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Archaeologists working in eastern Jordan have announced its discovery of 20,000-year-old hut structures, the earliest yet found in that country. Along with materials found in the huts, the find suggests the area was once intensively occupied and offers a new perspective on how humans lived at the time.
Environment archive
Yosemite’s alpine chipmunks take genetic hit from climate change
February 19, 2012: Global warming has driven Yosemite’s alpine chipmunks to higher ground, prompting a startling decline in the species’ genetic diversity. The genetic erosion occurred in the relatively short span of 90 years, highlighting the rapid threat changing climate can pose to a species, and putting the alpine chipmunk on a trajectory toward extinction.
Breakthrough in designing cheaper, more efficient catalysts for fuel cells
February 9, 2012: UC Berkeley chemists Chris Chang, Jeff Long and Marcin Majda have redesigned catalysts in ways that could have a profound impact on the chemical industry as well as on the growing market for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.
Advanced power-grid model finds low-cost, low-carbon future in West
February 9, 2012: The least expensive way for the Western U.S. to reduce greenhouse gas emissions enough to help prevent the worst consequences of global warming is to replace coal with renewable and other sources of energy that may include nuclear power, according to a new study by UC Berkeley researchers.
UC Berkeley grad student’s research spurred by Gulf oil spill 
February 8, 2012: Soon after the April 2010 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil platform killed 11 workers and spilled 5 million barrels of crude into the Gulf of Mexico, UC Berkeley graduate student Thomas Azwell packed his bags and headed to Louisiana. Azwell teamed up with researchers in the Gulf to develop marsh restoration technology that could impact remediation efforts nationwide.
The key to biofuel’s carbon footprint? Location, location, location
February 3, 2012: Determining the climate impact of using grass to make cellulosic ethanol depends on how and where it’s grown, processed and transported, according to a new study published in Environmental Research Letters. Key factors affecting the greenhouse-gas emissions of cellulosic ethanol production were the amount of soil carbon emitted or stored during growth of the grass, and greenhouse-gas offset credits for electricity exported to the grid by biorefineries, said the authors, who are UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory researchers at the Energy Biosciences Institute.
Officials successfully conclude Strawberry Creek cleanup effort
January 31, 2012: Authorities announced today (Wednesday, Feb. 1) the successful conclusion of diesel cleanup efforts at Strawberry Creek.
California native-plant classic gets a 21st-century makeover 
January 30, 2012: For California botany, The Jepson Manual is the authoritative reference book. Now the super-sized tome has been revised to incorporate a wealth of new knowledge about the state’s huge diversity of native plants. Scholars and staff at the Jepson Herbarium oversaw its 2nd edition, published by UC Press.
Remote sensing places nature at our fingertips
January 27, 2012: UC Berkeley geologist Bill Dietrich and biologist Todd Dawson are two of many UC scientists placing remote sensors in natural reserves to map land, track animals and collect environmental data.
Study shows restored wetlands rarely equal condition of original wetlands
January 24, 2012: Half of all wetlands in the United States were destroyed during the 20th century, but a thriving restoration effort aims to recreate the marshes and other ecosystems lost. A new UC Berkeley study cautions, however, that restored wetlands may not recover to the condition of a natural, undamaged wetland for hundreds of years, if ever.
UC’s green investments pay off
January 20, 2012: The University of California is saving $32 million a year on energy and remains the higher-education leader in adopting green-building standards. Those achievements and others are outlined in the “2011 UC Annual Report on Sustainable Practices.”
UCTC receives funding for new transportation research
January 19, 2012: The University of California Transportation Center (UCTC) on the UC Berkeley campus is overseeing a new research consortium of five other UC and four Cal State University campuses that just received a $3.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation and a matching amount from California’s Department of Transportation.
Grants for travel-free meetings extended
January 17, 2012: The campus’s Office of Sustainability is offering a small grant, funded by the Climate Action Fund, to promote the use of videoconferencing and web-based meeting tools as alternatives to in-person meetings that require travel by airplane. The program will run through March 2012 or until funds run out.
Diesel-truck emissions in Oakland fall sharply, study finds
January 17, 2012: Strict new emission standards for diesel trucks have reduced their emissions of unhealthy pollutants by half at the bustling Port of Oakland, says a team of researchers led by Rob Harley, professor of civil and environmental engineering. Writing in Environmental Science & Technology, Harley details improvements made as a result of aggressive new state regulations.
Creek cleanup winding down, enters monitoring phase
January 13, 2012: Officials announced today (Friday, Jan.13) that the active diesel-fuel cleanup effort at Strawberry Creek is winding down as the operation moves to a monitoring and maintenance phase.
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New shuttle-bus contract good news for riders, drivers
January 13, 2012: The campus’s stalled Bear Transit shuttle-bus program is moving again with a new vendor, new buses — and 17 veteran drivers whose jobs have hung in the balance for nearly three years.
Howard Bern, expert on effects of hormones, has died at 91
January 10, 2012: Howard A. Bern, professor emeritus of integrative biology at the UC Berkeley, and a pioneer in understanding how hormones affect development, including that of the human fetus, died Jan. 3 at his home in Berkeley after a nine-month battle with cancer. He was 91.
Biofuels, land and ethics
January 10, 2012: Growing dedicated energy crops on lands that won’t support food crops is one of the promises of emerging cellulosic fuels. The latest issue of the Energy Biosciences Institute magazine, Bioenergy Connection, looks at how much land is available, its energy-producing potential and which plants are the most promising alternatives. It also explores ethical questions involved in moving toward greater use of bioenergy.
Western bluebirds: Rx for vineyards plagued by insect pests?
January 6, 2012: Research by Berkeley postdoc researcher Julie Jedlicka suggests that encouraging bluebirds to nest in vineyards can help control insect pests. The San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/01/06/HO9H1MJ6UG.DTL#ixzz1ijIxLms9
Botanical art as ‘capturing a plant’s soul’
January 6, 2012: A camera can record a plant, but a botanical artist captures its soul, says botanical illustrator Catherine Watters in an audio interview with Paul Licht, director of the UC Botanical Garden. Works by Watters and other artists, along with classes and programs, will be featured at the Garden’s third-annual Plants Illustrated exhibition, Jan. 14 to Feb. 3.
Climate change and business research initiative gains traction
January 6, 2012: Environmentalists and corporations don’t always see eye-to-eye on climate change. But the Climate Change and Business Research Initiative has shown that the two sides’ objectives can not only co-exist, but be mutually beneficial. The program — connecting leaders from business, government, nonprofits — is run jointly by the law schools at UC Berkeley and UCLA.
People’s Park maintenance work underway
December 28, 2011:
Work crews are engaged in a maintenance project today (Wednesday, Dec. 28) in People’s Park, to make it more safe and sanitary.
Creek cleanup and notification continue
December 23, 2011: UC Berkeley officials, working with federal, state and local agencies, are distributing flyers to property owners who live along Strawberry Creek to bring them up to date on efforts to clean up diesel fuel that spilled on campus and into the creek on Dec. 10.
Wildlife researchers want your old socks
December 19, 2011: Those old or unpartnered socks clogging up your sock drawer are wanted by a Berkeley-led team of wildlife scientists studying the rare and elusive Pacific fisher in its Sierra habitat. Meat-stuffed socks are catnip to the furry little weasels, and chewing through the socks keeps them around long enough to be photographed. The project goes through 2,000 socks a year, so the researchers are appealing for sock donations.
At UC Botanical Garden, conifers from around the globe
December 13, 2011: Conifers have captured human imagination since ancient times, and winter is an opportune time to take in these magnificent trees. See a slide show of conifer species — from hemlock, fir and pine to cyprus and monkey puzzle — in the Bot Garden’s collection.
Can ‘carbon ranching’ offset emissions in California?
December 12, 2011: Could cultivating dense fields of weeds help mitigate climate change by soaking up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere? Berkeley scientists Dennis Baldocchi and Whendee Silver are exploring that possibility in California’s agricultural heartland, the San Joaquin Valley. National Public Radio reports.
Stanley Hall reopens after diesel fuel spill, cleanup efforts being assessed
December 12, 2011: Finals exams are underway at Stanley Hall, which reopened today following a weekend diesel fuel spill inside the building. A multi-agency crew is assessing cleanup efforts along Strawberrry Creek and at the Berkeley Marina, where some fuel traveled following the spill.
Climate change blamed for dead trees in Africa
December 12, 2011: Trees are dying in Africa’s Sahel, and human-caused climate change is to blame, according to a new study led by a scientist at UC Berkeley. Using climate change records, aerial and satellite images and field data, researchers found that one in five tree species disappeared in the past half-century. They attribute the tree deaths to the historic drops in rainfall and increased temperatures in the region.
Diesel fuel spill cleanup continues
December 11, 2011: Emergency crews by Sunday afternoon had removed hundreds of gallons of diesel fuel from Stanley Hall, where equipment failure on Saturday caused a diesel tank to overflow. The building was closed as the clean-up continued, but campus officials expected it to reopen by Monday morning, in time for the beginning of final exams.
Bacteria turn switchgrass into advanced biofuels
November 30, 2011: Jay Keasling and his colleagues at the Joint BioEnergy Institute have engineered bacteria to turn switchgrass – a hard to digest plant – into gasoline, diesel and jet fuels. This could vastly reduce the cost of producing plant-based fuels to replace fuels from oil and coal.
