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Composite headshots of M. Scott Shell and Beth Pruitt
Photo Credit
Matt Perko; courtesy
M. Scott Shell, left, and Beth Pruitt, right

A prestigious career honor for two elite engineers

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A large pile of small blue plastic objects rises from a relief map of Manhattan
Photo Credit
Courtesy Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory
This image of a blue plastic pile represents the cumulative amount of plastic waste that would be generated between 2010 and 2050 — enough to cover the entire island of Manhattan, and ten times the height of the Empire State Building — under a business-as-usual scenario where no aggressive policy actions are taken.

A ‘Paris Agreement for plastic’ could slash plastic pollution to almost zero
two blue-green mitochondria against a lighter blue-green background

Zen and the art of mitochondrial maintenance: The machinery of death makes a healthier life
abstracted blue green amine molecules

Chemistry professor Yang Yang receives a 2023 Packard Fellowship
a pink-colored droplet between yellow-bordered cells
Photo Credit
Courtesy Image

Researchers can now visualize osmotic pressure in living tissue
A pyramid of concept cards underpins a basilica on a laptop screen. Behind the computer is a more abstract pyramid of concepts floating above the desk.
Photo Credit
An illustration by Midjourney with the prompt: “A computer with clouds of equations and symbols.”
What an artificial intelligence displays on the screen reflects its internal representation of the world, which may be quite different than our own.

The mind of the machine
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Examining the effects of climate change and extreme weather on HIV
woman walking at labyrinth
Photo Credit
Elena Zhukova

Are sportier people better friends? New research looks at physical activity and close relationships
The head of a California red-legged frog peers out from lily pads
Photo Credit
Gary M. Fellers/USGS
California red-legged frog (Rana draytonii) surfaces in a pond in Point Reyes National Seashore, Calif.

Seeding climate solutions for California’s amphibian communities and iconic beaches
students at desks with laptops
Photo Credit
Elena Zhukova

Richert Wang receives NSF grant to help bring role models from marginalized communities to computer science students
illustration of blue and yellow circuitry

UCSB joins a federally sponsored regional innovation hub to help bolster microelectronics technology
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Giving rise to diversity in marine science, by way of mentorship and research
A humpback swims at the surface with fishing gear wrapped around its flukes.
Photo Credit
E. Lyman/ NOAA Sanctuaries
Less gear in the water means fewer chances for Whales to become entangled.

Reducing fishing gear could save whales with low impacts to California’s crab fishermen
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