Recent stories
Auto exhaust linked to thickening of arteries, possible increased risk of heart attack
Swiss, California and Spanish researchers have found that particulates from auto exhaust can lead to the thickening of artery walls, possibly increasing chances of a heart attack and stroke.
(08 February)
Top quality graduate students flock to UC Berkeley despite budget woes
Despite a budget shortfall, hiring freeze and higher fees, the University of California, Berkeley, continues to attract more and higher quality graduate students, according to new data from the campus's Graduate Division.
(03 February)
Nathan Brostrom, Berkeley's budget guru, departs for Oakland – but won't leave campus behind
After four years, Berkeley's vice chancellor for administration begins a new role at the Office of the President. And Wall Street credentials notwithstanding, it's the human give-and-take of the campus he'll miss the most.
(02 February)
Storm runoff and sewage treatment outflow contaminated with household pesticides
Pyrethroid pesticides were supposed to be a benign replacement for organophosphate use around the home, but UC Berkeley studies show that these insecticdes are showing up at toxic levels in storm runoff and even in the effluent from sewage treatment plants. While the levels are not high enough to harm fish, they may be enough to kill the mayfly, caddisfly and stonefly larvae upon which the fish feed.
(02 February)
Climate change: 'Berkeley has a special obligation'
As a public university, Berkeley has a "special obligation" to reach far beyond its scientific expertise to seek solutions to global warming, Vice Chancellor for Research Graham Fleming told experts from across campus Thursday at the "Beyond Copenhagen" conference on international climate change negotiations.
(01 February)
Cardenas first in Mexican speaker series
The University of California, Berkeley’s Center for Latin American Studies will host a lecture by Mexican politician Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas next Wednesday (Feb. 3) on the promise and legacy of the Mexican Revolution and on Mexico's present challenges.
(29 January)
Engineers develop cancer-targeting nanoprobe sensors
UC Berkeley scientists have created smart nanoprobes that may one day be used in the battle against cancer to selectively seek out and destroy tumor cells, as well as report back on the mission's status.
(29 January)
Limb regeneration and attosecond research each get $1 million from Keck Foundation
Two UC Berkeley research projects that push the boundaries of their fields have each received $1 million grants from the W.M. Keck Foundation. One grant will fund research on limb and organ regeneration, while the other will support a laser laboratory that probes the movement of electrons on the attosecond timescale.
(27 January)
Couples who say "we" have a better shot at resolving conflicts
People often complain about those seemingly smug married couples who constantly refer to themselves as “we.” But a new study from the UC Berkeley suggests that spouses who use “we-ness” language are better able to resolve conflicts than those who don’t. Researchers analyzed conversations between 154 middle-aged and older couples about points of disagreement in their marriages and found that those who used pronouns such as “we,” “our” and “us” behaved more positively toward one another and showed less physiological stress.
(27 January)
Study links reduced fertility to flame retardant exposure
A new UC Berkeley study finds that women with higher blood levels of PBDEs, a common type of flame retardant, took longer to get pregnant. The flame retardants are used in foam furniture, electronics, fabrics, carpets, plastics and other common items in the home.
(26 January)
Multiple Bay Area stakeholders meet on how to 'green' the local economy
More than 200 turned out Thursday for "Innovating the Green Economy," a campus conference on how to turn an emerging and much celebrated "win-win" into actual businesses and real paychecks for local communities.
(25 January)
Iain Finnie, pioneer in engineering materials, dies at 81
Iain Finnie, UC Berkeley professor emeritus of mechanical engineering and one of the world's leading experts on the fracture of materials, died on Dec. 19 from pneumonia and complications of Parkinson's disease. He was 81.
(25 January)
Coming attractions: A short list of spring's enriching experiences
This semester's calendar includes visits from a host of celebrated musicians, filmmakers, artists, and authors, and worldly thinkers.
(25 January)
Positive prospects for California's green businesses, study finds
California’s green businesses are more focused on local markets and more likely to stay in the Golden State than are their non-green counterparts, according to a University of California, Berkeley, study released Thursday (Jan. 21). And when compared with traditional businesses, green ones are more likely to expand.
(22 January)
Chancelllor Birgeneau announces senior-management transition plans, as Brostrom accepts UCOP position
President Mark Yudof today announced the appointment of UC Berkeley Vice Chancellor Administration Nathan Brostrom as Executive Vice President Business Operations. Chancellor Birgeneau says that Frank Yeary will take on a substantial portion of Brostrom's responsibilities on an interim basis.
(21 January)
NSF grant to launch world’s first open-source genetic parts production facility
Bioengineers from the UC Berkeley and Stanford University are ramping up efforts to characterize the thousands of control elements critical to the engineering of microbes so that eventually, researchers can mix and match these "DNA parts" in synthetic organisms to produce new drugs, fuels or chemicals.
(20 January)
Berkeley undergrad takes action to help Haiti
Freshman Michael Bloch is using the far reach of Facebook to mobilize UC Berkeley students to aid earthquake-relief efforts in Haiti.
(19 January)
Charles Townes honored during celebration of laser's 50th birthday
The Lawrence Hall of Science is hosting a 50th-anniversary exhibit on the laser, Jan. 23-25, highlighted by a free public talk on Jan. 25 by Nobel Laureate Charles Townes, who conceived the idea of a laser in the 1950s.
(19 January)
Student parent, born in an Andean village, aims to go global in defense of the dispossessed
Consuelo Bustinza’s journey has taken her, so far, from a tiny Andean village to a place she describes as "a big ocean of knowledge and opportunities" where one learns to "solve big problems," UC Berkeley. Diminutive, energetic, and startlingly self-possessed, the campus senior aspires to one day be a voice for the dispossessed in the international arena.
(15 January)
Two of three students stranded in Haiti to help with relief efforts
Three UC Berkeley graduate students in Haiti are safe in the wake of a magnitude 7.0 earthquake that ravaged Port-au-Prince and its environs on Tuesday, killing tens of thousands of people in the impoverished Caribbean nation.
(14 January)
Low-income high-achievers lift their sights at Berkeley
For more than a decade, SAGE Scholars Program has helped low-income Berkeley students learn how to navigate their way through the institution and into successful careers and graduate studies.
(14 January)
Fall 2010 applications up, officials use new outreach tools
More than 50,000 student applicants, a record number, have applied for admission to the University of California, Berkeley's fall 2010 freshman class, after campus admissions officials visited not only high schools but also chat rooms to connect with promising students.
(14 January)
Trees invading warming Arctic will cause warming over entire region, study shows
Once trees expand their range into the Arctic, their higher transpiration rate could well pump enough extra water into the atmosphere to warm the climate over the entire Arctic region, with positive feedback speeding the melting of sea ice.
(11 January)
For Berkeley alternative-energy project, big changes on the horizon
The Helios Energy Research Facility appears close to finding a new home west of the Berkeley campus — and to replacing a shuttered neighborhood eyesore with an eco-friendly building and public open space designed to spur downtown revitalization as it seeks solutions to global climate change.
(11 January)
Researcher's study sheds new light on math ability, gender equity
Marcia Linn, a University of California, Berkeley, professor of education known for exploring the teaching and learning of science and their connection to gender, is offering proof once again that girls' math abilities are just as good as boys'.
(11 January)
Dining halls join the trayless trend
Trays in Berkeley's dining commons have gone the way of panty raids and letter sweaters — they're a thing of the past. As of the start of spring semester this week, Berkeley is joining the trend sweeping college campuses nationwide and eliminating most of the black plastic trays used in the Crossroads, Foothill, Clark Kerr, and Café 3 dining halls.
(11 January)
Chancellor comments on governor's State of the State address
(08 January)