Science & Technology

New research shows that prenatal stress promotes developmental plasticity Research by experts at UC Davis, through the behavior of prairie voles, challenges earlier beliefs that prenatal stress is the sole factor in children’s health and development. This research shows that, contrary to popular belief, the negative impact of prenatal stress can be reduced by the […]

Storytelling, improvisation come together to help scientists engage with audience Communication issues occur in day-to-day life, and a recent science communication workshop tackled these issues. Participants included faculty, students, staff from the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science and, an actor known for his role on “M*A*S*H,” Alan Alda himself. The primary focus of the […]

Zhou Yu recognized for work with multimodal analysis in AI   Assistant Professor Zhou Yu of the Department of Computer Science was named one of Forbes’ “30 under 30” in the field of science for 2018. Holding a doctorate from the Language Technology Institute from Carnegie Mellon University, as well as undergraduate degrees in computer […]

Model shows moon forming from vaporized Earth material Research from Harvard University Ph.D. candidate Simon Lock and UC Davis professor Dr. Sarah Stewart updates the traditional lunar formation theory. A massive body slammed into the Earth, creating a huge spinning cloud of vaporized rock called a synestia. Portions of the synestia eventually formed the moon, […]

Brenna Henn researches African genetics, human origins The bookshelves taking up one wall of Brenna Henn’s office are mostly empty. She’s still moving in, having only arrived at the start of this year as a new associate professor in the anthropology department. Henn’s research focuses on evolutionary and population genetics, particularly in southern Africa. “We […]

Universities have a role in reducing racism by altering curricula Executive director of the University of Southern California Race and Equity Center Dr. Shaun Harper spoke at UC Davis about his research on Feb. 22. The seminar, titled “How Universities Sustain Racism in America”, was part of the UC Davis Forums on the Public University […]

Core facilities help faculty members, students share resources across campus Scientists across UC Davis have become part of a co-op where they collectively share laboratory equipment. A relatively new program is helping researchers reduce the cost of experiments as well as employ experts on the technologies that people from any discipline can use. “It’s called […]

The story behind the the common game piece Small objects are a reflection of human history, so it’s no surprise that we can learn a lot about changing worldviews through the evolution of dice. Cubic dice have been found in small numbers at various archaeological sites and date to the last 2,000 years. A recent […]

Natural resources not the only thing dictating where cities are formed Cities like New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco presumably grew based on agriculture and geographical resources. New research from UC Davis shows that factors such as migration patterns, economic opportunities and the availability of these resources all impact why cities are where they […]

Tea farmers and researchers at UC Davis symposium discuss future of tea The kettle hisses and Katharine Burnett picks it up and pours the steaming water into a tiny, dark pot full of earthy-smelling leaves. After she’s filled it to the brim, she puts the lid back on, letting the hot tea spill over the […]

Agricultural nitrogen oxide emissions higher than previously thought While California regulates nitrogen oxide emissions from cars and engines, an unexpectedly significant amount of the gases may be coming from an unrecognized source: agricultural lands. A UC Davis study shows that agricultural lands emit between 20 and 32 percent of the total nitrogen oxide gases in […]

VR environments allow for immersive participation, incongruent findings Have you ever walked toward the CoHo to get to your bike, only to find out your bike is an entirely different location? You might have realized your bike is actually at Wellman, but recalled that yesterday it was at the CoHo. The information stored in your […]