UC Science Today

Comets can tell us a lot about the earliest history of the solar system. Physicist Andrew Westphal of the University of California, Berkeley says that’s because they contain the primitive building blocks of the solar system.

"They tell us particularly about the first two million years or so of the solar system’s history. That was the time in which the sun and the planets and the asteroids and the comets were forming."

Westphal and his colleagues have been studying the very first samples of a comet brought back to Earth, which was collected during the Stardust mission. To do this, they’re using the Advanced Light Source at the Berkeley Lab, which is an x-ray microscope the size of shopping mall. The Stardust mission also captured specks of dust that may be the first material from outside the solar system ever brought back to Earth.

"And we’ve also been studying these samples using the Advanced Light Source. We recruited the help of about thirty thousand amateur scientists to help us to find these particles and this has been very, very successful."

Could robots someday do all of our chores? They will if a team of scientists at the University of California, Berkeley has their way. Computer scientist Pieter Abbeel says they’re developing an algorithm that enables their robot to master a variety of skills on its own through trial and error. The robot even has a name – BRETT.

"So BRETT stands for the Berkeley Robot for the Elimination of Tedious Tasks. One of the main things we’re interested in, is how can we get a robot to be smart enough to do our chores, organize laundry, load the dishwasher, unload a dishwasher, cook, set the table, clean up, and so forth."

For now, BRETT has mastered simpler tasks such as screwing a bottle cap and hanging a coat hanger. Abbeel says he’s optimistic the field of artificial intelligence will see continue to see significant improvements.

"If you had asked a year ago, “Do you think the robot would be able to learn to screw caps onto bottles,” which is such a hard task with so much interaction between the two objects. I would have said ‘wow’ that would surprise me, but now all of a sudden it’s something a robot can learn."

Could robots someday do all of our chores? They will if a team of scientists at the University of California, Berkeley has their way. Computer scientist Pieter Abbeel says they’re developing an algorithm that enables their robot to master a variety of skills on its own through trial and error. The robot even has a name – BRETT.

"So BRETT stands for the Berkeley Robot for the Elimination of Tedious Tasks. One of the main things we’re interested in, is how can we get a robot to be smart enough to do our chores, organize laundry, load the dishwasher, unload a dishwasher, cook, set the table, clean up, and so forth."

For now, BRETT has mastered simpler tasks such as screwing a bottle cap and hanging a coat hanger. Abbeel says he’s optimistic the field of artificial intelligence will see continue to see significant improvements.

"If you had asked a year ago, “Do you think the robot would be able to learn to screw caps onto bottles,” which is such a hard task with so much interaction between the two objects. I would have said ‘wow’ that would surprise me, but now all of a sudden it’s something a robot can learn."

Could robots someday do all of our chores? They will if a team of scientists at the University of California, Berkeley has their way. Computer scientist Pieter Abbeel says they’re developing an algorithm that enables their robot to master a variety of skills on its own through trial and error. The robot even has a name – BRETT.

"So BRETT stands for the Berkeley Robot for the Elimination of Tedious Tasks. One of the main things we’re interested in, is how can we get a robot to be smart enough to do our chores, organize laundry, load the dishwasher, unload a dishwasher, cook, set the table, clean up, and so forth."

For now, BRETT has mastered simpler tasks such as screwing a bottle cap and hanging a coat hanger. Abbeel says he’s optimistic the field of artificial intelligence will see continue to see significant improvements.

"If you had asked a year ago, “Do you think the robot would be able to learn to screw caps onto bottles,” which is such a hard task with so much interaction between the two objects. I would have said ‘wow’ that would surprise me, but now all of a sudden it’s something a robot can learn."

Could robots someday do all of our chores? They will if a team of scientists at the University of California, Berkeley has their way. Computer scientist Pieter Abbeel says they’re developing an algorithm that enables their robot to master a variety of skills on its own through trial and error. The robot even has a name – BRETT.

"So BRETT stands for the Berkeley Robot for the Elimination of Tedious Tasks. One of the main things we’re interested in, is how can we get a robot to be smart enough to do our chores, organize laundry, load the dishwasher, unload a dishwasher, cook, set the table, clean up, and so forth."

For now, BRETT has mastered simpler tasks such as screwing a bottle cap and hanging a coat hanger. Abbeel says he’s optimistic the field of artificial intelligence will see continue to see significant improvements.

"If you had asked a year ago, “Do you think the robot would be able to learn to screw caps onto bottles,” which is such a hard task with so much interaction between the two objects. I would have said ‘wow’ that would surprise me, but now all of a sudden it’s something a robot can learn."

Researchers have discovered novel genetic risk factors for prostate cancer that could pave the way for earlier diagnosis. A new study led by John Witte of the University of California, San Francisco found that men with the highest combination of these genetic variants were four to five times more likely to develop prostate cancer than those with the lowest. Witte says that the findings add to a list of over a hundred previously discovered risk variants.

"We detected some new prostate cancer risk variants; that if a man carries these variants, they increase his risk of disease, that look like they're fairly important genetic changes. We also found that you with a combination of just over a hundred of these types of variants, that you can actually predict a fairly high risk for a man of being diagnosed with prostate cancer."

Witte adds that it could soon be possible to use these genetic variants to test for prostate cancer risk with an inexpensive blood test.

"It definitely would be a blood test, and you fairly inexpensively could measure these hundred-plus genetic variants for prostate cancer."

Researchers have discovered novel genetic risk factors for prostate cancer that could pave the way for earlier diagnosis. A new study led by John Witte of the University of California, San Francisco found that men with the highest combination of these genetic variants were four to five times more likely to develop prostate cancer than those with the lowest. Witte says that the findings add to a list of over a hundred previously discovered risk variants.

"We detected some new prostate cancer risk variants; that if a man carries these variants, they increase his risk of disease, that look like they're fairly important genetic changes. We also found that you with a combination of just over a hundred of these types of variants, that you can actually predict a fairly high risk for a man of being diagnosed with prostate cancer."

Witte adds that it could soon be possible to use these genetic variants to test for prostate cancer risk with an inexpensive blood test.

"It definitely would be a blood test, and you fairly inexpensively could measure these hundred-plus genetic variants for prostate cancer."

Researchers have discovered novel genetic risk factors for prostate cancer that could pave the way for earlier diagnosis. A new study led by John Witte of the University of California, San Francisco found that men with the highest combination of these genetic variants were four to five times more likely to develop prostate cancer than those with the lowest. Witte says that the findings add to a list of over a hundred previously discovered risk variants.

"We detected some new prostate cancer risk variants; that if a man carries these variants, they increase his risk of disease, that look like they're fairly important genetic changes. We also found that you with a combination of just over a hundred of these types of variants, that you can actually predict a fairly high risk for a man of being diagnosed with prostate cancer."

Witte adds that it could soon be possible to use these genetic variants to test for prostate cancer risk with an inexpensive blood test.

"It definitely would be a blood test, and you fairly inexpensively could measure these hundred-plus genetic variants for prostate cancer."

Researchers have discovered novel genetic risk factors for prostate cancer that could pave the way for earlier diagnosis. A new study led by John Witte of the University of California, San Francisco found that men with the highest combination of these genetic variants were four to five times more likely to develop prostate cancer than those with the lowest. Witte says that the findings add to a list of over a hundred previously discovered risk variants.

"We detected some new prostate cancer risk variants; that if a man carries these variants, they increase his risk of disease, that look like they're fairly important genetic changes. We also found that you with a combination of just over a hundred of these types of variants, that you can actually predict a fairly high risk for a man of being diagnosed with prostate cancer."

Witte adds that it could soon be possible to use these genetic variants to test for prostate cancer risk with an inexpensive blood test.

"It definitely would be a blood test, and you fairly inexpensively could measure these hundred-plus genetic variants for prostate cancer."

The spongy discs between each vertebra help absorb shock and allow for movement in the spine. Current treatment for damaged discs include implanting a metal disc as a total replacement. Now, a team of researchers at the University of California, Berkeley is engineering new, living disc tissue that could someday be used as a biological replacement. Study leader Grace O’Connell explains.

"We apply cell-based tissue engineering techniques, which means we take cells and we put them within a scaffold. And over a period of about six weeks, the cells will grow new tissue. And we’re looking to see if those cells can grow tissue that behaves like the healthy tissue."

O’Connell says that growing new disc tissue could eventually replace the need for implanting synthetic materials that can wear out over time.

"We know that the plastic and metal components, they wear over time. So they last about 15 to 20 years in a patient. But the idea is that an engineered tissue is a biological tissue. So it would behave like your native tissue does as well."