Office of Research
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Femtosecond laser technique opens new opportunities for research on nerve regeneration
In a breakthrough for research on nerve regeneration, a team of scientists has reported using femtosecond laser pulses to precisely cut individual axons of nerves in the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans, one of the most versatile and widely used experimental organisms for genetic and biomedical research. The nerves severed by this precision technique regrew within 24…
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UCSC engineers develop assistive technologies for the blind
Researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, are developing new assistive technologies for the blind based on advances in computer vision that have emerged from research in robotics. A “virtual white cane” is one of several prototype tools for the visually impaired developed by Roberto Manduchi, an assistant professor of computer engineering, and his…
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Computer analysis shows scientists could reconstruct the genome of the common ancestor of all placental mammals
Contrary to the movie Jurassic Park, in which scientists recreate dinosaurs from ancient DNA, genetic material more than about 50 thousand years old cannot be reliably recovered. Nevertheless, a team of scientists has now demonstrated that computers could be used to reconstruct with 98 percent accuracy the DNA of a creature that lived at the…
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Antibiotic rifampicin shows promise for fighting Parkinson’s disease in laboratory tests
Researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, have shown that rifampicin, an antibiotic used to treat leprosy and tuberculosis, can prevent the formation of protein fibrils associated with the death of brain cells in people with Parkinson’s disease. The drug also dissolved existing fibrils in laboratory tests. The researchers studied the effects of rifampicin…
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Unusual material that contracts when heated is giving up its secrets to physicists
Most solids expand when heated, a familiar phenomenon with many practical implications. Among the rare exceptions to this rule, the compound zirconium tungstate stands out by virtue of the enormous temperature range over which it exhibits so-called “negative thermal expansion,” contracting as it heats up and expanding as it cools, and because it does so…
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A puzzle posed by black-headed ducks yields to persistent biologists
Some 100 species of birds are what scientists call “obligate brood parasites”–instead of building nests and raising their own young, they lay their eggs in the nests of other species and let those birds do the hard work of parenting for them. The black-headed duck of South America is one of these, but it stands…
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Order of Species Loss has Important Biodiversity Consequences, Grassland Study Reveals
In a study that mimicked the natural order of species loss in a grassland ecosystem, researchers found that declining biodiversity greatly reduced resistance to invasive species and that the presence of even small numbers of rare species had profound functional effects. The results, which appear in the November 12 issue of Science, have important implications…
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UCSC scientists harness powerful new supercomputer at NASA Ames for research on cosmology and astrophysics
Astrophysicists and cosmologists at the University of California, Santa Cruz, are among the first scientists to have access to the powerful new Columbia supercomputer at the NASA Ames Research Center. The UCSC scientists have been using the new system’s unprecedented computing power to run simulations of complex phenomena such as supernova explosions, gamma-ray bursts, and…
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Major gift from storage industry leader Kumar Malavalli establishes endowed chair in storage systems at UC Santa Cruz
Kumar Malavalli, cofounder of Brocade Communications and cofounder and CEO of InMage Systems, has made a gift of $1 million to the University of California, Santa Cruz, to establish the Kumar Malavalli Endowed Chair in Storage Systems Research at UCSC’s Baskin School of Engineering. This major gift provides valuable support for the engineering school’s Storage…
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ARCS Foundation contributions to UCSC pass $1 million with 2004-05 scholarships for seven top students
At the annual awards luncheon of the Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) Foundation in San Francisco this week, participants from the University of California, Santa Cruz, will have special cause for celebration. Since 1976, the ARCS Foundation’s Northern California Chapter has given more than $1 million in scholarships to UCSC students. This year, seven…