Science & Technology

The coming of winter means less sunlight but more starlight. The beginning of November hailed a rare solar eclipse, but the eclipse was only visible to viewers from the US East Coast to the middle east. However, Davis astronomy aficionados can still catch the highly anticipated Comet ISON. Born from the primeval matter of the […]

A new device is poised to revolutionize the way people think about bicycle security. LOCK8, an induction-charged, keyless, alarm-secured, GPS-tracking bike lock is the first smart bike lock with sharing capabilities. Two Oxford students, Franz Salzmann and Daniel Zajarias-Fainsod, developed LOCK8 after having both of their bikes stolen in a two-day time span. “LOCK8 is […]

At Least You Get to Keep the Glasses A study to be published in Media Psychology found that watching a movie in 3D vs 2D doesn’t actually make a significant difference in the experience. Aside from costing slightly more than 2D, 3D usually helps the viewer from being distracted by the usual theater norms like […]

Why do we sweat? Where in the long path of human history did we evolve this embarrassing characteristic? How does it work? Well, the truth is that sweating is what gave us the ability to achieve greatness. Most other mammals don’t sweat, causing them to run internal body temperatures much higher than our own. They […]

The construction of a carbon dioxide (CO2) recycling plant in San Antonio, Texas will employ new technology to trap CO2 from power stations and industrial manufacturing processes before it is released into the atmosphere. Using technology from Skyonic, construction began on the SkyMine demonstration plant on Sept. 30. The technology utilizes heat in waste gases […]

When it comes to marriage, wouldn’t it be nice to know whether it’s for the better or for the worse? Fortunately, for the meticulously-cautious and planning-obsessed people, a recent study published in the journal Emotion begins to tap into this fascinating area of marriage and its relation to DNA. Dr. Robert Levenson, a psychology professor […]

Replacing MyUCDavis in 2005, SmartSite is the current course management system here at UC Davis. Sakai is the underlying, open source software for Smartsite hosted through the outsourced vendor Asahi Net International. Andy Jones, academic associate director of Academic Technology Services, said in an email that Sakai is “the community source collaborative learning environment that […]

Allow me to introduce one of the most curious and exciting technological innovations yet: Liquidmetal. Developed by material engineers at the California Institute of Technology, this state-of-the-art metal alloy is marketed by Liquidmetal Technologies and licensed by no other than Apple Computers. Created through the rapid cooling of molten, multi-component metal, Caltech material engineers were […]

The autumnal equinox has passed. The sun has moved below the celestial equator in its journey along the ecliptic, the plane in our sky on which our solar system lies. Venus, the evening star, is easily visible from now until the beginning of next year. You might have already seen it beaming mightily around dusk […]

Caffeine, late nights and lack of sleep are just a few ways to describe the life of a typical teenager. Fortunately, a recent teen sleep study conducted at the Golden Bear Sleep and Mood Research Clinic at UC Berkeley aims to help address this problem. Allison Harvey, a psychology professor and the main investigator of […]

Picture this: It’s a balmy fall evening, you’re out with your friends enjoying all of the pleasantries the Wednesday evening Farmers Market has to offer — maybe an elderly folk band playing for a troupe of squealing children, a bottle of irresistible fresh icy apple juice or a naanwich. Food and company aside, what is […]

If you’ve ever been convinced to smoke hookah — or anything else for that matter  — because someone told you it was completely safe, you aren’t alone (but you’ve been lied to). Are smoking alternatives as safe as people think? UC Davis pulmonary physicians recently published a study concluding these replacements can be addictive gateways to […]