http://newscenter.berkeley.edu News from the University of California, Berkeley Mon, 20 May 2013 23:39:36 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/05/16/musiccolors/ http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/05/16/musiccolors/#comments Thu, 16 May 2013 17:00:27 +0000 Yasmin Anwar http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=34640 Whether we’re listening to Bach or the blues, our brains are wired to make music-color connections depending on how the melodies make us feel, according to new research from UC Berkeley. For instance, Mozart’s jaunty Flute Concerto No. 1 in G major is most often associated with bright yellow and orange, whereas his dour Requiem in D minor is more likely to be linked to dark, bluish gray. ]]> http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/05/16/musiccolors/feed/ 0 http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/05/14/wireless-signals-for-brain-trauma-diagnostics/ http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/05/14/wireless-signals-for-brain-trauma-diagnostics/#comments Tue, 14 May 2013 21:00:20 +0000 Sarah Yang http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=34483 New technology developed at UC Berkeley is using wireless signals to provide real-time, non-invasive diagnoses of brain swelling or bleeding. The device could potentially become a cost-effective tool for medical diagnostics and to triage injuries in areas where access to medical care, especially medical imaging, is limited. ]]> http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/05/14/wireless-signals-for-brain-trauma-diagnostics/feed/ 0 http://chemistry.berkeley.edu/publications/news/2013/clark_tapped_to_be_chemistry_dean.php http://chemistry.berkeley.edu/publications/news/2013/clark_tapped_to_be_chemistry_dean.php#comments Thu, 09 May 2013 23:44:50 +0000 Robert Sanders http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=34636 Douglas Clark, the current chair of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and the Warren and Katharine Schlinger Distinguished Professor in Chemical Engineering, has been designated the new dean of the College of Chemistry.]]> http://chemistry.berkeley.edu/publications/news/2013/clark_tapped_to_be_chemistry_dean.php/feed/ 0 http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/05/08/motion-vision/ http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/05/08/motion-vision/#comments Wed, 08 May 2013 16:36:15 +0000 Yasmin Anwar http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=34352 How does San Francisco Giants slugger Pablo Sandoval swat a 95 mph fastball, or tennis icon Venus Williams see the oncoming ball, let alone return her sister Serena’s 120 mph serves? For the first time, vision scientists at UC Berkeley have pinpointed how the brain tracks fast-moving objects.]]> http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/05/08/motion-vision/feed/ 0 http://innovations.coe.berkeley.edu/vol7-issue3-april13/lgbt-community-for-stem-majors.html http://innovations.coe.berkeley.edu/vol7-issue3-april13/lgbt-community-for-stem-majors.html#comments Tue, 30 Apr 2013 18:17:32 +0000 Public Affairs http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=34580 An appreciation for diversity and a passion for energizing student life led Paul Zarate,a senior majoring in mechanical engineering, to found the Berkeley chapter of Out in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (oSTEM), a national organization dedicated to the professional development of LGBT students.]]> http://innovations.coe.berkeley.edu/vol7-issue3-april13/lgbt-community-for-stem-majors.html/feed/ 0 http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/04/26/psychologists-emoticons/ http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/04/26/psychologists-emoticons/#comments Fri, 26 Apr 2013 19:30:19 +0000 Yasmin Anwar http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=34550 Emoticons not expressing the full complexity of your feelings? UC Berkeley psychologist Dacher Keltner and his team at the campus’s Greater Good Science Center can help. They have assisted in creating a nuanced Facebook sticker package based on a character named “Finch,” inspired by scientist Charles Darwin.]]> http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/04/26/psychologists-emoticons/feed/ 0 http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/04/25/malaria-milestone-took-a-village/ http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/04/25/malaria-milestone-took-a-village/#comments Fri, 26 Apr 2013 01:00:35 +0000 Robert Sanders http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=34500 On April 25, World Malaria Day, the non-profit Zagaya released a video Illustrating why, in the words of UC Berkeley synthetic biologist Jay Keasling, “it took a village” to create an accessible treatment for malaria that will be essential to eradicating the disease.]]> http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/04/25/malaria-milestone-took-a-village/feed/ 0 http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/04/24/ten-uc-berkeley-faculty-named-to-american-academy-of-arts-sciences/ http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/04/24/ten-uc-berkeley-faculty-named-to-american-academy-of-arts-sciences/#comments Wed, 24 Apr 2013 17:17:28 +0000 Robert Sanders http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=34527 Ten Berkeley professors have been named members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a prestigious 233-year-old honorary society of national leaders from academia, business, public affairs and the humanities.]]> http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/04/24/ten-uc-berkeley-faculty-named-to-american-academy-of-arts-sciences/feed/ 0 http://vcresearch.berkeley.edu/bakarfellows/packing-power http://vcresearch.berkeley.edu/bakarfellows/packing-power#comments Wed, 24 Apr 2013 17:00:41 +0000 Public Affairs http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=34526 Tanja Cuk (pronounced "chook"), an assistant professor of chemistry, is testing how to optimize new devices for both power delivery and energy storage. Her focus is an alternative to conventional batteries called a "supercapacitor."]]> http://vcresearch.berkeley.edu/bakarfellows/packing-power/feed/ 0 http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/04/21/brainsearchparty/ http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/04/21/brainsearchparty/#comments Sun, 21 Apr 2013 17:00:54 +0000 Yasmin Anwar http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=34465 A contact lens on the bathroom floor, an escaped hamster in the backyard, a car key in a bed of gravel: How are we able to focus so sharply to find that proverbial needle in a haystack? UC Berkeley scientists have discovered that when we embark on a targeted search, various visual and non-visual regions of the brain mobilize to track down a person, animal or thing.]]> http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/04/21/brainsearchparty/feed/ 0 http://newsroom.haas.berkeley.edu/article/haas-faculty-launch-crowdfunding-campaign-solar-light-research-uganda http://newsroom.haas.berkeley.edu/article/haas-faculty-launch-crowdfunding-campaign-solar-light-research-uganda#comments Fri, 19 Apr 2013 08:00:40 +0000 Public Affairs http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=34491 Three Haas professors are bypassing traditional grants and going straight to crowdfunding to raise money for a study on how to get people in rural Uganda to replace dangerous kerosene lanterns with life-changing solar lamps.]]> http://newsroom.haas.berkeley.edu/article/haas-faculty-launch-crowdfunding-campaign-solar-light-research-uganda/feed/ 0 http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/04/19/cal-day-launched-graduating-seniors-berkeley-experience/ http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/04/19/cal-day-launched-graduating-seniors-berkeley-experience/#comments Fri, 19 Apr 2013 08:00:19 +0000 Gretchen Kell http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=34484 Senior Ahn-Thi Le's UC Berkeley journey began with Cal Day, when she fell in love with the campus. Now, after following a path that took her to India to work with rural artisans and to a place in the CellScope initiative improving health care in Vietnam, Le is about to graduate.]]> http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/04/19/cal-day-launched-graduating-seniors-berkeley-experience/feed/ 0 http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/04/18/deepwater-horizon/ http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/04/18/deepwater-horizon/#comments Thu, 18 Apr 2013 22:35:23 +0000 Sarah Yang http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=34432 Bob Bea, UC Berkeley professor of civil engineering and an internationally recognized veteran of disaster investigations, shared his assessment of the Deepwater Horizon blowout at an April 17 talk on campus. He called the event a "system disaster" that exemplified a "failure to learn" from past mistakes.]]> http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/04/18/deepwater-horizon/feed/ 0 http://www.ischool.berkeley.edu/newsandevents/news/20130416dronelab http://www.ischool.berkeley.edu/newsandevents/news/20130416dronelab#comments Tue, 16 Apr 2013 17:38:27 +0000 Carol Ness http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=34443 Don't be surprised to spot small, unpiloted machines buzzing in the air around South Hall and environs. They're part of the Drone Lab, a small team of School of Information students who are exploring drones' positive uses — and reinventing them in the public eye as something other than high-tech killing machines. With video. ]]> http://www.ischool.berkeley.edu/newsandevents/news/20130416dronelab/feed/ 0 http://www.law.berkeley.edu/15180.htm http://www.law.berkeley.edu/15180.htm#comments Fri, 12 Apr 2013 16:35:28 +0000 Public Affairs http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=34411 A new report on fracking in California warns of potentially irreversible contamination of surface and groundwater near oil drilling sites, unless the technique is carefully monitored and controlled. "Regulation of Hydraulic Fracturing in California: A Wastewater and Water Quality Perspective" is an independent analysis produced by Berkeley Law scholars.]]> http://www.law.berkeley.edu/15180.htm/feed/ 0 http://vcresearch.berkeley.edu/news/wresting-new-tricks-python-fernando-perez-wins-2012-award-advancement-free-software http://vcresearch.berkeley.edu/news/wresting-new-tricks-python-fernando-perez-wins-2012-award-advancement-free-software#comments Thu, 11 Apr 2013 21:58:54 +0000 Robert Sanders http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=34402 Physicist and applied mathematician Fernando Pérez has received the Free Software Foundation’s 2012 Award for the Advancement of Free Software for his open-source application iPython, which makes it easier for scientists to use the powerful Python programming language to crunch Big Data.]]> http://vcresearch.berkeley.edu/news/wresting-new-tricks-python-fernando-perez-wins-2012-award-advancement-free-software/feed/ 0 http://www.uspto.gov/patents/init_events/patents_for_humanity/awards2013.jsp http://www.uspto.gov/patents/init_events/patents_for_humanity/awards2013.jsp#comments Thu, 11 Apr 2013 21:28:19 +0000 Robert Sanders http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=34394 The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office honored UC Berkeley's technology transfer office for its socially responsible licensing to provide low-cost treatments and technologies to people in developing countries, highlighted by the successful licensing of a discovery leading to a newly launched yeast-derived malaria drug. Other projects are nutritionally fortified sorghum & disease-resistant crops.]]> http://www.uspto.gov/patents/init_events/patents_for_humanity/awards2013.jsp/feed/ 0 http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/04/11/launch-of-antimalarial-drug-a-triumph-for-uc-berkeley-synthetic-biology/ http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/04/11/launch-of-antimalarial-drug-a-triumph-for-uc-berkeley-synthetic-biology/#comments Thu, 11 Apr 2013 11:00:59 +0000 Robert Sanders http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=34168 The best therapy today for malaria is a drug combination that includes a derivative of artemisinin, now solely available from plants. On April 11, Sanofi began production of the first semi-synthetic version of artemisinin, derived from yeast developed by biotech company Amyris based on discoveries in the laboratory of Jay Keasling at UC Berkeley.]]> http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/04/11/launch-of-antimalarial-drug-a-triumph-for-uc-berkeley-synthetic-biology/feed/ 0 http://funginstitute.berkeley.edu/programs/venture-lab-competition-2013 http://funginstitute.berkeley.edu/programs/venture-lab-competition-2013#comments Wed, 10 Apr 2013 22:45:59 +0000 Public Affairs http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=34382 Campus students and post docs who seek to launch and grow a tech startup are invited to apply for funding, workspace and guidance from the Venture Lab competition. The contest deadline is April 17.]]> http://funginstitute.berkeley.edu/programs/venture-lab-competition-2013/feed/ 0 http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/04/02/campus-poised-to-join-obamas-brain-initiative/ http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/04/02/campus-poised-to-join-obamas-brain-initiative/#comments Tue, 02 Apr 2013 17:40:54 +0000 Robert Sanders http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=34294 President Barack Obama has announced a major national initiative to understand how the brain works and how it goes awry. Neuroscientist John Ngai, chemist Paul Alivisatos and chemical engineer Jay Keasling were on hand at the White House to lend support to the so-called BRAIN initiative, which Ngai termed "our moon project."]]> http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/04/02/campus-poised-to-join-obamas-brain-initiative/feed/ 0