51�ԹϺ�� Davis Driven by Curiosity News

Your Smart TV is Watching What You Watch

Andy Fell — December 18, 2024

If you’re thinking of buying a “smart” TV for the holidays, you ought to know that your new device is constantly capturing snapshots of what’s on screen and sending them back to the manufacturer — even if you are using the device as a computer monitor and not watching TV at all. The findings come from a recent study by computer scientists at the University of California, Davis; University College London; and Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, published in Proceedings of the 2024 ACM on Internet Measurement Conference.

51�ԹϺ�� Davis Joins New $285 Million CHIPS Semiconductor Research Institute

Andy Fell — December 09, 2024

The University of California, Davis will be part of a new, $285 million nationwide institute dedicated to advancing research and manufacturing of American semiconductors.

The new institute, known as SMART USA (Semiconductor Manufacturing and Advanced Research with Twins USA) will develop, validate and use digital twins to improve domestic semiconductor design, manufacturing, advanced packaging, assembly and test processes.

Christmas Trees’ Distinctive Aroma Helps Ward off Pathogens and Pests

Andy Fell — November 25, 2024

Each year, nearly 30 million Americans purchase a real tree for the holidays. Growing the perfect Christmas tree takes about seven years, during which farmers need to keep insects, fungal pathogens and hungry deer at bay. While researchers suspect the distinctive piney smell the trees emit plays a role in deterring these pests, not all trees smell the same, and which chemical blends confer resistance is unclear.

What Makes Queen Bees So Smart?

Andy Fell — November 07, 2024

A bumblebee’s brain is smaller than a sesame seed. But it can still accomplish quite a bit.

“You don’t need a big brain to learn well,” said Felicity Muth, an assistant professor in the Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior and a National Geographic Explorer who studies cognition in bees and other animals. “Bumblebees are capable of many of the same cognitive feats as many vertebrates.”

Sharks and Rays Leap Out of the Water for Many Reasons, Including Feeding, Courtship and Communication

Andy Fell — September 23, 2024

Many sharks and rays are known to breach, leaping fully or partly out of the water. In a recent study, colleagues and I reviewed research on breaching and ranked the most commonly hypothesized functions for it.

Enrollment of Undocumented Students at California Universities Dropped from 2016 to 2023

Karen Michele Nikos — September 19, 2024

Enrollment of low-income, undocumented students declined by half at University of California and California State University campuses from 2016 through the 2022-23 academic year, according to a new study by the University of California Civil Rights Project at 51�ԹϺ��LA and 51�ԹϺ�� Davis School of Law.

LZ Experiment Sets New Record in Search for Dark Matter

Andy Fell — August 26, 2024

Figuring out the nature of dark matter, the invisible substance that makes up most of the mass in our universe, is one of the greatest puzzles in physics. New results from the world’s most sensitive dark matter detector, LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ), have narrowed down possibilities for one of the leading dark matter candidates: weakly interacting massive particles, or WIMPs.

How Uncertainty Builds Anxiety

Andy Fell — June 25, 2024

Alfred Hitchcock observed that “There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it.” A common way to build suspense in a movie scene is for the audience to know something bad is going to happen, but not when it is going to happen. But how does uncertainty work to ratchet up our anxiety? In a recent paper in the journal Computational Psychiatry, researchers at the University of California, Davis, Department of Psychology take a deeper look into what builds fear.

How Autocrats Control Internet Traffic Out of Sight

Andy Fell — April 10, 2024

Authoritarian regimes exert control over the internet through transit networks that operate largely out of public view, according to a recent study by researchers in the U.S. and Germany. The work, published in PNAS Nexus, also shows how more sophisticated authoritarian regimes extend their influence by providing network access in poorer but politically similar countries.

51�ԹϺ�� Davis Historian’s Research of Child Murder in Early Modern Europe Featured in Period Film

Karen Michele Nikos — February 16, 2024

Kathy Stuart, associate professor of history, delights in crime and deviance — her research specialty. The University of California, Davis, academic’s enthusiasm for blood, heinous crimes and the various ways people kill each other hovers somewhere between an obsessed prosecutor and a delighted child who takes in horror movies on Saturday afternoons.

51�ԹϺ�� Davis Establishes Bird Flight Research Center

Andy Fell — February 01, 2024

By studying birds of prey in flight, a new lab at the 51�ԹϺ�� Davis California Raptor Center will give insight into designing drones and treating injured birds.

When Some Adolescent Girls Internalize Rejection, It Really Is in Their Head

Karen Michele Nikos — January 23, 2024

Everyone ruminates about the bad things that happen to them. Whether it’s a nasty breakup, an embarrassing failure or simply when someone is mean, it can be hard to stop thinking about what happened and why. For people who ruminate too much, this negative thought pattern can cause lasting problems with mental health.

Chicago Cafe: California’s Oldest Chinese Restaurant

Jocelyn C Anderson — January 22, 2024

Learn how the family-owned Chicago Cafe has withstood the test of time and Asian hate to become one of the country's most historic Chinese restaurants.

Rise of Archery in Andes Mountains Dated to 5,000 Years Ago — Earlier Than Previous Research

Karen Michele Nikos — December 20, 2023

When did archery arise in the Americas? And what were the effects of this technology on society?

These questions have long been debated among anthropologists and archaeologists. But a study led by a University of California, Davis, anthropologist, is shining light on this mystery.

YouTube Video Recommendations Lead to More Extremist Content for Right-Leaning Users, Researchers Suggest

Karen Michele Nikos — December 13, 2023

YouTube tends to recommend videos that are similar to what people have already watched. New research has found that those recommendations can lead users down a rabbit hole of extremist political content.

Molecular Fossils Shed Light on Ancient Life

Andy Fell — December 07, 2023

Paleontologists are getting a glimpse at life over a billion years in the past based on chemical traces in ancient rocks and the genetics of living animals. Research published Dec. 1 in Nature Communications combines geology and genetics, showing how changes in the early Earth prompted a shift in how animals eat.

More Than Meows: How Bacteria Help Cats Communicate

Andy Fell — November 15, 2023

Many mammals, from domestic cats and dogs to giant pandas, use scent to communicate with each other. A new study from the University of California, Davis, shows how domestic cats send signals to each other using odors derived from families of bacteria living in their anal glands. The work was published Nov. 8 in Scientific Reports.

How Sunflowers See the Sun

Andy Fell — October 31, 2023

Sunflowers famously turn their faces to follow the sun as it crosses the sky. But how do sunflowers “see” the sun to follow it? New work from plant biologists at the University of California, Davis, published Oct. 31 in PLOS Biology, shows that they use a different, novel mechanism from that previously thought.

“This was a total surprise for us,” said Stacey Harmer, professor of plant biology at 51�ԹϺ�� Davis and senior author on the paper.

Chloroplasts Do More Than Photosynthesis: They’re Also a Key Player in Plant Immunity

Andy Fell — October 25, 2023

Scientists have long known that chloroplasts help plants turn the sun’s energy into food, but a new study, led by plant biologists at the University of California, Davis, shows that they are also essential for plant immunity to viral and bacterial pathogens.

Chloroplasts are generally spherical, but a small percentage of them change their shape and send out tube-like projections called “stromules.” First observed over a century ago, the biological function of stromules has remained enigmatic.

Engineer Studying Bird Flight Awarded Packard Fellowship

Andy Fell — October 16, 2023

Christina Harvey, a University of California, Davis, researcher studying how bird flight can be used to improve aircraft design, has been awarded a 2023 Packard Fellowship in Science and Engineering from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

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