A computer-generated image of a pile of blue plastic beads dwarfing a colorless 3D rendering of Manhattan
UC Santa Barbara |

A ‘Paris Agreement for plastic’ could slash plastic pollution to almost zero

Scientists at UC Santa Barbara and UC Berkeley have launched an AI-powered tool that provides unprecedented insight into how the nations of the world can combine policies to end plastic pollution.
Carolyn Smith smiles at the camera in a shoulders-up portrait with a staircase and window in the background. She has long, straight, light-brown hair tinted with gray and wears a maroon top and long, dangly earrings.
UC Berkeley |

Indigenous anthropologist and new UC Berkeley professor finds family, hope in basket weaving

Carolyn Smith is a new assistant professor of anthropology at UC Berkeley and an enrolled descendant of the Karuk tribe. Her life’s work forever changed years ago after a trip to the Klamath River.
6 people in business attire stand shoulder-to-shoulder and smile for the camera in front of a video screen background reading "APEC University Leaders Forum: Investing in Tomorrow's Biodiversity"
UC Santa Cruz |

Worldwide leaders convene to protect, advance global biodiversity

UC Santa Cruz hosted the APEC University Leaders' Forum with UC Davis and the Association of Pacific Rim Universities
A male student in a white lab coat wearing glasses and purple rubber gloves holds a white box the size of a large sandwich in both hands
UC San Diego |

This wireless, handheld, non-invasive device detects Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s biomarkers

“This portable diagnostic system would allow testing at-home and at point of care, like clinics and nursing homes, for neurodegenerative diseases globally,” said Ratnesh Lal, a bioengineering, mechanical engineering and materials science professor at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering.
A shot over the shoulder from behind a bearded man wearing a white lab coat, holding a grid of brain scans up to a light wall to inspect them
UC Riverside |

Scientists tame biological trigger of deadly Huntington’s disease

Research from UC Riverside scientists also offers new hope for other nervous system disorders like ALS.
A professor-aged man and a student-aged man sit at a round table in front of a bookshelf, facing each other in discussion.
UC Santa Cruz |

When humanists met technologists

UC Santa Cruz’s new Humanizing Technology Certificate Program is helping students confront the moral and social implications of technology, harnessing the power of the humanities to envision a more just and responsible future.
A male hiker with a prosthetic leg below his knee looks up against the backdrop of a red rock canyon wall. The photo is edited and filtered to look grainy, and surrounded by a teal/green textured frame.
UC San Diego |

Psychedelic revolution

After decades on the fringe, UC San Diego psychedelic research goes mainstream — and tackles chronic pain.
Poulumi Saha, wearing black rimmed glasses and a black and white blouse, smiles faintly for a shoulders-up portrait, with wood paneled walls in the background.
UC Berkeley |

Why we're so obsessed with cults

"In this crisis moment, we have a return to desire for overarching meaning, radical acceptance, transformative experience, transcendence," says the UC Berkeley professor of English and co-director of the Program in Critical Theory.
Daniel Swain, wearing khakis and a maroon shirt, leans against a low adobe-colored wall, with a snowy forest in the backdrop and an arched breezeway behind him.
UC Newsroom |

The weather whisperer

When climate catastrophe looms, reporters and legislators call up UCLA’s Daniel Swain to explain what’s happening and why.
Two rows of spherical white tanks with H2 printed on them in green, with four wind turbines in the background, against a blue sky
UC Newsroom |

Renewable, clean hydrogen power is coming to California. Here’s what you need to know.

A UC-backed consortium secured $1.2 billion in federal funding to decarbonize California's economy through hydrogen fuel.
Two reddish plants
UC Riverside |

Speaking in color: Plants transformed into detectors of dangerous chemicals

Scientists have engineered a way for a plant to show the presence of a banned pesticide in water without affecting its other functions.
A person stands in a forest, holding a big map of California, which covers all but their legs and hand.
UC Newsroom |

Celebrating a record-setting investment in climate research for California

Climate scientists and state officials gathered in Sacramento last week to kick off a new round of research projects funded by a $185 million partnership between UC and the State of California.
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