Author: Tim Stephens
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Newly discovered gene may hold clues to evolution of human brain capacity
Scientists have discovered a gene that has undergone accelerated evolutionary change in humans and is active during a critical stage in brain development. Although researchers have yet to determine the precise function of the gene, the evidence suggests that it may play a role in the development of the cerebral cortex and may even help…
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Study documents the marathon migrations of sooty shearwaters
Every summer, millions of sooty shearwaters arrive off the coast of California, their huge flocks astonishing visitors who may have trouble grasping that the dark swirling clouds over the water consist of seabirds. Scientists have long known that sooty shearwaters breed in New Zealand and Chile and migrate to feeding grounds in the Northern Hemisphere.…
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AIDS vaccine expert Phillip Berman to head UCSC Biomolecular Engineering Department
The University of California, Santa Cruz, has recruited Phillip Berman, a pioneer in the development of recombinant vaccines for AIDS and other infectious diseases, to serve as professor and chair of the Department of Biomolecular Engineering. Berman, who joined the faculty of UCSC’s Baskin School of Engineering in July, has nearly 25 years of experience…
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UCSC collaborating in interdisciplinary center to study marine microbes
The University of California, Santa Cruz, is one of six partner institutions in a new interdisciplinary science and technology center that will focus on the microbial inhabitants of the sea. Funded by a five-year, $19 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Center for Microbial Oceanography Research and Education (C-MORE) is based at…
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A simple survey yields a cosmic conundrum
A survey of galaxies observed along the sightlines to quasars and gamma-ray bursts–both extremely luminous, distant objects–has revealed a puzzling inconsistency. Galaxies appear to be four times more common in the direction of gamma-ray bursts than in the direction of quasars. Quasars are thought to be powered by accretion of material onto supermassive black holes…
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Atomic-resolution structure of a ribozyme yields insights into RNA catalysis and the origins of life
Which came first, nucleic acids or proteins? This question is molecular biology’s version of the “chicken-or-the-egg” riddle. Genes made of nucleic acids (DNA or RNA) contain the instructions for making proteins, but enzymes made of proteins are needed to replicate genes. For those who try to understand how life originated, this once seemed an intractable…
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UCSC physicists explore a boundary of their discipline in new book, Quantum Enigma
Quantum mechanics, one of the most successful theories in all of science, says some strange things about the fundamental nature of the world. For all practical purposes, physicists can and do ignore the bizarre implications of the theory and use the equations of quantum mechanics to understand atoms and stars and to create the marvels…
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UCSC scientists to discuss life on Earth in conjunction with world premiere of Frans Lanting’s Life: A Journey through Time
A scientific forum exploring advances in the understanding of life on Earth will take place on Monday, July 31, at 7 p.m. at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium. The forum is being held in conjunction with Life: A Journey through Time, a multimedia presentation by photographer Frans Lanting, which has its world premiere this month…
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UCSC researchers use new technology to study Cape fur seals in South Africa
Sophisticated electronic tagging technology developed as part of the Tagging of Pacific Pelagics (TOPP) program is now being deployed to study Cape fur seals in South Africa. Daniel Costa, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, is currently in South Africa working with an international team of investigators to…
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UCSC creates new major in computer game design
The University of California, Santa Cruz, has approved a new major in computer game design, the first of its kind in the UC system. The new major, leading to a B.S. degree, provides students with a rigorous background in the technical, artistic, and narrative elements of creating interactive computer games. “We are pleased to be…
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Increased flow of groundwater after earthquakes suggests oil extraction applications
The most obvious manifestation of an earthquake is the shaking from seismic waves that knocks down buildings and rattles people. Now researchers have established a more subtle effect of this shaking–it increases the permeability of rock to groundwater and other fluids. The enhanced permeability caused by seismic shaking could potentially be harnessed to help extract…