November 4, 2015
November 4, 2015 —
“Mirror, mirror, on the wall – who’s the fairest of them all?” New research doesn’t have an answer to that. But it does give clues as to who is the “enviest” and would have been more likely to pester (and fester) with the question in the first place: Snow White, not her stepmother. If only fairy tales lined up with data.
October 29, 2015
October 29, 2015 —
The American Dream is less real than it used to be. On that, the evidence is clear. Incomes have grown slowly for all but the wealthiest since the late 1970s. And if you were born into a less advantaged family, the chances of making it into the middle class have diminished. But what to do? What will work best to restore the nation’s promise of upward mobility? The Yankelovich Center for Social Science Research at UC San Diego will weigh 25 available options and, in two years, will release a ranking of the most effective.
September 8, 2015
September 8, 2015 —
Two University of California, San Diego-sponsored events in September, over two consecutive Saturdays, highlight the importance of a comprehensive approach to brain research. First, on Sept. 12, is an education and advocacy forum for the public bringing together those affected by Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, brain injury, stroke, epilepsy, autism, mental illness or depression. Then on Sept. 19 a research symposium will connect local “neurotechnology” innovators to one another and to the region’s business community.
July 9, 2015
July 9, 2015 —
Ever wake at night needing a drink of water and then find your way to the kitchen in the dark without stubbing your toe? Researchers at the University of California, San Diego say they have identified a region of the brain that enables you to do that – and generally helps you navigate the world.
May 7, 2015
May 7, 2015 —
Women outpace men at every level of education in the United States. When it comes to earning degrees, they get a greater share of high school and college diplomas, and PhDs. But if you look up the ranks—in business or in academia—the numbers thin dramatically. In the University of California system, for example, only 28 percent of tenured faculty members are women. And what percentage of U.S. college presidents are female? Only 26 percent, according to the American Council on Education and to sociologist Marianne Cooper, who came to campus April 29 to moderate the Social Sciences Supper Club “A Culture of Women's Leadership: From Trailblazing to Teamwork.”
April 16, 2015
April 16, 2015 —
Can people change their ways? Yes. But don’t bother preaching against a culture’s conventions, or outlawing them. Neither will work – or not for long, says Gerry Mackie, associate professor of political science in the UC San Diego Division of Social Sciences. When it comes to stopping a harmful social practice, Mackie says, the people practicing it must band together and abandon it as a group. You must empower a community to change itself.
April 2, 2015
April 2, 2015 —
Alan Daly explores ecosystems. He also parses networks. But the former schoolteacher and school psychologist is neither a biologist nor a computer scientist. Daly is chair of education studies in the UC San Diego Division of Social Sciences who believes that the only way to improve schools is to understand the environment in which we’re trying to effect change.
March 19, 2015
March 19, 2015 —
Five UC San Diego faculty members are being honored by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation with Sloan Research Fellowships for 2015—three from the Jacobs School of Engineering and two from the Division of Social Sciences. This year’s recipients are computer scientist Shachar Lovett, economist Paul Niehaus, Padmini Rangamani from the department of mechanical and aerospace engineering, nanoengineer Andrea Tao and neuroscientist Bradley Voytek.
January 29, 2015
January 29, 2015 —
Three UC San Diego researchers say they can predict the spread of flu a week into the future with as much accuracy as Google Flu Trends can display levels of infection right now.
January 15, 2015
January 15, 2015 —
If you’ve ever wondered about the old television sets scattered around the lawn in front of the Media Center/Communication Building, wonder no more. The TV graveyard – along with a reproduction of Rodin’s famous “Thinker” and several small statues of Buddha gazing into the empty monitors – is the exterior portion of “Something Pacific” by Nam June Paik (1932-2006). Commissioned as part of the university’s renowned Stuart Collection of public art, “Something Pacific” was in 1986 Paik’s first permanent outdoor installation. The indoor portion is in the building lobby: a bank of 24 cutting edge and interactive TVs – except that they are no longer interactive or cutting-edge. A recent grant from the National Endowment of the Arts will change that.
