Ancient Earth: Witness the dramatic history of Earth, from its birth to the emergence of humanity

Tim Lyons, distinguished professor of biogeochemistry, serves as science advisor for this PBS NOVA series on our planet's history, and is featured in the episode "Birth of the sky."
PBS | October 4, 2023

Reform College Rankings. Don’t Retreat From Them.

UCR Chancellor Kim Wilcox makes the case that it is to higher education’s best advantage to keep advocating for reform rather than abandoning a rankings methodology that has evolved — very slowly in the right direction — over the past 40 years.

UC Riverside unveils new "smog-eating" mural

In honor of California Clean Air Day, UCR’s R'Garden, Metrolink, and the City of Riverside hosted a painting event on Tuesday, Oct. 3, alongside Riverside muralist Ekaterina Orlovie, who guided participants in creating a colorful scene promoting the outdoors and sustainable ways to get around campus. Orlovie used paint with Photio, a paint additive that helps transform surfaces into air purifying agents.
KTLA5 | October 3, 2023

Experimental "fire-safe" fuel won't ignite unless electrified

As any car-chase action movie will tell you, the gasoline used in our vehicles is flammable, explosive stuff. However, scientists working with Michael Zachariah, UCR chemical engineering professor, have created a new combustible fuel which stays safely non-flammable for transport and storage.
New Atlas | October 2, 2023

How to grow a more resilient garden in a changing climate

UCR scientists are researching the response of roots to flood stress; a key finding is that the roots of rice, a perennial, produce the lipid molecule suberin that helps water reach the shoots and helps oxygen in the shoots reach the roots. Research continues to determine if suberin can help plants combat climate change.  
Marin Independent Journal | September 29, 2023

Scientists invent fireproof fuel

Chemical engineering Professor Michael Zachariah and his colleagues at UCR have invented a new type of "safe" fuel that won't ignite unless an electric current is applied, making it safer than conventional fuels that can ignite from a flame.
Boing Boing | September 28, 2023

UC Riverside unveils $100 million new education building

The University of California, Riverside's School of Medicine is marking its 10th anniversary with a significant building expansion that will cater to the increasing demand for Inland Empire healthcare professionals.
NBC Los Angeles | September 26, 2023

Meet the Climate-Defying Fruits and Vegetables in Your Future

The Luna UCR, a new, more environmentally friendly avocado that has been 50 years in the making, may dominate American guacamole bowls in the future. The new trees are slender, shorter and have a smaller footprint. Luna trees use less water, a big advantage for a fruit that requires extensive irrigation. They also produce more fruit on less land.
The New York Times | September 25, 2023

As California's toxic Salton Sea shrinks, it's raising health alarms for the surrounding community

David Lo, a UCR professor of biomedical sciences, led a study last year that determined the Salton Sea itself is responsible for the high incidence of asthma for those who live near it. It found that the contaminants in the sea could be causing lung inflammation in surrounding residents.
CBS News | September 21, 2023

Hyped up alien claims risk undermining future ET discoveries

Unscientific claims of alien life and far-from-confirmed findings risk undermining the possible moment when life somewhere in the universe is discovered. "There should be a lot of value assigned to that finding," said Eddie Schwieterman, a UCR astrobiologist.
Axios | September 19, 2023

Scientists discover COVID's weakness

UCR scientists Jiayu Liao and Quanqing Zhang have identified what may be considered as COVID's ultimate weakness: the virus's reliance on essential human proteins to replicate and, subsequently, its ability to make individuals ill.
MSN / Earth.com | September 16, 2023

Alien atmospheres are helping scientists search for life

UCR astrobiologist Eddie Schwieterman and biogeochemistry professor Timothy Lyons discuss the complexity of identifying life on planets around other stars, called exoplanets.
Axios | September 14, 2023

COVID’s – and other viruses’ – Achilles' heel identified

UCR bioengineer Jiayu Liao and analytical chemist Quanqing Zhang have identified how the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 takes advantage of our cellular machinery to replicate and spread in the body, and, importantly, a way to stop it.
New Atlas | September 14, 2023

How scientists are using artificial intelligence

Miguel Arratia, a UCR physicist, has therefore proposed using AI to integrate measurements from multiple fundamental physics experiments (and even cosmological observations) so that theoretical physicists can quickly explore, combine and re-use the data in their own work.
The Economist | September 13, 2023

Scientists are trying to teach AI how to smell

Article features the research of Anandasankar Ray, a professor in UCR's Molecular Cell & Systems Biology Department, who has predicted how compounds smell based on which of the approximately 400 human odorant receptors they activate.
Popular Science | September 11, 2023

Artificial Intelligence Can Make Companies Greener, but It Also Guzzles Energy

AI is very thirsty, according to research from Shaolei Ren, a UCR professor of electrical and computer engineering. His work shows ChatGPT-3 needs to “drink” a 500-milliliter bottle of water for a basic conversation of 20 to 50 inquiries, depending on where the electricity is generated. 
The Wall Street Journal | September 11, 2023

'Society is changing': Ramaswamy praises the 'nuclear family,' but single parents say his comments hurt

David Brady, a UCR public policy professor, told USA TODAY that it is true that there are modest advantages to being in a two-parent family versus a single-parent family. However, he believes that having adequate financial resources is more important than having two parents. 
USA Today | September 6, 2023

UC Riverside researchers build a better avocado tree

A new kind of avocado — created by UC Riverside researchers — may be appearing in grocery stores in coming years. The Luna UCR avocado will soon be marketed to growers worldwide, though it will be a little longer before you can buy it at the supermarket.
The Press Enterprise | September 3, 2023

Exposing deepfake imagery

Amit Roy-Chowdhury, a professor in the University of California, Riverside’s Video Computing Group, has trained computers to spot unnatural patterns of pixels in order to spot deepfakes.
SPIE | September 1, 2023

Most Governing Boards Don’t Reflect Student Diversity

UC Riverside School of Education Professor Raquel Rall's report "Does Your Board of Trustees Reflect Your Student Body?" is referenced in an analysis. 
Inside Higher Ed | August 31, 2023