News

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.

The promise of a new type of computer chip that could reshape the future of artificial intelligence and be more environmentally friendly is explored in a technology review paper published by UC Riverside engineers in the journal Device.

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.

Study paves way for advances in astrophysics and quantum technology

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

A team of UC Riverside environmental engineers are embarking on a $3.5 million study of air pollution from massive oceangoing vessels that frequent the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach—one of the region’s largest sources of toxic air pollution.

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.

A UC Riverside-led study has found that a smartphone app that tracks household water use and alerts users to leaks or excessive consumption offers a promising tool for helping California water agencies meet state-mandated conservation goals. The study found that use of the app—called Dropcountr—reduced average household water use by...

Study shows how turf algae undermine kelp forest recovery

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.

On April 29, UC Riverside doctoral candidate Angeliz Vargas Casillas placed third in the 2025 UC Grad Slam, an annual competition challenging graduate students from the 10 UC campuses to effectively pitch their years-long Ph.D. research ... within three minutes ... using one single presentation slide. Gulp. The competition took...

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, in partnership with city and state agencies, has helped launch the nation's only hydrogen-powered carshare program—offering a clean, affordable transportation alternative to Riverside residents.

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.

Online webinar platforms like Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams have enabled public discourse at an unprecedented scale. But when hundreds of people join a meeting, the flow of feedback—often reduced to rapid-fire chat messages—becomes chaotic and overwhelming. Kevin Esterling, a public policy and political science professor at UC Riverside...

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.