Technology & Engineering

Research

The Latest

Physicists ‘Condense’ Diversity, Outreach, Blue Jeans’ Dye in NSF Research

Like consumers investing in a pair of body-shaping jeans, the National Science Foundation (NSF) invests in basic research and people to mold the future. So, the government agency awarded more than $500,000 to the University of California San Diego and the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) to study, for the first time, the exploration of the electronic and magnetic behavior of one-dimensional (1D) metallic chains. In this case, these are ultra-short chains of atoms that can be fabricated using organic molecules called metallo-phthalocyanine (MPc)—flat molecules with a metal atom at the center commonly used in dyes present in the color of blue denim. The findings could lead to the development of new, smaller and faster electronic devices that can be used in computer memories, as well as to promising careers for future scientists.

Topping the Charts

More than 100 UC San Diego Health physicians have been named as “Top Docs” in the 2018 San Diego Magazine “Physicians of Exceptional Excellence” survey, an annual opportunity for doctors across the region to vote for much-admired colleagues.

Cancer Immunotherapy Might Benefit From Previously Overlooked Immune Players

Using a bioinformatics approach, University of California San Diego School of Medicine researchers found that CD4+ T cell’s binding partner, a molecule called MHC-II, may have even more influence on emerging tumors than MHC-I, the better known partner of CD8+ T cells. The finding, published September 20 in Cell, may help researchers improve cancer immunotherapies and predict which patients will respond best.

Physicists Train Robotic Gliders to Soar like Birds

The words “fly like an eagle” are famously part of a song, but they may also be words that make some scientists scratch their heads. Especially when it comes to soaring birds like eagles, falcons and hawks, who seem to ascend to great heights over hills, canyons and mountain tops with ease. Scientists realize that upward currents of warm air assist the birds in their flight, but they don’t how the birds find and navigate these thermal plumes.

Engineering Graduate Students Selected as Siebel Scholars

Five Jacobs School of Engineering graduate students working to improve immunology, cardiac health, blood transfusions and our understanding of the genome have been named 2019 Siebel Scholars. The Siebel Scholars program recognizes the most talented students in the world’s leading graduate schools of business, computer science, bioengineering and energy science.

How Cells Repurpose their Garbage Disposal Systems to Promote Inflammation

Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have unraveled new insights into the way cells leverage G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and their cellular waste disposal systems to control inflammation. The findings, published September 18 in Cell Reports, suggest some existing cancer drugs that inhibit these cellular activities might be repurposed to treat vascular inflammation, which occurs when artery-blocking plaques form in atherosclerosis.