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News Archive - Environment

Scripps Graduate Student Discovers World’s First Known Manta Ray Nursery

June 18, 2018

A graduate student at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego and colleagues from NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries have discovered the world’s first known manta ray nursery. Located in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Texas at NOAA’s Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, the juvenile manta ray habitat is the first of its kind to be described in a scientific study.

SDSC Comet and Machine Learning Simulates H2O with “Unprecedented Accuracy”

June 13, 2018

A team led by researchers at UC San Diego’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and SDSC has used machine learning techniques to develop models for simulations of water with “unprecedented accuracy.” Published online in The Journal of Chemical Physics, the research demonstrates how popular ML techniques can be used to construct predictive molecular models based on quantum mechanical reference data.

Engineer Receives Award From Energy Department to Advance Concentrating Solar Power Research

June 12, 2018

Renkun Chen, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of California San Diego, has received a $1.18 million dollar award from the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office to develop technology that can advance next-generation concentrating solar power (CSP) systems. The project is aimed at developing an ultra-sensitive infrared camera that can rapidly measure and monitor heat transfer in CSP plant materials and assess their performance over decades of use.

Global TIES Team Earns Honors For Solar Lantern Project

May 16, 2018

Undergraduate students from UC San Diego designed and built an extremely affordable solar-powered lantern to provide not only light, but a source of income to a partner village in the Philippines. Their engineering and business savvy earned them the top spot in the Energy and Resources category at the Big Ideas social innovation competition at UC Berkeley, a third place finish at Booz Allen Hamilton’s Ideas Festival, and a spot at the Clinton Global Initiative University.

Researchers Develop First Gene Drive Targeting Worldwide Crop Pest

April 17, 2018

UC San Diego biologists have created the world’s first gene drive system—a mechanism for manipulating genetic inheritance—in Drosophila suzukii, an agricultural pest that has invaded much of the United States and caused millions of dollars in damage to high-value berry and other fruit crops.

San Diego, Korea Team up to Tackle Transportation

March 21, 2018

UC San Diego is launching an international research collaboration to develop smart and clean transportation systems and infrastructure, with an added goal of commercializing the results. In partnership with the City of San Diego, the City of Ulsan in Korea and the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), along with numerous industry partners, the UC San Diego Smart Transportation Innovation Program will develop technological solutions to tomorrow’s transportation challenges.

Local Entrepreneur Donates $225K for UC San Diego Effort to Document Ancient Underwater Cave

March 19, 2018

The Cultural Heritage Engineering Initiative (CHEI), based at the University of California San Diego, has received $225,000 from San Diego-based entrepreneur Brian Strauss to enable digital visualization technologies that make it possible to see cultural heritage sites and artifacts in entirely new ways -- like “the La Brea tar pits without the tar.”

CENIC Recognizes Technology Projects to Combat California Wildfires

February 20, 2018

WIFIRE, HPWREN, AlertTahoe Projects Win 2018 Innovations in Networking Awards

Supercomputers Aid Discovery of New, Inexpensive Material to Make LEDs with Excellent Color Quality

February 19, 2018

Computers have helped researchers develop a new phosphor that can make LEDs cheaper and render colors more accurately. An international team led by engineers at UC San Diego first predicted the new phosphor using supercomputers and data mining algorithms, then developed a simple recipe to make it in the lab. Unlike many phosphors, this one is made of inexpensive, earth-abundant elements and can easily be made using industrial methods. As computers predicted, the new phosphor performed well in tests and in LED prototypes.

Recordings Spout Secrets behind Blue Whale Behavior

February 12, 2018

Researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego are using underwater microphones to interpret and characterize the calls of blue whales swimming through Southern California’s oceans, revealing new insights into the behavior of these endangered marine mammals.
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