Mystery of Easter Island’s Moai: Unearthing the Meaning of the Ancient Monoliths
Rapanui people likely believed the ancient monoliths helped food grow on the Polynesian island, study reveals. Rapa Nui (or Easter Island, as it is commonly…
UCLA
“Scar in a Dish” Model Using Human Stem Cells Could Lead to Fibrosis Treatment
Researchers create accurate model of organ scarring using stem cells in a lab. Advance could help identify drugs to eventually treat fibrosis. Every organ in…
Artificial Intelligence Converts 2D Images Into 3D Using Deep Learning [Video]
Microscopy technique is expected to benefit studies in life sciences and biology. A University of California, Los Angeles research team has devised a technique that…
Earth Is Not Unique: New Technique Using Ancient Stars Studies Geochemistry of Planets Outside Our Solar System
New method used to study planets’ geochemistry implies that Earth is not unique. Earth-like planets may be common in the universe, a new UCLA study…
Scientists Assumptions Were Wrong About Cell Mitochondria – They Work More Like Tesla Battery Packs
For years, scientists assumed that mitochondria — the energy-generating centers of living cells — worked much like household batteries, generating energy from a chemical reaction…
Immunity Against Cancer? Engineered Killer T Cells May Be the Key.
UCLA researchers use stem cells to engineer cells that attack human tumors in mice. They’ve been called the “special forces” of the immune system: invariant…
Transformative Device Generates Energy From the Cold Night Sky, When Solar Doesn’t Work
An inexpensive thermoelectric device harnesses the cold of space without active heat input, generating electricity that powers an LED at night, researchers report September 12…
Low-Cost Device Generates Electricity Naturally in the Dark
A thermoelectric generator is built whose cold side radiates heat to the sky Night-time power generation of 25 mW/m2 is demonstrated, sufficient for an LED…
“Unprecedented” – Black Hole at the Center of Our Galaxy Appears to Be Getting Hungrier [Video]
UCLA astronomers notice brightest light in 24 years of observations. The enormous black hole at the center of our galaxy is having an unusually large…
New Compound Accelerates Blood System’s Recovery After Chemotherapy
In mice, new compound lifts molecular ‘brakes’ that normally slow the regeneration of blood stem cells. A drug developed by UCLA physician-scientists and chemists speeds…
Einstein’s General Relativity Theory Beginning to Fray at the Edges
More than 100 years after Albert Einstein published his iconic general theory of relativity, it is beginning to fray at the edges, said Andrea Ghez,…
‘Galactic Chimneys’ Funnel Matter Away From Milky Way’s Center
The center of our galaxy is a frenzy of activity. A behemoth black hole — 4 million times as massive as the sun — blasts…
Scientists Discover How Microenvironments Regulate Stem Cell Development
Researchers from the UCLA Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research and Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have discovered an important…
New Dual-Layer Solar Cell Sets Record for Efficiently Generating Power
Materials scientists from the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering have developed a highly efficient thin-film solar cell that generates more energy from sunlight than typical…
Scientists Reveal Mechanism That Helps Malaria Parasites Take Over Blood Cells
Researchers from UCLA and Washington University in St. Louis have discovered the previously unknown mechanism of how proteins from Plasmodium parasites — which cause malaria…
New Artificial Intelligence Device Identifies Objects at the Speed of Light
A team of UCLA electrical and computer engineers has created a physical artificial neural network — a device modeled on how the human brain works…
Carbon Filled Oceans Affect Tiny But Important Organism
They’re impossible to see with the naked eye. They’re difficult to pronounce. But coccolithophores, a single-celled plankton, have an outsized effect on oceans due to…
Scientists See the Inner Workings of the Enzyme Telomerase for the First Time
Cancer, aging-related diseases and other illnesses are closely tied to an important enzyme called “telomerase.” UCLA researchers report in the journal Cell the deepest scientific…