Toy car gets stability from ‘lizard tail’

UC BERKELEY (US) — Inspired by the way lizards keep their balance, researchers have developed a robotic car named “Tailbot” that has a stabilizing tail. (more…)

Health & Medicine - Sep 14, 2011 12:04 - 14 Comments

Train brain, not ears, to stop the ringing

UC BERKELEY (US) — New treatments, including retraining the brain, could offer hope to the millions who suffer from tinnitus, a constant ringing or buzzing in the ears. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Jul 29, 2011 16:05 - 0 Comments

Heat helps exotics edge out native grass

UC BERKELEY (US) — Climate change is adding insult to injury, exacerbating the pressure placed on California’s native grasses by exotic invasive species. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Jul 6, 2011 17:39 - 0 Comments

Geothermal enzyme likes it hot, hot, hot

UC BERKELEY (US) — A hot spring microbe that happily chomps on plant material with temperatures near the boiling point contains an enzyme that could be used in the production of biofuels. (more…)

Science & Technology - Jun 20, 2011 9:27 - 1 Comment

Newbie neurons make fear hard to forget

UC BERKELEY (US) — When faced with a fearful situation, newborn neurons are able to produce a blank slate to create a strong imprint of the memory. (more…)

Science & Technology - May 31, 2011 11:01 - 0 Comments

Social network tracks amphibians

UC BERKELEY (US) — Citizen scientists can use a new social networking site to help researchers track the decline of amphibians around the globe. (more…)

Health & Medicine - May 23, 2011 12:29 - 0 Comments

Baby items toxic 40 years after ban

UC BERKELEY (US) — Toxic flame retardants similar to ones banned from baby pajamas 40 years ago are still found in infant products, including changing pads and nursing pillows. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Apr 19, 2011 8:10 - 0 Comments

Like a thumb, carbon footprint is unique

UC BERKELEY (US) — Who you are and where you live have more of an impact on the size of your carbon footprint than what kind of grocery bags or light bulbs you use. (more…)

Science & Technology - Feb 23, 2011 10:51 - 0 Comments

Like hyena, T. rex wasn’t a picky eater

UC BERKELEY (US) — A new census of all dinosaur skeletons unearthed over a large area of eastern Montana suggests the Tyrannosaurus rex would take a meal wherever it could find one—freshly killed or not. (more…)

Health & Medicine - Jan 17, 2011 13:32 - 1 Comment

How microbes colonize the preemie gut

UC BERKELEY (US) — By sequencing the genomes of gut microbes from preemies, researchers hope to learn more about what causes sometimes fatal intestinal problems. (more…)

Science & Technology - Dec 20, 2010 14:04 - 2 Comments

Sizing up Earth’s super-strong core

UC BERKELEY (US) — The magnetic field inside Earth’s core, 1,800 miles underground, is 50 times stronger than the magnetic field at the surface that makes compass needles align north-south. (more…)

Science & Technology - Nov 2, 2010 11:11 - 1 Comment

Our solar system’s not so unique

UC BERKELEY (US) — Nearly one in four stars like the sun could have Earth-size planets, according to a study of nearby solar-mass stars. (more…)

Science & Technology - Sep 30, 2010 17:06 - 0 Comments

How fungal spores achieve zero drag

UC BERKELEY (US) — Drafting cyclists have nothing on spore-spewing fungi. Using an aerodynamic technique, a fungus can reduce drag on its spores—sending them high and far. (more…)

Science & Technology - Sep 13, 2010 10:42 - 0 Comments

Biofuel from rock ‘em, sock ‘em yeast

UC BERKELEY (US)—Researchers have taken genes from grass-eating fungi and stuffed them into yeast. As a result they have created strains that produce alcohol from tough plant material—cellulose—that normal yeast can’t digest. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Oct 26, 2009 16:29 - 0 Comments

CO2 not the only gorilla in the room

UC BERKELEY (US)—When world leaders meet in Copenhagen in December to hash out a treaty limiting carbon dioxide emissions, they should begin planning a future summit to address other pollutants—from soot to ozone—that don’t remain in the atmosphere as long as carbon dioxide, but nevertheless are major contributors to global warming. (more…)

Best of 2009 - Oct 14, 2009 11:33 - 5 Comments

BEST OF 2009: Bad bosses sabotage to boost ego

UC BERKELEY (US)—Bosses who are in over their heads are more likely to bully subordinates. That’s because feelings of inadequacy trigger them to lash out at those around them. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Oct 5, 2009 19:08 - 0 Comments

Alfalfa sprouts recreate meandering stream

UC BERKELEY (US)—Researchers report the first experimental creation of meanders in a flume—a scaled-down model of a natural channel using alfalfa sprouts to represent vegetated stream banks. The experiments reveal some of the necessary conditions to form meanders on Earth and throughout the solar system. (more…)

Science & Technology - Oct 5, 2009 12:34 - 0 Comments

Flip of switch illuminates cell function

UC BERKELEY (US)—A new way to select and switch on one cell type in an organism using light has helped answer a long-standing question about the function of one class of enigmatic nerve cells in the spinal cord. (more…)

Friday, January 27, 2012 12:30 - 1 Comment

Top Stories - Jan 9, 2012 11:21 - 2 Comments