Author: Tim Stephens
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UCSC professor seeks to reconnect mathematics to its intellectual roots
Anthony Tromba has loved mathematics since he was a child, and it bothers him that the field seems to be losing its appeal to students. Tromba, professor and chair of mathematics at the University of California, Santa Cruz, said that when he was an undergraduate in the 1960s there were nearly six times as many…
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Seymour Center at Long Marine Lab offers tours in Spanish
The Seymour Marine Discovery Center has initiated a series of Spanish-language tours of the popular science education center, located at UC Santa Cruz’s Long Marine Laboratory. The tours are led by a trained docent who is fluent in Spanish. They include visits to the blue whale skeleton and other exhibits, as well as a look…
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Astronomers reveal the first detailed maps of galaxy distribution in the early universe
Peering back in time more than 7 billion years, a team of astronomers using a powerful new spectrograph at the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii has obtained the first maps showing the distribution of galaxies in the early universe. The maps show the clustering of galaxies into a variety of large-scale structures, including long…
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Study shows lead-based paint is poisoning albatross chicks at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge
Lead-based paint from deteriorating buildings still poses a hazard to wildlife on Midway Atoll, despite extensive environmental remediation efforts undertaken as part of the conversion of the site from a military base to a national wildlife refuge. A new study by researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, shows that Laysan albatross chicks in…
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Cooperation between unrelated male lizards adds a new wrinkle to evolutionary theory
Blue-throated lizards that help each other achieve reproductive success are also helping scientists understand how social cooperation evolved. Most examples of cooperative behavior in animals involve cooperation between genetically related individuals, which is explained by the theory of “kin selection.” Now, researchers have described an example of cooperation between genetically similar but unrelated members of…
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‘Deep Store’ project at UCSC attracts government and industry funding to address data storage problems
Computer scientists at the University of California, Santa Cruz, are developing a new approach to online “deep storage” of digital data that promises to have many advantages over traditional backup and archival storage methods. The UCSC Deep Store project has been awarded a $205,000 grant from the National Science Foundation, and has received significant gift…
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Long Marine Lab’s annual ‘Whale of an Auction’ set for June 20
The Friends of Long Marine Lab will hold a “Whale of an Auction,” the group’s popular annual fundraiser, on Friday, June 20. The event will take place in the Porter College Dining Hall on the UC Santa Cruz campus, starting at 6 p.m. A social and gastronomic occasion as well as an auction, the evening…
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UCSC engineer receives major grant to improve engine efficiency using nanotechnology
Researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, are leading a collaborative effort to develop new technology that could increase the efficiency of internal combustion engines by converting waste heat into electric current. The project will use nanoscale engineering of materials to develop efficient technology for direct conversion of thermal energy to electric energy. It…
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Massive tsunami sweeps Atlantic Coast in asteroid impact scenario for March 16, 2880
If an asteroid crashes into the Earth, it is likely to splash down somewhere in the oceans that cover 70 percent of the planet’s surface. Huge tsunami waves, spreading out from the impact site like the ripples from a rock tossed into a pond, would inundate heavily populated coastal areas. A computer simulation of an…
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UCSC biologist receives lifetime achievement award
Harry Noller, Sinsheimer Professor of Molecular Biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, is being honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the RNA Society. The award will be presented in July at the society’s annual meeting in Vienna. In a letter to Noller announcing the award, RNA Society president Anita Hopper wrote that…
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UC Santa Cruz botanist explores the fascinating world of plant resins in a comprehensive new book
From the Stone Age to the present day, people have found a wide range of uses for plant resins and have been fascinated by amber, which is fossilized resin. Plant resins–sticky plant secretions that harden when exposed to air–have been used as medicines, fuels, varnishes, adhesives, and perfume ingredients, to mention just a few examples.…
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UCSC ranked first for impact of faculty research in space sciences
In a new analysis of scholarly publications from top U.S. universities, the University of California, Santa Cruz, ranked first for the impact of its faculty in the field of space sciences. The findings reaffirm UCSC’s reputation as a center of excellence for research in astronomy and related fields. The analysis was conducted by ISI (founded…