Science
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A ‘Third State’ Exists Between Life and Death—And That Suggests Your Cells Are Conscious, Some Scientists Say
“This is nothing new,” University of California, Santa Cruz plant biologist Lincoln Taiz, PhD and co-author of the letter, said in an email.
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First elephant seal pup of the season born in SLO County.
Supermoms account for more than half (55%) of the total pups born. Supermoms live longer, breed more frequently and raise bigger pups. Bernie LeBoeuf, now professor emeritus at UC Santa Cruz, led a research team that identified Supermoms in a 2019 scientific paper. Gingerbread’s mother chose a nice dry spot on the south beach.
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Residents near Moss Landing fire provide samples to measure health impact
UC Santa Cruz toxicology professor Donald Smith says hair samples submitted by the Moss Landing community will contribute to a growing body of toxicology research. Smith’s lab will analyze the hair samples for manganese concentrations, but cannot yet interpret those results to connect exposure to symptoms without more long-term data.
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Why Brown Dwarfs May Explain the Main Differences Between Stars and Planets
The atmospheres of brown dwarfs can be surprisingly similar to those of gas giant planets, too, complete with multi-layered clouds and powerful wind-driven storms. That makes them great windows into the atmospheric processes that shape our own solar system’s giant planets, as well as the super-Jupiter exoplanets discovered outside our stellar neighborhood, according to a…
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Which fault line do you live on? An earthquake guide for California.
While both the northern and southern sections of the San Andreas fault are locked, storing up energy that needs to be released, the central part is creeping and less charged.”The true nightmare scenario is that the southern San Andreas has so much extra energy in it because it’s so overdue that it blows through the…
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Watch orcas and dolphins team up to hunt—a possible scientific first
“In nature, mutualism—where both parties benefit—is the most likely reason that you would have two disparate groups coming together,” says Ari Friedlaender, professor of ocean sciences at UC Santa Cruz, who wasn’t involved in the study. Additional coverage in Smithsonian magazine.
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Researchers played elephant seals the calls of their nemeses. This is what happened next
“Male elephant seals come back to the exact same breeding location year after year and engage in competitive interactions with a number of familiar individuals,” says Caroline Casey, research scientist and adjunct professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, in a statement. “It would make sense, then, that they would retain some memory of…
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Florida’s first offshore fish farms are coming. Are they floating hazards?
If Ocean Era is committed to preserving the environment, one net pen isn’t likely to harm the Gulf, said Rod Fujita, a marine ecologist at the University of California Santa Cruz. “The big question is, what happens after that?” Fujita said.
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Mars Has Lightning, Scientists Prove
This is the first time there has been convincing evidence that electrical activity on Mars is actually occurring, says Francis Nimmo, a planetary scientist at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who wasn’t involved in the study.
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What California’s big, gross elephant seals can teach us about life
“I mean, everything they do is extreme,” says Daniel Costa, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UC Santa Cruz. “They’re the deepest-diving pinniped and they dive for longer than any other seal or sea lion. They also fast for longer. Everything they do is just pushing the limits.”
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NIH shake-up to grant decision-making sparks concern over political meddling
“My colleagues are asking who would agree to volunteer their time on an NIH study section if their ranking of grants will not be what drives awarding,” Carol Greider, a Nobel Prize winner and molecular biologist at the University of California, Santa Cruz, tells ScienceInsider.
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Why California is seeing an earthquake cluster right now
Emily Brodsky, an earthquake physicist at UC Santa Cruz, said it’s difficult to draw any conclusions from the activity in San Ramon. “Although it’s the kind of thing you might expect to happen before a big earthquake, we can’t distinguish that from the many, many times that has happened without a big earthquake,” she told…