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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…

  • UC Santa Cruz Library receives half-million-dollar gift to benefit Special Collections photo archives

    The University of California, Santa Cruz, has received a $500,000 gift to benefit Special Collections in the University Library. The endowment will be established in honor of the late Miller and Bunny Outcalt and their lifelong partnership in the field of photography. Proceeds will be used to fund a permanent staff position dedicated to work…

  • 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…

  • New Engineering 2 Building receives design award

    The just-dedicated Engineering 2 Building at UC Santa Cruz has received a merit award for design from the American Institute of Architects Los Angeles chapter. The merit award honors built work designed by Los Angeles architects. Anshen + Allen Los Angeles was the architect for Engineering 2, which was dedicated on November 5. Engineering 2…

  • Marine biologist John Pearse to give Emeriti Faculty Lecture at UCSC on Tuesday, Nov. 23

    John Pearse, professor emeritus of ecology and evolutionary biology, will give the Emeriti Faculty Lecture at UC Santa Cruz on Tuesday, November 23. His talk, “Reproduction in Freezing Oceans: Paradigm Shifts in the 20th Century,” will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the UCSC Media Theater. This event is free and open to the public. Pearse…

  • First major study of organic farming in California yields surprises

    The first comprehensive study of organic agriculture in California challenges the popular notion that organic farming is dominated by small family-owned farms and shows how the industry’s regulatory structure has thwarted the very benefits that have generated strong public support for organic agriculture. Julie Guthman is available for media interviews; see contact information below. “Organic…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • Scholarships Benefit Dinner raises $1 million to aid students

    A record $1 million–double the amount from last year’s event–was raised for UCSC student scholarships and fellowships at a gala dinner on Saturday, November 6. “This is a perfect launch to our 40th anniversary,” said Acting Chancellor Martin M. Chemers, who co-hosted the Scholarships Benefit Dinner with UC Santa Cruz Foundation President Kenneth Feingold (Cowell…

  • UCSC announces first campuswide fundraising campaign

    Building on its record fundraising success in 2003-04, UC Santa Cruz has announced its first-ever campuswide fundraising initiative: the two-year, $50 million Cornerstone Campaign. Fundraising is already well under way, with $45 million raised. $50 million target expected to be reached by June 2005 University Relations Vice Chancellor Ronald P. Suduiko and Foundation trustee and…

  • 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…

Last modified: Mar 18, 2025