News

Distinguished Professor of Psychology Sonja Lyubomirsky describes happiness as “the experience of joy, contentment, or positive well-being, combined with a sense that one’s life is good, meaningful, and worthwhile.” And there is a set amount of money that a majority of Americans believe can buy them just that, a new study shows.

The mineral-rich stew bubbling thousands of feet beneath the shores of Southern California’s Salton Sea contains enough lithium to make batteries for more than 375 million electric vehicles, according to a long-awaited analysis published Tuesday.  “It’s pretty exciting how much is there,” said Michael McKibben, a geology research professor from UCR who worked on the 371-page report commissioned by the Department of Energy.

A 2019 UCR study by Shana Welles and Norman Ellstrand found that a new species of gigantic tumbleweeds — Salsola ryanii — can grow up to 6 feet tall. It is also likely to keep expanding its territory as a result of climate change.

UC Riverside professor Nigel Hughes and his former graduate student Shelly Wernette discovered 10 new species of a strange type of marine animal that lived around 490 million years ago.

Jennifer Nájera, an associate professor of ethnic studies at UCR, discusses linguistic discrimination that Mexican, Spanish-speaking children in Texas, California and the U.S. Southwest experience in public school situations.

Qingfang Wang, a UCR professor of public policy, says more Americans are embracing entrepreneurship. “There are more than 33 million small businesses in America,” she said. “The most recent years have seen a record-breaking new business application in the United States.”

Starting in 2026, California community college students will have a better shot at transferring to UCLA or other UC campuses, including UCR.

Alexander de la Vega, a postdoctoral researcher at UCR, co-authored a study published in Nature that details a galaxy closely resembling the Milky Way. “This is surprising because galaxies were much more chaotic in the early universe and very few had similar structures to the Milky Way," he said.