by Rina Shaikh-Lesko | May 15, 2013 | Posts
Several recent developments have gotten me thinking about water use in California — recent water shortages and the conversations about building desalination plants. Water scarcity will be a growing problem this century, mostly due to the world’s growing population....
by Jessica Shugart | May 14, 2013 | Posts
My favorite thing about living in Santa Cruz this year has been my proximity to the ocean. From my apartment, I can hear the sea lions barking at the wharf, and waves crashing at the beach. True, I also have to deal with the rhythmic screaming of rollercoaster riders...
by Paul Gabrielsen | May 7, 2013 | Posts
The elephant seals are back at California’s Año Nuevo State Park. But this is not their famous January breeding season, replete with cute newborn seals and brutal fights between males. Nope, this time they’re here to molt. The seals spend their month on land laying...
by Chris Palmer | May 7, 2013 | Posts
Last week, to celebrate Earth Day, volunteers around the globe trekked out to forests in Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, Ireland, Germany, Canada and the U.S. to plant 18-inch tall clones of ancient redwood trees in an effort to forestall global warming by...
by Liz Devitt | Apr 30, 2013 | Posts
It isn’t Spring until the cliff swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) return to Cabrillo, a community college located in the hills along the Central Coast. Like their famous counterparts, the legendary swallows of Capistrano, these winged harbingers of warmer weather...
by Laura Poppick | Apr 25, 2013 | Posts
Mark Zoback, a geophysicist at Stanford University, cringes at the word “fracking”. He doesn’t oppose this controversial process of extracting fossil fuels from shale rock, or hydraulic fracturing. He just laments the stigma of its nickname. “I am a very strong...
by Kelly Servick | Apr 23, 2013 | Posts
Lately, I’ve had great apes on my mind. Psychiatrist Martin Brüne’s work treating psychopathy in retired laboratory chimps – the topic of my Q&A article – got me thinking about some even slipperier issues. Brüne opened his talk at the annual American Association...
by Rina Shaikh-Lesko | Apr 18, 2013 | Posts
Although the term “biodiversity hotspot” conjures up images of steamy rain forests and exotic South Pacific islands, if you live in California, you have one right outside your door. California is the most biodiverse state in the U.S, ahead of even Hawaii. Biodiversity...
by Jessica Shugart | Apr 16, 2013 | Posts
I looked up from fawning over some orange California newts just in time to spy a fuzzy whiskered face peering out from the waters of the creek. Weasel-like features and silky-smooth contours gave away the creature’s identity: Lontra Canadensis, the North...
by Thomas Sumner | Apr 11, 2013 | Posts
When it comes to exploring strange new worlds, NASA’s ATHLETE (All-Terrain Hex-Legged Extra-Terrestrial Explorer) is one tricked-out rover. The robotic vehicle (pictured) has six wheels attached to six spider-like legs that move independently to traverse the...
by Ryder Diaz | Apr 9, 2013 | Posts
As I walked down a path at the UC Santa Cruz arboretum, I heard them. The buzz was distinct. It wasn’t the thin sound of a common housefly or the high-pitched trill of a mosquito. This vibration had some weight behind it. I knew it was a bumblebee before I saw it....
by Paul Gabrielsen | Mar 14, 2013 | Posts
Marine biologist Bill Gilly wasn’t prepared for the greeting he received from St. Andrew’s Episcopal school in 2008. He’d come to the Saratoga, Calif. school to teach a special lesson on the Humboldt squid, complete with a dissection. Gilly approached the school and...
