Chemists have devised a versatile way to attach handles and tags to RNA so that the tiny molecules can be detected and traced within cells or selectively pulled from a complex mixture of molecules.
Why do babies smile when they interact with their parents? Could their smiles have a purpose? In the Sept. 23 issue of PLOS ONE, a team of computer scientists, roboticists and developmental psychologists confirm what most parents already suspect: when babies smile, they do so with a purpose—to make the person they interact with smile in return.
A simulation that traced the evolution of enormous, bright galaxies over the course of several billion years has illuminated the possible origins of some of the most extreme objects in the universe.
The University of California, San Diego Library has acquired the papers of Paul Espinosa, an award-winning independent filmmaker, well known for his documentary and dramatic films focused on the U.S.-Mexican border region, which helped to increase awareness about a host of immigration and cross-cultural issues. Espinosa, who has been the recipient of eight Emmy Awards for his films, recently retired from Arizona State University, where he was on the faculty at the School of Transborder Studies.
Scientists from UC San Diego are leading a novel pollution experiment at Imperial Beach, Coronado, and Tijuana. During the Cross Surfzone/Inner-shelf Dye Exchange project, researchers will perform three experiments releasing non-toxic bright pink fluorescent dye into beach waters and track its movements along the coast some 6.2-12.4 miles for nearly 36 hours.
Machines that are much smaller than the width of a human hair could one day help clean up carbon dioxide pollution in the oceans. Nanoengineers at the University of California, San Diego have designed enzyme-functionalized micromotors that rapidly zoom around in water, remove carbon dioxide and convert it into a usable solid form.
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