Geared toward mathematics, statistics and computer science graduate students, MAT 280: “Fairness, Privacy and Trustworthiness in Machine Learning” aims to elevate tenets of social responsibility when it comes to developing machine learning and artificial intelligence-based systems. The special topics class focuses on the mathematical concepts underlying machine learning and how these concepts can be used for the better.

Distinguished Professor of Chemistry Carlito B. Lebrilla and other UC Davis researchers are paving a path to commercialize a new technology that they hope will make dietary fiber easier to add into food and more acceptable to the consumer. The novel depolymerization technology can chop up fiber from long polysaccharides into small, bioactive chains of carbohydrates, called oligosaccharides. The process doesn't change the structure of the fiber, but makes it soluble, digestible and palatable.

From pocketed headphones to carelessly packed garden hoses, knots find ways to manifest. Even our DNA molecules get tied in knots too. Professor Mariel Vazquez applies her training in mathematics to fundamental questions about DNA structure and functionality.

Created over 10 years ago by Professor of Chemistry Jared Shaw, the Davis Science Café meets on the second Wednesday of each month to provide an avenue for the community to learn about the current state of science across its many disciplines.

People often say things like Phoenix has always been dry; Seattle has always been wet; and San Francisco has always been foggy. But “always” is a strong word. A study from the UC Davis Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences synthesizes climate trends across the Western U.S. during a relatively young and lesser-studied period of Earth’s history — the Holocene Era, which stretches from the present day to the past 11,000 years.

Professor of Psychology Charan Ranganath and his colleagues are uncovering the science behind memory to develop biomarkers that can identify individuals with preclinical Alzheimer’s disease. The hope is that early detection will allow for successful intervention.

Location, location, location is the key for psychedelic drugs that could treat mental illness by rapidly rebuilding connections between nerve cells. In a paper published Feb. 17 in Science, researchers at the University of California, Davis, show that engaging serotonin 2A receptors inside neurons promotes growth of new connections but engaging the same receptor on the surface of nerve cells does not.

The Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) and the American Mathematical Society (AMS) recently named Professor Anne Schilling, chair of the Department of Mathematics, as the 2024 AWM-AMS Emmy Noether Lecturer.

For roughly five years, Alba Rodríguez Padilla, a doctoral student in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, has studied the physics and geology underlying earthquakes. Her research will help inform policymakers and engineers responsible for creating earthquake insurance policies and building new infrastructure.

The University of California, Davis, has launched the Institute for Psychedelics and Neurotherapeutics to advance basic knowledge about the mechanisms of psychedelics and translate it into safe and effective treatments for diseases such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, addiction, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, among others.

Babies learn from looking at human faces, leading many parents and childhood experts to worry about possible developmental harm from widespread face-masking during the pandemic. A new study by researchers in the UC Davis College of Letters and Science allays those concerns, finding that 6- to 9-month-old babies can form memories of masked faces and recognize those faces when unmasked.

Design2Data is a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) that teaches students an enzyme design-build-test workflow, allowing them to contribute knowledge to an open access database. Since its launch, the course has been rolled out to 25 institutions across the nation.

Distinguished Professor Emeritus Geerat Vermeij, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, will deliver the upcoming New Emeriti Distinguished Lecture scheduled for Feb. 15.

There’s no word in Bao Vue’s native language for “chemistry.” The science subject is not easily expressed in Hmong vocabulary. In fact, the same can be said for the concept of “science” itself. But when Vue was 9 years old, she and her family fled their home for safety. Today, she's a chemistry doctoral candidate in UC Davis Professor of Chemistry Jacquelyn Gervay-Hague’s lab, which is focused on developing sustainable methods to produce antiviral and anticancer agents from natural products.