CNN - The vast majority of bees feed on pollen and nectar, but some species have evolved to feast on meat, substituting dead animal carcasses for flower meadows. Vulture bees in Costa Rica have guts rich in acid-loving bacteria similar to those found in hyenas and other animals that feed on carrion, scientists at the...
WASHINGTON POST - Marilyn Fogel, a scientist dubbed the “isotope queen” for illuminating fundamental scientific questions through analysis of atomic isotope ratios, died May 11 at her home in Mariposa, Calif. She was 69. Dr. Fogel spent much of her career at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, where she pioneered the use of...
NASA.GOV - NASA's Astrobiology program announced its newest Research Coordination Network (RCN) ‘LIFE: Early Cells to Multicellularity,’ bringing together a collaboration of researchers from around the world that will spend the next five years investigating the earliest biological processes and the evolution of life into more complex organisms. The LIFE RCN is co-led by the...
LAist.com - Bee populations have been struggling for years due, in part, to climate change and the use of pesticides. Boris Baer, a professor of pollinator health, keeps bees at UC Riverside and gets updates from beekeepers across Southern California. He says the region is a global hotspot for pollinators. "Because we have like, I...
GENETIC ENGINEERING & BIOTECHNOLOGY NEWS - “Identities of different cells rely heavily on the genome sites that are more open because only genes located in those regions can potentially become expressed and turned into proteins,” said Sihem Cheloufi, PhD, assistant professor in biochemistry at the University of California at Riverside. Cheloufi added that to maintain...
BBC.COM - I slowly scanned the sedimentary layers of the gorge. If you know how to read it, this repository of the planet's evolution is one of the world's best exposure sites, according to Mary Droser, professor of geology at University of California Riverside. "The Flinders Ranges encompasses a huge swath of time that incorporates...
PALM SPRINGS DESERT SUN - University of California Riverside physics and astronomy professor Harry Tom explained that even though headlamps are relatively dim, their lights can be seen from far distances. “In a clear night with clean air, light will travel, really, for miles,” Tom said. He added, “Our eyes are very sensitive, so we...
EARTH.COM - Now, a study led by the University of California Riverside has found that changes to ozone levels in the upper and lower atmosphere were responsible for almost a third of the warming of ocean waters surrounding Antarctica in the second half of the 20 th century. This deep and rapid warming of the...
NPR - When a team of exoplanetary treasure hunters joined forces with professional astronomers, they discovered a whole new world. Short Wave host Emily Kwong talks with astronomer Paul Dalba and community scientist Tom Jacobs about how their collaboration led to the recent observation of a new Jupiter-like exoplanet. You can follow Emily on Twitter...
THE LOS ANGELES TIMES - According to the governor’s office, that ban alone could result in potential water savings of several hundred thousand acre-feet. (An acre-foot of water serves the needs of approximately three households for a year.) But Amir Haghverdi, a professor of water management and environmental sciences at UC Riverside, said such reductions...
PHYS.ORG - "They seem to be kind of body slamming the scorpions into the ground. If you ever see seals, they'll pick up fish and they'll slap them against the water. I think geckos are doing essentially the same thing, just blunt force trauma." said Malachi Whitford ('20), who studied the geckos' unusual feeding behavior...
THE CONVERSATION — Geothermal energy has long been the forgotten member of the clean energy family, overshadowed by relatively cheap solar and wind power, despite its proven potential. But that may soon change – for an unexpected reason. As a geologist who works with geothermal brines and an energy policy scholar, we believe this technology...
USA TODAY - Honey bees and bumble bees only fly during the day. Even though these bees cannot technically see, they can use the sun's rays (polarized light) to guide them, said Quinn S. McFrederick, associate professor of entomology at the University of California Riverside. Bees have compound eyes, one on each on the side...
EARTHSKY - You’d expect active star formation in the early universe, when all things were just beginning. And indeed, when they look far out into space (and therefore far back in time), astronomers do see active, blue star-forming regions. But a newly analyzed protocluster, or newborn galaxy cluster, bucks that trend. It appears to exist...
EARTH.COM - A surprising new study from UC Riverside has revealed that we still don’t know what the body of Megalodon actually looked like. Despite its notoriety as one of the largest and most fearsome sharks that ever lived, it turns out that much about Megalodon’s appearance remains a mystery. “The study may appear to...
OUP Blog — Darwin’s tree of life and Mendeleev’s periodic table of the elements share a number of interesting parallels, the most meaningful of which lie in the central role that each plays in its respective domain. Darwin’s tree of life, incidentally the only diagram of which appears in his book The Origin of Species...
YAHOO NEWS — Archaeologists have been trying to figure out what happened to the Maya for 100 years - after Mayan cities were mysteriously depopulated in the ninth century. But new analysis by researchers by University of California, Riverside archaeologist Scott Fedick and plant physiologist Louis Santiago shows the Maya had nearly 500 edible plants...
HONOLULU CIVIL BEAT - Mark Hoddle, a biological control specialist who studies avocado lace bug at the University of California at Riverside, said the insect appears to be more aggressive in tropical climates like Hawaii. In sticky, humid conditions in the Caribbean, the avocado lace bug seems to cause more damage than it does at...
THE HILL - Scientists in California tried to study Alzheimer’s disease from a different perspective and the results may have led them to the cause of the disease. Researchers at the University of California- Riverside (UCR) recently published results from a study that looked at a protein called tau. By studying the different forms tau...
THE LOS ANGELES TIMES - Studying the complexity of mud on the ocean floor is a life’s work for Timothy Lyons, so when the tall and lean biogeochemist asks you to join an expedition in search of chemical mysteries buried deep beneath the waves, be prepared to get wet and dirty. On a recent foray...