Is ChatGPT a threat to education?
UC Riverside experts share thoughts on the AI-powered language model that understands and responds to natural language
Landscaping for drought: we’re doing it wrong
Many Southern Californians plant trees prized for drought tolerance, but a new UC Riverside-led study shows that these trees lose this tolerance once they’re watered.
Studies identify new strategies for insect control
Mosquitoes spread several diseases, such as malaria and dengue. In 2020 about 241 million cases of malaria occurred worldwide, with a few more million cases occurring in 2021. Nearly half the world’s population lives in regions where contracting dengue virus is a risk. Insects also destroy a third of agriculture...
How the brain stores remote fear memory
UC Riverside mouse study could lead to novel therapies for people living with PTSD
Decoding the secret language of photosynthesis
For decades, scientists have been stumped by the signals plants send themselves to initiate photosynthesis, the process of turning sunlight into sugars. UC Riverside researchers have now decoded those previously opaque signals.
Salton Sea dust triggers lung inflammation
UC Riverside study has health implications for people living around California’s largest lake
How do worms develop their gut?
The pandemic helped a husband-and-wife team at UC Riverside solve the mystery
Post-lockdown auto emissions can’t hide in the grass
University of California scientists have a new way to demonstrate which neighborhoods are most affected by air pollution from vehicle emissions. Their technique could help ensure people most affected by pollution will benefit from efforts to reduce it.
How giant-faced owls snag voles hidden in snow
Great gray owls’ physical features, especially parts of their wings and face, help them correct for sonic distortions caused by snow, enabling them to find moving food with astonishing accuracy, according to a new UC Riverside study.
Earth might be experiencing 7th mass extinction, not 6th
New research suggests environmental changes caused the first mass extinction event in history, which occurred millions of years earlier than scientists previously realized.
Tiniest Ever Ancient Seawater Pockets Revealed
The surprising discovery of seawater sealed in what is now North America for 390 million years opens up a new avenue for understanding how oceans change and adapt with changing climate.
Injections for diabetes, cancer could become unnecessary
Researchers at UC Riverside are paving the way for diabetes and cancer patients to forget needles and injections, and instead take pills to manage their conditions.
Thirdhand smoke can trigger skin diseases
UC Riverside-led clinical study advances molecular understanding of THS effects on skin
Why the Salton Sea is turning into toxic dust
The Salton Sea, California’s most polluted inland lake, has lost a third of its water in the last 25 years. New research has determined a decline in Colorado River flow is the reason for that shrinking.
195 ways to help California’s painted ladies
By documenting hundreds of new nectar plants for painted ladies, scientists have renewed hope these charismatic butterflies may prove resilient to climate change.
Laughing gas in space could mean life
Scientists at UC Riverside are suggesting something is missing from the typical roster of chemicals that astrobiologists use to search for life on planets around other stars — laughing gas.
Coronavirus formation is successfully modeled
UC Riverside study could inform the design of effective drugs to fight SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses
After wildfires, do microbes exhale potent greenhouse gas?
Laughing gas is no laughing matter — nitrous oxide is a greenhouse gas with 300 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide. Scientists are racing to learn whether microorganisms send more of it into the atmosphere after wildfires.
Massive Mexican earthquakes warn Southern Californians
A pair of massive earthquakes in Mexico has some in Southern California on edge, wondering whether the Golden State is next. UC Riverside seismologist Abhijit Ghosh weighs in on the likelihood of more shakers, and how to prepare for them.
The no-tech way to preserve California’s state grass
Though it is disappearing, California’s official state grass has the ability to live for 100 years or more. New research demonstrates that sheep and cattle can help it achieve that longevity.