Prescribed Burns Saved Thousands of Giant Sequoias

When two major wildfires burned through the Sierra Nevada in 2020 and 2021, they took thousands of giant sequoia trees with them. Without prescribed burns, thousands more would have died, according to...

ucdavis.edu

The Fungus That Spoils Nearly Everything

UC Davis scientists discovered gray mold adapts to different crops, revealing why decades of disease-resistant breeding failed.

ucdavis.edu

A DNA-Organizing Protein Offers New Insight into Infertility, IVF and Generational Health

The causes of male infertility can be hard to diagnose, with many tests failing to detect genetic defects. Sometimes, infertility doesn’t even involve the genes themselves. It can arise from improper ...

ucdavis.edu

A DNA-Organizing Protein Offers New Insight into Infertility, IVF and Generational Health

The causes of male infertility can be hard to diagnose, with many tests failing to detect genetic defects. Sometimes, infertility doesn’t even involve the genes themselves. It can arise from improper ...

ucdavis.edu

This Single Mother Must Learn Quickly — Or Her Colony Won’t Survive

Being a single mother of 20 is no joke, especially if the survival of a whole species depends on it. A queen bumblebee faces this very challenge when she lays her first eggs in the spring: She is utte...

ucdavis.edu

A Fresh Approach to Peppermint

The genomics of peppermint are not as fresh as their flavor but scientists from the University of California, Davis, have found a way to breathe new genetic variation into the species.

ucdavis.edu

Scientists Dispute Hypothesis That Climate Change Will Unleash Massive Ag Pest Populations

The widespread hypothesis that climate warming will result in unprecedented agricultural pest populations and cause food insecurity worldwide is oversimplified, according to a new study by a team led ...

ucdavis.edu

Could Cultured Chocolate Unlock the Next Food Revolution?

Researchers at the University of California, Davis, are working with California Cultured, a Sacramento based food-tech company, to keep chocolate affordable and sustainable by growing everyone’s favor...

ucdavis.edu

A Baby Bird’s Wishlist: Mild Weather, Attentive Parents, Not Being the Smallest Sibling

Experiences in the first days and weeks of life can have a profound impact on humans — and birds. A new study led by Sage Madden, a graduate student in evolution and ecology at the University of Calif...

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Egghead Weekend Basket for May 8

This week in UC Davis science news, we go from the far reaches of the Universe to the human heart, survey western wildfires and take a trip to Alcatraz.

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Children with Rare, Debilitating Brain Diseases Suffer From Mutations in a Little-Known Protein Complex

Thousands of times per year, a family’s moment of joy turns to unexpected grief. A seemingly healthy infant stops smiling or making eye contact. Their limbs grow weak. The tiny child suffers seizures ...

ucdavis.edu

Study Projects Plant Extinction Rates Through 2100

A UC Davis study in Science found that 7% to 16% of global plant species studied face high risk of extinction by 2100 under current climate change projections.

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Forest Fuel Treatments Reduce Wildfire Spread, Prevent $2.8 Billion in Damage

A UC Davis study finds every dollar spent on forest fuel treatments saves $3.75 in wildfire damages.

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Study Projects Plant Extinction Rates Through 2100

A UC Davis study in Science found that 7% to 16% of global plant species studied face high risk of extinction by 2100 under current climate change projections.

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A Global Effort to Decode the Ocean’s Most Productive “Hotspots”

While they cover less than 1% of the ocean’s surface, the world’s four major upwelling zones are biological powerhouses. Located along the coasts of California, Chile, Portugal, and South Africa, thes...

marinescience.ucdavis.edu

Coyote Likely Swam Nearly Two Miles To Reach Alcatraz Island, Says Park Service

A male coyote that became famous after swimming to Alcatraz Island in January likely came from Angel Island State Park, according to National Park Service researchers, who used DNA from the coyote’s s...

nationalparkstraveler.org

Bay Area Beaches Are Chock-Full of Mysterious Blue Creatures Again. Here’s How to See Them | KQED

Why are all those Velella velella — also known as “by-the-wind sailors” — washing up in the Bay Area right now, and where to spot them.

kqed.org

Plants Walk a Fine Line Between Growth and Defense

Salicylic acid, the active molecule in aspirin and some acne medications, is a hormone in plants that is essential for immunity, but it’s a double-edged sword: Too much can cause autoimmunity and stun...

ucdavis.edu

Cold Hands, Warm Heart — Researchers Solve Medical Mystery

The saying “cold hands, warm heart” is usually meant metaphorically — but new research from UC Davis School of Medicine and collaborating institutions suggests it has a striking biological parallel.

ucdavis.edu

Non-Rotating Early Galaxy Is a Surprise to Astronomers

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have made a surprising discovery about a galaxy long, long ago and far, far away: It isn’t rotating.

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Climate Change Increases Spillover Risk of Rodent-Borne Arenaviruses

Climate change is likely to drive rodent-borne arenaviruses into parts of South America that have never faced these diseases, putting new communities of people at risk, finds a study from the Universi...

ucdavis.edu

National Academy of Sciences Elects UC Davis Maize Geneticist Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra

The National Academy of Sciences has elected Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra, professor in the Department of Evolution and Ecology at University of California, Davis, as a member. His election was announced April...

ucdavis.edu

Identifying Genetic Causes of Blindness in People and Macaques

An inherited form of blindness directly comparable to a common inherited optic nerve disease in humans has been discovered in rhesus macaques at the California National Primate Research Center at the ...

ucdavis.edu

Fish Evolution Accelerated After Adapting to Eat off Hard Surfaces

Why are there so many of species of coral reef fish? According to a new study, it’s because about 50 million years ago, some fish figured out how to bite food from hard surfaces. Evolution doesn’t pro...

ucdavis.edu

Stop-and-Go Science: Researchers Pivot to Try to Salvage Important Work

When climate change is faster than the speed of science and unstable funding threatens discovery, UC Davis scientists pivot to try to save important research.

ucdavis.edu

Grassland Bird Diversity in Sacramento County

Across an expanse of open grassland in Sacramento County, an eight-foot, stream cut bank holds dozens of mud-domed bird nests, where tiny heads peeked out before a colony of cliff swallows took flight...

caes.ucdavis.edu

Egghead Weekend Basket for April 24

This week's round up of research ranges from plant clones to wildfires with a detour into helping families in poverty. Also, geese. Propagating plants without mutationsA cool thing about plants is tha...

ucdavis.edu

Not All Clones Are Created Equal

Plant scientists use clones for their research, but they’re different from the kind people grow from cuttings. Scientists grow these clones in Petri dishes by the thousands, along with a potential hea...

ucdavis.edu