Science & Technology

The UC Davis Cancer Center has recently achieved a “comprehensive” designation from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Bethesda, Maryland. The new “comprehensive” designation signifies that the Cancer Center, now called the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, has demonstrated major levels of achievement in research and patient care, according to Ralph de Vere White, the […]

Do you take multivitamins? If you do, take a look at the back of the bottle at the ingredients list. Apart from vitamins A, B, C and E, how many of the ingredients do you recognize? Unless you’re a nutrition student, I’m guessing many of the names are unfamiliar. Most of these compounds are what […]

For those looking to volunteer in or around town, a single website has the information needed to get started. The Davis Volunteer Network site debuted eight months ago to publicize volunteer opportunities and charitable events within the Davis community and the UC Davis campus. UCD graduate Daniel Donnelly began Davisvolunteernetwork.org in early July 2011, but […]

While it has long been known that smoking can cause serious health problems, researchers at UC Davis have been conducting research that shows how smoking causes an immune response that compounds the harm of smoking. The focus of the research has been on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, and the surprising discovery is that […]

Whenever there is a discussion on the use of psychedelic drugs, such as acid or psilocybin (mushrooms), for medical rather than recreational uses, two polarized opinions tend to appear. One group will always emphasize the dangers of these drugs: They may tell stories about people who had bad trips, or were arrested for acting oddly […]

UC Davis researchers have found a method for using an electronic nose to detect if fruit has fully ripened, which in the future could reduce costs for farmers harvesting crops, as well as give researchers a more objective tool for measuring fruit flavor and maturity. The electronic nose, called zNose, uses a technique called gas […]

When it comes to fitness, there are a lot of myths out there to talk about. Because people’s bodies can be so different, and because there are many different regimens specially made for different people, wading through all the claims can be very difficult. One movement is known as “confusing your muscles.” The claim is […]

Since its establishment in 1968, the Body Donation Program at the UC Davis Medical Center has promoted the education of medical students and research. “Of the bodies donated, about half go toward anatomical education and the other half go toward research,” said Charlotte Wacker, the director of the Body Donation Program. Donated cadavers are used […]

Of the 5 million Americans who play football in a given year, 3.5 million of them are children ages seven to 13. Despite this, little is known about the effects of the constant head-to-head impact players frequently incur during a typical game. But Stefan Duma, a biomedical engineering professor and researcher at Virginia Tech University, […]

It’s March, and that means that it’s Apple time. Just like with the iPad 2 last year, Apple has once again chosen March as the month to reveal its newest iPad version. Interestingly, Apple has not named the newest iteration, iPad 3; instead, it’s just being called the new iPad. It certainly has some new […]

Researchers have made important new discoveries about the evolution of the senses in animals by identifying a light-based, or “photic,” sense in a multicellular marine animal called hydra. The discoveries are reported in a new article in the journal BMC Biology, written by David Plachetzki, who is currently a post doctoral fellow working in the […]

Many of us are going on trips to see family and old friends for spring break. In the process, many of you will probably be drinking alcohol. This column is going to be half science, half public service announcement. Knowing what happens to the body and brain when you consume alcohol can inform you when […]