Technology & Engineering

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The Latest

White House Advisor Promotes Science, Technology During Campus Visit

John Holdren, President Barack Obama’s senior science and technology advisor, spent the day at UC San Diego Monday meeting with faculty members and giving a public talk about efforts to promote science and engineering at the national level. As director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, Holdren oversees large-scale initiatives for the United States that include a comprehensive climate action plan, increasing participation of youth in STEM education and greater overall access to government-held data.

Research Stars Will Illumine Medicine, Science and Energy at UC San Diego-Kyoto University Symposium

Two of the world’s preeminent research universities will co-host Nobel Prize laureates and other academic and research luminaries when UC San Diego and Kyoto University hold their March 14-15 Joint Symposium on the La Jolla campus.

New Study Pinpoints Stress Factor of Mega-Earthquake Off Japan

Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego researchers published new findings on the role geological rock formations offshore of Japan played in producing the massive 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake⎯one of only two magnitude 9 mega-earthquakes to occur in the last 50 years.

ECE Student, Professor Win Best Paper Award at NIPS Conference

Ananda Theertha Suresh and Alon Orlitsky beat out more than 1,800 submissions from researchers around the world to receive the honor for their paper titled “Competitive Distribution Estimation: Why is Good-Turing Good?”

UC San Diego, MaXentric Develop MaXphone to Bridge Handheld Radios and Smartphones

For as high-tech as Department of Homeland Security operations have become (think ground-penetrating radar and predator drones), radio communications for the federal agency remain entrenched in the previous century. Customs and Border Protection agents, for example, alternate between cell phones and handheld radios depending on the availability of broadband commerical networks — a cumbersome approach that may require switching between technologies in the midst of sometimes tense scenarios.

Moments of Acute Stress Can Cause Molecular Alterations in Immune Response

Chronic psychosocial and emotional stress has well-documented negative effects upon the human immune system but less is known about the health effects of acute but transitory episodes of stress. Do panic-inducing moments also raise the risk of stress-related conditions? A team of researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, Stony Brook University in New York and elsewhere addressed that question by taking blood samples from skydivers to measure key immune response indicators.