Engineering
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Chewing gum has a mysterious effect on the brain
In research on fidgeting, UC Santa Cruz Professor of Computational Media Katherine Isbister has found that people engage in fidgeting when they’re trying to pay attention to a task that’s taking a long time, or in a long meeting (even if at the annoyance of those around them).
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How a new system of drones and low-cost sensors can protect communities from air pollution
A project led by Assistant Professor of Applied Mathematics Javier Gonzalez-Rocha is using drone flights and new monitoring technologies to better understand when and where farmworkers are most severely exposed to air pollution.
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The Top 6 Biomedical Stories of 2025
IEEE Spectrum’s most popular biomedical stories of the past year centered both on incorporating new technologies and revamping old ones, featuring work from Professor of Computer Science and Engineering Katia Obraczka’s lab on using Wi-Fi to detect heartbeat.
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AI Wildfire Modeling Expands Beyond The West As Climate Risks Shift
Fire Oracle, one of the projects developed at the Reboot the Earth hackathon hosted by the United Nations and the UC Santa Cruz Baskin School of Engineering, uses machine learning to accelerate prescribed burn planning.
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Our Brains May Have Pre-Configured Instructions to Understand the World When We’re Born
Using lab-grown brain organoids, scientists from the University of California, Santa Cruz led by Assistant Professor of Biomolecular Engineering Tal Sharf found that neurons begin firing in recognizable, information-like patterns long before any sensory system is active. Additional coverage in StudyFinds and The Debrief.
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Smart Bandage Uses Electricity and Drugs to Heal Wounds
A multidisciplinary research team led by Marco Rolandi, professor of electrical and computer engineering, developed a smart bandage that could speed up wound healing by actively tracking and responding to the healing process.
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Santa Cruz’s king tides: How experts and residents are taking part in research
The Santa Cruz Sentinel highlighted work by Professor of Computer Science and Engineering Alex Pang and graduate student Mona Zhao to use webcams, machine learning, and 3D modeling to track how beaches shift from day to day.
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How a Stomach Flu-Causing Virus Sneaks into Human Cells
The Scientist featured work led by Professor of Biomolecular Engineering Rebecca DuBois to study how human astroviruses bind to human cells at a molecular level, which could inform new preventive and therapeutic strategies.
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High school student leads heart rate monitoring innovation at UC Santa Cruz
KSBW featured work developed in Professor of Computer Science and Engineering Katia Obraczka’s lab that uses WiFi to wirelessly monitor heart rate.
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AI Model Digs Up Rare Somatic Variants for Precision Oncology Pipelines
Professor of Biomolecular Engineering Benedict Paten spoke about new methods developed to find elusive DNA mutations that occur only in tumor cells.
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US serial killer case opens door to using cutting-edge DNA data in courts
Prosecutors contracted the company Astrea Forensics, a forensic genetic genealogy company co-founded by Professor of Biomolecular Engineering Richard “Ed” Green, who developed the methods used in this case. The technology cleared a ‘Frye hearing’, proving that it has been accepted by the scientific community and opening the door for the use of this DNA evidence…
