Author: Mike Peña
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Astrophysicist explores interconnectedness of art and science
A new book by UC Santa Cruz astrophysicist and visual artist Nia Imara debuts tomorrow that explains the universe and traces how art has blended with science throughout human history.
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Foraging seals enable scientists to measure fish abundance across the vast Pacific Ocean
A new study led by UC Santa Cruz marine biologist Roxanne Beltran to be published as the February 14 cover story for Science concludes that seals can essentially act as “smart sensors” for monitoring fish populations in the ocean’s eerily dim “twilight zone.”
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Economically, culturally important marine species vulnerable to changing climate, new study shows
Dungeness crab, Pacific herring, and red abalone are among the marine species most vulnerable to the changing climate’s effect on California’s coastal waters, a new study led by UC Santa Cruz researchers finds.
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AAAS names UC Santa Cruz organelle discovery most outstanding paper in 2024
The discovery by UC Santa Cruz researchers of a new organelle within single-celled algae that converts nitrogen gas into ammonia continues to be celebrated by the science community, this time by winning the prestigious AAAS Newcomb Cleveland Prize.
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Students make winning videos about importance of federal support for science research
Impactful scientific discovery isn’t possible without funding to support the research, and three UC Santa Cruz students have created short videos that took top prizes in a national competition held by the Science Coalition, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to sustaining the federal government’s investment in basic scientific research.
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Hubble Telescope images combined into giant mosaic of neighboring Andromeda Galaxy
Astronomers are celebrating the completion of a 2.5-billion-pixel panoramic picture of the entire Andromeda Galaxy. The team includes several UC Santa Cruz researchers who made significant contributions to the enormous photomosaic that combines some 600 snapshots taken by the Hubble Space Telescope over more than a decade and 1,000 orbits.
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American Astronomical Society honors four UC Santa Cruz affiliates at national meeting
At this week’s AAS national meeting, the society named UC Observatories Director Bruce Macintosh and two alumni, Laura Lopez and Mark Phillips, among the 24 new fellows chosen for 2025.
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Coral-reef restoration can be cost-effective for saving lives, money
A new study co-led by the Center for Coastal Climate Resilience (CCCR) at UC Santa Cruz shows coral reef restoration in Florida and Puerto Rico could save thousands of lives and prevent hundreds of millions of dollars in damage and economic interruption each year.
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Researchers link mysterious cosmic signals to collapsed stars
An international team of scientists has provided the clearest evidence yet that some fast radio bursts (FRBs)—enigmatic, millisecond-long flashes of radio waves from space—originate from neutron stars, the ultra-dense remnants of massive stars that have exploded in a supernova.
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A ‘remelting’ of lunar surface adds a wrinkle to mystery of Moon’s true age
In an “idea paper” published on December 18 in Nature, UC Santa Cruz Professor Francis Nimmo and his co-authors propose a “remelting” of the Moon’s surface 4.35 billion years ago due to the tidal pull of Earth causing widespread geological upheaval and intense heating.
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Scientists collaborate on immersive technology to address climate challenges
The UC Santa Cruz Center for Coastal Climate Resilience (CCCR) and a team of scientists and science communicators at UC San Diego have developed an initiative focused on immersive technology that uses advanced hardware and software to simulate environments and experiences.
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Mangroves save $855 billion in flood protection globally, new study shows
Mangroves have been shown to provide $855 billion in flood protection services worldwide, according to a new study from the Center for Coastal Climate Resilience at UC Santa Cruz. The research is featured in the World Bank’s 2024 edition of The Changing Wealth of Nations.