So-Called Junk DNA – Genetic “Dark Matter” – Is Actually Critical to Survival in Mammals
Knocking out transposon promoter leads to pup death in mice; similar promoters found in many mammals. Nearly half of our DNA has been written off…
UC Berkeley
Read the latest research and science news out of the University of California, Berkeley, including breakthroughs in biology, physics, outer space, and technology, right here on SciTechDaily.com. Founded in 1868, UC Berkeley is a public research university located in Berkeley, California that often simply goes by Cal, especially for athletics. The university has a close relationship with three DOE National Laboratories: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
These Incredible Geckos Crash-Land on Rainforest Trees but Don’t Fall, Thanks to Their Tails
Scientists find another use for lizards’ versatile tails: stabilization after headfirst crashes. A gecko’s tail is a wondrous and versatile thing. In more than 15…
Let Them Burn? How Wildfire Restored a Lost Forest Ecosystem in Yosemite
Half a century of allowing lightning fires to burn in Yosemite’s Illilouette Creek Basin has created a lost forest ecosystem that is far more resilient…
Machine Learning Breakthrough: Using Satellite Images To Improve Human Lives at a Global Scale
Berkeley-based project could support action worldwide on climate, health, and poverty. More than 700 imaging satellites are orbiting the earth, and every day they beam…
A COVID Diagnostic in Only 20 Minutes, Using Two CRISPR Enzymes
Frequent, rapid testing for COVID-19 is critical to controlling the spread of outbreaks, especially as new, more transmissible variants emerge. While today’s gold standard COVID-19…
Nanoparticles Simplify Desalination: Simultaneously Removing Toxic Metals and Salt to Produce Clean Water
Adding absorbent nanoparticles to polymer membranes simplifies desalination. University of California, Berkeley, chemists have discovered a way to simplify the removal of toxic metals. like…
Is Earth’s Core Lopsided? Something Strange Is Going On in Our Planet’s Interior
Model of how Earth’s inner core froze into solid iron implies it may be only 500 million years old. For reasons unknown, Earth’s solid-iron inner…
Young Tyrannosauru Rex Had a Powerful Bite – Exerting Much More Force Than Previous Estimates
Juvenile tyrannosaurs tested their chops as they grew to become bone crushers like their parents. Jack Tseng loves bone-crunching animals — hyenas are his favorite…
Polymer-Eating Enzymes Make “Biodegradable” Plastics Truly Compostable
Polymer-eating enzymes embedded in plastic allow programmed degradation. Biodegradable plastics have been advertised as one solution to the plastic pollution problem bedeviling the world, but…
Paleontologists Stunning Conclusion: 2.5 Billion T. Rexes Roamed North America Over the Cretaceous Period
Analysis of what’s known about the dinosaur leads to conclusion there were 2.5 billion over time. How many Tyrannosaurus rexes roamed North America during the…
How Fast Is the Universe Expanding? New Hubble Constant Measurement Highlights Discrepancy Between Estimates of Our Cosmic Fate
How fast is the universe expanding? Galaxies provide one answer. Determining how rapidly the universe is expanding is key to understanding our cosmic fate, but…
Data Limits Could Vanish With New Optical Antennas and “Rings of Light”
New research throws wide open the amount of information that can be simultaneously transmitted by a single light source. Researchers at the University of California,…
New Map of Solar Neighborhood Reveals That Binary Stars Are All Around Us
Gaia survey provides location and motion of 1.3 million binary pairs within 3,000 light years of Earth. The latest star data from the Gaia space…
COVID-19 Pandemic Caused “Staggering” Economic, Human Impact in Developing Countries
Falling incomes, smaller meals, educational setbacks among the consequences. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic last year led to a devastating loss of jobs and…
Spacecraft Detect Giant Flare in Nearby Galaxy
Apart from black holes, magnetars may be the most extreme stars in the universe. With a diameter less than the length of Manhattan, they pack…
Exoplanet Found by Hubble Resembles Reputed “Planet Nine” in Our Solar System
Astronomers confirm bound orbit for planet far from its star, showing that far-flung planets exist. Astronomers are still searching for a hypothetical “Planet Nine” in…
Is Reawakened Steamboat Geyser a Harbinger for Explosive Yellowstone Volcanic Eruptions?
Analysis of Steamboat Geyser also finds relationship between column height and reservoir depth. When Yellowstone National Park’s Steamboat Geyser — which shoots water higher than…
Universality of Human Emotional Expression: The 16 Facial Expressions Most Common Worldwide
At a time when nativism is on the rise, study reveals the universality of human emotional expression. Whether at a birthday party in Brazil, a…