Coastal Santa Barbara is considered one of the most idyllic locations on the North American West Coast, but its beauty is frequently disrupted by fast-spreading, wind-driven wildfires. The east-west oriented Santa Ynez Mountains (SYM), rising abruptly over 1,000 meters from the coastal plain, create a distinct climatic environment by separating the cool, stable air over the Pacific from the much drier atmosphere of the Santa Ynez Valley. This topography leads to unique regional wind patterns, including the Sundowner winds, which occur along the southern slopes of the SYM. Leila Carvalho, Professor of Geography and a researcher at the Earth Research Institute at UC Santa Barbara, studies regional and large-scale climate variability and change, including monsoon dynamics, tropical-extratropical interactions, extreme precipitation and temperature events, mountain weather and climate, and regional modeling. Series: "GRIT Talks" [Science] [Show ID: 41039]

Stanley Chodorow, Emeritus Professor of History at UC San Diego, traces the evolution of food preservation, preparation, and production from ancient times to the modern era. He explores early methods such as drying, salting, and ice cellars, advances like iceboxes, refrigeration, and flash freezing, and innovations in cooking technology from open fires to gas and electric stoves. Chodorow examines the domestication of animals, the development of agriculture, and transformative tools like the wheeled plow and horse harness. He highlights the rise of industrialized food, refrigerated transport, and global trade in products such as sugar, chocolate, and processed foods. Concluding with the health impacts of dietary changes since the shift from hunter-gatherer to agricultural societies, he offers a sweeping view of how technology has shaped what—and how—we eat. Series: "Osher UC San Diego Distinguished Lecture Series" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 40966]

UC Davis is a powerhouse for breakthroughs and impact. Our interdisciplinary research plays a vital role in building the region’s economy. Our research improves the quality of life of residents and contributes to America’s global leadership in technology and innovation. Through collaboration between our top-ranked hospital and veterinary school, as well as our science and engineering discoveries, our research directly improves American lives. Series: "UC Davis News" [Science] [Show ID: 41053]

Sean Morrison, Ph.D., from the Children’s Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern, investigates how stem cells function, regenerate, and interact with their surrounding environment in the bone marrow. His research reveals how leptin receptor-positive cells—key components of the bone marrow niche—regulate hematopoietic stem cell maintenance and regeneration, influence platelet production, and respond to physiological stress like pregnancy. Morrison uncovers a reciprocal relationship between these niche cells and peripheral nerves, showing that disrupting nerve signals impairs bone marrow recovery after chemotherapy or radiation. His work also links retrotransposon activation during pregnancy to increased red blood cell production, with implications for maternal health and transplant medicine. Series: "Stem Cell Channel" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 40449]

Deepak Srivastava, MD, explores how cellular reprogramming offers new hope for treating heart disease. He highlights innovative strategies to regenerate damaged heart tissue by stimulating adult cardiomyocytes to divide and converting fibroblasts into heart-like cells. His team develops a nonviral delivery system using lipid nanoparticles and investigates the role of specific gene regulators in restoring heart function in animal models. Srivastava also discusses a potential oral therapy for aortic valve disease, driven by insights into cellular fate changes caused by NOTCH1 mutations and telomere shortening. Additionally, he reveals how trisomy 21 may trigger congenital heart defects by altering the identity of specialized heart cells. Through pioneering research in genetics and regenerative medicine, Srivastava demonstrates how understanding developmental biology can lead to transformative clinical advances. Series: "Stem Cell Channel" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 40447]

Considered the godfather of A.I. music, UC Santa Cruz professor and composer David Cope, who died in May, 2025, developed the computer program EMI, or Experiments in Musical Intelligence, in the 1980s. It was one of the earliest computer algorithms used to generate classical music. This documentary film by UC Santa Cruz's Bob Giges looks at the impact of Cope's genius on the world of music. Series: "Arts Channel " [Science] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 40968]

Asteroids, often called “fossils of the solar system,” are remnants from its formation that offer clues about planetary origins and the potential beginnings of life. Dr. Neil Farber, Solar System Ambassador for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, explains that some, known as near-Earth objects, pose impact risks—though large, dangerous collisions are rare—and NASA’s Near-Earth Object Surveyor mission aims to detect and track them to inform planetary defense strategies. Asteroids may also hold resources, such as metals or water, that could one day support space exploration, though current technology limits mining feasibility. Recent missions like OSIRIS-REx, Lucy, and Psyche are expanding our understanding of asteroid composition, history, and diversity, with findings including evidence of past water, amino acids, and nucleotide bases—key building blocks of life—raising intriguing questions about whether asteroids helped seed life on Earth. Series: "Osher UC San Diego Distinguished Lecture Series" [Science] [Show ID: 40964]

Chef-turned-chemist Vayu Hill-Maini has a passion: to turn food waste into culinary treats using a fungus called Neurospora intermedia. Visit the postdoctoral researcher in the lab and in the kitchen to learn how this mold could make our food system more sustainable and delicious. Series: "UC Berkeley News" [Science] [Show ID: 40983]

Hear about cutting-edge advances in regenerative medicine, from lab breakthroughs to patient impact. Catriona Jamieson, MD, PhD, introduces efforts at the Sanford Stem Cell Institute to develop therapies that enhance the body’s ability to heal itself. Dan Kaufman, MD, PhD, shares progress in cancer immunotherapy using engineered natural killer cells derived from pluripotent stem cells. Karen Christman, PhD, explains how her team creates injectable hydrogels from pig heart tissue to support heart repair and regeneration after a heart attack. Tiffani Manolis highlights industry support for making cell and gene therapies more accessible. Patient advocate Justin Graves describes his life-changing experience receiving a stem cell-based therapy for epilepsy, underscoring the real-world promise of these innovations. Series: "Stem Cell Channel" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 40705]

AI and genetic medicine are converging to transform how we diagnose, treat, and prevent disease. Gene Yeo, Ph.D., unites RNA biology with artificial intelligence to speed the path from genome sequencing to personalized RNA therapeutics. Advances in sequencing have reduced costs dramatically, making interpretation and translation into treatments the real challenge. Using deep learning and large datasets of RNA-binding proteins, Yeo predicts disease vulnerabilities and identifies therapeutic targets, including in neurodegeneration and muscular diseases. Alexis Komor, Ph.D., focuses on DNA, explaining human genetic variation—particularly single-nucleotide variants—and how genome editing technologies like CRISPR can target them. She highlights strategies to correct harmful mutations and explores precise, programmable interventions. Together, their research drives discovery and enables more effective, personalized therapies. Series: "Stem Cell Channel" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 40459]