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Two UC Berkeley doctoral candidates have found more precise dates for when bacteria invaded the one-celled ancestors of plants and animals to become energy-producing mitochondria and photosynthesizing chloroplasts. They found that the cyanobacterial invasion of plants took place millions of years more recently than thought.
Press Release archive
The verdict on tiger-parenting? Studies point to poor mental health
June 18, 2013: Long before Amy Chua’s provocative 2011 memoir,Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, raised the bar for tough-love parenting, psychologists at UC Berkeley were studying the effects of three kinds of child-rearing: authoritarian (too hard), permissive (too soft) and authoritative (combo). Now, with the recent release of Berkeley alumna Kim Wong Keltner’s memoir, Tiger Babies Strike Back, along with other scholarly works and testimonials, the results are in.
Research News Brief
June 12, 2013: Research News Brief: Neuroscientists find that people summarize sound sequences in a study that could help improve speech recognition programs and hearing aids.
Researchers develop easy and effective therapy to restore sight
June 12, 2013: Gene therapy using adeno-associated virus (AAV) has successfully restored sight to people with a rare inherited retinal degeneration, but current therapy requires injecting the virus directly into the retina. UC Berkeley researchers have evolved AAV so that it is able to penetrate the retina, allowing doctors to inject the virus and its gene load into the vitreous to reach all cells of the retina.
Nobel laureate to discuss temperature and fate of universe
June 5, 2013: Nobel laureate Eric A. Cornell will give a free public lecture at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, June 11, titled “Lazy vs. sloppy: The epic story of energy, entropy, temperature, the ultimate fate of the universe and the role of divine intervention.” Cornell’s talk is part of the 21st International Conference on Laser Spectroscopy hosted by UC Berkeley.
With global warming, will iguanas grow as big as Komodo dragons?
June 4, 2013: Based on fossils in the Museum of Paleontology, scientists have identified a giant vegetarian lizard that roamed South Asia 40 million years ago, suggesting that plant-eating lizards can grow larger in warmer periods – and perhaps in our planet’s warming future.
To improve today’s concrete, do as the Romans did
June 4, 2013: In a quest to make concrete more durable and sustainable, a UC Berkeley-led team of geologists and engineers has found inspiration in the ancient Romans, whose massive concrete structures have withstood the elements for more than 2,000 years.
Chancellor’s Community Partnership Fund announces new awards
May 31, 2013: The Chancellor’s Community Partnership Fund (CCPF) today (May 31) announced the 2013-14 award recipients for projects focusing on education, the arts, math and sciences.
Scientists capture first images of molecules before and after reaction
May 30, 2013: Using atomic force microscopy, chemist Felix Fischer and physicist Michael Crommie have for the first time captured images of molecules before and after they react, which will allow chemists to better tune reactions to get the products they want.
Research News Brief 
May 28, 2013: Research News Brief: BIoengineers make strides in soft robotics with new light-controlled hydrogel
Venturesome or virtual, more summer students study abroad or online
May 28, 2013: Reflecting the contrasts of contemporary scholarship, the number of UC Berkeley students studying or working abroad this summer has multiplied, as has the number of students taking courses from their home desktops or laptops.
World’s top scientists: California & nations must act now on environment
May 23, 2013: At the request of California Gov. Jerry Brown, UC Berkeley biologist Tony Barnosky prepared with 15 other scientists a consensus statement about the environmental problems endangering Earth and what policy makers should do about it, and garnered more than 500 signatures before presenting it to Brown on May 23.
Campus to share expertise with Middle Eastern research center
May 22, 2013: UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau signed a memorandum of understanding in April, committing the campus to sharing scientific and technical expertise with a new X-ray research center under construction in Jordan. The center, called SESAME, unites scientists from throughout the Middle East.
Help wanted: Public needed to uncover clues in natural history collections
May 22, 2013: UC Berkeley’s Essig Museum of Entomology is opening up its collections to citizen scientists through a project called Calbug. The project crowdsources the digitization of a million handwritten field notes that accompany insect specimens, many of which were collected more than a century ago.
Media Advisory: Gov. Jerry Brown to address 2013 political science graduates
May 17, 2013: California Gov. Jerry Brown will address UC Berkeley political science graduates May 20.
Media Advisory: Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak to Address Berkeley’s 2013 Graduates
May 16, 2013:
Apple co-founder, Silicon Valley icon, and philanthropist Steve Wozniak, a UC Berkeley alumnus, will deliver the commencement address. The event will also include remarks by outgoing Chancellor Robert Birgeneau and this year’s top graduating senior Ritankar Das, a double major in bioengineering and chemical biology from Fremont, Calif. During the ceremony, Das will receive the University Medal for his scholarship, public service and humanity.
Bach to the blues, our emotions match music to colors
May 16, 2013: 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 somber Requiem in D minor is more likely to be linked to dark, bluish gray.
Wireless signals could transform brain trauma diagnostics
May 14, 2013: 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.
Racial minorities live on the front lines of heat risk, study finds
May 14, 2013: Some racial groups are more likely to bear the brunt of extreme heat waves because of where they live, finds a new UC Berkeley study. The study highlight racial disparities at a time when the frequency and intensity of extreme heat waves is expected to increase with climate change.
Eric Holder, Jerry Brown, Steve Wozniak among graduation speakers
May 9, 2013: U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and California Gov. Jerry Brown are among the political leaders, innovators and pundits set to address newly minted UC Berkeley graduates at ceremonies starting this weekend (May 11-12).
An 18-year-old wunderkind named top graduating senior
May 9, 2013: Ritankar Das, 18, double major in bioengineering and chemical biology, is the youngest University Medalist in more than a century. He will be graduating from UC Berkeley in only three years with more than 200 credits and a GPA of 3.99.
Heady mathematics: Describing popping bubbles in a foam
May 9, 2013: Applied mathematicians James Sethian and Robert Saye from UC Berkeley and Berkeley Lab have discovered a way to mathematically describe the evolution of bubbles in a foam, and have used the equations to create a computer-generated video showing how the process proceeds.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute names three new campus investigators
May 9, 2013: Three young faculty members – Nicole King, Michael Rape & Russell Vance – have won the most sought-after appointment for a researcher at any American university: as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. The institute will pay their salaries in the Department of Molecular & Cell Biology and provide research funding, freeing them from constant application for federal research grants.
Hit a 95 mph baseball? Scientists pinpoint how we see it coming
May 8, 2013: 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.
Poison lips? Troubling levels of toxic metals found in cosmetics
May 2, 2013: UC Berkeley researchers found lead, cadmium, chromium, aluminum and five other metals in a sample of 32 different lipsticks and lip glosses commonly found in drugstores and department stores. Some of the metals were detected at levels that could raise potential health concerns.
Is antimatter anti-gravity?
April 30, 2013: Most physicists suspect that antimatter and normal matter weigh the same, that is, they are affected the same way by gravity. No direct measurements exist, however, that prove they do. UC Berkeley scientists, part of the ALPHA collaboration at CERN, are working on just such an experiment and have some very rough results.
White House honors student working to stop human trafficking
April 29, 2013: Graduate student Minh Dang has been named a White House Champion of Change. She is among a group of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander women cited for extraordinary commitment to their communities and the nation.
Media Advisory: May 3 public talk by Fabiola Gianotti, co-discoverer of Higgs boson
April 25, 2013: Physicist Fabiola Gianotti, co-discoverer of the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva, Switzerland, will deliver a free public lecture, “The Higgs Boson and Our Life.” The talk is part of a 3-day celebration of UC Berkeley physicist Bruno Zumino, whose theory of supersymmetry has emerged as a possible explanation for the variety of fundamental particles seen in nature.
Ten Berkeley faculty named to American Academy of Arts and Sciences
April 24, 2013: 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.
People care about the source of cash, attach less value to ‘tainted’ wealth
April 23, 2013: It’s no accident that money obtained through dishonest or illegal means is called “dirty money.” A new UC Berkeley study suggests that when people perceive money as morally tainted, they also view it as having less value and purchasing power, challenging the belief that all money is green, and that people will cross ethical boundaries to amass it.
