UC Science Today

Of the five senses, smell is the least understood. Now, the National Science Foundation has awarded 6.4 million dollars to an interdisciplinary team of scientists to crack the olfactory code and unravel how humans and animals navigate using smell. Psychologist Lucia Jacobs of the University of California, Berkeley explains that animals are experts at converting odors into spatial information.

"It’s a very simple question. There is an odor out there and it’s being carried by the wind. How do you find it? There is no, right now, model of how animals can do this. It seems like an impossible problem. However, we know that animals from the size of ants to probably elephant, they all are able to orient to odors being carried on the wind even far, far away."

Jacobs is part of a diverse team of seven researchers who received the grant, including mathematicians and cell neuroscientists. They will create various computational and mathematical models of odor navigation.

"So, I’m very excited to be doing this as a team. I think that’s just going to be transformational."

Of the five senses, smell is the least understood. Now, the National Science Foundation has awarded 6.4 million dollars to an interdisciplinary team of scientists to crack the olfactory code and unravel how humans and animals navigate using smell. Psychologist Lucia Jacobs of the University of California, Berkeley explains that animals are experts at converting odors into spatial information.

"It’s a very simple question. There is an odor out there and it’s being carried by the wind. How do you find it? There is no, right now, model of how animals can do this. It seems like an impossible problem. However, we know that animals from the size of ants to probably elephant, they all are able to orient to odors being carried on the wind even far, far away."

Jacobs is part of a diverse team of seven researchers who received the grant, including mathematicians and cell neuroscientists. They will create various computational and mathematical models of odor navigation.

"So, I’m very excited to be doing this as a team. I think that’s just going to be transformational."

Of the five senses, smell is the least understood. Now, the National Science Foundation has awarded 6.4 million dollars to an interdisciplinary team of scientists to crack the olfactory code and unravel how humans and animals navigate using smell. Psychologist Lucia Jacobs of the University of California, Berkeley explains that animals are experts at converting odors into spatial information.

"It’s a very simple question. There is an odor out there and it’s being carried by the wind. How do you find it? There is no, right now, model of how animals can do this. It seems like an impossible problem. However, we know that animals from the size of ants to probably elephant, they all are able to orient to odors being carried on the wind even far, far away."

Jacobs is part of a diverse team of seven researchers who received the grant, including mathematicians and cell neuroscientists. They will create various computational and mathematical models of odor navigation.

"So, I’m very excited to be doing this as a team. I think that’s just going to be transformational."

You’ve probably heard of the common sleep hygiene tips like no caffeine or exercise before bed. But there are also a few less common behavioral changes that you can make to get a better night’s rest. Dr. Aric Prather of the University of California, San Francisco’s Department of Psychiatry explains.

"Maintaining a regular wake up time, so seven days a week setting alarm and getting up every day at that time. So if your body knows what to expect it seems to work better and this is the case for sleep as well. Not watching television in the bedroom, not doing things that get your mind racing. And if you find that it’s clear to you that you’re not going to be able to sleep, remove yourself from that active environment. Go somewhere quiet, do something that’s low activity like read or even watch even watch television under low light until you feel sleepy again and then try again."

Prather’s team has been studying the effects of chronic sleep loss, including being at increased risk of getting sick.

"We know that cold season is around the corner, people are not getting enough sleep, and so it’s those people that we imagine might be at increased risk."

If you were told you could reduce your cancer risk by lowering your glucose levels by simply not eating past 7PM, would you be willing and able to fast that long? Researchers at the University of California, San Diego Moores Cancer Center have found that increasing the duration of overnight fasting could be a novel strategy to reduce the risk of developing breast cancer. Lead author Catherine Marinac says they’re planning to look more into the feasibility and effectiveness.

"We’re hoping to do a larger, randomized trial. And we have done a number of pilot studies just to look at the feasibility in broad populations of women. So, we’ve shown that it’s generally easy and feasible for women to achieve at least a twelve to fourteen-hour fast."

But Marinac adds there may be a behavioral response.

"Attempting to achieve a long overnight fast, say stopping eating at 7PM, that may force people to go to bed earlier or initiate the behavior change process."

You’ve probably heard of the common sleep hygiene tips like no caffeine or exercise before bed. But there are also a few less common behavioral changes that you can make to get a better night’s rest. Dr. Aric Prather of the University of California, San Francisco’s Department of Psychiatry explains.

"Maintaining a regular wake up time, so seven days a week setting alarm and getting up every day at that time. So if your body knows what to expect it seems to work better and this is the case for sleep as well. Not watching television in the bedroom, not doing things that get your mind racing. And if you find that it’s clear to you that you’re not going to be able to sleep, remove yourself from that active environment. Go somewhere quiet, do something that’s low activity like read or even watch even watch television under low light until you feel sleepy again and then try again."

Prather’s team has been studying the effects of chronic sleep loss, including being at increased risk of getting sick.

"We know that cold season is around the corner, people are not getting enough sleep, and so it’s those people that we imagine might be at increased risk."

If you were told you could reduce your cancer risk by lowering your glucose levels by simply not eating past 7PM, would you be willing and able to fast that long? Researchers at the University of California, San Diego Moores Cancer Center have found that increasing the duration of overnight fasting could be a novel strategy to reduce the risk of developing breast cancer. Lead author Catherine Marinac says they’re planning to look more into the feasibility and effectiveness.

"We’re hoping to do a larger, randomized trial. And we have done a number of pilot studies just to look at the feasibility in broad populations of women. So, we’ve shown that it’s generally easy and feasible for women to achieve at least a twelve to fourteen-hour fast."

But Marinac adds there may be a behavioral response.

"Attempting to achieve a long overnight fast, say stopping eating at 7PM, that may force people to go to bed earlier or initiate the behavior change process."

You’ve probably heard of the common sleep hygiene tips like no caffeine or exercise before bed. But there are also a few less common behavioral changes that you can make to get a better night’s rest. Dr. Aric Prather of the University of California, San Francisco’s Department of Psychiatry explains.

"Maintaining a regular wake up time, so seven days a week setting alarm and getting up every day at that time. So if your body knows what to expect it seems to work better and this is the case for sleep as well. Not watching television in the bedroom, not doing things that get your mind racing. And if you find that it’s clear to you that you’re not going to be able to sleep, remove yourself from that active environment. Go somewhere quiet, do something that’s low activity like read or even watch even watch television under low light until you feel sleepy again and then try again."

Prather’s team has been studying the effects of chronic sleep loss, including being at increased risk of getting sick.

"We know that cold season is around the corner, people are not getting enough sleep, and so it’s those people that we imagine might be at increased risk."

If you were told you could reduce your cancer risk by lowering your glucose levels by simply not eating past 7PM, would you be willing and able to fast that long? Researchers at the University of California, San Diego Moores Cancer Center have found that increasing the duration of overnight fasting could be a novel strategy to reduce the risk of developing breast cancer. Lead author Catherine Marinac says they’re planning to look more into the feasibility and effectiveness.

"We’re hoping to do a larger, randomized trial. And we have done a number of pilot studies just to look at the feasibility in broad populations of women. So, we’ve shown that it’s generally easy and feasible for women to achieve at least a twelve to fourteen-hour fast."

But Marinac adds there may be a behavioral response.

"Attempting to achieve a long overnight fast, say stopping eating at 7PM, that may force people to go to bed earlier or initiate the behavior change process."

Imagine not having to stand in long checkout lines every time you go to the store. It could soon be possible with the help of Radio Frequency Identification, or RFID, which uses radio waves to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects like packaging. Mechanical engineering professor Liwei Lin of the University of California, Berkeley says that cheaper production of RFID technology could someday allow it to be used ubiquitously.

"Currently, if you go to the supermarket and check out food, or anything else, there is a barcode. And there's a laser scanner at the checkout and the barcode is pretty much just different lines, and it's pretty much free. And the RFID technology is competing with the barcode technology today, such that they have been made extremely cheap, maybe below five cents."

Lin says that RFID could eventually replace the need for laser scanners and barcodes.

"So one day, if you go out of the grocery store, you don’t need to scan everything you’re buying. Once you go to the checkpoint, they already know what you are buying, and give you the price. "