Science & Tech

February 5, 2013

Scientists Study Arthritis Friction

By Priyanka Shindgikar

The research of UC Santa Barbara scientists from the Dept. of Chemical Engineering and the Materials Dept. is making way for new, low-cost methods of early arthritis detection. Jacob Israelachvili, UCSB professor of chem...

February 5, 2013

Copyright Law Strikes Again: Unlocking Your Cell Phone Now Illegal in US

By Evan Crook

If you recently purchased a cell phone and were planning on unlocking it, beware — unlocking a phone without the carrier’s permission has recently been declared illegal in the United States. The U.S. Copyright Office...

January 29, 2013

Professor Receives Academy Award For Innovative Visual Effect Technique

By Andrea Weinstein

Theodore Kim, an assistant professor in UCSB’s Media Arts and Technology Program, is the first sitting UCSB professor to earn an Academy Award. Kim is among a group of researchers that created a smoke-and-fire visual e...

January 29, 2013

Daily Habits: How the Greatest Determinant of Success Could Be The One You Don’t Think About

By Brandon Shin

We are creatures of habit. If you think yourself the exception, look no further than where you choose to sit every day in class. Chances are you haven’t moved much from your original location since the beginning of Win...

January 29, 2013

“Prometheus” Steals Fire From The Gods of Crackpot Science

By Chris Nebergall

Last summer, “Prometheus,” the long-anticipated prequel to the “Alien” franchise, was marketed as a thought-provoking science fiction film. What we got was a classic sci-fi trope with some added references to act...

January 22, 2013

UCSB Recieves National Science Foundation Funding For Research

By Priyanka Shindgikar

Two UCSB research teams have received multimillion dollar long-term research grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to fund their studies of kelp forests and coral reefs along the Santa Barbara coast. The Sant...

January 22, 2013

Ubuntu Phone Platform To Rival Android, iOS

By Evan Crook

Are you a phone fan who’s looking for the latest developments in mobile technology? An iOS or Android user tired of your current platform? A hipster who feels that current offerings in the mobile market are too mainstr...

January 15, 2013

UCSB Physicists Examine Quantum Entanglement

By Brigitte Naughton

Physicists at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics recently designed a computer system that details characteristics of quantum entanglement, a state in which a pair of electron spins are entangled with one another...

January 15, 2013

Gender-Bending Fish: Why “Finding Nemo” Really Should Have Been A Mother-Son Story

By Andrea Weinstein

I’m a child at heart. I listen to One Direction and wake up for Saturday morning cartoons. Now that I’ve taken zoology classes, I’ve taken it a step further and made the connection between my childhood animal carto...

January 8, 2013

The Low Fat Myth: Why A Fat-Deficient Diet Could Prevent a Slim Waistline

By Kiyan Rajabi

At some point, most people have set a New Year’s Resolution to improve some aspect of their health, wellness or fitness. We all know it’s January when every gym in America is offering a New Year’s Special. Navigate...

January 8, 2013

UCSB Researcher Conducts Study On Avian Cognition

By Priyanka Shindgikar

Junior research fellow at UC Santa Barbara’s SAGE Center for the Study of the Mind, Corina Logan, has recently began studying cognition in wild birds by examining foraging techniques. During her visit to Costa Rica sev...

November 13, 2012

NASA Attempts to Take the Science Fiction Out of Warp Drive

By Chris Nebergall

Whether or not you know anything about “Star Trek,” you’ve probably heard of the warp drive, that fictional technology that can fling a starship light-years away in mere minutes, opening up the universe to our expl...

November 13, 2012

UCSB Receives New Stem Cell Research Center

By Priyanka Shindgikar

UCSB has just completed a laboratory renovation of 10,000 square feet for the Center for Stem Cell Biology and Engineering, part of the Neuroscience Research Institute. Through a highly competitive selection process, UCS...

November 7, 2012

Why A Good Night’s Sleep is Crucial to Your Health

By Kiyan Rajabi

“Sleep is for the weak” and “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” used to be my life mottos until I realized the complete opposite was true. Recent findings confirm the recommendations that have been passed down from ou...

November 6, 2012

UCSB Scientists Discover Mechanism to Change the Destiny of Embryonic Cells

By David Wallace

UCSB researchers in the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology have recently discovered a mechanism by which embryonic cells decide to become specific cell types in adult humans. The discovery comes ...

October 30, 2012

Examining the Biology Behind the Popular Culture Phenomenon

By Andrea Weinstein

Unless you’ve been under a rock, you should be familiar with the zombie apocalypse hype these past few years. Shows and movies such as “The Walking Dead” and I Am Legend depict flesh-eating monster endemics in the ...