UC Science Today

Scientists have analyzed what are believed to be the very first samples of interstellar dust brought back from NASA’s Stardust mission. Research physicist Andrew Westphal, who leads the analysis at the Space Sciences Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, says one of the advantages of bringing back these small particles is to study them using instruments such as synchrotrons.

"These are gigantic particle accelerators that generate light and, for example, one of these instruments we use is just down the hill from us in Berkeley, the Advanced Light Source, which is basically an x-ray microscope the size of a small shopping mall. We’ve also used the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble, France, which is an x-ray microscope the size of a very large shopping mall."

Westphal says that using these instruments revealed each particle’s individual properties, a finding that would not have been possible by using telescopes.

"We’re seeing for the first time the diversity and complexity of individual particles and we’re not looking at them through telescopes but now through microscopes."

A new University of California, San Francisco study is the first to find that drinking soda is linked to telomere shortening. These are the protective caps at the ends of our chromosomes that affect how quickly cells age. When this happens, we are prone to age-related diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and some types of cancer. Lead author Dr. Cindy Leung says that although their study surveyed healthy adults, it’s also possible that soda consumption is associated with telomere shortening in children.

"We know that childhood is a really critical window for our telomeres to develop. If we’re marketing sugary beverages to children and they’re drinking them at such high levels, it could really put them on this accelerated aging trajectory before they even hit adolescence."

Fortunately, Leung says that telomere shortening is reversible.

"Drinking less sugary beverages would be one way to either halt or slow down their telomere shortening process. And also we, as a society, should promote other health behaviors that would help to lengthen our telomeres."

The nation’s first dedicated center for diagnosing and treating diverse forms of swelling, which are collectively known as angioedema, has opened at the University of California, San Diego Health System. Clinical director, Dr. Marc Reidl says their center hopes to be leaders in three areas.

"The first is patient care, so offering best possible comprehensive care to patients with hereditary angioedema; the second is to lead in the area of research and that includes both clinical trials of new medications, but also basic research to help us better understand the underlying cause for hereditary angioedema and other forms of angioedema. And third, to provide education for both health care providers, as well as for affected individuals and their families."

Reidl says it will also serve as an international referral center.

How did flight evolve in birds? While the origin remains a debate among scholars, evolutionary biologist Robert Dudley of the University of California, Berkeley says that the evidence points to the arboreal hypothesis. This hypothesis suggests that the first fliers were gravitationally assisted by falling from trees, as opposed to running up inclines and working against gravity.

"The competing hypothesis is what’s called the arboreal hypothesis for flight origins, whereby animals are falling out of trees, jumping out of trees, being chased out of trees or cliffs or whatever the context and are accelerated by gravity. Gravity’s a very important and powerful force. So it’s much easier to work with gravity than against gravity and to come up to speeds at which aerodynamic forces become important."

Dudley adds that recent fossil discoveries are consistent with the arboreal hypothesis.

"They had aerodynamic structures on the hind legs as well as on the front legs and they also had long, flattened tails. All of that screams aerodynamic function and falsifies running hypotheses for the origins of flight."

As climatologists and water experts predict another dry year for California, a new University of California, Davis study evaluates the possibilities of increasing water storage capacity. Jay Lund, director of the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences, explains.

"We found that the maximum storage capacity that the main part of the state could utilize is maybe five, six million acre foot. And that would be about a 15 percent expansion on the current amount of surface storage that we have."

The report calls for a more integrated approach to surface and groundwater water storage where new storage projects are planned, designed and operated as components of a statewide water system.

"Right now when we have storage proposals, we look at one project at a time. And we don’t really look at how to best integrate it into the whole system. Really what we want to know is what portfolio of storage and conveyance and water demand projects would you want to have for the whole system; for the economic purposes of the state, for the environmental interests of the state."

It’s no secret that humans are visually oriented animals, and while we are capable of using other senses such as smell and sound, we might not use them as much to recognize others. Behavioral ecologist Michael Sheehan of the University of California, Berkeley discusses the types of senses different species use for recognition.

"In the case of birds a lot of recognition is based on acoustic signals so they have different vocalizations and they can use that to recognize each other. A lot of animals of course use smell. Dogs are going around peeing everywhere, smelling everything. It’s just not what primates do. We’re much more visually oriented. We may not necessarily be able to tell the pee of one dog from another but a dog certainly can. So they can use that information to do that."

Sheehan says that there is selection in animals to be more distinctive for mating opportunities and other social interactions.

"But the basic idea that there might be selection for individuals to be more distinctive is something that people have shown evidence for in all different types of senses in different species."

When we first heard that Livermore Lab engineers were working on the world's first implantable neural device to help the brain restore memory, we couldn't wait to book an interview. Imagine - a neural implant that could record and stimulate neurons to help patients with Alzheimer's disease or returning veterans suffering from traumatic brain injury? It does smack a bit of science fiction, but there's some real science behind this - and even a collaboration with UCLA neurosurgeons to help conduct clinical trials. We chatted about this in detail with Livermore Lab research engineer, Angela Tooker (pictured on left in the bunny suit!). Have a listen!

While it may sound like science fiction, engineers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory are collaborating with neurosurgeons at UCLA, to develop the world’s first implantable neural device that can record and stimulate neurons to help the brain restore memory. Lab research engineer Angela Tooker says there are a number of neural implants out there, but none are microfabricated.

"Our technology, because it’s so small, it’s microfabricated, we can put thousands of electrodes onto these, so we can access thousands of neurons within your brain and so we can access all of them and we can go pretty much anywhere in the brain you want to go."

A target population for these neural implants would be patients with Alzheimer’s disease, as well as those suffering from traumatic brain injuries, including returning veterans.

"Memories are formed by the development of neural pathways. What happens if you lose memory is somewhere along that chain that connection has been cut. And so what we want to do is actually be able to bridge the gap. Our device can be implanted pretty much where that break is, that’s what we’re looking to do, essentially bridge that gap."

Have you heard of food deserts? You may even live in one. The USDA defines a food desert as parts of the country that lack fresh fruit, vegetables and other healthy foods. They’re usually found in impoverished urban areas. Shashi Buluswar, the executive director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Institute for Globally Transformative Technologies, explains why healthy foods are often not available in low-income neighborhoods.

"If you’re a large grocery store, you operate on the basis of what’s called economies of scale. The larger you are the more profitable you are and for a number of reasons, including the fact that there isn’t a whole lot of demand, these stores don’t find it profitable to be in lower-income neighborhoods."

The lab is interested in agronomy, the science and technology of growing crops, in the hopes of alleviating urban food deserts.

"We’ve just started a project to look at some of these really important technical barriers, try to get rid of those barriers, so that we can grow food in urban centers that is competitive with rural areas and is also much more sustainable than urban food is right now."

Food is a big part of the holiday season – whether it’s preparing it, or just enjoying it. One of the staples of the holiday table is pie and while you may have Grandma’s recipe for the perfect crust, do you really know what goes on at a molecular level? UCLA graduate student Liz Roth-Johnson is part of the Science and Food Program, which teaches students about biology and physics through food.

"Everybody has their own idea of a perfect pie crust, but I think most people agree that a pie crust should not be tough and chewy, so to achieve that, it’s important to try to avoid overdeveloping these stretchy, springy protein networks that can form in gluten dough. It’s called gluten networks. And so what happens when flour gets wet and gets worked, special proteins in the flour called gliadins and glutenins start to stretch out and stick to each other and make these really stretchy networks, which is great for something like bread or a bagel, but not so good for a delicate pastry or a cake."

Roth-Johnson suggests limiting how much water you add and using a pastry flour to lessen the amount of gluten.