Science & Tech

Kepler Mission Identifies Possibly Habitable Planets

February 15, 2011 by

UCSB scientists Tim Brown and Avi Shporer are involved in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Kepler mission, which has recently added 54 new planet candidates in the habitable zone ...
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Climate Change May Decrease Rainfall Levels in Eastern Africa

February 8, 2011 by

UCSB geography researchers have published a study that presents a link between warming temperatures over the Indian Ocean and projections of decreased precipitation in East Africa. The study, publishe...
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Glacial Impurities Delay Ice’s Destruction

February 1, 2011 by

A study co-written by UCSB scientists demonstrates a link between debris on some Himalayan glaciers and the cessation of glacial melting. Debris layers of two or more centimeters found on certain Hima...
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Dispersants Fail to Biodegrade Following Use in Gulf Oil Spill

February 1, 2011 by

While the methane levels from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill may have returned to normal, the chemical dispersants used during the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico may be here to stay. According t...
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Space Telescope Gazes Into Origin of Universe

January 25, 2011 by

Over one million kilometers away from Earth, a lone satellite orbits near the second Lagrangian point, scanning the sky for the fallout left behind from the Big Bang.
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UC Briefs

January 18, 2011 by

Researchers at UCLA have discovered that coffee’s protective effects against Type 2 diabetes may be attributed to a protein that regulates sex hormones...
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Scientists Find Nanomaterials Accumulate in Small Predators

January 13, 2011 by

Researchers at UCSB have found that certain nanoparticles may have not-so-nano impacts within simple food chains. Published online in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, the study suggests that the tox...
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Organisms Clean Up Oil Spill in Gulf of Mexico

January 13, 2011 by

Methane-munching bacteria in the Gulf of Mexico have surprised scientists with their ability to quickly consume the hazardous compound after the record-breaking Deepwater Horizon oil spill that occurr...
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Science Awards ‘Breakthrough of the Year’ to UCSB Researchers

January 4, 2011 by

A quantum device designed by a group of UCSB physicists has recently been named the 2010 Breakthrough of the Year by the journal Science.
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Science Over The Break

January 4, 2011 by

The human mind is very much like a traveler — when it needs to reach a desired destination, it uses a map...
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Lunar Eclipse To Appear in Night Sky Amid Cloudy Conditions

December 20, 2010 by

On the morning of December 21, there will be a total lunar eclipse. This eclipse will be the second to occur this year. However, it will be the first total lunar eclipse to occur during a winter solst...
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Bacteria Gain Evolutionary Edge With Toxic Darts

November 23, 2010 by

Biologists at UCSB have published a study in the journal Nature that found that certain bacteria fight for evolutionary dominance using “toxic darts” to attack and disable their competito...
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Geologists Make Case for Gradual Diversity Changes in Cambrian Era

November 16, 2010 by

The seemingly sudden spike in species diversity that occurred during the “Cambrian Explosion” around 542 million years ago has been of interest to scientists for quite some time...
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New Nemertean Worm Species Named After UCSB Scientist

November 9, 2010 by

UCSB zoology professor Armand Kuris has received one of the greatest honors biologists can hope for — having a newly discovered species named after him.
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Study Explores Motor Abilities

November 3, 2010 by

A recently published article from UCSB psychology professor F. Gregory Ashby has demonstrated how individuals process a newly learned motor skill until it becomes automatic — using their frontal lob...
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