science wire

Scientists decode brain waves to eavesdrop on what we hear
Neuroscientists may one day be able to hear the imagined speech of a patient unable to speak due to stroke or paralysis, according to University of California, Berkeley, researchers. Frequency spectrograms of the actual spoken words (top) and the sounds as reconstructed by two separate models based solely on recorded temporal lobe activity in a volunteer subject.

Restored wetlands rarely equal condition of original wetlands
Restored wetlands like this pond converted from agricultural use in Aragon, Spain, may look natural, but a new study shows that it can take hundreds of years for restored wetlands to accumulate the plant assemblages and carbon resources of a natural, undamaged wetland. Credit: David Moreno-Mateos/UC Berkeley Wetland restoration is a billion-dollar-a-year industry in the United States that aims to create ecosystems similar to those that disappeared over the past century.

Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life to open Jan. 22
The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life at the University of California, 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.

Media Advisory: Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life open house Jan. 22
ATTENTION: Reporters covering art, culture and higher education WHAT: The University of California, Berkeley's public opening of the new home of the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art & Life.

Howard Bern, expert on effects of hormones, has died at 91
Howard A. Bern, professor emeritus of integrative biology at the University of California, Berkeley, and a pioneer in understanding how hormones affect development, including that of the human fetus, died Jan.

Leaping lizards and dinosaurs inspire robot design
An African Agama lizard swings its tail upward to prevent pitching forward after a slip during take-off.

Study details how dengue infection hits harder second time around
http://www.berkeley.edu/news2/2011/12/dengue.flv As part of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's (HHMI) 2010 Holiday Lectures on Science, UC Berkeley's Eva Harris talked about her work with scientists and clinicians in Nicaragua on dengue over the past two decades. Here, several partners in Nicaragua talk about the impact of this collaboration.

F. Warren Hellman, philanthropist and friend of UC Berkeley, passes away
UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert J. Birgeneau issued the following statement on the passing of his dear and trusted friend: Berkeley - The University of California, Berkeley, mourns the lo

Disaster looms for gas cloud falling into Milky Way’s central black hole
A simulated view of the gas cloud (red orbit) now approaching the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy.

Climate change blamed for dead trees in Africa
Trees are dying in  the Sahel, a region in Africa south of the Sahara Desert, and human-caused climate change is to blame, according to a new study led by a scientist at the University of California, Berkeley. “Rainfall in the Sahel has dropped 20-30 percent in the 20th century, the world's most severe long-term drought since measurements from rainfall gauges began in the mid-1800s,” said study lead author Patrick Gonzalez, who conducted the study while he was a visiting scholar at UC Berkeley's Center for Forestry.

Research could help people with declining sense of smell
University of California, Berkeley, neuroscientists 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.

"Everyday Dogs" book depicts allure of man’s best friend
A new book from the University of California, Berkeley's Bancroft Library now hitting the holiday bookstore shelves gives fresh meaning to the term "dog days" by celebrating the powerful connections between people and their canine companions.

Researcher takes on ‘empathy fatigue’ in the workplace
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.

Record massive black holes discovered lurking in monster galaxies
University of California, Berkeley, astronomers have discovered the largest black holes to date - two monsters with masses equivalent to 10 billion suns that are threatening to consume anything, even light, within a region five times the size of our solar system.

Moore Foundation awards $6 million for earthquake early warning research
The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation has awarded $6 million to three West Coast universities to create a prototype earthquake early warning system for the Pacific Coast of the United States. The grant will allow seismologists at the University of California, Berkeley; California Institute of Technology (Caltech); and University of Washington, Seattle, in collaboration with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), to learn about the science of earthquakes and the best way to capture and analyze seismic data.

Taking bushmeat off the menu could increase child anemia
A new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, finds that consuming bushmeat had a positive effect on children's nutrition, raising complex questions about the trade-offs between human health and environmental conservation.

Update on Tuesday’s shooting at UC Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley, police this afternoon (Wednesday, Nov. 16) released more details about the student who was shot yesterday at the Haas School of Business and later died at Oakland's Highland Hospital.

Is a stranger genetically wired to be trustworthy You’ll know in 20 seconds
There's definitely something to be said for first impressions. New research from the University of California, Berkeley, suggests it can take just 20 seconds to detect whether a stranger is genetically inclined to being trustworthy, kind or compassionate.

Using ionized plasmas as cheap sterilizers for developing world
University of California, Berkeley, scientists have shown that ionized plasmas like those in neon lights and plasma TVs not only can sterilize water, but make it antimicrobial - able to kill bacteria - for as long as a week after treatment.

East Asia scholar Robert A. Scalapino dies at 92
Robert A. Scalapino, the Robson Research Professor of Government emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, and a renowned expert in the field of East Asian studies, died Monday, Nov.

Political scientist Harold Wilensky dies at age 88
Harold L. Wilensky, professor emeritus of political science at the University of California, Berkeley, died at his Berkeley, Calif., home on Sunday, Oct.

Intestinal stem cells respond to food by supersizing the gut
A new study from University of California, Berkeley, researchers demonstrates that adult stem cells can reshape our organs in response to changes in the body and the environment, a finding that could have implications for diabetes and obesity. Post-doc Lucy O'Brien explains how studying stem cells in fruit fly epithelial tissue – skin, glands and intestines, for example – can shed light on the role of adult stem cells in humans.

Campus dedicates Li Ka Shing Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences, philanthropist receives Berkeley Medal
Global entrepreneur and philanthropist Li Ka-shing visited UC Berkeley today (Friday, Oct. 21) to celebrate the new Li Ka Shing Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences that bears his name.

Cycads are not "living fossils" from Dinosaur Age
Today's cycads - plants famed as "living fossils" because they've survived since the last dinosaurs munched on them 65.5 million years ago - are really only a few million years old, according to a new study by University of California, Berkeley, scientists and their international team.

Village movement takes root among UC Berkeley’s dynamic elders
Need a ride to the doctor's office‘ Someone to clean out your rain gutter, accompany you to a movie or help write your memoir' If you're 50 or older, and pay your membership dues, Ashby Village may have just the right person for you.

Robotic roach gets wings, sheds light on evolution of flight
When engineers at the University of California, Berkeley, outfitted a six-legged robotic bug with wings in an effort to improve its mobility, they unexpectedly shed some light on the evolution of flight.

Kicking hybrids out of carpool lanes backfires, slowing traffic for all
The end of a California program granting free access to carpool lanes by solo drivers of hybrid cars has unintentionally slowed traffic in all lanes, according to transportation engineers at the University of California, Berkeley.

Media Advisory: Physics Nobelist Saul Perlmutter to speak at reception today
ATTENTION: Science writers, general assignment and photo desks WHAT: A celebratory reception for Physics Nobelist Saul Perlmutter hosted by the University of California, Berkeley, Department of Physics.

Survey gives clues to origin of Type Ia supernovae
The largest survey to date of distant exploding stars is giving astronomers new clues to what's behind the Type Ia supernovae they use to measure distances across the cosmos. These stellar explosions helped astronomers conclude more than a decade ago that dark energy is accelerating the expansion of the universe, and today (Tuesday, Oct.

Saul Perlmutter awarded 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics
Saul Perlmutter, who led one of two teams that simultaneously discovered the accelerating expansion of the universe, has been awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics, to be shared with two members of the rival team.

Bioengineers reprogram muscles to combat degeneration
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have turned back the clock on mature muscle tissue, coaxing it back to an earlier stem cell stage to form new muscle.

Researchers give low marks to California’s English proficiency test for kindergarteners
Most of the thousands of four- and five-year-olds who take California's official test for English language proficiency before they start kindergarten are bound to fail that exam, according to a new University of California, Berkeley, study.

UC Berkeley volcano expert Ian Carmichael has died at 81
Ian S. E. Carmichael, a professor of earth and planetary science at the University of California, Berkeley, and an expert on volcanoes and the underground processes that shape them, died peacefully at his home in Berkeley on Aug.

With streamlined regulations, in-law units could boost East Bay affordable housing stock and economy, study finds
Streamlined regulations are needed to pave the way for homeowners interested in building in-law/secondary units on their property around five Berkeley, Oakland and El Cerrito BART stations and in nearby flatlands, according to a University of California, Berkeley, feasibility study.

New research points to lessons from Dutch cannabis system
The Netherlands's system of quasi-legal retail marijuana sales - steadily evolving since 1976 - may have modestly increased the number of marijuana users, but does not seem to have intensified their

Tinnitus discovery could lead to new ways to stop the ringing
Neuroscientists at the University of California, Berkeley, are offering hope to the 10 percent of the population who suffer from tinnitus - a constant, often high-pitched ringing or buzzing in the ears that can be annoying and even maddening, and has no cure. Their new findings, published online last week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , suggest several new approaches to treatment, including retraining the brain, and new avenues for developing drugs to suppress the ringing.

Ferroelectrics could pave way for ultra-low power computing
Engineers at the University of California, Berkeley, have shown that it is possible to reduce the minimum voltage necessary to store charge in a capacitor, an achievement that could reduce the power draw and heat generation of today's electronics. “Just like a Formula One car, the faster you run your computer, the hotter it gets.

Success of amphibian social networking spawns Reptile BioBlitz
An army sergeant in Iraq posted to Facebook a photo of a Lemon-yellow Tree Frog he encountered in a latrine, while a student participating in a scientific expedition in Costa Rica snagged a photo of a toad biologists had thought extinct.

Gene sleuths trace tree-killing pathogen back to California
A row of Italian cypress trees near Siena, a city in Italy's Tuscany region, show symptoms of cypress canker disease. Researchers have traced the origin of the pathogen responsible for the disease back to California. (Photo by Robert Danti, Italian National Research Council) Genetic detective work by an international group of researchers may have solved a decades-long mystery of the source of a devastating tree-killing fungus that has hit six of the world's seven continents.

Fall classes begin this week at UC Berkeley

Storing vertebrates in the cloud
A trumpet fish and tiger shark, two vertebrate species represented in the world's museum collections.

UC Berkeley robotics expert named among world’s top young innovators
Pieter Abbeel, a University of California, Berkeley, professor known for his novel work in the field of machine learning in robotics ‘ including robots that can fold laundry ' has been named to a prestigious list of 35 of the world's top young innovators by Technology Review magazine.

Forum on breaking the cycle of violence to draw experts, producer of The Interrupters documentary film
New ways to prevent or reduce community violence will be the topic of a Tuesday, Sept.

Elaine Tennant named new Bancroft Library director
BERKELEY — Elaine Tennant, a medieval and early modern specialist in the German and Scandinavian departments at the University of California, Berkeley, will become the James D. Hart Director of UC Berkeley's Bancroft Library starting in September.

Joint campus and city police safety patrol resumes tonight
Last year's successful launch of a new joint police patrol by the University of California Police Department and the Berkeley Police Department to improve public safety at night in the city's Southside neighborhoods will resume tonight (Thursday, Aug.