UC Berkeley News - SciTechDaily

Could Perseverance’s Mars Samples Hold the Secret to Ancient Life?

University of California - Berkeley — Wed, 14 Aug 2024 13:00:40 +0000

NASA’s Perseverance rover has gathered rock samples from Mars that could alter our understanding of water’s history on the planet and potentially reveal past life. These samples, collected over five months in 2022 from Jezero Crater, are crucial because they were transported and deposited by water, possibly retaining evidence of past microbial life. However, detailed [...]

Subsurface Oceans on Mars? NASA’s InSight Uncovers Vast Reservoir of Liquid Water

University of California - Berkeley — Wed, 14 Aug 2024 03:01:42 +0000

Geophysicists using seismic data from NASA’s Insight lander have discovered a significant underground water reservoir on Mars, potentially enough to have once filled ancient oceans. This reservoir, trapped within the mid-crust of Mars, suggests that the red planet’s water did not entirely escape into space but was absorbed into its crust, altering previous theories about [...]

Beyond Gravity: UC Berkeley’s Quantum Leap in Dark Energy Research

Robert Sanders, University of California - Berkeley — Sat, 29 Jun 2024 02:21:56 +0000

Experiment captures atoms in free fall to look for gravitational anomalies caused by the Universe’s missing energy. Researchers at UC Berkeley have enhanced the precision of gravity experiments using an atom interferometer combined with an optical lattice, significantly extending the time atoms can be held in free fall. Despite not yet finding deviations from Newton’s [...]

Plants May Soon Provide Essential Nutrients Found in Breast Milk

Kara Manke, University of California – Berkeley — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 00:33:06 +0000

Genetically engineered plants could soon produce human milk sugars, making infant formula healthier and more affordable. Approximately 75% of babies drink infant formula during their first six months, either exclusively or as a supplement to breastfeeding. While these formulas provide essential nutrients, they lack the roughly 200 prebiotic sugar molecules found in human breast milk, [...]

Gene Editing Breakthrough: New Technique Boosts Crop Photosynthesis

Tue, 18 Jun 2024 09:42:24 +0000

Researchers from the Innovative Genomics Institute at the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) have successfully increased gene expression in a food crop by altering its upstream regulatory DNA. Unlike previous studies that utilized CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing to eliminate or reduce gene expression, this new research represents the first unbiased gene-editing approach to enhance gene expression and [...]

Io’s Fiery Secrets: Unveiling Jupiter’s Volcanic Moon With New Imaging Tech

Robert Sanders, University of California, Berkeley — Sun, 09 Jun 2024 07:28:14 +0000

Advanced imaging technology has captured unprecedentedly clear images of Jupiter’s moon Io, revealing detailed volcanic features and potentially broadening our understanding of extraterrestrial volcanic activity. Since 1979, when Jupiter’s moon Io was discovered to be pockmarked with volcanoes, astronomers, and volcanologists have been excited by what the reddish satellite could tell us about the evolution [...]

New Research Debunks Common Belief That High Lactate Levels Are Bad

University of California - Berkeley — Thu, 16 May 2024 11:14:34 +0000

Research challenges the common belief among athletes and physicians that high lactate levels are harmful. As a student competing in track and field at his Parlier high school, Robert Leija was obsessed with how to improve his performance and, in particular, prevent the buildup of lactic acid in his muscles during training. Like many athletes, [...]

Synthetic Biology Breakthrough Paves the Way for Cheaper Vaccines

University of California - Berkeley — Wed, 08 May 2024 15:00:54 +0000

A multistep biosynthetic process in yeast cheaply produces an expensive adjuvant now extracted from tree bark. Vaccines save lives, as proven during the recent pandemic, but one component of most vaccines — including the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine — goes unheralded: a molecule or other compound that primes the immune system to mount a more robust [...]

The Unexpected Key to Safe Gene Therapy: Bird Junk DNA

University of California - Berkeley — Thu, 07 Mar 2024 06:38:43 +0000

Retrotransposons can insert new genes into a “safe harbor” in the genome, complementing CRISPR gene editing. The recent greenlighting of a CRISPR-Cas9 treatment for sickle cell disease underscores the efficacy of gene editing technologies in deactivating genes to heal inherited illnesses. However, the capability to integrate entire genes into the human genome as replacements for [...]

Ancient DNA Tells a New Story of Human-Neanderthal Coexistence

University of California - Berkeley — Thu, 29 Feb 2024 06:03:41 +0000

A genetic study of a German archaeological site reveals that modern humans lived in Northern Europe 45,000 years ago, overlapping with Neanderthals, and altering our understanding of early human history in the region. A genetic analysis of bone fragments unearthed at an archaeological site in central Germany shows conclusively that modern humans — Homo sapiens [...]

Redefining Dementia Treatment: Berkeley Scientists Unveil Promising New Breakthrough

University of California - Berkeley — Thu, 29 Feb 2024 05:13:14 +0000

Research from UC Berkeley indicates that ongoing stress caused by protein aggregation is leading to the death of brain cells. Numerous neurodegenerative conditions, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, involve the buildup of protein clusters, known as aggregates, within the brain. This phenomenon has prompted researchers to hypothesize that these protein masses are responsible for the death [...]

Neuroscience of the Swipe: What Makes an Online Dating Profile Irresistible?

University of California - Berkeley Haas School of Business — Wed, 14 Feb 2024 04:33:59 +0000

Demonstrating an interest in understanding potential partners in online dating profiles can significantly increase attractiveness and potential for relationship satisfaction. In writing a good online dating profile, the average love-seeker is likely to fill it up with all the appealing qualities and interests that make them special. They paraglide and do hot yoga on the [...]

CRISPR Takes a Giant Leap Forward in Live Animal Gene Editing

University of California - Berkeley — Thu, 01 Feb 2024 14:33:09 +0000

Antibody-targeted ‘enveloped delivery vehicles’ selectively edit T-cells to create CAR T-cells. Most approved gene therapies today, including those involving CRISPR-Cas9, work their magic on cells removed from the body, after which the edited cells are returned to the patient. This technique is ideal for targeting blood cells and is currently the method employed in newly [...]

Smoke Signals: Deciphering the Truth Behind Cookstove Carbon Claims

University of California, Berkeley — Tue, 23 Jan 2024 10:00:54 +0000

New study finds that global carbon markets overcredit cookstove greenhouse gas reductions by a factor of 10. The fastest growing type of offset on the global carbon market subsidizes the distribution of efficient cookstoves in developing countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but a new study finds that the credits overestimate the stoves’ carbon savings [...]

Eyes of Evolution: Unveiling the Ancient Origins of Retinal Cells

University of California - Berkeley — Fri, 29 Dec 2023 11:14:00 +0000

Though vertebrates vary widely in the number of retinal cell types, most seem to have a common origin. Karthik Shekhar and his colleagues raised a few eyebrows as they collected cow and pig eyes from Boston butchers, but those eyes — eventually from 17 separate species, including humans — are providing insights into the evolution [...]

When Is an Aurora Not an Aurora? Explaining Mysterious Phenomena Called “Steve” and “Picket Fence”

University of California - Berkeley — Mon, 18 Dec 2023 10:51:59 +0000

Phenomena called “Steve” and “picket fence” are masquerading as auroras, graduate student argues. The shimmering green, red, and purple curtains of the northern and southern lights — the auroras — may be the best-known phenomena lighting up the nighttime sky, but the most mysterious are the mauve and white streaks called Steve and their frequent [...]

Unlocking Cosmic Mysteries: Scientists Develop Innovative New Method To Probe Dark Matter

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 00:26:40 +0000

Dark matter is fundamental to our understanding of the Universe, yet its exact nature remains a mystery. Uncovering the identity of dark matter is a crucial objective in cosmology and particle physics. A collaborative effort by physicists from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, the Indian Institute for Science, and the University of California at [...]

Jupiter’s Surprising Atmospheric Discovery: Webb Reveals Intense 3,000-Mile-Wide Jet Stream

Robert Sanders, University of California - Berkeley — Mon, 04 Dec 2023 23:53:51 +0000

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has discovered a high-speed jet stream in Jupiter’s atmosphere, moving at 320 miles per hour and situated 15 to 30 miles above the main cloud deck. This jet stream, over 3,000 miles wide, is much faster than the visible cloud layers below, revealing intricate details about Jupiter’s atmospheric dynamics. Discovery [...]

Brain Imaging Redefined: NexGen 7T MRI Achieves 10x Better Resolution

University of California - Berkeley — Mon, 27 Nov 2023 16:00:22 +0000

Higher resolution will allow neuroscientists to more precisely localize and trace brain networks. An intense international effort to improve the resolution of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for studying the human brain has culminated in an ultra-high resolution 7 Tesla scanner that records up to 10 times more detail than current 7T scanners and over 50 [...]

Debunking “Cheap Airfare Hacks” – UC Berkeley Reveals How Airline Pricing Really Works

University of California - Berkeley Haas School of Business — Sun, 15 Oct 2023 20:13:42 +0000

A new paper co-authored by Olivia Natan of Berkeley Haas and published in The Quarterly Journal of Economics peers into the black box of airline pricing and finds some surprises. Buy your ticket on a Tuesday. Search in your browser’s incognito mode. Use a VPN to pretend you live in Suriname. “There are so many [...]

Revolutionizing Imaging: New Superimaging Approach Breaks Optical Limits

The University of Hong Kong — Thu, 12 Oct 2023 10:26:28 +0000

A collaborative research team led by Interim Head of Physics Professor Shuang Zhang from The University of Hong Kong (HKU), along with the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Imperial College London, and the University of California, Berkeley, has proposed a new synthetic complex frequency wave (CFW) approach to address optical loss in superimaging demonstration. [...]

Antimatter Levitation Debunked: Groundbreaking CERN Experiment Reveals Gravity’s Pull on Antihydrogen

University of California - Berkeley — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 08:30:52 +0000

Experiment at CERN eliminates the possibility that antimatter is repulsed by gravity. CERN’s ALPHA collaboration has experimentally confirmed that antihydrogen is pulled down by gravity, negating the concept of antimatter levitation and aligning with Einstein’s general relativity theory. For those still holding out hope that antimatter levitates rather than falls in a gravitational field, like [...]

Unlocking the Brain’s Secrets: Where Does Conscious Experience Truly Reside?

University of California - Berkeley — Wed, 27 Sep 2023 08:23:19 +0000

Recordings show prolonged activity in the visual cortex when looking at images, outlasting conscious awareness of image. More than a quarter of all stroke victims develop a bizarre disorder — they lose conscious awareness of half of all that their eyes perceive. For instance, after a stroke affecting the right side of the brain, an [...]

Quantum Leaps Ahead: IBM’s Error Mitigation Strategy Outperforms Classical Supercomputers

University of California - Berkeley — Wed, 16 Aug 2023 21:39:37 +0000

Quantum computer barely edged out supercomputer, showing utility of noisy quantum computers. Researchers from IBM Quantum and collaborating institutions have demonstrated that a 127-qubit quantum computer can outperform classical supercomputers in specific calculations. The study revealed a novel error mitigation strategy and opened new possibilities for quantum computing in contemporary physics, offering potential improvements to [...]