Prescribed burns encourage foul-smelling invaders
Though prescribed burns reduce wildfire threats and even improve habitat for some animals, new research shows these fires also spread stinknet, an aptly named weed currently invading superblooms across the Southwestern U.S.
Earth’s first animals had particular taste in real estate
Even without body parts that allowed for movement, new UC Riverside research shows — for the first time — that some of Earth’s earliest animals managed to be picky about where they lived.
Boozing while breastfeeding impacts health of newborns
Studies have shown that consuming alcohol during pregnancy can alter the brain and behavioral development of gestating offspring. Currently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises against maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy and state that there is no known safe level of consumption. What are the consequences, however, of...
Not such small things: microplastics in our streams
UC Riverside scientists are taking a modern approach to studying a murky subject — the quantity, quality, and sources of microplastics in Los Angeles County’s urban streams.
Methane from megafires: more spew than we knew
Using a new detection method, UC Riverside scientists found a massive amount of methane, a super-potent greenhouse gas, coming from wildfires — a source not currently being accounted for by state air quality managers.
Researchers warn of tick-borne disease babesiosis
UC Riverside and Yale University team sequences and mines genome of the pathogen Babesia duncani
Manganese in Central Valley water threatens fetuses and children
Water in California’s Central Valley contains enough manganese to cause cognitive disabilities and motor control issues in children, and Parkinson’s-like symptoms in adults.
Humans bite back by deactivating mosquito sperm
New UC Riverside research makes it likely that proteins responsible for activating mosquito sperm can be shut down, preventing them from swimming to or fertilizing eggs.
The planet that could end life on Earth
A terrestrial planet hovering between Mars and Jupiter would be able to push Earth out of the solar system and wipe out life on this planet, according to a UC Riverside experiment.
Fungi and bacteria are binging on burned soil
UC Riverside researchers have identified tiny organisms that not only survive but thrive during the first year after a wildfire. The findings could help bring land back to life after fires that are increasing in both size and severity.
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.