UC Berkeley research garners nearly $65 million in federal stimulus money
Since the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, UC Berkeley has received nearly $65 million in research funds from the federal government, primarily from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.
(19 November)

Some of us may be born more empathetic, new study suggests
Could it be that the generous Mother Teresa and the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge from “A Christmas Carol” were influenced by their genes? Researchers at the UC Berkeley have found compelling evidence that people who are more empathetic possess a particular variation of the oxytocin receptor gene.
(16 November)

Report calls for coordinated family-friendly policies in research sciences
Women in the sciences must often choose between family and academic careers, according to a new report authored by researchers at the Berkeley Center on Health, Economic & Family Security (Berkeley CHEFS) at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law.
(12 November)

Chromosomes dance and pair up on the nuclear membrane
Abby Dernburg and colleagues have looked at the amazingly precise choreography of chromosomes as they pair up during meiosis - the process by which cells create egg and sperm with half the normal number of chromosomes - and found a critical role played by the cytoskeleton.
(12 November)

Vibrations key to efficiency of green fluorescent protein
Green fluorescent protein (GFP) has invaded thousands of research labs around the world, thanks to its versatility in labeling cells and organisms. Now, UC Berkeley chemists have discovered why GFP is such an efficient emitter of green light.
(12 November)

Rapid supernova could be new class of exploding star
Post-doc Dovi Poznanski was looking through seven-year-old data when he chanced upon a very strange supernova that flashed and was gone in less than a month, when 3-4 months is typical. The unusually rapid supernova appears to match the predicted behavior of a thermonuclear explosion on a white dwarf that has drawn helium from its companion.
(05 November)

New analyses of dinosaur growth may wipe out one-third of species
Paleontologists Mark Goodwin and Jack Horner have dug for 11 years in the Hell Creek Formation of Montana in search of every dinosaur fossil they can find, accumulating specimens of all ages and stages of development. Their new report on the growth stages of dome-headed dinosaurs shows that two named species are really just young pachycephalosaurs. They say that perhaps one-third of all named dinosaurs may not be separate species, but juvenile or subadult stages of other known dinosaurs.
(30 October)

When ants attack: Researchers recreate chemicals that trigger aggression in Argentine ants
Researchers have identified and synthesized the chemical cues by which Argentine ants distinguish colony-mates from rivals. By exploiting these chemicals, researchers have demonstrated that normally friendly Argentine ants can turn against each other and fight.
(27 October)

New $16 million center to push, pinch and probe cancer cells & tissues
The National Cancer Institute is opening a new front in the war on cancer, funding 12 physical science-oncology centers across the country to see what engineers, mathematicians, chemists and physicists can learn about cancer cells. UC Berkeley's Jan Liphardt heads one center that will receive nearly $16 million over five years.
(26 October)

Climate treaty needed to limit soot & other greenhouse pollutants
UC Berkeley Ph.D. candidate Stacy Jackson argues in Science that policymakers should plan a summit now to look at short- and medium-lived greenhouse pollutants, which range from soot to ozone and methane, and their near term impact on climate.
(22 October)

Error in climate treaties could lead to more deforestation
A team of 13 prominent scientists and land-use experts has identified an important but fixable error in legal accounting rules for bioenergy that could, if uncorrected, undermine efforts to reduce greenhouse gases by encouraging deforestation.
(22 October)

NSF authorizes $29 million for world's deepest underground lab
UC Berkeley's proposal to build lab facilities in a South Dakota mine has received an additional $29 million in support from the National Science Foundation. The funds, which are for a preliminary design, set the stage for later construction funds that would create the world's deepest underground laboratory for experiments in physics, geology and biology.
(15 October)

Skin cells may provide early warning for cancer risk elsewhere in body
If susceptibility to cancer is the result of inherited genetic mutations, then all the body's cells should have these mutations. Since skin cells are easy to culture, argues cell biologist Harry Rubin, by observing the behavior of skin cells in a Petri dish it may be possible to detect those mutations that increase our cancer risk.
(15 October)

College of Chemistry steers course to sustainable 'green' chemistry
The College of Chemistry is moving toward sustainable "green" chemistry with a new emphasis on sustainability in its undergraduate courses, a new endowed chair in sustainable chemistry, and its participation in the campuswide Berkeley Center for Green Chemistry.
(08 October)

Alfalfa sprouts key to discovering how meandering rivers form
Restoring rivers to their natural state is now hit-and-miss, primarily because scientists don't really know what makes a river meander. A scale model using alfalfa sprouts to represent vegetation now shows that strong banks and fine sediment are key.
(05 October)

Cal grad and former Cal professor win Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Most of the work for which Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider and John Szostak won this year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine took place at UC Berkeley, while Blackburn was a professor of molecular and cell biology and Greider was her graduate student.
(05 October)

On the trail of our ancestors
The groundbreaking discovery of the partial skeleton of Ardipithecus ramidus, a hominid species dating back 4.4 million years, is the latest in a long line of contributions UC Berkeley researchers have made toward the elucidation of the human ancestral tree. To learn more about what it's like to be a hominid fossil hunter, Sarah Yang from UC Berkeley Media Relations interviewed Leslea Hlusko, associate professor of integrative biology and the associate faculty member of the Human Evolution Research Center at UC Berkeley.
(01 October)

Ethiopian desert yields oldest hominid skeleton
The oldest hominid skeleton found in Africa, dating from 4.4 million years ago, revolutionizes our understanding of how humans evolved from the last common ancestor of apes and humans.
(01 October)

Scientists discover clues to what makes human muscle age
A study led by UC Berkeley researchers has identified critical biochemical pathways linked to the aging of human muscle. By manipulating these pathways, the researchers were able to turn back the clock on old human muscle, restoring its ability to repair and rebuild itself. The findings provide promising new targets for stemming the debilitating muscle atrophy that accompanies human aging, the researchers say.
(30 September)

Postmenopausal women benefit from endurance training as much as younger women
After menopause, decreased estrogen and changes in body composition affect women's metabolism. But does this affect women's response to exercise? A new UC Berkeley study shows that postmenopausal women benefit as much as younger women do from endurance training, improving both cardiovascular and respiratory fitness.
(17 September)

Photoswitches shed light on burst swimming in zebrafish
A new technique employing photoswitches and gene targeting is proving a boon to biologists because it allows researchers to non-invasively turn on small populations of cells as easily as flipping a light switch. Developed at UC Berkeley, the new and flexible technique has helped answer a long-standing question about the function of a class of enigmatic nerve cells in the spinal cord.
(16 September)

Sierra Nevada birds move in response to warmer, wetter climate
If the climate is not quite right, birds will up and move rather than stick around and sweat it out, according to a new study led by UC Berkeley biologists. The findings reveal that 48 out of 53 bird species studied in California's Sierra Nevada mountains have adjusted to climate change over the last century by moving to sites with the temperature and precipitation conditions they favored.
(14 September)

Research Roundup
This semester's On the Same Page program, aimed at focusing the attention of incoming L&S undergrads on a single work or creator, is built around Professor of Journalism Michael Pollan's game-changing take on industrial agriculture and America's food systems, The Omnivore's Dilemma.
(10 September)

Improving vaccines to trigger T cell as well as antibody response
Most successful vaccines stimulate antibodies that attack and kill viruses as they scoot from one cell to another. But what about viruses and other pathogens that never leave the cell? A new theory of how the immune system recognizes pathogens suggests ways to make vaccines that trigger both antibodies and a T cell response, targeting extracellular as well as intracellular pathogens.
(03 September)

World's smallest semiconductor laser heralds new milestone in laser physics
UC Berkeley researchers have reached a new milestone in laser physics by creating the world's smallest semiconductor laser, capable of generating visible light in a space smaller than the size of a single protein molecule.
(31 August)

Space Sciences lab celebrates 50 years & 75 satellites
In 1959, only two years after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik and ignited the space race, UC Berkeley created a laboratory devoted to space science that has grown to be one of the most active academic space research labs in the country.
(28 August)

Mirror cast for Mexican 6.5-meter infrared telescope
The University of Arizona has cast a 9-ton honeycomb mirror that will become the centerpiece of the San Pedro Martir Telescope in Baja California and the locus of a highly sensitive infrared survey of the northern sky, accoring to project PI Joshua Bloom of UC Berkeley.
(26 August)

New images capture cell's ribosomes at work, could aid in molecular war against disease
UC Berkeley researchers have captured elusive nanoscale movements of ribosomes at work, shedding light on how these cellular factories take in genetic instructions and amino acids to churn out proteins. The achievement could eventually lead to significant advances in the fight against infectious diseases.
(20 August)

Technology Review magazine names three Berkeley scientists to elite group of young innovators
A trio of researchers at UC Berkeley are up-and-coming scientists to watch, according to a newly released 2009 list of Top Young Innovators Under 35.
(18 August)

NSF awards $3.2 million for research at the frontier of biology and engineering
With a new National Science Foundation grant, biologists and engineers at Berkeley will be stepping up their collaborative effort to learn from nature and apply their discoveries for the benefit of humanity.
(17 August)

UC presents revised plan for housing Helios research
University of California representatives are presenting to state government officials newly revised plans for housing the Helios research initiatives that will explore promising new solar-energy technologies.
(03 August)

Gene transcribing machine takes halting, backsliding trip along the DNA
Cell's have nanoscale protein machines that perform the first step in gene expression, gliding smoothly along the DNA and translating it into RNA. Or so scientists thought. A new study shows that the real process is replete with long pauses and backsliding as the machine tries to negotiate the tightly compacted DNA in the nucleus.
(30 July)

Surprise collision on Jupiter captured by Gemini Telescope
A team of astronomers using the Gemini North telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawai'i obtained a new infrared image of Jupiter on Wednesday night, July 22, showing its new scar still glowing in mid-infrared wavelengths.
(23 July)

Jupiter pummeled, leaving bruise the size of the Pacific Ocean
UC Berkeley astronomer Paul Kalas took advantage of observing time on the Keck Telescope to check out a new bruise on the planet Jupiter and found indications of a recent impact that left a scar the size of the Pacific Ocean.
(21 July)

Brain can develop motor memory for prosthetics, study finds
A new study by UC Berkeley researchers shows that the brain can develop a stable, neural map of a how to control a prosthetic device, providing hope that physically disabled people can one day master control of artificial limbs with greater ease.
(20 July)

Cell biologist Richard Strohman has died at 82
Richard Strohman, professor emeritus of molecular and cell biology and a frequent critic of the idea that genes determine destiny, died July 4 from complications of Alzheimer's disease. He was 82.
(17 July)

Drugs may prevent epilepsy & seizures after brain injury
UC Berkeley's Daniela Kaufer and Israeli colleague Alon Friedman have shown that when severe head trauma causes the blood-brain barrier to leak, albumin in blood serum triggers neuron changes that lead to seizures. A new study in rats identifies a drug that prevents these changes.
(14 July)

Early-career scientist gets White House honor
Dr. Sanjay Kumar, a UC Berkeley bioengineer, is one of 100 researchers to receive the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the White House announced.
(09 July)

Theory provides more precise estimates of large-area biodiversity
The Census Bureau is good at profiling the U.S. population by sampling small groups of people, but biologists lack a good way to estimate the richness of life in large areas based on small-area studies. Ecologist John Harte has developed a new theory that does a much better job predicting biodiversity in large biomes and could be a boon to conservation biologists.
(09 July)

Tremors on southern San Andreas Fault may mean increased quake risk
Tremors under the Parkfield segment of the San Andreas Fault have increased with increasing stress on a nearby locked segment of the fault, perhaps signaling a greater chance of an earthquake.
(09 July)

Growing young scientists in Tahiti
Graduate student Brad Balukjian spent a year teaching biodiversity to Tahitian 5th graders on the island of Moorea while pursuing study of the island's endemic insects.
(06 July)

Berkeley stakes science claim at Homestake gold mine
UC Berkeley and Berkeley Lab plan to turn South Dakota's Homestake gold mine into a world-class science complex, with underground experiments in astrophysics, physics, biology and earth science. South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds, a big supporter of the effort, visited the campus and lab June 12 to cement the relationship and see what a large research complex looks like.
(17 June)

Stress puts double whammy on reproductive system
Stress is known to decrease fertility and sexual behavior, but researchers thought this was because stress hormones lower levels of a brain hormone called GnRH. UC Berkeley biologists now show that stress hormones also boost levels of another hormone that suppresses GnRH, creating a doublewhammy. The scientists hope it will be possible to block this system and restore fertility.
(15 June)

A summer's worth of science writing
The annual Summer Reading List is a Berkeley tradition. Entering freshmen (and the rest of us) stock our beach bags with books recommended by campus staff and faculty — this year, on the theme of science.
(12 June)

Graphene opens door to tunable transistors, LEDs
Graphene, which is a hexagonal sheet of carbon atoms, has been a hot subject of research since its isolation from graphite in 2004. That interest has paid off. UC Berkeley physicists have shown that two sheets of graphene slapped together can be made into a tunable electronic or photonic device, something unheard of with silicon or gallium arsenide semiconductors.
(10 June)

Red giant star Betelgeuse mysteriously shrinking
The red supergiant star Betelgeuse, which is so large it would extend to Jupiter's orbit in our solar system, has steadily shrunk over the past 15 years, according to UC Berkeley physicists. Since 1993, its radius has gone down by 15 percent, equivalent to the radius of Venus's orbit.
(09 June)

Lifting the fog on "dark" gamma-ray bursts
Gamma-ray bursts, with their ability to pierce through gas and dust to shine brightly across the universe, are revealing areas of intense star formation and stellar death where astronomers have been unable to look - the dusty corners of otherwise dust-free galaxies.
(08 June)

Bone bed tells of life along California's ancient coastline
Sharktooth Hill near Bakersfield is the home of the most extensive marine bone bed in the world, a 100-square-mile layer of shark, seal, ray, whale, turtle and fish bones. A UC Berkeley professor and five Berkeley PhDs have analyzed the 15-million-year-old fossils to decipher the history of what used to be the California coastline.
(08 June)

Stimulus funds for UC Berkeley research now total $8.6 million
UC Berkeley faculty have submitted nearly 300 proposals to the federal government for stimulus funding through NSF, NIH and other agencies. An announcement this week of three new grants from NIH should bring the total received to $8.6 million.
(05 June)

Three faculty members elected to American Philosophical Society
Three University of California, Berkeley, faculty members have been elected to the American Philosophical Society, the nation's oldest learned society comprised of nearly 1,000 eminent scholars from a broad range of disciplines.
(01 June)

Allen Telescope Array begins all-sky surveys
With commissioning of the 42 radio dishes of the Allen Telescope Array nearly complete, UC Berkeley astronomers are now embarking on several major radio astronomy projects, including daily surveys of the sky.
(27 May)

Rare radio supernova is nearest supernova in five years
Robotic telescopes now search the sky nightly for exploding stars, but not all supernovas are visible to optical, ultraviolet or X-ray telescopes. A supernova missed by other telescopes because these wavelengths were blocked by galactic gas and dust was discovered by radio telescopes in April, and turns out to be the nearest supernova in five years.
(27 May)

SETI@home project celebrates 10th anniversary, though no ETs
A May 21 symposium celebrates the 10th birthday of the SETI@home project, the largest volunteer computing project in the world. Launched May 17, 1999, its dedicated followers continue to crunch radio data in search of intelligent signals from space.
(19 May)

Summer haze has a cooling effect in southeastern United States, says new study
Global warming may include some periods of local cooling, according to a new UC Berkeley study. Results from satellite and ground-based sensor data show that sweltering summers can, paradoxically, lead to the temporary formation of a cooling haze in the southeastern United States.
(18 May)

Online games spark girls' interests in science & technology
Thanks to a National Science Foundation grant, 12 Oakland Girl Scouts are now learning how to create online games centered around astronomy. The program's goal is to create a multi-user game called "The Universe Quest Game" in which girls around the world can safely interact and learn about science and technology.
(15 May)

UC Berkeley UV detector to be installed in Hubble telescope
NASA's final mission to the 17-year-old Hubble Space Telescope, which begins May 11, will deliver a new instrument partly built by UC Berkeley physicists to map the structure of the universe.
(07 May)

Seven faculty members elected to NAS
Seven UC Berkeley faculty members are among 72 new members elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), one of the nation's most prestigious societies of scholars engaged in science and engineering research.
(28 April)

$30 million from DOE for carbon capture, sequestration
The White House announced this week a major push to spur innovative energy research, including $777 million over five years from the Department of Energy. $30 million of this money will come to UC Berkeley and LBNL to investigate carbon capture and sequestration.
(28 April)

THEMIS mission tracks electrical tornadoes in space
Tornadoes on Earth are among the most violent storms, capable of enormous destruction with wind speeds of 200 mph and more. Yet these are tiny compared to the "space tornados" that impress with plasma flow speeds of more than one million mph and beautiful auroras.
(23 April)

New labs on tap for College of Chemistry
The instructional labs in the College of Chemistry are nearly half a century old, and feeling it. An ambitious new program will modernize them — as part of an initiative that will also develop a new vision of "how to teach chemistry in the 21st century."
(23 April)

Four professors become arts and sciences academy fellows
Four UC Berkeley professors are among the latest leaders in the arts, humanities and sciences named fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences today (Monday, April 20).
(20 April)

The story of X - evolution of a sex chromosome
The sex chromosomes -- XX in women and XY in men -- date from the earliest mammals, but how did they evolve to look like they do today? While the male-determining Y chromosome has received all the attention, a UC Berkeley biologist has now focused on the X, and finds that it tells a fascinating story of adaptation to a shrinking Y.
(16 April)

In face of global warming, can wilderness remain natural?
Preserving endangered species is going to get a whole lot harder with the advent of global warming, according to paleoecologist Anthony Barnosky, author of a new book called "Heatstroke: Nature in an Age of Global Warming." Climate change will force plants and animals to seek more hospitable habitats ouside preserves, or more likely, force humans to assist with their migration to preferred habitat.
(13 April)

Climate change to spur rapid shifts in fire hotspots, projects new analysis
Climate change will bring about major shifts in worldwide fire patterns, and those changes are coming fast, according to a new analysis led by UC Berkeley fire researchers.
(07 April)

Goldman School portal takes the worry out of 'experiments of concern'
How concerned should we be about breakthroughs in synthetic biology that might also be useful to bioterrorists? An online advice portal developed at Berkeley may help to minimize those risks.
(02 April)

Chemist Graham Fleming named vice chancellor for research
Graham Fleming, the Melvin Calvin Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at UC Berkeley and former deputy director of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, has been appointed the campus's vice chancellor for research.
(01 April)

Sea mollusks taste their memories to build shells
Mollusk's add daily to the margins of their shells to produce intricate patterns prized by beachcombers. Though this seems complex, the process can actually be explained by a simple network of nerve cells that taste yesterday's shell layer to build today's, according to two UC Berkeley biophysicists. To prove it they have created a computer model that re-creates the patterns seen in seashells.
(01 April)

Mice with disabled gene that helps turn carbs into fat stay lean despite feasting on high-carb diet
UC Berkeley researchers have identified a gene that plays a critical regulatory role in the process of converting dietary carbohydrate to fat. Mice that had this gene disabled had lower levels of body fat than their normal counterparts, despite being fed the equivalent of an all-you-can-eat pasta buffet.
(19 March)

Scientists cable seafloor seismometer into state earthquake network
A 32-mile underwater cable now links the state's only seafloor seismic station with the UC Berkeley's seismic network, merging real-time data from west of the San Andreas fault with data from 31 other land stations sprinkled around Northern and Central California.
(18 March)

Adventures in the 'Goldilocks zone'
The Kepler space mission, launched last week, will help astronomers focus their search for planets orbiting at a distance “not too close but not too far from” their stars — the better to someday find an Earth-like planet capable of sustaining life.
(12 March)

Long, sexy tails not a drag on male hummingbirds
At last two dozen hummingbirds, not to mention hundreds of other birds, sport long tails to attract females. But don't these tails get in the way? A new UC Berkeley study shows that long-tailed male hummingbirds lose little in the way of energy to draw the attention of admiring females.
(11 March)

Assembling cells into artificial 3-D tissues, like tiny glands
UC Berkeley chemists have developed a way to assemble cells into 3-D microtissues and even tiny glands, much like snapping together toy building blocks to make a simple machine. Such microtissues could serve as niches for studying how cells work together, or be assembled into larger structures as artificial, implantable organs.
(04 March)

Honors for two Berkeley physicists
Paul Richards and Nobel laureate George Smoot have been honored for their contributions to astrophysics research and teaching.
(04 March)

The pluses and (mostly) minuses of biofuels
A new generation of biofuels, made from non-food plants, will eventually reduce the impact that today's corn-and soy-based fuels are having on the global environment. But for now, says a campus expert, ethanol and its kin will remain part of the nation's multi-source energy portfolio
(04 March)

Campus turns out for opening of Sutardja Dai Hall
With 141,000 square feet of innovation-inspiring lab and classroom space, Berkeley's new CITRIS building is ready to host decades of discovery.
(04 March)

Kepler in the classroom
Just as NASA's Kepler mission and its search for habitable planets has grabbed the public's attention, Alan Gould hopes that the mission will galvanize student interest in science as well. Since 2001, Gould, coordinator of the Lawrence Hall of Science (LHS) space science programs, has been gearing up for launch as Kepler's co-investigator for education and public outreach.
(03 March)

With Mar. 6 Kepler launch, work begins for Berkeley astronomers
NASA's Kepler mission, scheduled for launch on March 6, will put a telescope in orbit to scan 100,000 stars for evidence of Earth-size planets. While many hold out hope of finding dozens of planets with conditions ripe for life, it also will show us how common Earth-like planets are in the galaxy, according to Kepler team members Gibor Basri and Geoff Marcy.
(03 March)

Why California should consider Australia's "Prepare, stay and defend" wildfire policy
Even as debate rages over the safety of the Australian policy of encouraging willing and able residents to stay and defend their property from wildfires, fire researchers at UC Berkeley and in Australia say that the strategy is worth consideration in California and other regions in the United States.
(26 February)

Paul Richards, George Smoot honored for astrophysics research and teaching
Two UC Berkeley physicists – Paul Richards and Nobel Laureate George Smoot – have been honored for their contributions to astrophysics research and teaching.
(23 February)

The pluses and (mostly) minuses of biofuels
Speakers at last week’s AAAS meeting presented abundant evidence that tropical rainforest destruction has accelerated in recent years, at least in part because of the worldwide push to produce more biofuels.
(20 February)

The sun is a star when it comes to sustainable energy
At a national scientific meeting last week where biofuels – principally ethanol – were uniformly trashed as an environmental train wreck, one bright, carbon-free light gleamed in our energy future: the sun.
(20 February)

Sloan fellowships awarded to seven young faculty members
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation announced today (Tuesday, Feb. 17) 118 new fellowship awards to early-career scientists, seven of them young faculty researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.
(17 February)

Cheaper materials could be key to low-cost solar cells
Unconventional solar cell materials that are as abundant but much less costly than silicon and other semiconductors in use today could substantially reduce the cost of solar photovoltaics, according to a new UC Berkeley and LBNL study.
(17 February)

"Evolved" virus may improve gene therapy for cystic fibrosis
Chemical engineer David Schaffer has developed a technique to force viruses to evolve as better gene therapy carriers, and tests at the University of Iowa show that the virus can completely cure cystic fibrosis in tissue culture.
(17 February)

Scientists document salamander decline in Central America
Amphibian populations have dropped worldwide, but most studies have detailed the impact on frogs only. A new UC Berkeley study now shows that salamander populations are plummeting in Central America, primarily in the cloud forests.
(09 February)

Predicting diversity within hotspots to enhance conservation
Hotspots of threatened biodiversity comprise a huge chunk of the Earth and present a daunting challenge to governments and scientists who want to study them, let alone protect them from development. A new strategy developed by UC Berkeley researchers can help identify the hotspots within hotspots critical for study and conservation.
(05 February)

KQED-TV to air doc on late revolutionary biologist Allan Wilson
Local station KQED-TV will air a documentary on the late Allan Wilson, a UC Berkeley biochemist who revolutionized the study of evolution, on Sunday, Feb. 8, at noon. Wilson, who died in 1991 from leukemia, showed that comparing protein and gene sequences of species can provide unexpected new information on evolutionary relationships.
(04 February)

Improved method for comparing genomes as well as written text
When comparing the genomes of different organisms to create an evolutionary tree, scientists have been restricted to using a few dozen genes common to all of them. No longer. A UC Berkeley chemist and his colleagues have discovered a way to compare entire genomes across a range of sizes. The method also works for comparing written texts.
(28 January)

Physicist Sumner Davis has died at 84
Physicist Sumner P. Davis, a beloved teacher, classical optical spectroscopist and avid glider pilot, died Dec. 31, 2008, in El Cerrito after a brief illness. He was 84.
(23 January)

Summer peak, winter low temperatures now arrive 2 days earlier
Biologists have long noticed that global warming is causing springtime flowering and ice melting to arrive earlier, but a new study shows that the seasonal cycle has also shifted, causing summer's peak temperature and winter's lowest temperature to arrive nearly two days earlier than wastrue 50 years ago.
(21 January)

Mathematician John Stallings died last year at 73
John Robert Stallings Jr., a professor emeritus of mathematics at UC Berkeley who made seminal contributions to geometric group theory and topology, died Nov. 24, 2008, from prostate cancer at his home in Berkeley. He was 73.
(12 January)

'Understanding Science' Website clarifies what science is, is not
How does science work? Though scientists are often hard put to explain it, a new Web site called Understanding Science helps students, teachers and the public decide what is and is not science, and understand the messy but fun adventure of science.
(08 January)

Jan. 11 is local kickoff of 'Year of Science 2009'
UC Berkeley and more than 500 other institutions and organizations around the country have joined together to make this the "Year of Science 2009," replete with science cafes, festivals, talks and lectures, and an emphasis on what science means to us all.
(07 January)

Snails and humans use same genes to tell right from left
UC Berkeley biologists have tracked down genes that control the handedness of snail shells, and they turn out to be similar to the genes used by humans to set up the left and right sides of the body.
(22 December)

In new book, Alvarez switches from dino extinction to Italy's geology
Geologist Walter Alvarez's last book, "T. rex and the Crater of Doom," was about his controversial claim that a comet or asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs. His new book, "The Mountains of Saint Francis," is an affectionate look at Italy, its geology and the Italian geologists who pieced together its billion-year-old history.
(18 December)

Eleven faculty members named AAAS Fellows
Eleven UC Berkeley researchers are among 486 new American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) fellows to be named Dec. 19 in the organization's journal, Science. The honor, bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers, recognizes distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications.
(18 December)

State stem cell agency funds work to break through research barriers
The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the state's stem cell agency, this week awarded two UC Berkeley researchers new grants totaling $1.8 million to create new tools to speed the translation of basic stem cell research into clinical therapies.
(12 December)

Neuroanatomist Jeffery Winer has died at 63
Neurobiologist Jeffery A. Winer, who mapped the network of nerves that allow the brain to represent and interpret sound, died Dec. 9 at the age of 63.
(11 December)

Nobelist George Smoot to direct Korean cosmology institute
Nobel Laureate George Smoot has been appointed director of a new cosmology institute in South Korea that will work closely with the year-old Berkeley Center for Cosmological Physics to explore the origin and fate of the universe.
(10 December)

Broccoli compound targets key enzyme in late-stage cancer
Broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables have long been known to have anti-cancer benefits, and UC Berkeley researchers have now found out why. The discovery of one target of a chemical found in broccoli will help to design better anti-cancer drugs and to target treatment to specific types of cancer, including late-stage breast and prostate cancers.
(02 December)

NIST funds new high-precision, quantum measurement lab
UC Berkeley has received $11 million from the National Institute of Standards and Technology to build a state-of-the-art, high-precision measurement laboratory to study nanoscale and quantum phenomena.
(25 November)

Jupiter's rocky core bigger and icier, model predicts
When Jupiter formed 4.5 billion years ago, rocks and ice combined to form a rocky core 14-18 times the mass of the Earth, according to a new simulation by UC Berkeley geophysicist Burkhard Militzer. This is twice what previous models predicted.
(25 November)

Flexibility trumps fitness in sexual reproduction, says a new theory in evolutionary biology
An intriguing new theory of evolutionary biology says the reason sexual reproduction may be so successful is that it promotes genes that work well in combination with many other genes. This idea of genetic mixability, described in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, hits on the difficulty evolutionary biologists have had in understanding sex, specifically its role in population genetics and natural selection.
(24 November)

Chemistry Nobelist to assume ICSU leadership
Professor Emeritus of Chemistry Yuan T. Lee has been elected as the future president of the International Council for Science (ICSU).
(20 November)

Hubble snaps first optical photo of exoplanet
Astronomers long suspected that a planet lay hidden in the dusty disk of the star Fomalhaut, only 25 light years from Earth, and now UC Berkeley astronomer Paul Kalas has found it. Using the Hubble Space Telescope, he and his team have snapped the first visible-light photo of a planet around another star.
(13 November)

Inland ants prefer salty snacks to sweet
Mammals are limited by the availability of salt, and now researchers have shown that ants are too. In experiments in North, Central and South America, ecologists from UC California, Oklahoma and Arkansas have shown that plant-eating and omnivorous ants living more than 60 miles inland are more interested in salt than sugar, with the preference greater the farther they live from the coast. Carnivorous ants show no such preference.
(27 October)

Counting kangaroo rats from space
Using a borrowed spy satellite to spot this species’ distinctive burrow entrances, researchers track their numbers in hopes of protecting biodiversity on the Carrizo Plain in south-central California
(22 October)

Geologist Walter Alvarez receives top earth sciences award
UC Berkeley geologist Walter Alvarez will receive the Vetlesen Prize, the nation's top award in earth sciences, for his discovery that a meteor wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.
(20 October)

Noted statistician David Freedman has died at 70
David A. Freedman, a professor of statistics who fought for three decades to keep the United States census on a firm statistical foundation, died Friday, Oct. 17, of bone cancer at his home in Berkeley. He was 70.
(20 October)

This is your brain on adolescence
It's no secret that teens are moody, volatile and take more risks than adults. While some of this is the result of hormones, much has to do with how their brains are wired. Neuroscientists at UC Berkeley are tryng to find the brain differences underlying teenage angst and, thanks to a recent grant from the MacArthur Foundation, change how the legal system treats minors.
(16 October)

Yosemite resurvey shows small mammals moving up in world
The first results of a resurvey of animal populations in Yosemite National Park show that small mammals have moved to higher elevations as a result of warming, some expanding their range upward, others moving upward and abandoning lower elevations entirely. Though biodiversity remains unchanged, the rapid rate of change sounds a cautionary note about global warming.
(09 October)

Sharper Jupiter images from next-generation adaptive optics
Adaptive optics systems that remove the blur caused by atmospheric turbulence have revolutionized ground-based astronomy, providing images as sharp or better than those from the Hubble Space Telescope. A new system employing more than one reference star now allows use of adaptive optics over a larger field of view, producing the sharpest ever whole-planet picture of Jupiter.
(02 October)

What we don't know about biofuels
How would the large-scale cultivation of biofuels affect food supply and food prices? What is their impact on soils, waterways, the air, and nearby food crops? Chris Somerville, director of the new Energy Biosciences Institute, discusses the web of scientific, technical, and social questions that EBI researchers have begun to probe in an attempt to "truly understand" the potential benefits and pitfalls of large-scale biofuel production.
(15 September)

1843 stellar eruption new type of star explosion
Eta Carinae, a bright, variable star in the southern sky that is the most luminous known star in the Milky Way Galaxy, underwent a major eruption 145 years ago that may be the first example of a new type of stellar explosion that is much fainter than a supernova and that doesn't destroy the star.
(10 September)

March 19 gamma-ray burst was first visible to naked eye
Some 7.5 billion years ago, a supernova heralding the birth of a black hole went off halfway across the universe, sending a pencil-beam flash of light toward Earth that was briefly visible to the naked eye on March 19.
(10 September)

Genome sequence deepens mysteryof inconspicuous sea creature
The newly sequenced genome of an easily overlooked marine animal, a pancake of cells called a placozoan, is helping biologists unravel the origins of animals.
(26 August)

National magazines tout two chemists and two astronomers as top innovators in their fields
Four young UC Berkeley faculty members - a pair of married chemists and two astronomers - have been singled out by national magazines as up-and-coming scientists to watch.Two married assistant professors of chemistry – Michelle Chang and Chris Chang – were among 35 young researchers named this month by the magazine Technology Review as 2008's top young innovators under 35.
(22 August)

State Senate committee passes bill to protect researchers engaged in animal research
Following testimony Thursday by two University of California officials about the ongoing harassment of researchers by animal rights extremists, the state Senate Public Safety Committee passed a revised bill to criminalize such activity.
(14 August)

New book distills essential physics for next president
Physicist Richard A. Muller has tranformed his popular course, "Physics for Future Presidents," into a popular book of the same name, providing a tutorial in the physics of nuclear weapons, nuclear power, terrorism and global warming essential for anyone aspiring to the Oval Office.
(13 August)

Neil Bartlett, emeritus professor of chemistry, dies at 75
Neil Bartlett, professor emeritus and a pioneering chemist, died Tuesday, Aug. 5. He was best known for his critical experiment in 1962 demonstrating that xenon, a member of the family of noble gases, could form compounds.
(12 August)

Dying frogs sign of a biodiversity crisis
Devastating declines of amphibian species around the world are a sign of a biodiversity disaster larger than just frogs, salamanders and their ilk, according to researchers from the University of California, Berkeley. The researchers argue that substantial die-offs of amphibians and other plant and animal species add up to a new mass extinction facing the planet.
(12 August)

Invisibility shields one step closer with new metamaterials that bend light backwards
UC Berkeley scientists have for the first time engineered 3-D materials that can reverse the natural direction of visible and near-infrared light, a development that could help form the basis for higher resolution optical imaging, nanocircuits for high-powered computers, and, to the delight of science-fiction and fantasy buffs, cloaking devices that could render objects invisible to the human eye.
(11 August)

Jupiter and Saturn full of liquid metal helium
A strange, metal brew lies buried deep within Jupiter andSaturn, according to a new study by researchers at the University ofCalifornia, Berkeley, and in London.
(06 August)

New technique to compress light could open doors for optical communications
Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have devised a way to squeeze light into tighter spaces than ever thought possible, potentially opening doors to new technology in the fields of optical communications, miniature lasers and optical computers.
(30 July)

University virologist named Keck Distinguished Young Scholar
Britt Glaunsinger, a University of California, Berkeley, virologist and an assistant professor in the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, has won a W. M. Keck Foundation grant, an award given to innovative young scientists in the area of biomedical research.
(29 July)

THEMIS mission identifies power behind northern lights
The northern and southern lights are fueled by energy from the sun, as solar wind particles make their way through the Earth's magnetic shield to the poles. The THEMIS mission managed by UC Berkeley has now identified the trigger event that dumps the sun's energy into the Earth's auroras and makes them flash and shimmer.
(24 July)

Girls' and boys' math performance now equal
Despite perceptions by many parents and teachers, there is no differnce in math performance between girls and boys. A new study by UC Berkeley's Marcia Linn and University of Wisconsin colleagues shows that in both elementary and high school, girls and boys do equally well on math assessment tests.
(24 July)

Outdoor enthusiasts scaring off native carnivores in parks
Even a quiet stroll in the park can dramatically change natural ecosystems, according to a new study by conservation biologists from the University of California, Berkeley. These findings could have important implications for land management policies.
(21 July)

New light shed on how intracellular pathogens trigger the immune system
Disease-causing microbes like the food-borne bacterium Listeria monocytogenes specialize in invading and replicating inside their animal hosts' own cells, making them particularly tricky to defeat. But a new study led by UC Berkeley biologists has identified a molecular alarm system in which the intracellular pathogen sends out signals that kick the immune response into gear.
(14 July)

Genes could solve pollution mysteries
Scientists have for the first time identified environmental pollutants using a genomic approach. This new gene-based technique could lead to better and faster lab tests for pinpointing pollutants in contaminated ecosystems.
(10 July)

Open clusters like Orion have low fertility rate
A detailed survey of stars in the Orion Nebula has found that fewer than 10 percent have enough surrounding dust to make Jupiter-sized planets. The study, one of the first using the new CARMA radio array, was conducted by astronomers at UC Berkeley, Caltech and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
(07 July)

Nature reserves attract humans, but at a cost to biodiversity, says study
Countering a perception that establishing nature reserves in developing nations drives away local communities, a new UC Berkeley study finds that human settlements are actually drawn to protected areas in Africa and Latin America. Unfortunately, the researchers also found a link between high rates of human population growth and illegal harvesting of timber, bushmeat hunting and species extinction.
(03 July)

First images of solar system's invisible frontier
NASA's STEREO spacecraft unexpectedly detected particles from the edge of the solar system last year, allowing UC Berkeley scientists to map for the first time the energized particles in the region where the hot solar wind slams into the cold interstellar medium.
(02 July)

Parasite vaccines within reach
Even though parasites are complex creatures, the mammalian immune response to them is surprisingly simple. This finding by UC Berkeley researchers provides hope that creating vaccines for parasitic diseases such as malaria may be more straightforward than initially thought
(02 July)

Genetic study reshuffles bird family tree
The family relationships among the world's 9,600 bird species have been thrown into question by a genetic comparion of bird DNA. According to UC Berkeley ornithologist Rauri Bowie, the study sheds a whole new light on birds' long evolutionary road from the dinosaurs.
(30 June)

Mars air once had moisture, new soil analysis says
A new analysis of Martian soil data led by UC Berkeley geoscientists suggests that there was once enough water in the planet's atmosphere for a light drizzle or dew to hit the ground, leaving tell-tale signs of its interaction with the planet's surface. The study's conclusion breaks from the more dominant view that the liquid water that once existed during the red planet's infancy came mainly in the form of upwelling groundwater.
(25 June)

Lancelet genome shows how genes quadrupled during vertebrate evolution
The ancestor of all chordates, a group that includes humans and other vertebrates, probably looked like a sand-dwelling invertebrate called the lancelet or amphioxus. Its newly sequenced genome confirms that, and shows how vertebrates evolved over the past 550 million years -- through a four-fold duplication of the genes of our primitive ancestors.
(18 June)

Biologist Gunther Stent has died at 84
Gunther S. Stent, a refugee from Nazi Germany who helped lay the foundations for the field of molecular biology and then moved into the study of neurobiology and consciousness, died June 12 of pneumonia at the age of 84.
(17 June)

Old muscle gets new pep in UC Berkeley stem cell study
When UC Berkeley bioengineers tweaked how adult stem cells reacted to biochemical signals regulating cell division, they gave muscle in old mice a shot of youthful vigor. The research sets the path for research on new treatments for age-related degenerative conditions, including muscle atrophy and Alzheimer's disease.
(16 June)

Astrophysicist Reinhard Genzel wins million-dollar Shaw Prize
Astrophysicist Reinhard Genzel, a UC Berkeley professor of physics and director of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, Germany, has been awarded the 2008 Shaw Prize in Astronomy for proving the existence of a black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. The third UC Berkeley scientist to win the astronomy prize, Genzel will receive a cool million dollars.
(10 June)

Javan mud volcano triggered by drilling, not quake
On May 29, 2006, a mud volano erupted in East Java that to date has inundated five towns and displaced 30,000 people. It shows no signs of stopping. A new study confirms earlier suggestions that the eruption was triggered, not by a distant earthquake two days before, but by oil drilling.
(09 June)

Personal genomes may lead to personalized vitamin supplements
As the cost of DNA sequencing drops, it may become common for people to have their complete genomes sequenced. Personal genomes will not only tell people about their genetic susceptibility to cancer and heart disease, but also will tell them which vitamins can improve their health. Some day, we all may take personalized vitamin supplements.
(02 June)

Mathematician Murray Protter has died at 90
Murray Protter, a former chair of the mathematics department whose calculus textbook sold more than a million copies in the 1960s and '70s, died May 1 at his home in Berkeley of congestive heart failure. He was 90.
(02 June)

Low-cost EUV satellite shut down
A $14.5 million satellite launched just five years ago by NASA to study the sun's local environment has outlived its usefulness - and its funding -- and was shut down in April by its UC Berkeley operators.
(02 June)

5 new HHMI investigators to be announced May 27
Five UC Berkeley faculty members have received one of the most sought-after honors in biomedical research: appointment as Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) investigators with guaranteed research support for five, 10 or more years into the future.
(27 May)

Rapid escalation characterizes virus/host arms race
In the constant warfare between viruses and their hosts, escalation can be rapid. Looking closely at a small community of microbes collected from acid mine drainage, UC Berkeley researchers have found not only a sophisticated microbial immune system but a simple but effective counterstrategy adopted by viruses.
(22 May)

New Hubble, Keck images show turbulent Jupiter
The first images of Jupiter since it came out from behind the sun show that the turbulence and storms that have plagued the planet for the past two years continue. Whether or not this is a sign of global warming on the planet, the turbulence does seem to be spawning new spots.
(22 May)

X-ray outburst leads to all-out study of supernova
NASA's Swift satellite caught the rare birth of a supernova earlier this year, allowing astronomers to rapidly deploy ground-based telescopes to follow its evolution and learn about normal stellar explosions. UC Berkeley astronomers have analyzed the data to conclude that the original star was more than 30 times the mass of the sun, but only slightly larger, when its core ran out of fuel and imploded, blowing the star to smithereens.
(21 May)

CIRM awards $20 million for stem cell research facilities
The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine has awarded $20.18 million to UC Berkeley to build centralized stem cell laboratories in a new research building, the Li Ka Shing Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences, now under construction.
(07 May)

CIRM awards $20 million for stem cell research facilities
The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine has awarded $20.18 million to UC Berkeley to build centralized stem cell laboratories in a new research building, the Li Ka Shing Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences, now under construction.
(07 May)

New study analyzes why endangered parrot population isn't recovering
A new study led by a UC Berkeley biologist sheds light on the factors influencing the stalled growth of the severely endangered Puerto Rican parrot, and in turn, provides an analytical tool that could help pinpoint the biggest factors hindering the recovery of other endangered species.
(06 May)

Glowing sugars light up zebrafish
Using artificial sugar and some clever chemistry, UC Berkeley researchers have made glow-in-the-dark zebrafish whose internal light comes from the sugar coating on their cells. The technique is a new tool for researchers, and will lead to a better understanding of the role of cell-surface sugars in health and disease.
(02 May)

Three faculty members elected to National Academy of Sciences
Three faculty members of the University of California, Berkeley, are among 72 new members and 18 foreign associates elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), one of the nation's most prestigious societies of scholars engaged in science and engineering research.
(29 April)

Refining the date of dinosaur extinction
Thanks to a recalibration of the argon-argon dating technique, geochronologists at UC Berkeley and the Berkeley Geochronology Center have established a more precise date for the dinosaur dieoff at the end of the Cretaceous period: 65.95 million years ago, give or take 40,000 years.
(24 April)

Unprecedented conservation map maximizes species protection on biodiversity hot spot
An international team of researchers led by UC Berkeley biologists has developed a remarkable new roadmap for finding and protecting the best remaining holdouts for thousands of rare species that live only in Madagascar, an island nation considered one of the world's jewels of biodiversity. The new plan not only includes lemurs – those large-eyed, tree-hopping primates that have become poster children for conservation – but also species of ants, butterflies, frogs, geckos and plants.
(10 April)

"Math girl" makes music
A wide variety of music will echo across campus on Cal Day, but Nicole Campbell's got a niche all her own. The long-haired, acoustic guitar-strumming, third-year UC Berkeley student will be in Room 1015 of Evans Hall performing songs she wrote about math and science.
(03 April)

Dr. Robert Mishell, professor emeritus of immunology, dies at age 73
Dr. Robert Mishell, a professor emeritus of immunology who discovered the first method of developing antibody-producing cells in vitro, died March 6 at age 73.
(02 April)

Octopus lovemaking more sophisticated than previously assumed
For decades, scientists have considered octopuses to be unromantic loners. But new research from UC Berkeley has found that at least one species of octopus engages in such sophisticated lovemaking tactics as flirting, passionate handholding and keeping rivals at arms’ length.
(31 March)

Growth hormone also guides brain wiring
A human hormone known to stimulate the growth of cells throughout the body has a new role - helping to set up the proper nerve connections in the odor center of the brain, according to UC Berkeley neuroscientist John Ngai.
(26 March)

Mathematician, puzzle lover David Gale has died
David Gale, a puzzle lover and professor emeritus of mathematics who made fundamental contributions to economics and game theory, died March 7 at the age of 86.
(18 March)

Gecko's tail key to preventing falls, aerial maneuvers
While recent research has focused on the gecko's unusual toes as the key to climbing walls and hanging from ceilings, UC Berkeley biologists have found that its tail plays a critical role in preventing it from falling when it slips and maneuvering to solid surfaces when it does fall.
(17 March)

New oak woodland reserve near San Jose
The new Blue Oak Ranch Reserve, a 3,260-acre oak woodland just east of San Jose, will provide a research site for UC scientists and an educational outpost for local college and K-12 students.
(13 March)

UC Berkeley and Stanford University launch joint stem cell research
Two leaders in biomedical research – UC-Berkeley and the Stanford School of Medicine – will join forces in a new stem cell initiative that will catalyze research and serve as a magnet for scholars from around the world. The Siebel Stem Cell Institute, established by the Thomas and Stacey Siebel Foundation, is a joint initiative between the Berkeley Stem Cell Center and the Stanford Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine Institute.
(12 March)

Carbon calculator provides personalized footprint
Anyone concerned about global warming will want to check out UC Berkeley's new carbon calculator to see how their lifestyle contributes to their personal carbon footprint, and to find ways to reduce their greenhouse gases emissions.
(28 February)

EBI director's talk on demystifying cellulosic biofuels can been seen on YouTube
In a talk that can be seen on YouTube, Chris Somerville, the director of the new Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI), discussed why cellulosic biofuels can have major environmental and economic advantages over today's corn-based ethanol.
(28 February)

Small "helper" stars needed for massive star formation
Massive stars form rarely, but have a large influence on a galaxy like the Milky Way. They seed galaxies with most of their heavy elements, for example. A UC Berkeley astrophysicist looking into the formation of massive stars finds that stars the size of the sun must form first to set the stage for formation of a single, huge star perhaps 100 times the mass of the sun.
(27 February)

Genome of marine organism tells of animals' one-celled ancestors
A ubiquitous but little-known marine organism, the choanoflagellate, is the last one-celled ancestor of humans and offers clues to how cells learned to assemble into multicelled organisms. The genome of the choanoflagellate Monisiga has now been sequenced and, according to UC Berkeley's Nicole King, offers clues to the origin of the glue that holds many-celled animals together.
(14 February)

Tracking gliding behavior in the "flying" lemur
Among the gliding animals, the colugo or "flying" lemur of Southeast Asia is the champ. It's able to glide the length of two football fields with its doormat-sized skin flaps. UC Berkeley researchers are strapping backpacks to these animals to find out how they do it.
(07 February)

Anna's hummingbird chirps with its tail
Male Anna's hummingbirds can now be seen in many West Coast backyards and fields executing theirdisplay dives to seduce females and drive away intruders. UC Berkeley students have now shown that the characteristic chirp at the bottom of the male's dive, thought by many to be vocal, is produced by a split-second flaring of the tail feathers.
(30 January)

Engineers create new adhesive that mimics gecko toe hairs
A new anti-sliding adhesive developed by UC Berkeley engineers may be the closest man-made material yet to mimic the remarkable gecko toe hairs that allow the tiny lizard to scamper along vertical surfaces and ceilings. The researchers say that such an adhesive could one day be used to outfit a small robot that could climb up walls.
(29 January)

Rich nations' environmental footprint falls on poor
In the first-ever global accounting of the financial costs of environmental damage caused by human activities in high-, middle- and low-income nations, UC Berkeley researchers have found that rich nations disproportionately impact poor countries, exacting a cost that exceeds what the poor owe the rich.
(22 January)

Parasite morphs ant into ripe red berry
Parasites occasionally change the behavior or looks of their host, but a nasty tropical nematode alters both, making its ant host's parasite-filled abdomen resemble a ripe red berry. According to UC Berkeley and Univ. of Arkansas biologists, this behavior is a strategy the nematode evolved to entice birds to eat the ant's abdomen and spread the parasite in their droppings.
(16 January)

Teen pregnancy the norm among dinosaurs
Until recently, paleontologists had found only one dinosaur fossil that was identifiably female: a T. rex that was 18 and pregnant when it died. UC Berkeley researchers now report two more - fossil bones from a 10-year-old female Allosaurus and an 8-year-old female Tenontosaurus - that together indicate dinosaurs grew quickly and became sexually mature before reaching their adult size. Because these dinosaurs typically lived only 30 years, female dinosaurs got pregnant and laid eggs in adolescence.
(14 January)

Orphaned bear cub snuggles into new home at UC Berkeley's Sagehen reserve
A 1-year-old orphaned black bear cub was relocated to UC Berkeley's Sagehen Creek Field Station on Jan. 3, joining two other orphaned bears who were successfully relocated to the reserve in 2005.
(03 January)

SETI@home looking for more volunteers
The longest-running search for radio signals from alien civilizations is getting a burst of new data from an upgraded Arecibo telescope, which means the SETI@home project needs more desktop computers to help crunch the data.
(02 January)