The Latest Bird Flu Pandemic Is Terrible—And Strange
“We don’t want to vilify the carriers,” says one expert. “They’re just doing their thing. They’re being ducks.”
After 2022’s Fatal Algal Bloom, Scientists Fear the Bay’s Sturgeon Could Go Extinct
In an open letter, they’re calling for California to consider making white sturgeon fishing catch-and-release for now.
How Indigenous People Got Some Land Back in Oakland
“This little piece of five acres is going to do a lot to change the landscape of Oakland,” says Corrina Gould cofounder of the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust.
How a ‘Sturgeon Surgeon’ Tracks the Bay’s Giant, Stealthy Living Fossils
Our resident sturgeon have gizzards and razor-sharp armor, can live a century, and are under threat.
The Nearly Unkillable Eucalyptus Meets Its Match
Climate change plus fungus could spell doom for the trees.
The Living Drill Bits That Grind Holes in Beach Rocks
This clam makes its mark on the world at the rate of one millimeter per month.
Long COVID and the Stem Cell Sell
Stem cell clinics are advertising hope to long COVID-19 patients – whether their treatments have been proven safe and effective or not.
Can We Have More Whales and Fewer Whale Strikes?
Whales are coming to eat in the Bay, and big ships aren’t all slowing down for them. A new tool aims to change that.
Largest Tidal Restoration Project in California Will Make Way for Wildlife & Mitigate Floods
Lookout Slough, 3,000 acres of former farmland, ranchland, and duck hunting grounds north and west of the Yolo Bypass West Levee, is slated to become the largest tidal wetland restoration project in the history of California.
In the Wake of Wildfire, Big Basin Redwoods State Park Partially Reopens to the Public
Though many trees were severely damaged or killed by the blaze, most of Big Basin’s redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) survived.
Soon-to-Open Tunnel Tops Park Supports a More Inclusive Future
The park drapes across the top of the tunnels containing roaring Highway 1, connecting the San Francisco Bay shoreline and restored tidal marshes to the rest of the Presidio.
Why do some women struggle to breastfeed? A UC Santa Cruz researcher on what we know, and don’t
UC Santa Cruz stem cell biologist Lindsay Hinck wants to solve a global and deeply personal problem: Why do some women struggle to make enough milk for their babies?
Elephant Seal Pups Learn To Adapt To Life At Sea
Seal pup season is coming to a close in California. When adult elephant seals leave the beach, pups are on their own as they prepare to live out at sea for months at a time. This means pups must learn to sleep underwater. Jessie Kendall-Barr and other researchers at the Dan Costa lab at UC Santa Cruz are studying how.
From Giant Isopods to Glowing Jellies, This New Monterey Bay Aquarium Exhibit Features Deep-Sea Creatures Never Seen Before
A groundbreaking exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium is bringing deep-sea animals from the midnight zone up to the surface and into public view for the first time.
How Sustainable is our Seafood?
As the climate crisis continues, scientists are looking into different seafoods both for their nutritional value and environmental impact.
UC Berkeley Explores New Green Energy Options Underground
A new green energy project at UC Berkeley involves drilling a 400 foot deep, 8-inch diameter hole under campus to research whether a new system for storing warm and cold air underground.
Timing is Everything: Modern life has ravaged our circadian rhythms, but could we reset them?
You can’t hear them ticking, but our bodies are full of tiny clocks—and scientists have just taken a major step toward understanding how they work. A collaboration of three University of California research labs has created a biological clock in a test tube.
“Understanding how these clocks work provides a powerful tool for future researchers to figure out–and perhaps one day even manipulate–the rhythms that govern our lives,” says Carrie Partch, a UCSC scientist who studies the biochemistry of biological clocks.
Biological clocks in our cells work together like an orchestra of timekeeping, controlling the circadian rhythms—the mental, physical and behavioral changes within a 24-hour cycle—that keep our bodies in sync with day and night. Circadian rhythms have a major influence on human health, from getting a good night’s sleep to improving chemotherapy treatments. Partch and other biological clock researchers hope that advancing our understanding of circadian rhythms will revolutionize medicine.
“There’s a growing awareness of the effect that time has on biology,” says Partch. “Understanding the environment that you live in and that you create for yourself can have a really powerful effect.”