News Archive

December 22, 2017 — Brightly colored Australian peacock spiders (Maratus spp.) captivate even the most arachnophobic viewers with their flamboyant courtship displays featuring diverse and intricate body colorations, patterns, and movements – all packed into miniature bodies measuring less than five millimeters in size for many species. However, these displays are not just pretty to look at. They also inspire new ways for humans to produce color in technology.

December 21, 2017 — Every day, every inch of skin on your body comes into contact with thousands of molecules — from food, cosmetics, sweat, the microbes that call your skin home. Now researchers can create interactive 3D maps that show where each molecule lingers on your body, thanks to a new method developed by University of California San Diego and European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) researchers. The technique is published December 21 in Nature Protocols.

December 20, 2017 — Pharmaceutical interventions are routinely prescribed to help people quit smoking. However, a new study by University of California San Diego School of Medicine researchers suggests that, despite promising results in clinical trials, smoking cessation drugs alone may not be improving the chances of successful quitting among smokers in general.

December 20, 2017 — Historical cliff erosion rates may have little power to predict future risk, according to a recent study from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego that used laser data to create 3D maps. The new research provides accurate erosion rates for 680 miles of the California coast, from the US-Mexico border to Bodega Head in Sonoma County. It identifies areas that have eroded faster than others, and introduces a new experimental hazard scale to identify areas that may be at greater risk of impending collapse.

December 20, 2017 — University of California San Diego researchers in the Department of Physics have shed light on the formation of supermassive black holes and galaxies. The research by Professor Shelley Wright, graduate student Andrey Vayner and their colleagues outlines the physics surrounding the formation of black holes and galaxies, improving scientific understanding of how the two grow in unison. Their findings, published in the December 2017 issue of Astrophysical Journal directly impact theoretical work on supermassive black holes’ and galaxies’ formation and evolution through cosmic time. Their work also provides important new clues on how black holes impact the star formation history of galaxies.

December 19, 2017 — The combined effects of pesticides and a lack of nutrition form a deadly one-two punch for animals, new research shows for the first time. Researchers studied how honey bees fared with exposure to pesticides and limited nutrient sources, scenarios found in agricultural areas. They were surprised to find that bee deaths increased by up to 50 percent more than they expected.

December 19, 2017 — Japanese game developer Cygames, Inc. announced today an academic collaboration with the UC San Diego Center for Research in Entertainment and Learning to create an "x-reality" lab for long-term basic research and shared instrumentation.

December 19, 2017 — The 31st annual conference on Neural Information Processing Systems attracted nearly 8,000 attendees, including a large delegation from Computer Science and Engineering as well as three other UC San Diego departments.

December 18, 2017 — Connect2Health Task Force announces Appalachia demonstration project to study relationship between broadband access, adoption and improved cancer care for patients in critical need counties

December 18, 2017 — An online survey of 900 consumers of three of the United States’ most popular cigarette brands suggests that adopting standardized cigarette packing may reduce consumers’ misconceptions that some cigarettes are less harmful than others, reports a team of researchers led by University of California San Diego School of Medicine and published in BMJ Tobacco Control.