Science & Technology Content

Q&A: How Tech Foundry Hopes to Have an Impact at Aggie Square

Cody Kitaura — April 15, 2025 - 12:53pm

When a researcher at UC Davis needs a tool that doesn’t exist, they often turn to Tech Foundry, a facility that uses 3D printers, CNC machines and laser cutters to create one-of-a-kind devices and prototypes.

The development facility, known previously as the TEAM Lab, is operated by the Department of Biomedical Engineering and has had a location in Davis for more than 15 years, and is now in the process of opening a second space in Aggie Square.

Researchers Develop an LSD Analogue with Potential for Treating Schizophrenia

Andy Fell — April 14, 2025 - 12:07pm

University of California, Davis, researchers have developed a new, neuroplasticity-promoting drug closely related to LSD that harnesses the psychedelic’s therapeutic power with reduced hallucinogenic potential.

Developing Future Food and Health Leaders

Amy M Quinton — March 24, 2025 - 10:00am

The UC Davis Innovation Institute for Food and Health will partner with UC Investments and Denmark's Novo Nordisk for exchange fellowship.

3D Genome Structure Guides Sperm Development

Andy Fell — March 03, 2025 - 11:22am

How 3D folding of DNA inside germ cells sets them on the path to become sperm.

Restoring Voices and Identity with Neuroengineering

Andy Fell — February 27, 2025 - 1:00pm

Lee Miller vividly recalls the day in 2021 when he met a woman who had lost the function of her vocal cords. In hoarse, whispering tones she explained how her voice had been instrumental to her vocation. Losing it, she said, undercut her life’s purpose. Her words were faint, but the lesson was powerful.

Fish Teeth Show How Ease of Innovation Enables Rapid Evolution

Andy Fell — February 26, 2025 - 8:00am

It’s not what you do, it’s how readily you do it. Rapid evolutionary change might have more to do with how easily a key innovation can be gained or lost rather than with the innovation itself, according to new work by biologists at the University of California, Davis, who studied how teeth in certain fishes evolved in response to food sources and habitats.

Their work was published Feb. 26 in Nature.

Energy and Transportation Experts

Katherine E Kerlin — February 07, 2025 - 2:46pm

The following sources from the University of California, Davis, are available to talk with media about climate change impacts and solutions related to energy and transportation.

Find more energy and transportation experts and learn about their research at the UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies and Energy and Efficiency Institute websites.

LA Wildfires Air Quality Research Roundup

Katherine E Kerlin — February 07, 2025 - 10:49am

How UC Davis air quality scientists are working to understand the impacts of the Los Angeles wildfires. A research roundup.

Tony Tyson: Sifting Through the Cosmic Noise

Andy Fell — February 07, 2025 - 9:51am

In a dark, light-tight room on the fifth floor of the UC Davis Physics Building, researchers recreate the night sky. But the simulated sky isn’t projected onto a wall or ceiling. Instead, a large, tube-like device, housed in a transparent cage, uses a reticle mask, also known as a photomask, to achieve the simulation. Wires crisscross the instrument — known as an optical simulator — and liquid nitrogen cools it when it’s in use.

UC Davis Researchers Achieve Total Synthesis of Ibogaine

Andy Fell — February 06, 2025 - 10:45am

Ibogaine — a psychoactive plant derivative — has attracted attention for its anti-addictive and anti-depressant properties. But ibogaine is a finite resource, extracted from plants native to Africa like the iboga shrub (Tabernanthe iboga) and the small-fruited voacanga tree (Voacanga africana). Further, its use can lead to irregular heartbeats, introducing safety risks and an overall need to better understand how its molecular structure leads to its biological effects.