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College of Natural & Agricultural Sciences

Latest CNAS in the Media

Massive new NASA exoplanet catalog unveils 126 extreme and exotic worlds

SPACE.COM - A new catalog of 126 worlds beyond the solar system contains a cornucopia of newly discovered planets — some have extreme and exotic natures, but others could potentially support life as we know it. The catalog's mix of planets is further evidence of the wide and wild variety of worlds beyond our cosmic...
By Robert Lea | Space.com |

NASA releases catalog packed with the most bizarre alien worlds

GIZMODO - Do we live in an unusual star system? Astronomers have been trying to figure out if the Solar System is unique compared to other stars and their orbiting planets, and they just took a major step towards answering the longstanding cosmic mystery. An international team of planet-hunting astronomers spent three years analyzing thousands...
By Passant Rabie | Gizmodo |

New to US: Hornets that butcher bees and sting people. Humans are fighting back.

USA TODAY - In August 2023, a beekeeper near the port of Savannah, Georgia, noticed that something odd was hunting his honeybees. Black with bright yellow legs, the flying insect would hover at the hive entrance, capture a flying honeybee and butcher it before darting off with the bee’s thorax, the meatiest bit. “He’d only...
By Hannah Hoag | Knowable Magazine |

Scientists discover a volcano-rich planet hotter than some stars

ZME SCIENCE - A research team led by University of California Riverside researchers has unveiled a new member of the HD 104067 star system. Located approximately 66 light years from Earth, this is one of the hottest solar systems out there — quite literally. The newly identified fiery planet, designated TOI-6713.01, exhibits conditions so extreme...
By Jordan Strickler | ZME Science |

Strange, red-glowing planet may be 'melting from within,' scientists report

LIVE SCIENCE - A newly discovered planet in a faraway star system appears to be erupting with so many volcanoes, it glows a fiery red when seen from space. No planet like this has ever been observed before, researchers say, and follow-up observations will be required to confirm the strange world's existence. The newfound planet...
By Sharmila Kuthunur | Live Science |

Debunked: NASA is about to confirm alien life on another planet

FORBES - Media outlets widely reported last fall that a possible sign of life had been found on another planet. The evidence came from the James Webb Space Telescope, which identified the presence of a molecule called dimethyl sulfide on an exoplanet called K2-18b. On Earth, DMS is produced by phytoplankton in the oceans. Evidence...

By Jamie Carter | Forbes |

NASA discovers gravity-squeezed world 'exploding with volcanoes'

NEWSWEEK - A roiling-hot exoplanet billions of miles away has been discovered, dotted with so many volcanos that it would visibly glow in the darkness of space. This planet, named TOI-6713.01, orbits a star situated around 66 light-years away from our solar system and is a rocky world around 30 percent larger than Earth, according...
By Jess Thomson | Newsweek |

Here’s a great new tool to help protect butterflies in your area

THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE - A look at our local Lepidoptera (butterfly and moth) species and share some tips on how to protect them. New conservation tool One of the ways you could help butterflies and moths in your local area is by creating a space with plants they are attracted to. Chris Cosma, a recent Ph.D...
By Kurt Snibbe | The Press-Enterprise |

RFK Jr. revealed he had a parasitic brain worm. Here’s what to know.

THE WASHINGTON POST - Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. revealed that he was diagnosed with mercury poisoning around the same time doctors discovered a parasitic worm in his brain, adding to questions about cognitive fitness that have roiled the 2024 campaign. “It’s not necessarily a problem right away to have this infection, but it’s...
By Fenit Nirappil | The Washington Post |

Turns out JWST hasn’t found life in another planet…yet

COSMOS MAGAZINE: In 2023, an exoplanet made international headlines because James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) observations suggested that the planet has a “biosignature” – signs of gas in its atmosphere produced by “life.” A new study published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters pricks a hole in this hypothesis. K2-18b is a planet orbiting a star...
By Evrim Yazgin | Cosmos Magazine |

Did the James Webb Space Telescope really find life beyond Earth? Scientists aren't so sure

SPACE.COM - Recent reports of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) detecting signs of life of a distant planet outside the solar system are, unfortunately, somewhat premature. That's the conclusion of research conducted by scientists from the University of California Riverside (UCR). While likely to disappoint all of us eager for the confirmation of extraterrestrial...
By Robert Lea | Space.com |

JWST’s detection of life on alien planet could be a premature claim

INTERESTING ENGINEERING - Earlier this year, reports emerged that NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) had likely found signs of life on a distant alien planet. Celebrations were premature, according to a new study on the findings. Not all hope is lost, though, as the new paper also outlines how the telescope might still verify...
By Chris Young | Interesting Engineering |

No, the James Webb Space Telescope probably didn't detect signs of alien life — but it soon could

LIVE SCIENCE - The contentious exoplanet, called K2-18b, is a warm, watery world with a hydrogen-based atmosphere. Located about 120 light-years from Earth, it sits in the habitable zone around its home star, where liquid water (and, therefore, potentially life) is possible. The distant world made headlines last year after observations with JWST's Near Infrared...
By Brandon Specktor | Live Science |

Scientists discover $540 billion worth of 'white gold' sitting beneath giant lake

UNILAD - Scientists have discovered $540 billion worth of 'white gold' sitting underneath a huge lake. Located in southern California, Salton Sea is the largest in the state and sits on a lithium reservoir. While scientists knew that the chemical element was there, they didn't know just how much lithium was beneath the lake -...
By Lucy Devine | UNILAD |

Medium-sized dogs have a greater risk of developing cancer

EARTH.COM - Medium-sized dog breeds are more prone to cancer than both the smallest and the largest breeds, according to a recent study led by the University of California, Riverside. These findings challenge the multistage model of cancer, which associates increased size within a single species to a heightened risk of cancer due to more...
By Andrei Ionescu | Earth.com |

Why alien life might look purple

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC - When inspecting the cosmos for potentially habitable worlds, scientists have long looked for the color green. Green is the fundamental color of life on Earth, after all. But what if life on faraway planets wasn’t green at all? In fact, what if it were purple? Signatures of habitable worlds Astronomers look for...

By Alice Sun | National Geographic |

Inhospitable Venus could hold clues to finding extraterrestrial life

COSMOS MAGAZINE - A new paper argues that the search for life outside our planet could be aided by looking in an unexpected place: the extremely hot, toxic planet Venus. Venus is uninhabitable. It’s like our planet’s evil twin, with a diameter only 5% smaller than Earth’s. But the average surface temperature on Venus is...
By Evrim Yazgin | Cosmos Magazine |

How the ‘hellish’ planet Venus can help us find alien life

EARTH.COM - Despite its extreme conditions, featuring surface temperatures that can melt lead, volcanoes that spew lava, and thick clouds of sulfuric acid, Venus provides invaluable insights into the search for life on other planets, according to a new study from UC Riverside. “We often assume that Earth is the model of habitability, but if...
By Andrei Ionescu | Earth.com |

UC Riverside to honor Nobel laureate and physicist Barry Barish

THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE - UC Riverside will salute physicist and Nobel laureate Barry Barish for winning the 2023 National Medal of Science in October. Barish, a distinguished professor of physics and astronomy at UCR, joined the university in 2018. The National Medal of Science is the highest recognition in the nation for scientists and engineers. The...
By Staff Report | The Press-Enterprise |

Venus Exploration Remains Key To Understanding Exo-Earths, Says Paper

FORBES - To paraphrase Winston Churchill, our sister planet Venus remains a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. Remarkably similar in size, mass, and bulk makeup, today, Earth and Venus couldn't be more different. Earth is an ecological utopia while Venus is a poster child for planetary desolation. The conventional view is that...
By Bruce Dorminey | Forbes |
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