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Could AI robots with lasers make herbicides — and farm workers — obsolete?
Chris Benner, professor of sociology and environmental studies and director of the Institute for Social Transformation, likened the disruptive potential of new agricultural tools. “We need more efficiencies in agriculture to improve profit margins and be able to pay workers in the field more, but that’s ultimately going to displace some people,” Benner said. “What do…
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Prisoners Are Uniquely Vulnerable to Extreme Heat and Flooding
Several options exist for dealing with climate hazards in California prisons, explains Abby Cunniff, a PhD candidate at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who studies environmental injustice and California prisons. One is to make prisons more durable to climate effects.
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UC Santa Cruz awarded portion of federal coastal resiliency grant
UC Santa Cruz will receive more than $2 million in federal grant funding from the total $71.1 million recently awarded to the California Marine Sanctuary Foundation to boost the resiliency of coastal communities threatened by sea level rise and extreme weather.
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Up Close and Personal With the Secret Elephant Seals of Año Nuevo State Park
University of California, Santa Cruz lecturer Patrick Robinson, who has been studying the pinnipeds for over 20 years, and other scientists affix satellite tracking devices on elephant seals to determine how they migrate with such pinpoint precision. “Better understanding how elephant seals migrate will help us learn more about other deep-ocean-dwelling mammals, such as elusive…
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Peregrine falcons mount a comeback in Yosemite, thanks to rock climbers
The Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group hired climbers to gather egg shell samples from the nest ledges for testing. Then the group launched a bold plan: take the thin-walled eggs from nests, incubate and hatch them in the safety of a laboratory, and return the young to the nests.
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Scientists propose lunar biorepository as ‘backup’ for life on Earth
“In order for cloning to be an option, one needs cells that are alive,” said Beth Shapiro, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UC Santa Cruz and chief science officer of the de-extinction company Colossal Biosciences, who was not involved in the lunar biorepository proposal. This means it is not possible to clone…
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Letting the Cliff Crumble
Which is exactly why fellow UCSC Professor Mike Beck, director of the Center for Coastal Climate Resilience, believes “moving back,” also called planned relocation or managed retreat, also isn’t a viable solution for West Cliff despite the fact it’s another key strategy of the 50-Year Vision. “To me, it’s simply an easy way to kick…
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What it's like to live in a Calif. tourist attraction being swallowed by the sea
The flooding along the Capitola coastline is only likely to get worse as climate change progresses, according to Gary Griggs, a professor of Earth and planetary sciences at UC Santa Cruz, who has been working in the area for more than 50 years.
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UC Santa Cruz workshop explores brain-inspired computing
“This workshop is just as much about workforce development as it is about the future of semiconductors,” said assistant professor of physics Aiming Yan. “Being so close to Silicon Valley, we want to help students across the region realize that this is a promising area to pursue a career in.”
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Our brains take naps while we're awake – and wake when we're asleep
A study on brain waves from Distinguished Professor of Biomolecular Engineering David Haussler's lab was featured in New Atlas. Additional coverage in Earth.com.