University of California, Berkeley
Automated “time machine” reconstructs ancient languages
February 12, 2013 1:10 pm | by Yasmin Anwar, UC Berkeley | News | Comments
Ancient languages hold a treasure trove of information about the culture, politics and commerce of millennia past. Yet, reconstructing them to reveal clues into human history can require decades of painstaking work. Now, scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have created an automated “time machine,” of sorts, that will greatly accelerate and improve the process of reconstructing hundreds of ancestral languages.
Is antimatter anti-gravity?
April 30, 2013 11:53 am | by Robert Sanders, University of California, Berkeley | News | Comments
Antimatter is strange stuff. It has the opposite electrical charge to matter and, when...
Lost your keys? Your cat? The brain can rapidly mobilize a search party
April 22, 2013 9:46 am | News | Comments
Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have discovered that when we...
School’s “Drone Lab” reimagines possibilities for UAVs
April 17, 2013 9:17 am | News | Comments
Say the word “drone” and the image most often conjured is a flying object that is...
Researchers find out why some stress is good for you
April 17, 2013 7:19 am | by Robert Sanders, UC Berkeley | News | CommentsMuch research has demonstrated that chronic stress elevates levels of glucocorticoid stress hormones, which impairs memory. And stress is associated with a lot of other physical ailments. But less is known about the effects of acute stress, and studies have been conflicting. Recent work shows that intense, short-lived stress causes the proliferation of new neurons, improving mental performance.
Scientists discover new materials to capture methane
April 16, 2013 12:52 pm | News | CommentsScientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the University of California, Berkeley have discovered new materials to capture methane, the second highest concentration greenhouse gas emitted into the atmosphere. The research team performed systematic computer simulation studies on the effectiveness of methane capture using two different materials—liquid solvents and nanoporous zeolites.
Black nanoparticles could play key role in clean energy photocatalysis
April 15, 2013 8:32 am | News | CommentsA unique atomic-scale engineering technique for turning low-efficiency photocatalytic “white” nanoparticles of titanium dioxide into high-efficiency “black” nanoparticles could be the key to clean energy technologies based on hydrogen. Samuel Mao leads the development of a technique for engineering disorder into the nanocrystalline structure of the semiconductor titanium dioxide.
Scientists map elusive 3D structure of telomerase enzyme
April 12, 2013 9:30 am | News | CommentsLike finally seeing all the gears of a watch and how they work together, researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of California, Berkeley have, for the first time ever, solved the puzzle of how the various components of an entire telomerase enzyme complex fit together and function in a 3D structure.
Project aims to manage traffic in California using data
March 19, 2013 10:56 am | by Gordy Slack, CITRIS | News | CommentsTwo California urban areas have the dubious distinction of being tied for second-worst traffic in the country. Commuters spend 61 hours per year being stuck in traffic in the Bay Area and in Los Angeles. A new project called Connected Corridors, led by University of California, Berkeley, is developing new technologies that will help Caltrans gather and analyze traffic data to make real-time whole-system traffic management recommendations
Predicted state of atomic collapse seen for first time
March 14, 2013 8:25 am | by David L. Chandler, MIT News Office | News | CommentsAtomic collapse, a phenomenon first predicted in the 1930s based on quantum mechanics and relativistic physics but never before observed, has now been seen for the first time in an “artificial nucleus” simulated on a sheet of graphene. The observation not only provides confirmation of long-held theoretical predictions, but could also pave the way for new kinds of graphene-based electronic devices, and for further research on basic physics.
Evidence found that comets could have seeded life on Earth
March 6, 2013 2:08 pm | by Robert Sanders, UC Berkeley | News | CommentsChemists have recently shown that conditions in space are capable of creating complex dipeptides—linked pairs of amino acids—that are essential building blocks shared by all living things. The discovery opens the door to the possibility that these molecules were brought to Earth aboard a comet or possibly meteorites, catalyzing the formation of proteins (polypeptides), enzymes and even more complex molecules, such as sugars, that are necessary for life.
Poor sleep in old age prevents the brain from storing memories
January 28, 2013 5:06 pm | by Yasmin Anwar, UC Berkeley | News | CommentsThe connection between poor sleep, memory loss and brain deterioration as we grow older has been elusive. But for the first time, scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have found a link between these hallmark maladies of old age. Their discovery opens the door to boosting the quality of sleep in elderly people to improve memory.
New key to organism complexity identified
January 17, 2013 1:25 pm | News | CommentsLawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and University of California, Berkeley researchers have discovered that the transcription factor protein TFIID co-exists in two distinct structural states, a key to genetic expression and TFIID’s ability to initiate the process by which DNA is copied into RNA.
Physicist uses matter to tell time
January 10, 2013 2:40 pm | News | CommentsEver since he was a kid growing up in Germany, Holger Müller has been asking himself a fundamental question: What is time? That question has now led Müller, today an assistant professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley to a fundamentally new way of measuring time. Taking advantage of the fact that, in nature, matter can be both a particle and a wave, he has discovered a way to tell time by counting the oscillations of a matter wave.
How do you know if you ran through a wall?
January 7, 2013 8:46 am | News | CommentsResearchers from Canada, California, and Poland have devised a straightforward way to test an intriguing idea about the nature of dark energy and dark matter. A global array of atomic magnetometers—small laboratory devices that can sense minute changes in magnetic fields—could signal when Earth passes through fractures in space known as domain walls. These structures could be the answer to the universe’s darkest mysteries.
How computers push on the molecules they simulate
January 3, 2013 10:15 am | News | CommentsComputer simulations are essential to test theories and explore what's inaccessible to direct experiment. Digital computers can't use exact, continuous equations of motion and have to slice time into chunks, so persistent errors are introduced in the form of "shadow work" that distorts the result. Scientists have learned to separate the physically realistic aspects of the simulation from the artifacts of the computer method.
Scientists construct first map of how the brain organizes everything we see
December 20, 2012 11:40 am | by Yasmin Anwar, UC Berkeley | News | CommentsOur eyes may be our window to the world, but how do we make sense of the thousands of images that flood our retinas each day? Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have found that the brain is wired to put in order all the categories of objects and actions that we see. They have created the first interactive map of how the brain organizes these groupings.
Cloud forest trees drink water through their leaves
December 13, 2012 9:59 am | by Robert Sanders, UC Berkeley | News | CommentsUsing an electronic “leaf” that is able to detect when leaves receive moisture, a team of researchers working in Costa Rica’s cloud forests have discovered that tropical montane cloud forest can augment their water intake by drinking directly from the clouds. In dry but otherwise foggy areas, this ability to drink water through leaves is an essential survival strategy.
Study: Kerosene lamps spew black carbon, should be replaced
November 29, 2012 9:12 am | by Sarah Yang, UC Berkeley | News | CommentsResults from field and lab tests have found that 7 to 9% of the kerosene in wick lamps—used for light in 250-300 million households without electricity—is converted to black carbon when burned. In comparison, only half of 1% of the emissions from burning wood is converted to black carbon. Kerosene is the primary source of light for more than a billion people in developing nations.
Invisibility cloaking to shield floating objects from waves
November 19, 2012 6:17 pm | News | CommentsA new approach to invisibility cloaking may one day be used at sea to shield floating objects—such as oil rigs and ships—from rough waves. Unlike most other cloaking techniques that rely on transformation optics, this one is based on the influence of the ocean floor's topography on the various "layers" of ocean water.
Discovery resurrects process to convert sugar directly to diesel
November 8, 2012 8:33 am | News | CommentsA long-abandoned fermentation process once used to turn starch into explosives can be used to produce renewable diesel fuel to replace the fossil fuels now used in transportation, University of California, Berkeley scientists have discovered. The scientists produced diesel fuel from the products of a bacterial fermentation discovered nearly 100 years ago by the first president of Israel, chemist Chaim Weizmann.
Did bacteria spark evolution of multicellular life?
October 24, 2012 8:29 am | News | CommentsBacteria have a bad rap as agents of disease, but scientists are increasingly discovering their many benefits, such as maintaining a healthy gut. A new study now suggests that bacteria may also have helped kick off one of the key events in evolution: the leap from one-celled organisms to many-celled organisms, a development that eventually led to all animals, including humans.
Eye proteins have germ-killing power
September 25, 2012 5:03 am | News | CommentsWhen it comes to germ-busting power, the eyes have it, according to a discovery by University of California, Berkeley researchers that could lead to new, inexpensive antimicrobal drugs. A team of vision scientists has found that small fragments of keratin protein in the eye play a key role in warding off pathogens.
Explosion of galaxy formation lit up early universe
September 5, 2012 6:54 am | News | CommentsNew data from the South Pole Telescope indicates that the birth of the first massive galaxies that lit up the early universe was an explosive event, happening faster and ending sooner than suspected. Extremely bright, active galaxies formed and fully illuminated the universe by the time it was 750 million year old, or about 13 billion years ago, according to a researcher from the University of California, Berkeley.
Speeding the search for better carbon capture
August 21, 2012 3:46 am | News | CommentsLawrence Berkeley National Laboratory researchers helped develop the first computational model to accurately predict the interactions between flue gases and a special variety of the carbon dioxide-capturing molecular systems known as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). This new model should greatly accelerate the search for new low-cost and efficient ways to burn coal without exacerbating global climate change.
Good vibrations
August 15, 2012 10:20 am | News | CommentsUsing a unique optical trapping system that provides ensembles of ultracold atoms, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory scientists have recorded the first direct observations of distinctly quantum optical effects—amplification and squeezing—in an optomechanical system. Their findings point the way toward low-power quantum optical devices and enhanced detection of gravitational waves among other possibilities.
A green future for California high-speed rail?
July 27, 2012 7:30 am | by Sarah Yang | News | CommentsResearchers recently published a report that compared the future sustainability of California high-speed rail with that of competing modes of transportation, namely automobile and air travel. They determined that, in terms of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, a mature high-speed rail system wins out when using greener electricity. This was true even after accounting for the emergence of more fuel-efficient airplanes and automobiles.
Photovoltaics from any semiconductor
July 27, 2012 4:29 am | News | CommentsLawrence Berkeley National Laboratory researchers have developed a technology that enables low-cost, high-efficiency solar cells to be made from virtually any semiconductor material. This opens the door to the use of plentiful, relatively inexpensive semiconductors previously considered unsuitable for photovoltaics.
Chemical makes blind mice see
July 25, 2012 10:02 am | News | CommentsA team of University of California, Berkeley scientists in collaboration with researchers at the University of Munich and University of Washington, in Seattle, has discovered a chemical that temporarily restores some vision to blind mice, and is working on an improved compound that may someday allow people with degenerative blindness to see again.
