Science & Environment

UC San Diego Alumnus Shares in DARPA Spectrum Challenge Grand Prize

Adam Anderson is an alumnus of the Electrical and Computer Engineering program in the Jacobs School of Engineering at the University of California, San Diego, where he completed his Ph.D. in 2008. Today he teaches electrical engineering at Tennessee Tech University, and together with a student, Anderson recently pulled off a major coup: winning the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Spectrum Challenge. To do so, he developed a radio system that made the best use of broadcast spectrum by automatically seeking wavelengths that aren’t cluttered with radio traffic. These so-called software-defined radios (SDRs) can also adjust output power and transmission parameters and keep track of spectrum use by nearby devices to optimize their performance.

Air Apparent: Using Bubbles to Reveal Fertility Problems

UC San Diego Health System’s doctors are the first fertility specialists in the county to use a new ultrasound technique to assess fallopian tubes by employing a mixture of saline and air bubbles that is less painful, avoids x-ray exposure and is more convenient to patients during an already vulnerable time.

Biologists Find ‘Missing Link’ in the Production of Protein Factories in Cells

Biologists at UC San Diego have found the “missing link” in the chemical system that enables animal cells to produce ribosomes—the thousands of protein “factories” contained within each cell that manufacture all of the proteins needed to build tissue and sustain life.

The Brain’s Balancing Act

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered a fundamental mechanism by which the brain maintains its internal balance. The mechanism, described in the June 22 advanced online publication of the journal Nature, involves the brain's most basic inner wiring and the processes that control whether a neuron relays information to other neurons or suppresses the transmission of information.

Cal-BRAIN Kickstarts California Efforts to Map the Brain

The California budget signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on June 20 creates a statewide research grants program called Cal-BRAIN, an initiative led by UC San Diego. With an initial allocation of $2 million, Cal-BRAIN – short for California Blueprint for Research to Advance Innovations in Neuroscience – is a state complement to the federal BRAIN Initiative announced by President Barack Obama in April of 2013. It aims to “accelerate the development of brain mapping techniques, including the development of new technologies.”

UC San Diego Health System Designated U.S. Olympic Regional Medical Center

UC San Diego Health System has been designated an Official U.S. Olympic Regional Medical Center, joining a national network of leading medical providers selected by the United States Olympic Committee to provide comprehensive medical services to Team USA athletes, including orthopedics and sports medicine, primary care, cardiovascular care, neurosurgery, cancer care and physical therapy.