked away in northern...
By Darren Orf | Popular Mechanics |

Why Is Venus Hell and Earth an Eden?

QUANTA MAGAZINE - enus is arguably the worst place in the solar system. A cloak of carbon dioxide suffocates the planet, subjecting its surface to skull-crushing pressure. Sulfuric acid rains down through the sickly yellow sky but never reaches the lava-licked ground. Venus is so hot — hot enough to melt lead — that the...
By Robin George Andrews | Quanta Magazine |

Alaska’s rivers used to run clear, now they’re turning orange for good

DAILY GALAXY - In Alaska’s far north, something strange is happening. Rivers that once ran crystal clear are now turning a rusty orange, and scientists say the shift is permanent. A new study published in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has uncovered the hidden force behind this transformation, one that is quietly...
By Melissa Ait Lounis | Dailygalaxy.com |

'Astounding:' Alaska researchers make alarming discovery in Arctic rivers

SFGATE - When John McPhee and his ragtag crew first kayaked into the pristine Alaskan wilderness in 1975, they were awestruck. The author, who chronicled his reconnaissance trip in the literary classic “Coming into the Country,” was surrounded by an abundance of untouched flora and fauna. Beneath them, Arctic grayling, chum salmon and Dolly Varden...
By Ariana Bindman | SFGate |

Orange rivers in Alaska signify a color-changing crisis, exposing fish to toxic metals

DISCOVER MAGAZINE - In the northern Alaskan wilderness, a bizarre symptom of climate change is emerging: The rivers there are turning unnaturally orange. This phenomenon paints a worrisome picture for watersheds all across the Arctic, now faced with toxic metals being released by melting permafrost. A new study published in the Proceedings of the National...
By Jack Knudson | Discover Magazine |

And then there were three: New termite species identified in California

ENTOMOLOGY TODAY - In southern California, subterranean termites in the genus Reticulitermes are a common scourge, responsible for significant economic damage in that part of the state. Early studies of these termites indicated that only two pest species existed—Reticulitermes hesperus and Reticulitermes tibialis. However, a 2023 study by Chow-Yang Lee, Ph.D. , endowed presidential chair...

By Andrew Porterfield | Entomology Today |

Will the James Webb telescope lead us to alien life? Scientists say we're getting closer than ever.

LIVE SCIENCE - Imagine a planet twice as wide as Earth, covered in an ocean that smells like sweet cabbage. Every day, a faint red star warms this ocean world and the uncountable masses of hungry, plankton-like creatures that inhabit it. They rise to the surface by the billions, joining together in a living, floating...

By Brandon Specktor | Live Science |

Dark matter could turn some planets into tiny black holes

SCIENCEALERT - Giant worlds beyond the Solar System could be the probe we need to figure out how dark matter manifests in the Universe. According to a new study, one particular dark matter model could see the mysterious mass accumulating in the cores of giant planets, collapsing into tiny black holes destined to consume the...

By Michelle Starr | ScienceAlert |

Vitamin B1 theory from 1958 is finally proven by scientists after being called 'crazy'

EARTH.COM - or years, one rule in chemistry class seemed simple: certain high-energy carbon species, like vitamin B1, fall apart in water. That’s why many reactions take place in specialized organic solvents instead of the most common solvent on Earth. A new study puts a crack in that rule. It shows that a reactive carbon...

By Eric Ralls | Earth.com |

Scientists warn of 'massive' black holes forming inside of planets that could have apocalyptic impact

UNILAD - A worrying new study has found that some planets might develop black holes from within that go on to destroy them. The research, which was published on August 20, found that dark matter may gather over time in the center of some planets which creates a black hole that ultimately goes on to...
By Niamh Shackleton | Unilad |

More dust storms called haboobs are coming to California, thanks to climate change

LOS ANGELES TIMES - For anyone wondering whether intense dust storms, such as the haboob that enveloped Phoenix this week, are possible in Southern California, the answer is yes. They’ve hit in the recent past and are a growing issue over much of Southern California and the Central Valley, thanks to the drying associated with...
By Susanne Rust | LA Times |

How dark matter in exoplanets could create new black holes

EARTHSKY - The mysterious substance known as dark matter makes up most of the mass in the universe. But there is a lot we don’t know about it. Researchers at the University of California, Riverside, have suggested using exoplanets – planets orbiting distant stars – to study and better understand dark matter. They said on...
By Paul Scott Anderson | EarthSky |

Where there’s fire, there’s smoke

EOS - Gale Sinatra and her husband fled their Altadena, Calif., home on 7 January with little more than overnight bags, taking just one of their two cars. “We thought we were going to be gone overnight,” Sinatra said. “We thought they’d get the fire under control and we’d get back in.” When the couple...
By Emily Dieckman | Eos |

Breathing room for quantum chips: Study shows noisy links can still scale systems

INTERESTING ENGINEERING - For years, the biggest hurdle in quantum computing has been scale. While quantum processors can already tackle complex simulations in chemistry, material science, and data security, most remain too small and fragile to be practical for large-scale applications. A new study led by the University of California, Riverside, suggests that may be...
By Neetika Walter | Interesting Engineering |

Where Would Planting Trees Help Most With Global Warming?

US NEWS AND WORLD REPORT - It’s a simple and common prescription for global warming and fire suppression: Plant more trees. But where they’re planted makes a real difference, new research shows. "Our study found more cooling from planting in warm, wet regions, where trees grow year-round," study first author James Gomez , a graduate...
By Carole Tanzer Miller | US News and World Report |

Dark matter may turn planets into black holes

EARTH.COM - Exoplanets used to be fringe objects in astronomy. Now, they are popular subjects for testing ideas about the composition of the universe. A new study proposes that some gas giants might steadily collect dark matter in their cores until the buildup tips into a collapse that forms a tiny black hole. Mehrdad Phoroutan-Mehr...
By Jordan Joseph | Earth.com |

Dark matter could turn exoplanets into tiny black holes, shocking study reveals

INTERESTING ENGINEERING - A study suggests that exoplanets could be used to search for dark matter — the elusive substance that makes up 85% of the universe’s matter. Dark matter’s gravitational pull proves it exists, but we’ve never been able to directly find it. Now, the University of California, Riverside study proposes that exoplanets, especially...
By Mrigakshi Dixit | Interesting Engineering |

Grape Day shows San Joaquin Valley growers ‘what works in our area, for our crops’

UC ANR - Grape Day at the Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center – a time-honored learning event dating to the late 1960s – was convened again on Aug. 12 for wine, table and raisin grape growers to hear about the latest field trials and innovations. “The primary purpose of Grape Day is to showcase...
By Michael Hsu | UC ANR |

Experts issue warning as 2-inch menace threatens multimillion-dollar industry: 'It's an invisible pest'

THE COOL DOWN - Palm trees in Uruguay have been under attack by an invasive pest, causing death and destruction to more than thousands of the country's beloved trees, the Associated Press reported. What's happening? The red palm weevil, a large-snout beetle species native to Southeast Asia, has been wreaking havoc on palm trees within...
By Yei Ling Ma | The Cool Down |
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