November 30, 2015
Scientists recently discovered that tiny, multilayer nanostructures inside a tarantula’s hair are responsible for its vibrant color. The science behind how these hair-raising spiders developed their blue hue may lead to new ways to improve computer or TV screens using biomimicry.
March 24, 2023
Whether in sports moments, nature documentaries or animal behavior studies, a new technique developed by UC San Diego computer scientists could have far-reaching impact. In an effort to smooth out slow-mo, they have broken new ground in a technique for video processing.
October 9, 2017
…at UC San Diego that allows researchers to explore evolutionary connections among species. Over 20,000 users from 86 countries have run one or more jobs using CIPRES, generating about 3,500 peer-reviewed publications in journals.
January 11, 2024
UC San Diego recently became a Bee Campus USA member, part of a national program created to support pollinating organisms, boost the abundance of native plant species and reduce pesticide use. Professor James Nieh explains what the designation means for UC San Diego and the San Diego region.
May 16, 2017
Arguing against the current conventional wisdom – that there is an evolved capacity for number and arithmetic that we share with other species – Rafael Nunez says numerical cognition is not biologically endowed.
July 2, 2015
Why is the seahorse’s tail square? An international team of researchers has found the answer and it could lead to building better robots and medical devices. In a nutshell, a tail made of square, overlapping segments makes for better armor than a cylindrical tail. It’s also better at gripping and…
March 20, 2014
…the number of known birds, but far less than the number of known beetles—San Diego’s bee population strangely hadn’t gained much interest from biologists until Hung began his work. “San Diego as it turns out is relatively under-sampled with respect to its bee fauna,” says Holway, adding that it’s a…
January 18, 2017
Visitors to the gallery@calit2 on the University of California San Diego campus will be treated to a mind-expanding yet dystopic art show that asks a simple question: If life started today in our plastic debris-filled oceans, what kinds of life forms would emerge out of the contemporary primordial ooze? The…
July 26, 2022
In a pair of related studies, UC San Diego researchers show that the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic was at a Chinese market and resulted from at least two instances of the SARS-CoV-2 virus jumping from live animal hosts to humans working or shopping there.
April 8, 2021
…catalyst: Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds. A tale about a small seaside California town under attack from berserk birds is actually based on a true story, and the reason for the birds’ behavior was found in plankton samples. Domoic acid, a neurotoxin produced by single-celled algae, can build up in plankton-eating…
