Science (Audio)

Globally, over the past century, coastal fisheries have faced overharvesting and mismanagement. California is no exception. This video recounts stories from fishermen, and others engaged in commercial fisheries, about the decades-long struggle to replenish stocks through a variety of management measures. Through their experiences, we discover the many successes in recovering stocks, the capricious nature of the biology of some species, and also emerging challenges for managing fisheries sustainably, including climate change, regional resources management, access, and local infrastructure. Successfully managing the complex 'bioeconomic' dynamics of coupled natural and human ecosystems, such as fisheries, will provide an ongoing challenge of paramount importance for the survival of vibrant coastal communities. Series: "UCTV Prime" [Show ID: 33987]

Across the tree of life, we can trace cancer vulnerabilities back to the origins of multicellularity. Cancer is observed in almost all multicellular phyla, including lineages leading to plants, fungi, and animals. However, species vary remarkably in their susceptibility to cancer. Amy Boddy (UCSB Integrated Anthropological Sciences Unit) discusses how this variation in cancer susceptibility is characterized by life history trade-offs, as cancer defense mechanisms are a major component of a body's maintenance. She also looks at how understanding these trade-offs in the context of evolution may help explain the variability we see in cancer susceptibility across human populations. Series: "GRIT Talks" [Show ID: 34028]

Embryos are the most complex self-assembling machines known in the universe. Joel Rothman, Professor of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology at UCSB, explores the instructions for self-assembly using a tiny animal -- the humble C. elegans worm. Find out what he has discovered and the research into life-support systems that may allow these creatures to become the first interstellar astronauts, departing the solar system at near-light speeds. Series: "GRIT Talks" [Show ID: 33848]

It has been a long-standing challenge to create new technologies that can match the perceptual and movement abilities of the human hand and its sense of touch in robots. Yon Visell describes the work in his lab on haptics, the science and engineering for the sense of touch, and explains how the results are guiding the development of new technologies for wearable computing, and robotics.

Series: "GRIT Talks" [Show ID: 33939]

High school students from around the country spent part of their summer learning and living at UC San Diego. During the COSMOS program, they learn from professors in the Computer Science and Engineering department. Students get to create apps, robots and lifelong memories. Some even turned bananas into a piano. Series: "UCTV Prime" [Show ID: 33917]

Polymers, known colloquially as plastics, abound in the world around us due to a host of useful properties. In this talk, Christopher Bates (UCSB Materials and Chemical Engineering Departments) discusses a fascinating subset of these materials known as block copolymers, which naturally self-assemble into intricate, nanometer-sized patterns. Bates' lab provides a look into the natural universe through the lens of chemistry and materials science. Series: "GRIT Talks" [Show ID: 34029]

With the vast amount of data available in digital form, the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is evolving rapidly. In this talk, William Wang (UCSB Computer Science) summarizes the stunning achievements of Artificial Intelligence for the past decade, especially in the subareas of Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, and Computer Vision. He also looks at big resarch challenges ahead. Series: "GRIT Talks" [Show ID: 34034]

Teachers are learning how coding can be an exciting and useful way to teach math. San Diego Unified School District teachers spent a week of their summer at a workshop called Bootstrap with professors from UC San Diego Computer Science and Engineering. Bootstrap is a way to teach core courses, from math to social studies, using computer programming. There is even a lesson plan that lets students create their own video game. Teachers say it could be a fun new way to help their students succeed. Series: "UCTV Prime" [Show ID: 33846]

Over hundreds if not thousands of years, a group of Southeast Asian sea nomads known for their deep-diving prowess has evolved a solution to increasing their underwater time: larger spleens. Series: "UC Berkeley News" [Show ID: 34023]

Scientifically gifted, agile and charmingly quirky, Freja Ekman knows firsthand how it feels to win the genetic lottery. But UC Berkeley's top graduating senior is also painfully aware of how a single gene mutation can drastically alter the trajectory of ones life. Series: "UC Berkeley News" [Show ID: 34021]