Smoothies can be a tasty and convenient way to get the important fruits and vegetables you need for a healthy diet. But is a banana and blueberry smoothie the best combo? Researchers at the University of California, Davis, suggest that blending certain ingredients in smoothies can influence whether your body is getting a nutritional boost. […]
UC Davis
Volunteering in late life may protect the brain against cognitive decline and dementia
Sacramento – Volunteering in late life is associated with better cognitive function — specifically, better executive function and episodic memory. Those are the findings of a new study from UC Davis Health presented today (July 20) at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference 2023 in Amsterdam. “We hope these new data encourage individuals of all ages and backgrounds to […]
California Veterinary Emergency Team Ready to Help Animals in Wildfires
Evacuating, sheltering and caring for animals are enormous tasks made more difficult in a state under siege from wildfires. But the California Veterinary Emergency Team, or CVET, is ready to lead a statewide coordinated effort to provide veterinary care when disasters like wildfires strike. Administered by the One Health Institute at the University of California, […]
Coal trains increase air pollution in San Francisco Bay Area
Coal trains and terminal operations add a significant amount of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution to urban areas, more so than other freight or passenger trains, according to a study conducted in Richmond, California, by the University of California, Davis. The paper, published in the journal Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health, is the first study […]
Can CRISPR Cut Methane Emissions From Cow Guts?
University of California, Davis, scientists are teaming up with UC Berkeley and UC San Francisco researchers on a $70-million donor-funded initiative that aims in part to cut climate change-causing emissions from cattle by using the genome-editing tool CRISPR on microbes in the cows’ gut. Professor Ermias Kebreab, known for his innovative research using feed additives […]
Lake Tahoe’s Clarity the Best It’s Been Since 1980s
For the last five months of 2022, Lake Tahoe was the clearest it has been since the 1980s. That is due in part to a resurgence of the lake’s native zooplankton. They’ve provided a natural clean-up crew to help restore the lake’s famous blue waters. The findings are reported in the “Lake Tahoe Clarity Report […]
Rainbow Trout Subspecies Newly Named
The McCloud River redband trout, or O. mykiss calisulat, is newly identified as its own distinct subspecies of rainbow trout in a study from the University of California, Davis. It is the first newly identified subspecies of Pacific trout since 2008 and the youngest rainbow trout subspecies by more than 100 years. The study, published […]
Sea Otters Killed by Unusual Parasite Strain
March 22, 2023 – Four sea otters that stranded in California died from an unusually severe form of toxoplasmosis, according to a study from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the University of California, Davis. The disease is caused by the microscopic parasite Toxoplasma gondii. Scientists warn that this rare strain, never previously reported […]
Climate Trends in the West, Today and 11,000 Years Ago
People often say things like Phoenix has always been dry; Seattle has always been wet; and San Francisco has always been foggy. But “always” is a strong word. A study from the University of California, Davis, synthesizes climate trends across the Western U.S. during a relatively young period of Earth’s history — the Holocene Era, […]
Unprecedented Levels of High-Severity Fire Burn in Sierra Nevada Forests
High-severity wildfire is increasing in Sierra Nevada and Southern Cascade forests and has been burning at unprecedented rates compared to the years before Euro-American settlement, according to a study from the Safford Lab at the University of California, Davis, and its collaborators. Those rates have especially shot up over the past decade. For the study, […]
Climate Change Presents a Mismatch for Songbirds’ Breeding Season
Spring is the sweet spot for breeding songbirds in California’s Central Valley – not too hot, not too wet. But climate change models indicate the region will experience more rainfall during the breeding season, and days of extreme heat are expected to increase. Both changes threaten the reproductive success of songbirds, according to a study […]
Wildfire Threats Not Commonly Disclosed by U.S. Firms Despite Risk to Economy
December 21, 2022 – Wildfires in the United States, especially in Western states, increasingly pose a significant risk to entire communities, often destroying homes, businesses and lives. When wildfires sweep through a region they also affect the economy as a whole, decreasing U.S. firms’ values to stockholders when businesses incur physical damage, cause or experience […]
All West Coast Abalones at Risk of Extinction on the IUCN Red List
All seven of the United States’ abalone species that live on the West Coast are now listed as Critically Endangered or Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature, or IUCN, Red List of Threatened Species. These listings were based on a West Coast abalones assessment led by Laura-Rogers Bennett of the California Department of Fish and […]
Cabernet Can Survive Climate Change
Exposing wine grapes to sunlight was the key to making a good quality cabernet. But even the toughest grapes may not withstand the extreme heat that comes with climate change. Too much heat, like California has experienced with recent heat waves, can lead to jarringly jam-like wines that are high in alcohol and sugar and […]
UC Davis Grieves the Loss of Fish
UC Davis issued the following statement today (Aug. 11): We are devastated to report that a catastrophic failure has resulted in the loss of about 21,000 fish at the UC Davis Center for Aquatic Biology and Aquaculture, or CABA. The loss appears to be due to chlorine exposure, to which fish are especially sensitive. We […]
UC Davis Launches Clinical Trials to Treat a Deadly Coronavirus Disease in Cats (Not the One that Causes COVID-19)
August 10, 2022 – Scientists from the University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine have launched new clinical trials focused on improving treatments for feline infectious peritonitis, or FIP, and are currently enrolling patients at the UC Davis veterinary hospital. FIP is a serious disease caused by a feline coronavirus variant, though not the […]
Tahoe State of the Lake Report 2022
The University of California, Davis, Tahoe Environmental Research Center, or TERC, yesterday released its annual Tahoe: State of the Lake Report. The report informs nonscientists about important factors affecting the health of Lake Tahoe and provides the scientific underpinnings for restoration and management decisions within the Lake Tahoe Basin. The report summarizes data collected during 2021 in […]
Cats Injured in Wildfires at Risk of Deadly Blood Clots
Cats who suffered burns and smoke inhalation in urban California wildfires are at risk of forming deadly blood clots, according to a new study from researchers at the University of California, Davis, Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital. The study, recently published in the journal Frontiers in Veterinary Science, follows up on a previous discovery that showed […]
Lake Tahoe Clarity Report for 2021
The cobalt blue waters of Lake Tahoe were about as clear in 2021 as they were in 2020. But a broader look at clarity measurements shows there is no pattern of consistent clarity improvement over the past 20 years. The lake also has not fully recovered from a spike of fine particles that flowed into […]
Global Food Supply-Chain Issues Call for Solutions
Global supply issues related to the pandemic and war in Ukraine have highlighted yet another global vulnerability — food availability. While international trade allows countries to buffer against domestic food shortfalls and gain access to larger markets, what happens when supplies run short, or the global supply chain slows or even breaks down like it […]