By Robert Sanders, UC Berkeley | February 24, 2021 The small, furry ancestors of all primates — a group that includes humans and other apes — were already taking to the trees a mere 100,000 years after the mass extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs and most other terrestrial animals, according to a new analysis of fossil teeth in the collections of the University of ... Continue Reading »
UC Berkeley
Binary stars are all around us, new map of solar neighborhood shows
By Robert Sanders, UC Berkeley | February 22, 2021 The latest star data from the Gaia space observatory has for the first time allowed astronomers to generate a massive 3D atlas of widely separated binary stars within about 3,000 light years of Earth — 1.3 million of them. The one-of-a-kind atlas, created by Kareem El-Badry, an astrophysics Ph.D. student from the ... Continue Reading »
Latinx, Native Americans carry heavier pandemic burden, new poll reports
By Edward Lempinen, UC Berkeley | February 23, 2021 Voters of color in California — especially Latinx and Native American people — face disproportionate risks during the coronavirus pandemic and are far more worried than white voters about job and income loss and access to medical care, according to a new poll by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS). By ... Continue Reading »
Buyer beware: Massive experiment shows why ticket sellers hit you with last-second fees
By Morgan Foy, Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley | February 9, 2021 There’s a reason that online ticket sellers hit you with those extra fees after you’ve picked your seats and are ready to click “buy.” Pure profit. A massive field experiment by Berkeley Haas Prof. Steven Tadelis with the online ticket marketplace StubHub concluded that so-called ... Continue Reading »
UC Berkeley study shows effects of climate change on desert animals
By Claire Daly Small mammals may be better adapted than birds to the increasing temperatures of California’s deserts caused by climate change, according to a study by UC Berkeley researchers published Friday. The study found that while small desert mammal species have largely maintained their numbers over the past century, the numbers of bird species have dropped as ... Continue Reading »
The Odd Structure of ORF8: Scientists Map the Coronavirus Protein Linked to Immune Evasion and Disease Severity
Biologists used crystallography performed at Berkeley Lab’s Advanced Light Source to reveal the new virus’s unusual protein structure News Release Aliyah Kovner • January 12, 2021Share194TweetReddit16Share210SHARES A team of HIV researchers, cellular biologists, and biophysicists who banded together to support COVID-19 science determined the atomic ... Continue Reading »
New study reveals how fences hinder migratory wildlife in the West
By Kara Manke Each year, thousands of migratory mule deer and pronghorn antelope journey northwest from their winter homes in the Green River Basin, a grassland valley in western Wyoming, to their summer homes in the mountainous landscape near Grand Teton National Park. But to reach their destination, these ungulates must successfully navigate the more than 6,000 ... Continue Reading »
In shaky times, focus on past successes, if overly anxious, depressed
By Yasmin Anwar, UC BerkeleyThursday, January 14, 2021 The more chaotic things get, the harder it is for people with clinical anxiety and/or depression to make sound decisions and to learn from their mistakes. On a positive note, overly anxious and depressed people’s judgment can improve if they focus on what they get right, instead of what they get wrong, suggests a new ... Continue Reading »