Research

Time more important than funding for food assistance, study finds

06/25/21 School of Public Health — A paper co-authored by IEOR associate professor Anil Aswani showed that Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients who had more available time were able to prepare higher quality meals

Are heavy metals toxic? Scientists find surprising new clues in yeast

06/07/21 Berkeley Lab — Joint study led by nuclear engineering's Rebecca Abergel maps potential toxicity of lanthanide metals used in medicine, electronics

2D transistor technology overcomes barrier to ever-shrinking computer chips

05/17/21 — Atomically thin semiconductor could be game-changing alternative to silicon

Rendering of the planned Bakar BioEnginuity Hub

Berkeley’s bold new home for innovation, entrepreneurship

05/11/21 — Bakar BioEnginuity Hub will rent space to science-based startups, and provide campus programs for scholars and researchers

Video frame showing children on seesaw amid differing levels of air pollution

New studies of deadly air pollutant document environmental inequality

04/28/21 Washington Post — “The deck is stacked against people of color,” says civil and environmental engineering assistant professor Joshua Apte

Berkeley Lab scientists Leticia Arnedo-Sanchez (from left), Katherine Shield, Korey Carter, and Jennifer Wacker wearing protective masks, in front of graphics of the atomic structure of cerium and einsteinium

It’s elemental

04/26/21 — New research could lead to advanced cancer treatments as well as a better understanding of a little-known element.

3D illustration of a hexagonal graphene structure

A new twist

04/26/21 — By stacking and twisting graphene layers, researchers have converted a linear material into one with non-linear capabilities crucial to technology.

A microfluidic "chip" developed by the Streets lab for single cell analysis

Unraveled

04/26/21 — Bioengineers have created a microfluidic platform that can be used to unravel and image lengthy strands of DNA.

Graduate student Ivan Jayapurna with a sample film of PCL (polycaprolactone), a new, biodegradable polyester plastic.

New process makes ‘biodegradable’ plastics truly compostable

04/21/21 — Ting Xu's lab has embedded polymer-eating enzymes in plastic to allow programmed degradation after the plastic's useful life is over

Computer rendering of CRISPR SNP Chip device

CRISPR-Chip advance streamlines genetic testing for medical diagnostics and research

04/05/21 — New study demonstrates platform's ability to detect single-point mutation without DNA amplification

Periodic Table symbols for berkelium and californium

Do you know the way to Berkelium, Californium?

03/24/21 Berkeley Lab — Heavy elements and a really powerful microscope help scientists map uncharted paths toward new materials and cancer therapies

Illustration of single photons approaching metamaterial beam splitter

Berkeley engineers demonstrate unprecedented control of light with a new quantum device

03/15/21 — The at-will control over the behavior of single photons is key to developing optical quantum gates.

Schematic of three distinct lasers circling above flat optical antenna

Light unbound: Data limits could vanish with new optical antennas

02/25/21 — Berkeley engineers demonstrate new method of harnessing properties of lightwaves, enabling dramatic increase in the amount of data carried

NSSC Executive Director Bethany Goldblum and NSSC Fellow Adriana Sweet writing on a glass board.

Berkeley-led consortium awarded $25M to advance nuclear security

02/16/21 — This is the consortium's third five-year, $25 million grant, allowing it to continue its mission of educating nuclear scientists and advancing nuclear technologies.

UC Berkeley engineer Karl van Bibber in his Etcheverry Hall lab

Researchers harness quantum weirdness to speed search for dark matter

02/10/21 — Engineers build the most sensitive detector yet for spotting subatomic particles called axions

Berkeley Lab scientists Leticia Arnedo-Sanchez (from left), Katherine Shield, Korey Carter, and Jennifer Wacker wearing protective masks

First-ever measurements of einsteinium

02/03/21 LBL — Experiments by Berkeley Lab scientists, co-led by nuclear engineering assistant professor Rebecca Abergel, reveal some unexpected properties of this highly radioactive element

wearable biosensors in armband as hand makes gestures

Talk to the hand? New device can recognize gestures

12/21/20 — The armband, which combines wearable biosensors with artificial intelligence, could be used to control prosthetics or interact with electronic devices

Bundles of plastic bags awaiting recycling

Upcycling: Turning plastic bags into adhesives

12/17/20 — New catalytic process can stick polyethylene to metal or other materials, potentially boosting the economics of recycling

Heavy metals listed in the periodic table

Scientists recruit new atomic heavyweights in targeted fight against cancer

12/14/20 Berkeley Lab — Methods from team led by nuclear engineering assistant professor Rebecca Abergel could lead to systems for both diagnosing and treating cancer in real time

Materials science and engineering professor Junqiao Wu, photographed with a thermographic camera in Hearst Memorial Mining Building

The transformer

11/05/20 — Professor Junqiao Wu is developing next-gen technologies with vanadium dioxide, a compound that can change from an insulator to a metal.