Early Earth was a hot, gaseous, dusty and dynamic planet with an atmosphere and an ocean. Then its surface cooled and stabilized enough for clouds, landmasses and early life to form about four billion years ago, during what’s called the isotopic age of rocks, or the Archean Period. Atmospheric chemical byproducts from that time traveled through the air and deposited inside the planet’s oldest rock, recording life’s earliest activities like photosynthesis and oxygen production.
Sulfur isotopes can serve as tracers of atmospheric oxygen and new data collected from the present-day atmosphere in China by an international team of researchers, led by the University of California San Diego, indicate remarkable similarity to the isotopic footprint found in ancient rocks. This opens up new interpretations of the Archean Period’s sulfur isotope sedimentary signature—a proxy for the origins and evolution of atmospheric oxygen and early life on Earth.
New research in climate science indicates that extreme events, such as heat waves, the collapse of major ice sheets, and mass extinctions are becoming dramatically more probable. Though cuts in rising emissions appear unlikely with the stalled 2015 Paris agreement, University of California San Diego scientists argue that new developments present an opportunity to shift the politics around climate change.
For the first time, scientists can make a strong case that no one is exempt from the extreme and immediate risks posed by a warming world.
UC San Diego Health and Rancho Family Medical Group (RFMG) announced today that they have entered into an exclusive strategic affiliation designed to enhance the delivery of high-quality care to patients in Southwest Riverside County.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) at UC San Diego a supplemental grant valued at almost $2.4 million to extend operations of its Comet supercomputer by an additional year, through March 2021. The extension brings the value of the total Comet program to more than $27 million.
They each bring diverse expertise as doctors, educators, lawyers and entrepreneurs. Yet they all share a common interest: propelling the bold experiments, lifesaving solutions and nontraditional learning opportunities at the University of California San Diego. The UC San Diego Board of Trustees are unique ambassadors who dedicate their time and talents to supporting the university’s continued growth. This year, eight trustees will join the 2018-19 UC San Diego Foundation Board.
Like small-scale Legos clicking into place, nature autonomously puts together microscopic building blocks. Living systems are biochemical machines that excel at building and moving their parts. Just as machines need energy in some form to operate, living systems are energized by consuming “fuel”—substances or food—reliably. The human body, for example, contracts muscles by the motion of tiny nanomotors—molecular devices that convert energy at the nanoscale scale to generate movement at the macroscale. The ability to mimic nature’s self-assembly would revolutionize science’s approach to synthesizing materials that could heal, contract or reconfigure.
