Latest CNAS in the Media

Focusing on Asian giant hornets distorts the view of invasive species

SCIENCE NEWS - Fingers crossed for finding nothing: July marks the main trapping season to check for Asian giant hornets still infesting Washington state. When news of the Asian giant hornets’ arrival first broke in 2019, one of the people who was not at all surprised at a foreign species was entomologist Doug Yanega of...
By Susan Milius | Science News |

California’s ‘White Gold’ Rush: Lithium In Demand Amid Surge In Electric Vehicles

WAMU - As demand for electric vehicles heats up, there’s concern about a shortage of the key minerals needed to make them. The Biden administration has called for boosting domestic production of such minerals, including lithium for the lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles. And that has many hoping for big business in a desolate...
By Benjamin Purper | WAMU |

Following Cockroach Photobomb, Could ‘The Talk’ Set Be Infested?

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER - Eagle eyes were not required to see a giant cockroach crawling across the wall in full view on the brightly lit set. The roach’s debut on The Talkmanaged to pass with no media attention and only a few screen grabs of the moment posted on YouTube and Twitter. Doug Yanega, senior...
By Chris Gardner | The Hollywood Reporter |

Discovery increases likelihood of growing food despite drought

WESTERN FARMPRESS - University of California scientists have discovered genetic data that will help food crops like tomatoes and rice survive longer, more intense periods of drought on our warming planet. Over the course of the last decade, the research team sought to create a molecular atlas of crop roots, where plants first detect the...
By Jules Bernstein | Western FarmPress |

Gene discovery could help scientists develop drought-resistant crops

SCIENCE NEWS - Scientists have identified several new genes responsible for root growth in tomato and rice plants. The discovery, described Tuesday in the journal Cell, could help scientists develop more drought-resistant crop varieties. "Xylem are very important to shore up plants against drought as well as salt and other stresses," lead study author Siobhan...
By Brooks Hays | Science News |

Researchers are rushing to get vaccines out, but this one isn't for COVID-19

KTNV - All eyes are on COVID-19 vaccines, but researchers are still working on protection against other serious illnesses. A Southern California virologist is racing against the clock to create a vaccine for the Zika virus. Dr. Rong Hai's job is to study viruses and their virulence at the University of California, Riverside. He's also...
By Stephanie Stone | KTNV |

Cicada Explosion Mystifies UCR Insect Expert

PCT Online - The Eastern U.S. is about to see something that hasn't happened since the final episode of Friends aired on NBC: massive swarms of Brood X cicadas. “It’s one of nature’s unsolved mysteries,” said Doug Yanega, senior scientist at UC Riverside’s Entomology Research Museum. “This is something that’s globally unique. You can’t see...
By Brad Harbison | PCT Online |

Billions of cicadas are about to take to the skies. Here's what to expect

SALON - Doug Yanega studies insects for a living, yet he has repeatedly missed out on one of North America's most awe-inspiring entomological events: the septdecennial (meaning once every 17 years) emergence of a swarms of cicadas known as Brood X. Part of the reason for this is that Yanega, who works as senior scientist...
By Mathew Rozsa | Salon |

Wild bobcat kitten roaming UC Riverside Botanic Gardens is the cutest thing you’ll see all day

THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE - Two bobcat kittens and their mother have been exploring the grounds at UC Riverside’s Botanic Gardens this week. A brief video shared on the gardens’ social media this week shows one kitten treading carefully on the grounds. “Walk softly and you might see our newest additions,” the caption reads. READ THE Article
By Allyson Escobar | The Press-Enterprise |

U.S. national academy picks record number of women, minorities

SCIENCE MAGAZINE - The U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) chooses its members in a process that has long discriminated against female and minority scientists, as well as those from less prestigious universities. But NAS officials have begun to tinker with that process with the goal of increasing gender, racial, and geographic diversity. And this...
By Jeffrey Mervis | ScienceMag |

Researchers find gene to help crops survive warming

CAPITAL JOURNAL - University of California Riverside researchers identified a gene that allows plants to sense heat. And the discovery could help plants survive global warming, which researchers warned could reduce crop yields by one-third by 2050. “We need plants that can endure warmer temperatures, have a longer time to flower and a longer growth...
By Capital Journal |

New study shows that these 2 childhood habits make you a happier adult

ALETEIA - We all know the importance of eating well and staying fit, even if it’s not easy, but a recent study really drives the point home. Research by UC Riverside has shown that a healthy childhood can pay dividends later in life. The consequences of the report are far-reaching, as they “may be relevant...
By Cerith Gardiner | Aleteia |

Primordial black holes could explain dark matter, galaxy growth and more

PBS - “When I wrote this paper … I fully expected someone would come up with some reason why it definitely couldn’t be true,” says Simeon Bird, a cosmologist at the University of California, Riverside, whose article, coauthored with Kovetz and others, was the first out of the gate. Instead, LIGO continued to capture additional...
By Adam Mann, Knowable Magazine | PBS |

Is California suffering a decades-long megadrought?

LOS ANGELES TIMES - Groundwater supplies also take years to rebound, said Hoori Ajami, assistant professor of groundwater hydrology at UC Riverside, who is part of a team of researchers that analyzed data from wells affected by climate for a paper currently in peer review. “Once your precipitation has recovered, that doesn’t mean your stream...
By Alex Wigglesworth | LA Times |

UC Riverside has high share of underserved students. But funding gap prompts equity debate

LOS ANGELES TIMES - Casaundra Caruso was nearly a straight-A student when she transferred from San Bernardino Valley College to UC Riverside in fall 2019. But that quickly — and disastrously — changed. She was overwhelmed by UC Riverside’s fast-paced quarter system and flummoxed by the process of transferring her credits to Riverside. She didn’t...
By Teresa Watanabe | LA Times |

UC Riverside lectures on COVID-19 research begin Tuesday, April 6

THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE - A series of lectures starting Tuesday, April 6, at UC Riverside will highlight the COVID-19 contributions of researchers at UCR’s College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, including testing and vaccine development. READ THE ARTICLE
By Ryan Hagen | The Press-Enterprise |

UC Riverside student sees art as way to make statements

THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE - Born in Baldwin Park, Hsu grew up in Fullerton before moving to Riverside to attend UC Riverside, where she is in her third year as a biology major. Read the article
By Patrick Brien | The Press-Enterprise |

The Inimitable F. N. David: A Renaissance Statistician

AMERICAN MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY - Florence Nightingale David (1909–1993) was known to readers of her scholarly publications as “F. N. David” and to her colleagues as “David” or “FND.” David has been recognized as the leading, most accomplished and most memorable British woman statistician of the mid-20th cen-tury ([11], [14]). She was a professor at University...
By Amanda L. Golbeck and Craig A. Molgaard |

Plan to Ditch the Mask After Vaccination? Not So Fast.

NY TIMES - Primed by the vaccine, the body’s immune fighters should curb the virus soon after infection, shortening the infection period and curtailing the amounts in the nose and throat. That ought to significantly reduce the chances that a vaccinated person might infect others. Animal studies support the theory. In one study, when monkeys...
By Apoorva Mandavilli | NY Times |

Need a Book With That Spider?

NY TIMES - Late last month, Anne Danielson-Francois, an associate biology professor at the University of Michigan, received an unusual package. She had instructed the sender to make sure the contents — spiders — were cushioned because she did not want their legs to break off. Recluse spiders can be found throughout the United States...
By Christine Hauser | NY Times |
Let us help you with your search