All Stories
- Cosmology
How did dark matter shape the universe? This physicist has ideas
Theoretical physicist Tracy Slatyer proposes new scenarios for dark matter and helped discover the Fermi bubbles.
- Materials Science
A materials scientist seeks to extract lithium from untapped sources
Lithium is an essential ingredient for batteries in electric vehicles but getting enough will become a problem.
- Science & Society
This researcher studies how misinformation seeps into science and politics
The world is awash in information. Communications researcher Yotam Ophir digs into news articles and survey results to show how beliefs form and spread.
- Computing
This engineer’s light-based computers take inspiration from the brain
Physicist and engineer Bhavin Shastri is working to create the first photonic computer modeled after the human brain.
- Neuroscience
A cell biologist is investigating the balance of brain flexibility, stability
Andrea Gomez, a Berkeley molecular and cell biologist, applies her wide-ranging curiosity to brains’ mysteries ranging from synapses to psychedelics.
- Environment
A biogeochemist is tracking the movements of toxic mercury pollution
Exposing the hidden movements of mercury through the environment can help reduce human exposure.
- Climate
Climate change could double U.S. temperature-linked deaths by mid-century
Each year, roughly 8,000 deaths in the United States are associated with extreme temperatures. And as temperatures rise, this number could swell.
- Animals
Scientists have just turned giant panda skin cells into stem cells
If the pluripotent stem cells can be turned into precursors to egg and sperm cells, the feat could potentially be a big deal for giant panda conservation.
- Microbes
Some bacteria in your mouth can divide into as many as 14 cells at once
The filamentous bacterium Corynebacterium matruchotii has a unique reproductive strategy that might allow it to claim territory quickly.
- Particle Physics
A neutrino mass mismatch could shake cosmology’s foundations
Cosmological data suggest unexpected masses for neutrinos, including the possibility of zero or negative mass.
- Climate
Earth’s ancient ‘greenhouse’ conditions were hotter than thought
A timeline of 485 million years of Earth’s surface temperatures shows ancient greenhouse conditions were hotter than scientists thought.
- Health & Medicine
Vaccines for mpox are finally reaching Africa. But questions about the virus remain
With concerns that mpox may now spread more easily and be more severe, researchers warn that failing to curb the outbreak means “nobody is safe.”
