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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.
Press Release 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.
On-site worker rescue plan urged for confined spaces
February 13, 2012: Many employers rely upon public fire departments to rescue workers in confined spaces. That is a mistake, according to a UC Berkeley analysis of hundreds of worker deaths over 13 years in the United States. Companies need to station trained, rescue personnel on site so they can pull workers out within moments in an emergency, the study concludes.
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.
Lost passport in Paris connects med student to ’49 Berkeley alumna
February 6, 2012: Betty Werther made a beeline for Paris after graduating from UC Berkeley in 1949 and embarked on a life of travel, romance and adventure. Somewhere along the road, she lost her passport. More than 60 years later, a young Portuguese medical student is heading to Paris to return the tattered, 1950-issued passport to Werther.
Scientists decode brain waves to eavesdrop on what we hear 
January 31, 2012: Stroke victims or paralyzed people unable to speak may someday be able to communicate via synthesizers that decode their internal speech and play it back. That hope comes from research by UC Berkeley neuroscientists Brian Pasley and Robert Knight, who have successfully decoded brain waves to predict what a person heard.
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.
Lifelong brain-stimulating habits linked to lower Alzheimer’s protein levels
January 23, 2012: People who have made mental engagement a lifelong habit have lower levels of a key protein linked to Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study led by UC Berkeley neuroscientists. The findings could provide support for cognitive therapies to prevent the onset of a debilitating disease.
Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life to open Jan. 22 
January 19, 2012: The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life at UC Berkeley’s Bancroft Library, the latest addition to the city’s burgeoning downtown arts and culture district, is opening to the public on Sunday, Jan. 22.
Media Advisory: North Korean crossroads
January 17, 2012:
Experts will assemble on campus Friday to assess North Korea
Gossip isn’t all bad — new study finds its social and psychological benefits
January 17, 2012: For centuries, gossip has been dismissed as salacious, idle chatter that can damage reputations and erode trust. But a new study suggests rumor-mongering can have positive outcomes such as helping us police bad behavior, prevent exploitation and lower stress. Listen to UC Berkeley social psychologist Robb Willer discuss the virtues of gossip on KQED Forum.
Media Advisory: Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life open house Jan. 22
January 12, 2012:
The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life to welcome the public to its new home with a Jan. 22 open house.
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.
Leaping lizards and dinosaurs inspire robot design
January 4, 2012: Undergraduate and graduate students teamed up with biologist Robert Full to study how lizards use their tails when leaping. What they found can help design robots that are more stable on uneven terrain and after unexpected falls, which is critical to successful search and rescue operations.
Study details how dengue infection hits harder second time around
December 21, 2011: One of the most vexing challenges in the battle against dengue virus, a potentially fatal mosquito-borne virus, is that getting infected once can put people at greater risk for a more severe infection down the road. A new study with UC Berkeley researchers details how the interaction between a person’s immune response and a subsequent dengue infection could mean the difference between getting a mild fever and going into a fatal circulatory failure.
F. Warren Hellman, philanthropist and friend of UC Berkeley, passes away
December 19, 2011: UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert J. Birgeneau issued a statement on the passing of his dear and trusted friend, Warren Hellman.
Hong Kong businessman honors father, Woo Hon Fai, with major gift to UC Berkeley
December 19, 2011: David Woo, who began his career in 1967 as an architect working on the University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, has chosen to honor his late father, Woo Hon Fai — and to celebrate the now-historic structure — with a major gift to the campus.
Lower classes quicker to show compassion in the face of suffering
December 19, 2011: Emotional differences between the rich and poor, as depicted in such Charles Dickens classics as “A Christmas Carol” and “A Tale of Two Cities,” may have a scientific basis. Researchers at UC Berkeley have found that people in the lower socio-economic classes are more physiologically attuned to suffering, and quicker to express compassion than their more affluent counterparts.
Hubble images help pin down identity of August supernova’s companion star
December 15, 2011: Thanks to images obtained over the past nine years by the Hubble Space Telescope, UC Berkeley astronomers were able to narrow down the identity of the companion star to a supernova first observed in August. It was not a bright red giant or helium star, but probably a more modest star like the sun, a subgiant or even a white dwarf.
UC Berkeley launches groundbreaking middle-class financial aid plan
December 14, 2011: UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau announced on Wednesday, Dec. 14, a unique financial aid program to help students from middle-income families better afford a UC Berkeley education.
Disaster looms for gas cloud falling into Milky Way’s central black hole
December 14, 2011: Astronomers led by UC Berkeley’s Reinhard Genzel, also of the Max Planck Institute in Germany, have observed a cloud of gas several times the mass of Earth approaching the 4.3 million solar-mass black hole at the center of the Milky Way. Theorist Eliot Quataert calculates that the cloud will not survive the encounter, but will be heated and shredded in 2013.
Media Advisory: UC Berkeley to announce financial aid program for middle income families
December 13, 2011:
A media briefing at the University of California, Berkeley, to announce a new financial aid program to make the campus more affordable for middle-class families.
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.
Research could help people with declining sense of smell
December 7, 2011: UC Berkeley neuroscientist John Ngai and colleagues have discovered a genetic trigger that makes the nose renew its smell sensors, providing hope for new therapies for people who have lost their sense of smell due to trauma or old age.
Campus releases fall 2011 final enrollment data
December 7, 2011:
BERKELEY — Overall enrollment at the University of California, Berkeley, has increased by about 300 students to approximately 36,100 undergraduate and graduate students, according to final fall 2011 enrollment data released by campus officials today (Wednesday, Dec. 7). In all, 36,142 students enrolled for the fall 2011 semester, compared to 35,838 who enrolled in fall 2010. The fall 2011 data [...]
‘Everyday Dogs’ book depicts allure of man’s best friend
December 6, 2011: New book drawn from the Bancroft Library’s vast Pictorial Collection celebrates the powerful connections between people and pets.
UC Berkeley, AT&T collaborate to enhance campus network and Wi-Fi experience
December 6, 2011: AT&T plans to improve network and Wi-Fi coverage on the UC Berkeley campus in an effort to provide students, faculty, staff and visitors with better opportunities in mobile learning. The voice, data and Wi-Fi upgrades will take place over a period of 2-3 years, though some buildings are already seeing service improvements.
Researcher takes on ‘empathy fatigue’ in the workplace
December 6, 2011: A nurse refuses to help an ailing alcoholic who is upset to find a hospital detox unit closed. A hospital clerk brushes off a deceased woman’s grieving family as they try to pay her bills and claim her belongings. These harsh, real-life scenarios helped inspire Eve Ekman, a UC Berkeley doctoral student in social welfare, to study empathy burnout in the workplace, a condition expected to skyrocket this year due to the stress caused by the nation’s financial crisis.
