Research
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Soil ecologist investigates the role of plant roots in regulating carbon cycling and reducing global warming
Soil ecologist Weixin Cheng is at the leading edge of scientific efforts to quantify the impacts of plant roots on the cycling of carbon between the atmosphere, where carbon dioxide contributes to global warming, and terrestrial ecosystems, where large amounts of carbon are stored in soil organic matter. Cheng, an associate professor of environmental studies…
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Kids with access to a home computer are more likely to graduate, digital divide study finds
Access to a home computer increases the likelihood that children will graduate from high school, but blacks and Latinos are much less likely to have a computer at home than are whites, according to a new study by a researcher at the University of California, Santa Cruz, that also found the digital divide is even…
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Mystery Spot demonstrates power of perception, UC Santa Cruz psychologist explains
SANTA CRUZ, CA–For years, UC Santa Cruz psychology professor Bruce Bridgeman has taken college students to the Mystery Spot, a popular local tourist attraction, to demonstrate how the human brain works. Tourists flock to the Mystery Spot to enjoy the “puzzling variations in gravity, perspective, height and more,” leaving baffled and perplexed by the apparent…