UC Berkeley (Audio)

UC Berkeley researchers are using an exceptional stash of 1,500 fossils found during the construction of a new San Francisco East Bay dam to piece together a picture of what the Bay Area may have looked like some 15-20 million years ago. Water covered much of the region, ancient whales sifted food over what is now Berkeley and Oakland, while now-extinct megalodon sharks might have hunted dolphins over San Jose. Hippo-like creatures waded along the coast, which was dotted with palm and pine trees. Seals, larger than today, frolicked in the water. Series: "UC Berkeley News" [Humanities] [Show ID: 34000]

Can geoengineering save the planet? Injecting particles into the atmosphere to counter the warming effects of climate change would do nothing to offset the crop damage from rising global temperatures, according to a new analysis by UC Berkeley researchers. Shading the planet keeps things cooler, which helps crops grow better. But plants also need sunlight to grow, so blocking sunlight can affect growth. Series: "UC Berkeley News" [Science] [Show ID: 33999]

In October of 2018, a UC Berkeley team headed down to the Arizona desert with their newest prototype water harvester. In the backyard of a tract home it sucked water out of the air without any power other than sunlight. The successful field proved what the team had predicted; the water harvester can extract drinkable water every day/night cycle at very low humidity and at low cost, making it ideal for people living in arid, water-starved areas of the world. Series: "UC Berkeley News" [Science] [Show ID: 33996]

UC Berkeley Associate Professor of Architecture Ronald Rael’s “Cabin of Curiosities” is a livable, water-tight structure in Oakland that was unveiled in May 2018. With succulents growing off the exterior walls and a translucent interior, the cabin catches the eye and inspires wonder. What makes the structure unique, however, is not its beauty, but the fact that nearly every element of the cabin was constructed out of 3D-printed materials. Series: "UC Berkeley News" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33997]

As climate change cuts into biodiversity, humans will be among the species at risk. We know this because we can already see the pattern. Berkeley ecologist and wildlife biologist Justin Brashares studies how economic and political systems affect the environment and how the changing environment in turn impacts culture. Series: "Cal Future Forum: Our Changing World" [Science] [Show ID: 33082]

It’s hard to comprehend large-scale change over time, says Berkeley paleontologist Charles Marshall. The rapid increase in greenhouse gas emission, soaring population growth, and resource extraction have largely occurred within one lifetime. Today, of course, human-driven change is undeniable, global and threatening. See what UC Berkeley is doing to make a difference in our future – in our climate, environment, biodiversity and energy use. Series: "Cal Future Forum: Our Changing World" [Science] [Show ID: 33076]

By measuring patterns of species diversity in ecosystems that differ in age and human impact, insect ecologist Rosemary Gillespie says we can start to understand what features of a natural community provide stability in the face of intrusions driven by climate change and other threats from our own species. Series: "Cal Future Forum: Our Changing World" [Science] [Show ID: 33075]

As we rethink our energy use, we focus on the highest polluters, and at a global scale. But energy use at a much finer scale seriously threatens the health and safety of hundreds of millions of people who still cook on inefficient wood stoves in developing countries. Berkeley professor Ashok Gadgil and his students launched the Berkeley Darfur Stove project to design and build efficient and inexpensive stoves. They then created a non-profit to manufacture the $20 stoves in Mumbai. The stoves’ efficiency halves the fuel wood to cook each meal, and the time needed to collect it. Women purchasing fuel wood saved about $260 per year. Series: "Cal Future Forum: Our Changing World" [Science] [Show ID: 33083]

Sometimes, trying to make things better actually makes them worse. If only a few people use apps to evade traffic snarls, everything works, but as more and more drivers tap on navigation apps for the fastest route around the freeway crawl, they often slow things down. They create new congestion -- at freeway exits and on streets not designed for heavy traffic. Berkeley’s Alexandre Bayen is working to devise policy and technologies that help app makers work collaboratively with city planners. Series: "Cal Future Forum: Our Changing World" [Science] [Show ID: 33081]

UC Berkeley graduate student Jeffrey Benca demonstrates the experiment showing how pine trees became temporarily sterile when exposed to intense UV radiation, supporting the theory that ozone depletion may have caused the Earth's largest mass extinction (the Permian Extinction). Series: "UC Berkeley News" [Science] [Show ID: 33954]