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A Closer Look at the Perfect Fluid

By Guest PostJanuary 1, 2015ScienceBerkeley, big bang, density, elementary particles, hira peracha, mps, mps disorders, mucopolysaccharidosis, quark gluon plasma, quarks, ratio, shunji tomatsu, viscosity

Researchers at Berkeley Lab and their collaborators have honed a way to probe the quark-gluon plasma, the kind of matter that dominated the universe immediately after the big bang.

By combining data from two high-energy accelerators, nuclear scientists have refined the measurement of a remarkable property of exotic matter known as quark-gluon plasma. The findings reveal new aspects of the ultra-hot, “perfect fluid” that give clues to the state of the young universe just microseconds after the big bang. (more…)

Obesity-Related Gut Bacteria Higher in People in Northern Climes

By Guest PostFebruary 19, 2014Healthbacteroidetes, Berkeley, evolutionary biology, firmicutes, geographic regions, gut bacteria, healthy microbiota, human gut, michael worobey, northern climes, obesity linked bacteria, obesity related, people, taichi suzuki, university of arizona, university of california

People living in northern latitudes have more gut bacteria linked to obesity compared with people living in southern latitudes, a new study has found.

People living in cold, northern latitudes have bacteria in their guts that may predispose them to obesity, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Arizona and the University of California, Berkeley. (more…)

Cool heads likely won’t prevail in a hotter, wetter world

By Guest PostAugust 21, 2013Environmentarchaeology, australia, Berkeley, brazil, China, climate, cool heads, crime, criminology, critical factors, domestic violence, Economics, ethnic minority, ethnic violence, Europe, hotter, human conflict, human history, India, land invasions, marshall burke, middle ages europe, Netherlands, personal violence, point of violence, precipitation, princeton university, psychology, solomon hsiang, somalia, south asia, Tanzania, temperature, united states, university of california, wetter world

Should climate change trigger the upsurge in heat and rainfall that scientists predict, people may face a threat just as perilous and volatile as extreme weather — each other.

Researchers from Princeton University and the University of California-Berkeley report in the journal Science that even slight spikes in temperature and precipitation have greatly increased the risk of personal violence and social upheaval throughout human history. Projected onto an Earth that is expected to warm by 2 degrees Celsius by 2050, the authors suggest that more human conflict is a likely outcome of climate change. (more…)

Using IBM’s Crowdsourced Supercomputer, Harvard Rates Solar Energy Potential of 2.3 Million New Compounds

By Guest PostJune 24, 2013Technologyaids, alan aspuru guzik, america, basic materials data, Berkeley, boinc, bright idea, cancer, carbon compounds, cepdb database, clean energy project, crowdsourced supercomputer, cyrus wadia, diseases, harvard, harvard rates, ibm, linux computer, mac, malaria, mgi, new york university, organic, organic semiconductors, plastic bags, rare earth elements, solar cells, solar energy materials, solar energy potential, sunlight into electricity, university of california, viktors berstis, White House, windows, world community grid

White House Applauds Citizen Science, Big Data Initiative

CAMBRIDGE, MA – 24 Jun 2013: The search for more versatile and less expensive materials for solar energy received a boost today as Harvard launched a free database that catalogues the suitability of 2.3 million organic, carbon compounds for converting sunlight into electricity.

Harvard’s Clean Energy project — which screened the molecules using World Community Grid, an IBM-managed virtual supercomputer that harnesses the surplus computer power donated by volunteers — is believed to be the most extensive investigation of quantum chemicals ever performed. (more…)

UA Grows Gourmet Mushrooms That Recycle Waste

By Guest PostJune 15, 2013Sciencebarry pryor, Berkeley, blue oyster, cancer, carbon dioxide, CO2, commercial mushroom grower, dementia, gourmet mushrooms, kingdom fungi, lauren jackson, maitakes, man, molds, mushroom based, mushrooms, mycologist, oysters, parker evans, pink oyster mushrooms, pizza boxes, recycle waste, recycling program, regeneration of soil, shitakes, start up company, substrate, tumors, university of arizona

UA plant scientists are growing gourmet mushrooms on coffee grounds, landscape waste, even pizza boxes – and reducing that waste to compost.

The University of Arizona class is called “Mushrooms, Molds and Man.” Intrigued, undergraduate Lauren Jackson decided to learn about “Kingdom Fungi” and its impact on the world.

He was hooked in a heartbeat. Barely into the course, “I just raised my hand and asked about research opportunities.” That week he started working in the lab with UA mycologist Barry Pryor. (more…)

Women donate less to charity than men in some contexts

By Guest PostMay 26, 2013CultureBerkeley, data, donation, economist, face to face, gautam rao, john list, philanthropy, specific altruism, stefano dellavigna, uchicago, ulrike malmendier, university of california, university of chicago

Given the chance, women are more likely than men to opt out of a request to give a charitable donation, a group of economists have found.

The issue of which gender is more generous has been debated for years. A new field experiment conducted by scholars at the University of Chicago and University of California, Berkeley shows that when it’s easy to avoid making a donation, such as not responding to a door-to-door solicitor, women are less likely than men to give. (more…)

How Computers Push on the Molecules They Simulate

By Guest PostJanuary 9, 2013Scienceacceleration, albert einstein, algorithm, analytical results, artifacts, atoms and molecules, behavior, Berkeley, berkeley lab, calculation, california, california institute, chemical fuel, collide, computer method, conserve energy, david sivak, digital representation, digitize time, dna repair, driving force, effective friction, energy dense, equation, error, finite time steps, fluid, french physicist, gavin crooks, john chodera, langevin dynamics, model brownian motion, modeling molecular system, modern computer, molecular machines, molecular scale motion, molecule, momentum, natural system, nonequilibrium driving force, nonequilibrium statistical mechanics, particle, passage of time, paul langevin, photosynthesis, pollen grain, qb3, quantitative biosciences, quantum mechanics, real world, simulation, source, tenacious errors, theoretical method, thermal energy, toy models, university, velocity, water, water molecules

Berkeley Lab bioscientists and their colleagues decipher a far-reaching problem in computer simulations

Because modern computers have to depict the real world with digital representations of numbers instead of physical analogues, to simulate the continuous passage of time they have to digitize time into small slices. This kind of simulation is essential in disciplines from medical and biological research, to new materials, to fundamental considerations of quantum mechanics, and the fact that it inevitably introduces errors is an ongoing problem for scientists.

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have now identified and characterized the source of tenacious errors and come up with a way to separate the realistic aspects of a simulation from the artifacts of the computer method. The research was done by David Sivak and his advisor Gavin Crooks in Berkeley Lab’s Physical Biosciences Division and John Chodera, a colleague at the California Institute of Quantitative Biosciences (QB3) at the University of California at Berkeley. The three report their results in Physical Review X. (more…)

Bumblebees do Best Where There is Less Pavement and More Floral Diversity

By Guest PostDecember 28, 2012Environment, Natureaustin, Berkeley, bet hedging strategy, bombus vosnesenskii, bumblebees, california bumblebee, claire kremen, colony, crop yields, floral diversity, global pollinator, honey bees, landscape, native pollinators, natural habitat, pollinator crisis, rapidly urbanizing planet, shalene jha, suburban, texas, university, university of california, urban gardens, wild bees

AUSTIN, Texas — Landscapes with large amounts of paved roads and impervious construction have lower numbers of ground-nesting bumblebees, which are important native pollinators, a study from The University of Texas at Austin and the University of California, Berkeley shows.

The study suggests that management strategies that reduce the local use of pavement and increase natural habitat within the landscape could improve nesting opportunities for wild bees and help protect food supplies around the word. (more…)

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