Science

Eretmorhipis fossil

Researchers Describe New Reptile Platypus From the Early Triassic

Posted by Becky Oskin on January 24, 2019
No animal alive today looks quite like a duck-billed platypus, a semi-aquatic, egg-laying mammal hailing from eastern Australia. But about 250 million years ago, something very similar swam the shallow seas in what is now China, finding prey by touch with a cartilaginous bill. The newly discovered marine reptile Eretmorhipis carrolldongi from the lower Triassic period is described in the journal Scientific Reports Jan. 24. 
Science
Astronomy image of planetary disk

Mantle Neon Illuminates Earth’s Formation

Posted by Becky Oskin on December 05, 2018
The Earth formed relatively quickly from the cloud of dust and gas around the sun, trapping water and gases in the planet’s mantle, according to research published Dec. 5 in the journal Nature. Apart from settling Earth’s origins, the work could help in identifying extrasolar systems that could support habitable planets. 
Science
Alexander Vasenin/Wikimedia Commons

First Jellyfish Genome Reveals Ancient Beginnings of Complex Body Plan

Posted by Becky Oskin on December 03, 2018
Jellyfish undergo an amazing metamorphosis, from tiny polyps growing on the seafloor to swimming medusae with stinging tentacles. The first in-depth look at the genome of a jellyfish — the moon jelly Aurelia aurita — reveals the origins of this successful survival strategy.
Science
Hyperion cluster

Astronomers Find a Cosmic Titan in the Early Universe

Posted by Becky Oskin on October 17, 2018
An international team of astronomers has discovered a titanic structure in the early universe, just 2 billion years after the Big Bang. This galaxy proto-supercluster, nicknamed Hyperion, is the largest and most massive structure yet found at such a remote time and distance.
Science

Professor's Gift Establishes Experimental Thermodynamics Award

Posted by Becky Oskin on October 16, 2018
The American Ceramic Society has a new award to recognize innovative contributions to experimental thermodynamics of solids technical literature. The Navrotsky Award for Experimental Thermodynamics of Solids was established through a gift from Alexandra Navrotsky, Interdisciplinary Professor of Ceramic, Earth, and Environmental Materials Chemistry at UC Davis.
Science

QMAP Grabs Grants for Quantum Information Science

Posted by Becky Oskin on October 09, 2018

The U.S. Department of Energy recently announced $218 million in new grants for “Quantum Information Science” and researchers with the Center for Quantum Mathematics and Physics (QMAP) at UC Davis are among the recipients.

The QMAP initiative at UC Davis is aimed at fundamental research in theoretical and mathematical physics.

Science
Professor Sarah Stewart

Professor Sarah Stewart named MacArthur Fellow

Posted by Becky Oskin on October 04, 2018
Sarah Stewart, professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, has been honored with a 2018 MacArthur Fellowship. She is the fourth MacArthur Fellow from the College of Letters and Science and the second in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences.
Science
Photo of Isbell conducting research in the field

UC Davis Anthropologist Named President-elect of the American Society of Primatologists

Posted by Kathleen Holder on October 03, 2018

UC Davis anthropologist Lynne Isbell, who studies the behavior, ecology and evolutionary history of primates, is the new president-elect of the American Society of Primatologists (ASP).

Isbell, professor and chair of the Department of Anthropology in the College of Letters and Science, assumed the elected position during the society’s Aug. 8-11 meeting in San Antonio, Texas. After serving a two-year term, she will become ASP president in August 2020.

Science
Teresa Huang

Forging Future Science Teachers

Posted by Becky Oskin on September 11, 2018
Undergraduates who are curious about teaching at any level, from kindergarten through college, can explore their interest through the courses offered by CalTeach/MAST.
Science
UC Davis geology students in Hawaii

$1M to Attract Students to Geology and Marine Sciences

Posted by Becky Oskin on September 07, 2018
The Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, in the UC Davis College of Letters and Science, is receiving a $1 million award from the National Science Foundation to target scholarships for students eligible for federal financial aid and enable field experiences for majors in either geology, or coastal and marine sciences.
Science

Geoscientists Take Part in Frontera Supercomputer

Posted by Becky Oskin on September 05, 2018
UC Davis scientists are taking part in a project to build the new “Frontera” supercomputer at the University of Texas at Austin. Frontera will be the fastest computer at any U.S. university and among the most powerful in the world.
Science

UC Davis Physicists Help Detect Higgs Boson Decay

Posted by Becky Oskin on August 30, 2018
Six years after its discovery, the Higgs boson has at last been observed decaying to fundamental particles known as bottom quarks. A number of UC Davis physicists were involved in the observation.
Science
Subscribe to Science News Feed