News

For a decade, scientists have believed that plants sensed temperature mainly through specialized proteins, and mainly at night when the air is cool. New research suggests that during the day, another signal takes over. Sugar, produced in sunlight, helps plants detect heat and decide when to grow.

Wild-growing tomatoes are on the black-rock islands of the Galápagos are doing something peculiar. They’re shedding millions of years of evolution, reverting to a primitive genetic state that resurrects ancient chemical defenses.

For more than a century, a patch of cold water south of Greenland has resisted the Atlantic Ocean’s overall warming, fueling debate amongst scientists. A new study identifies the cause as the long-term weakening of a major ocean circulation system.

A new UC Riverside-led study reveals how common small particles produced by nature as well as human activities can transform upon entering plant cells and weaken plants’ ability to turn sunlight into food.

A University of California, Riverside study shows dairy digesters can reduce methane emissions on farms by roughly 80 percent, which matches estimates state officials have used in their climate planning.

A new study shows that bumble bee queens take regular breaks from reproduction, likely to avoid burning out before their first workers arrive.

Replanting forests can cool the planet even more than some scientists once believed, especially in the tropics. But even if every tree lost since the mid-19th century is replanted, the total effect won’t cancel out human-generated warming.

Riverside County celebrates the 50th year of Box Springs Mountain Park, an ecological preserve saved from development by community effort.

Courtesy of UC Riverside, biologists and chemists have a new programming language to uncover previously unknown environmental pollutants and other information at breakneck speed – without requiring them to code.

A grant from the U.S. Department of Defense will allow UCR researchers to address one of physics' most complex mysteries - the process by which light transfers energy through materials.

UC Riverside researchers find a chemical able to kill about 95 percent of a drywood termite colony without off-target effects on mammals.

UC Riverside professor of environmental toxicology, David Volz argues that California lawmakers should prevent furniture manufacturers from going back to using toxic, ineffective chemical flame retardants.

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) welcomes two UC Riverside professors as new members: Mary Droser, distinguished professor of earth and planetary sciences, and Hailing Jin, Cy Mouradick Endowed Chair of microbiology and plant pathology.

Once thought resistant to invasion, regional deserts are losing native plants to aggressive weedy species like Saharan mustard. UC Riverside research shows its spread is disrupting biodiversity and reducing the desert’s ability to recover from extreme climate swings.

Chemists have confirmed a 67-year-old theory about vitamin B1 by stabilizing a reactive molecule in water — a feat long thought impossible.

Despite modern cars generally being cleaner and more fuel efficient, a University of California, Riverside study shows that higher speed limits can make city air dirtier.

In a first-of-its-kind study from UCR, psychologists tested whether workers could reshape their self-image through a digital tool that reinforces positive beliefs. It turns out, they can.

Parasitic weeds are ruthless freeloaders, stealing nutrients from crops and devastating harvests. But what if farmers could trick these invaders into self-destructing? Scientists at UC Riverside think they’ve found a way.

UC Riverside scientists identify a new way to detect life in outer space with currently existing telescopes. The method hinges on worlds that look nothing like Earth, and gases rarely considered in the search for extraterrestrials.

The megalodon has long been imagined as an enormous great white shark, but new research suggests that perception is all wrong. The study finds the prehistoric hunter had a much longer body—closer in shape to a lemon shark or even a large whale. The study team, which included researchers from...