Research
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New book Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me) explains how self-deception dooms marriages, starts wars, and promotes a culture of unaccountability
In the new book Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me), Elliot Aronson spells out how the psychological mechanism of self-justification puts us on a slippery slope of self-deception that frequently gets us into enormous trouble when we are unable to ac
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Scientists reconstruct prehistoric behavior and ecology of northern fur seals
A team of researchers has documented major changes in the behavior, ecology, and geographic range of the northern fur seal over the past 1,500 years using a combination of techniques from archaeology, biochemistry, and ecology.
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UC Santa Cruz research team sheds light on diet of early human ancestors
The diet of early human ancestors probably included bulbs and rhizomes, according to researchers at UC Santa Cruz who have shed new light on a conundrum that has puzzled anthropologists for eight years.
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Climate change could usher in “boom and bust” population cycles and make species prone to extinction, says UC Santa Cruz conservation biologist
Climate change could trigger “boom and bust” population cycles that make animal species more vulnerable to extinction, according to Christopher C. Wilmers, an assistant professor of environmental studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
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First systematic test finds plant pathogens spread to distant relatives far more readily than thought
SANTA CRUZ, CA–The first systematic test of how widely pathogens can spread among distantly related plants reveals far greater range than conventional wisdom would suggest, raising questions about the adequacy of current regulatory approaches for plant q
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Sexualization of girls is linked to common mental health problems in girls and women, says APA task force chaired by UC Santa Cruz professor
A report of the American Psychological Association (APA) released today (Monday, February 19) found evidence that the proliferation of sexualized images of girls and young women in advertising, merchandising, and media is harmful to girls’ self-image and
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SF Bay Area’s poor and minorities face disproportionate burden of exposure to environmental hazards
From African American residents of West Oakland’s diesel-choked neighborhoods to Latinos in San Francisco’s traffic-snarled Mission District, poor and minority residents of the San Francisco Bay Area get more than their share of exposure to air pollution
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Scientists offer guidelines for coping with climate change in Alaska
Coping with the devastating effects of climate change in Alaska will require institutional nimbleness and a willingness among those living at lower latitudes to “share the pain,” according to the authors of a paper published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Erika Zavaleta (Photo: Jim MacKenzie) The interdisciplinary team of…
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Digital divide leaving immigrants further behind, UC Santa Cruz study finds
The digital divide between immigrants and the native born is widening in the United States, with some immigrant groups less than half as likely to have computer access at home as nonimmigrants, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Only 36 percent of Latino immigrant youth have a…
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Regional equity movement is the civil rights issue of the 21st century, say authors of Ford Foundation report
Across the country, many urban neighborhoods and entire regions are segregated as surely as if there were “whites only” signs posted. But leaders of the new “regional equity” movement are organizing to break down the divisions of race, income, education, and employment that cut off opportunity and polarize Americans. A new Ford Foundation report outlines…
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Lessons of Japan’s economic downturn offered in new book
The stagnation that plagued the Japanese economy throughout the 1990s lasted twice as long as it should have, according to the coeditor of a new book that says Japan was hobbled by weak monetary policy and its own dysfunctional financial institutions. Michael Hutchison, a leading authority on international finance and the Japanese economy, coedited Japan’s…
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Professor contributes to Katrina report documenting environmental inequities in rescue
As the next hurricane season quickly approaches, the Gulf Coast’s low-income communities of color are still left behind. For them, “days of hurt and loss are likely to become years of grief, dislocation, and displacement,” said Manuel Pastor, codirector of the Center for Justice, Tolerance, and Community at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Pastor…