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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.
Press Release archive
Nation’s single-largest gift for scholarships to undocumented students announced 
December 13, 2012: A $1 million gift from the Haas, Jr. Fund, announced Tuesday, Dec. 11, will provide scholarship assistance for nearly 200 undocumented students on campus, who come from 20 different countries.
Cloud forest trees drink water through their leaves
December 12, 2012: Using water flow sensors and plastic “leaves” that sense wetness, UC Berkeley biologists have discovered that trees living in tropical mountaintop cloud forests drink through their leaves as well as their roots. Todd Dawson and Greg Goldsmith of integrative biology note, however, that studies show that the clouds are disappearing because of climate change.
December graduates to be celebrated at ceremony this Sunday
December 12, 2012:
ATTENTION: Reporters covering higher education; weekend assignment, photo and broadcast news desks WHAT: A campus-wide ceremony at the University of California, Berkeley, for December graduates. More than 2,900 undergraduate and graduate students are set to receive diplomas this semester. About 400 graduates are expected to participate in Sunday’s event, and at least 4,000 tickets have been distributed to the graduates [...]
Mexican American toddlers lag in preliteracy skills, but not in their social skills, new study shows
December 11, 2012: Mexican American preschoolers fall behind their white counterparts in terms of early language and preliteracy skills, but the social competencies between the two groups are indistinguishable, according to a new UC Berkeley/UCLA study.
Conservatives can be persuaded to care more about the environment, study finds
December 10, 2012: When it comes to climate change, deforestation and toxic waste, the assumption has been that conservative views are intractable. But new research from UC Berkeley suggests that such opinions can be changed with messages couched in terms of fending off threats to the “purity” and “sanctity” of Earth and our bodies.
Media adv: Dec. 10 event to celebrate EBI’s first five years
December 7, 2012:
A dedication ceremony to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI) at the University of California, Berkeley; the completion of the institute’s new home, the Energy Biosciences Building; and the inauguration of the Robert and Mary Catherine Birgeneau Energy Garden, which honors UC Berkeley’s outgoing chancellor and his wife for their support of science education and research.
Media ethicist Edward Wasserman to become new journalism school dean
December 7, 2012: Edward Wasserman, an authority on the ethics, evolution and ownership of the news media, will become dean of the Graduate School of Journalism.
New gene found that turns carbs into fat, could be target for future drugs
December 6, 2012: UC Berkeley researchers have identified a gene that plays a critical role in converting dietary carbohydrates into fat. The gene, called BAF60c, could eventually be important in the development of treatments for such diseases as fatty liver and diabetes.
Media Advisory: New Food Labor Research Center to be launched at UC Berkeley
December 5, 2012:
The Food Labor Research Center will hold an event celebrating its official launch on December 13.
Cal women’s crew to join “The Great Lung Run” on Golden Gate Bridge to honor former teammate
November 30, 2012: The women’s rowing team will run the last leg of a cross-country trek begun in July by the best friend of a beloved former teammate who died of lung cancer.
Let there be clean light: Kerosene lamps spew black carbon, should be replaced, study says
November 28, 2012: Kerosene lamps, the primary source of light for more than a billion people in developing nations, churns out black carbon at levels previously overlooked in climate warming estimates, according to a new study led by researchers at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The new findings result in a 20-fold increase to previous estimates of black carbon emissions from kerosene-fueled lighting. The good news is that affordable, cleaner alternatives exist.
New grant will accelerate job creation, economic development in East Bay
November 28, 2012: Bay Area Congressional leaders announced a $2.2 million investment by five federal agencies that will help create high quality regional jobs in bioscience and medicine manufacturing and make Northern California an epicenter for biotech careers and innovation.
Robert Lin, UC Berkeley pioneer in experimental space physics, dies at 70
November 21, 2012: Physicist Robert Peichung Lin, a former director of the Space Sciences Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, who designed and built dozens of instruments to study solar flares, the magnetic fields on the surface of the moon and Mars and the plasma environment of Earth, died suddenly of a stroke on Saturday, Nov. 17.
Eating estrogenic plants alters hormones in monkeys, may increase aggression and sex
November 19, 2012: Male red colobus monkeys that ate more of an estrogen-containing plant not only had higher levels of the hormones estradiol and cortisol in their systems, they were more aggressive, had more sex and groomed less. The finding that the consumption of plant-based hormones may have affected primate behavior suggests that it could have played an important role in primate evolution.
Flame retardants linked to neurodevelopmental delays in children
November 15, 2012: A new UC Berkeley study adds to the health concerns over flame retardants widely used in foam upholstered furniture. Researchers have found that children exposed to PBDEs in the womb and in early childhood had poorer attention, IQ and fine motor skills.
USAID invests up to $20 million in UC Berkeley’s global development initiatives
November 8, 2012: Recognizing UC Berkeley’s leadership in developing practical, innovative solutions for global problems, the U.S. Agency for International Development has awarded $20 million to establish a Development Impact Lab on campus.
Sweet diesel! Discovery resurrects process to convert sugar directly to diesel
November 7, 2012: A long-abandoned fermentation process is being resurrected by UC Berkeley chemists and chemical engineers to produce compounds to feed a catalytic reaction that produces a fuel that looks and acts just like diesel. The fuel has a higher energy content than ethanol, and could help replace nonrenewable transportation fuels.
Campus completes landmark Hewlett Challenge — more than two years ahead of schedule
November 5, 2012: The largest private gift ever to UC Berkeley — a $113 million dollar-for-dollar challenge gift in 2007 from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation — has inspired a sweeping number of donations and led to creation of 100 new endowed chairs. The campus has exceeded its own expectations in completing the Hewlett Challenge more than two years ahead of schedule, Chancellor Birgeneau announced Nov. 5.
Media Advisory: UC Berkeley presents Art & Science Gala at local gallery
November 2, 2012:
An Art & Science Gallery Gala, hosted by UC Berkeley, as part of this year’s Bay Area Science Festival t AT&T Park.
New GOTV efforts could help Latino voters achieve political potential, says researcher
October 31, 2012: Latino voters could realize their political potential with a few changes in get-out-the-vote efforts, according to a UC Berkeley political scientist.
Tabletop fault model reveals why some quakes lead to faster shaking
October 31, 2012: A new UC Berkeley study reveals that the more time an earthquake fault has to heal, the faster the shake it will produce when it finally ruptures. Because the rapidity and strength of the shaking are what causes damage to major structures, the new findings could help engineers better assess the vulnerabilities of buildings, bridges and roads.
Hermit crabs socialize to evict their neighbors
October 26, 2012: Most animals socialize to protect themselves from predators or to mate, but the terrestrial hermit crab has a more self-serving social agenda: to evict someone from its shell and take over a new and larger home. UC Berkeley Miller fellow Mark Laidre shows that this predatory socializing is a byproduct of the crab’s move from the ocean to land, where snail shells are less plentiful.
Study finds elevated levels of formaldehyde, other contaminants, in day care centers
October 25, 2012: A study of 40 child-care facilities in California found that most had levels of formaldehyde and a few other contaminants that exceeded exposure guidelines. The study by UC Berkeley researchers is the first to provide a detailed analysis of environmental contaminants and exposures for children in day care centers.
Did bacteria spark evolution of multicellular life?
October 24, 2012: A new study suggests that bacteria may have helped kick off one of the key events in evolution: the leap from one-celled organisms to many-celled organisms, a development that eventually led to animals, including humans.
Food Day report: Minimum-wage hike would raise food prices pennies, help millions
October 24, 2012: A new report released today, national Food Day 2012, says that a proposal pending in Congress to raise the minimum wage would increase retail food prices for American consumers by about 10 cents a day, while helping nearly 8 million food workers and 21 million other workers. Campus celebrates Food Day.
Don’t be so fast to judge a cat by its color, study warns
October 23, 2012: Just like humans, domestic cats are often judged by their color, and the media and folklore help perpetuate these stereotypes. Take the snobbish, aloof, white kitty who promotes Fancy Feast cat food, and spooky images of black cats, which can be associated with bad luck and witches, especially around Halloween. A new UC Berkeley study warns that typecasting cats according to their color can negatively affect adoption rates at shelters.
Keck observations reveal complex face of Uranus
October 17, 2012: Uranus is so far from Earth that telescopes have typically seen little more than a blue-green blur, but new techniques employed with the Keck II telescope in Hawaii are revealing complex surface detail reminiscent of the solar system’s other giant planets, including Saturn and Neptune.
Survey shows program boosts Latino parents’ child knowledge, confidence
October 16, 2012: Researchers at UC Berkeley report promising results from a five-year-old parenting program, Abriendo Puertas (“Opening Doors”), which significantly helps Latino parents prepare their young children to succeed in school.
College Information Day to be held this Saturday
October 10, 2012:
College Information Day, an event at the University of California, Berkeley, in which dozens of college and university representatives will give tips to college-bound students and their families.
Grants help scientists explore boundary between science & science fiction
October 5, 2012: Astronomer Geoff Marcy and cosmologist and string theorist Raphael Bousso are among 20 scientists awarded research grants to explore innovative and edgy areas of science. In the case of Marcy and Bousso, these areas are on the border between science and science fiction.
