Science & Technology

Two years after being recognized by NASA for their conceptual design, the team reflects on how this project influenced where they are today In 2019, a team of eight UC Davis undergraduate students developed a concept for the Martian Agriculture and Plant Science (MAPS) Greenhouse that was selected as a Top 5 Finalist in the […]

While contrafreeloading is a phenomenon widely observed in confined animals, recent research suggests that domestic cats won’t choose to do so Dogs, pigs, birds, wolves, rodents and even giraffes all have something in common—when given the choice, they prefer to work for their food rather than getting it for free, a phenomenon known as contrafreeloading. […]

60 of 225 participants from original COVID-19 vaccine trial return to UC Davis Medical Center As of Aug. 20, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that “people who are moderately to severely immunocompromised should receive an additional dose of mRNA COVID-19 vaccine after the initial 2 doses,” according to their website.  Professor […]

Telemedicine robots allow for genetic consultations around the clock virtually Now more than ever, telemedicine has been the epitome of health care since the pandemic struck. Fears surrounding the coronavirus and inconvenient commutes have made an in-person visit to the doctor unappealing. However, long before the pandemic, UC Davis Health entered a partnership with Dignity […]

New video series combines material engineering concepts and superhero icons for accessible education ‘Engineering Superheroes,’ a new Youtube video series with a single crowdfunded pilot episode currently released, seeks to introduce elementary school students to material engineering through exploring the science behind their favorite superheroes.  Ricardo Castro, a professor in the Department of Material Science […]

Theranostics, a combination of therapy and diagnostics, offers new biologically engineered technology to image and attack tumors within patients Next-generation cancer treatment is on the horizon, offering a transformative beacon of hope for many patients who may find conventional treatments like chemotherapy and surgery incompatible. UC Davis Health has incorporated this new state-of-the-art approach to […]

Team of 20 receives funding from the National Institutes of Health’s Helping to End Addiction Initiative A team of 20 researchers are working tirelessly to transform protoxin-II, or ProTx-11—a peptide from the Peruvian green velvet tarantula’s venom—into a novel, non-addictive pain medication.    According to the University of Queensland’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience, peptides are chains […]

The Delta variant has more efficient transmissibility with selectively advantageous mutations in its spike protein With recent anticipation and plans for students to return to campus this coming fall, the Delta variant of the coronavirus has brought yet another wave of cases that continue to plague the population of both the vaccinated and unvaccinated alike.  […]

UC Davis assistant professor and graduate students help identify a new type of supernova  By AARYA GUPTA — science@theaggie.org   UC Davis assistant professor of physics and astronomy Stefano Valenti and graduate students from the Department of Physics, Azalee Bostroem and Yize Dong, were part of a team of international astronomers that recently discovered supernova 2018zd, […]

Increased frequency of open-note exams due to virtual classes results in mixed opinions among students Is it B or C? B or C? The multiple-choice answers toggle back-and-forth in your mind as you glance up at the clock to see that there are only two minutes remaining. This exam is worth 60% of your grade, […]

Engineers and neurologists collaborate to create a device that could help brain injury and stroke patients   Cerebral blood flow (CBF) is essential to human brain functioning, and yet current imaging techniques are costly and usually do not provide continuous measurements for physicians. Recognizing this problem, Vivek Srinivasan, an adjunct associate professor of biochemical engineering at […]

Chaparral shrublands, found all throughout the state, are facing increasingly frequent wildfires that may threaten the native lichen communities A collaborative study that looked at the impact of wildfires on chaparral ecosystems and long-term lichen recolonization in California was published in the journal Diversity and Distributions on May 10. The paper was co-authored by Alexandra […]