Science & Technology

Stephen Robinson, a UC Davis alumnus who acted as a mission specialist on four space shuttle missions, recently announced that he is leaving NASA to become a professor at UC Davis. Robinson started as an undergraduate at UC Davis in 1973 and graduated with a double major in mechanical and aerospace engineering in 1978. Robinson […]

While studying the genome of the Heliconius genus of butterflies, researchers at UC Irvine found information not only relating to their abilities to smell and taste, but also the unusual source of their colorful wings. Different species of the Heliconius genus, a brightly colorful family, are able to acquire superior wing colors through crossbreeding. By […]

*Author’s note: While writing this column, I realize that I make many statements against religion that may offend individuals who identify as strongly religious.  I do not wish to offend anyone, and I am merely using evangelical religion as an example of a concept. What determines whether a child will speak English, Chinese or Spanish? […]

With the advent of renewable energy technology, such as wind turbines and solar photovoltaics, the public and quasi-public agencies that operate the U.S. interconnected power grid look for optimal ways to integrate traditional energy sources with new renewable energy sources. Power grid operators must decide how and when to switch on coal or gas back-up […]

Using computational modeling, UC Davis mathematicians have developed a mathematical design for figuring out why platelets, the cells that form blood clots, are the size and shape that they are. Platelets are important for healing wounds, but having too many can cause strokes and other conditions. Greater knowledge of how they form and behave could […]

The UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM) is the only veterinary school in the UC system and is one of only two veterinary schools in California. Due in part to this unique status, the SVM incorporates a very large scope of diversity in its educational, research and animal and public health-related programs. One of […]

The volume of greenhouse gas released when a forest is cleared depends on the part of the world where the trees are grown and how they will be used, according to a new study by UC Davis researchers. In the study, lead author and doctoral student with the UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies Jeffrey […]

As a student at UC Davis, one of the most prominent agricultural universities in the country, you are probably well aware of the practice of composting. However, other than throwing away your decomposable garbage in the designated “Compost Bins” at the MU, you may not know much about it. But many students and UC Davis […]

Want to read the classics without shelling out the cash? Project Gutenberg has you covered. As the largest online collection of free e-books, Project Gutenberg has everything from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice to H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine. How does Project Gutenberg work? Is it legal? The website is easy to use; it provides […]

A fallen meteorite in Coloma, Calif. could tell us about the origins of our solar system, according to a talk given by UC Davis associate professor of geology Qing-Zhu Yin last Sunday. “If confirmed, what we have in hand is perhaps the most primitive materials, preserved in pristine condition in cold storage (never been heated […]

Our technological prowess is increasing every day, but the machines we use are still limited by the knowledge that the designers put into them. Researchers have started experimenting with a branch of computer science called “machine learning,” where computers can learn and adapt. The name evokes sinister Terminator imagery, but researchers at UC San Diego […]

Last July a NASA-sponsored spacecraft called “Dawn” slipped into orbit about the first of its planned destinations — the asteroid Vesta, which is the second-largest asteroid in the Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter. About 5 percent of meteorites recovered after falling to earth are believed to have come from Vesta’s surface. The Asteroid Belt […]