Science & Technology

New research improves noninvasive brain imaging What might a stroke patient, a drowning person, and someone with severe traumatic brain injury have in common? If the stroke results from a blood clot in the brain, then all three might experience changes in their cerebral circulation. Blood flow in the brain is an important indicator of […]

Half of threatening encounters end with violence, racial bias exists Chris Smith, an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology, started collecting data about violent police encounters in 2015 while wrapping up her Ph.D. project. “It was a good year to collect data, and I wasn’t the only one working on this,” Smith said. “The […]

California researchers find that several factors, including social experiences, can negatively impact pregnancies Researchers at UC Davis and the University of North Carolina have found that mothers born outside the U.S., across many races and ethnicities, have lower infant mortality rates (deaths per 100,000 infants) than mothers born inside the U.S. when both groups give […]

How design might help the opioid crisis Depression. Migraines. Broken bones. Pain can take many different forms. When one considers the ways in which age, gender and culture can affect the perception of an individual’s pain, it can be very difficult to communicate effectively what they are feeling. This is especially true for those who […]

UC Davis students build improved social bot Currently, most chatbots are task-oriented. They can answer questions or complete a task, but they can’t necessarily hold a long conversation. Team Gunrock, a team of UC Davis students selected to compete in Amazon’s 2018 Alexa Prize Challenge, wants to change that. “We are hoping to build a […]

A UC Davis study found regulations for keeping, maintaining chickens are lacking in many areas A recent UC Davis study showed that, while more people are getting backyard chickens, there are very few structures in place to protect them as well as a shortage of resources for flock owners. “Very few of the cities required […]

Despite challenges, mothers in academia continue to thrive A recent article in “The Scientific American” by professor Rebecca Calisi in the Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior at UC Davis brought to light many of the challenges mothers face while pursuing careers in academia. This article lead to a paper about resources that should be […]

Disruption of koala microbes raise questions for microbial biologists A recent study from the Jonathan Eisen Lab at UC Davis looked at how the gut biomes of koalas are being disrupted by antibiotic treatment. Katherine Dahlhausen, a graduate student of biophysics and the lead researcher, came upon the project almost by happenstance. “I was on […]

Class for aspiring entrepreneurs can help students create small businesses Creating a business venture from the ground up seems like a daunting task. So how does one go about forming a startup? “Just start,” said Liz Tang. Tang is the director of the Student Startup Center at UC Davis and is a part-time lecturer for […]

Critical region for emotion and social cues shows decline in cell numbers in autism, increase in cell numbers in neurotypical brains Researchers at the UC Davis Mind Institute have discovered a key difference in the way the amygdala develops in people diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. While typical brains steadily gain neurons in the amygdala […]

Large-scale genomic survey of S. cerevisiae genome provides new information on evolution, origin of yeast For thousands of years we have relied on yeast to make bread and alcohol, and, more recently, for industrial products like enzymes, chemicals and pharmaceuticals. In biology, yeast is a popular medium for genetic experiments; it’s easy to grow and […]

UC Davis study shows the long-term benefits of meditation training on sustained attention, age-related cognitive decline No matter how hard one concentrates, staring at one point for a long period of time is difficult. Your eyes will flicker to the side or shift perspective ever so slightly. You might not even notice. Eventually, you lose […]