SCICOMMUCR/BEYOND THE BENCH PODCAST - SciCommUCR is a student organization working to communicate science in creative ways and bring science communication training to the University of California, Riverside community. In 2019, SciCommUCR started with their communication workshop, Let's Talk Science. They are currently producing the second season of their podcast, Beyond the Bench. Beyond the...
LOS ANGELES TIMES - “Neonics” is shorthand for neonicotinoids, said Jake Cecala, whose doctoral research at UC Riverside led to the new findings. Neonicotinoids are insecticides designed to kill a broad spectrum of chewing and sucking insects, from sap suckers like aphids to leaf-chomping beetles. Problem is, neonics are so good at their job they...
KVCR - The United Nations released its much anticipated report on climate change on August 9, and the consensus is that our planet is on a course to experience some irreversible changes like sea level rise and more frequent extreme weather events. There is however still time to limit some of the devastation. KVCR's Megan...
THE ATLANTIC - In the race to build the world’s first round of coronavirus vaccines, the spike protein—the thorny knobs that adorn each of the pathogen’s particles—was our MVP. Spike is a key ingredient in virtually every one of our current pandemic-fighting shots; it has been repeatedly billed as essential for tickling out any immune...
BAKERSFIELD.COM - Researchers in Riverside and Maryland may have come up with a breakthrough in the fight against a pest-borne bacterial disease threatening to wipe out California's citrus industry. Work done by two researchers at the University of California, Riverside — citrus pathology specialist Georgios Vidalakis and UCR plant virologist Kiran Gadhave — as well...
LOS ANGELES TIMES - “Viruses mutate easily, so they are usually very quick to escape any therapeutic intervention,” said Juliet Morrison, a microbiologist at UC Riverside. “Any antiviral should target multiple aspects of the viral life cycle so you don’t select for resistance.” That means finding a single pill that can disrupt not just how...
SCIENCE NEWS - Fingers crossed for finding nothing: July marks the main trapping season to check for Asian giant hornets still infesting Washington state. When news of the Asian giant hornets’ arrival first broke in 2019, one of the people who was not at all surprised at a foreign species was entomologist Doug Yanega of...
WAMU - As demand for electric vehicles heats up, there’s concern about a shortage of the key minerals needed to make them. The Biden administration has called for boosting domestic production of such minerals, including lithium for the lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles. And that has many hoping for big business in a desolate...
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER - Eagle eyes were not required to see a giant cockroach crawling across the wall in full view on the brightly lit set. The roach’s debut on The Talkmanaged to pass with no media attention and only a few screen grabs of the moment posted on YouTube and Twitter. Doug Yanega, senior...
WESTERN FARMPRESS - University of California scientists have discovered genetic data that will help food crops like tomatoes and rice survive longer, more intense periods of drought on our warming planet. Over the course of the last decade, the research team sought to create a molecular atlas of crop roots, where plants first detect the...
SCIENCE NEWS - Scientists have identified several new genes responsible for root growth in tomato and rice plants. The discovery, described Tuesday in the journal Cell, could help scientists develop more drought-resistant crop varieties. "Xylem are very important to shore up plants against drought as well as salt and other stresses," lead study author Siobhan...
KTNV - All eyes are on COVID-19 vaccines, but researchers are still working on protection against other serious illnesses. A Southern California virologist is racing against the clock to create a vaccine for the Zika virus. Dr. Rong Hai's job is to study viruses and their virulence at the University of California, Riverside. He's also...
PCT Online - The Eastern U.S. is about to see something that hasn't happened since the final episode of Friends aired on NBC: massive swarms of Brood X cicadas. “It’s one of nature’s unsolved mysteries,” said Doug Yanega, senior scientist at UC Riverside’s Entomology Research Museum. “This is something that’s globally unique. You can’t see...
SALON - Doug Yanega studies insects for a living, yet he has repeatedly missed out on one of North America's most awe-inspiring entomological events: the septdecennial (meaning once every 17 years) emergence of a swarms of cicadas known as Brood X. Part of the reason for this is that Yanega, who works as senior scientist...
THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE - Two bobcat kittens and their mother have been exploring the grounds at UC Riverside’s Botanic Gardens this week. A brief video shared on the gardens’ social media this week shows one kitten treading carefully on the grounds. “Walk softly and you might see our newest additions,” the caption reads. READ THE Article
SCIENCE MAGAZINE - The U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) chooses its members in a process that has long discriminated against female and minority scientists, as well as those from less prestigious universities. But NAS officials have begun to tinker with that process with the goal of increasing gender, racial, and geographic diversity. And this...
CAPITAL JOURNAL - University of California Riverside researchers identified a gene that allows plants to sense heat. And the discovery could help plants survive global warming, which researchers warned could reduce crop yields by one-third by 2050. “We need plants that can endure warmer temperatures, have a longer time to flower and a longer growth...
ALETEIA - We all know the importance of eating well and staying fit, even if it’s not easy, but a recent study really drives the point home. Research by UC Riverside has shown that a healthy childhood can pay dividends later in life. The consequences of the report are far-reaching, as they “may be relevant...
PBS - “When I wrote this paper … I fully expected someone would come up with some reason why it definitely couldn’t be true,” says Simeon Bird, a cosmologist at the University of California, Riverside, whose article, coauthored with Kovetz and others, was the first out of the gate. Instead, LIGO continued to capture additional...
LOS ANGELES TIMES - Groundwater supplies also take years to rebound, said Hoori Ajami, assistant professor of groundwater hydrology at UC Riverside, who is part of a team of researchers that analyzed data from wells affected by climate for a paper currently in peer review. “Once your precipitation has recovered, that doesn’t mean your stream...