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College of Natural & Agricultural Sciences

Latest CNAS in the Media

Coming to grips with a climate paradox: Less air pollution spurs more wildfires

ANTHROPOCENE - It’s hard to fathom that there’s an upside to air pollution. But it’s becoming clear that, paradoxically, cleaning up tailpipes and smokestacks comes with a price for the planet. As pollution controls cut emissions of aerosols such as sulfur dioxide, scientists are uncovering the myriad ways these tiny, sunlight-reflecting particles have been taking...
By Warren Cornwall | Anthropocene |

Reducing aerosol pollution causes more wildfires in an ironic twist of fate

EARTH.COM - The quest for cleaner air is a noble, shared aspiration for a healthier planet and happier lungs. But what if this pursuit to improve air quality by reducing aerosol pollution, however well-intentioned, inadvertently fuels a different kind of environmental disaster? A study from the University of California, Riverside (UCR) reveals a startling paradox...
By Sanjana Gajbhiye | Earth.com |

Underwater volcanoes made sharks more fierce: scientists

NEWSWEEK - Ancient underwater volcanic eruptions may have made modern day sharks more fierce then their predecessors, a new study has found. The infamous shark species we know of today evolved from stubby bottom dwellers around 93 million years ago when a spew of lava poured into the ocean, the study reported. This caused carbon...
By Robyn White | Newsweek |

Eliminating this common pollutant could actually lead to more forest fires

INVERSE - Nobody likes smog. Aerosol pollution, a mucky particulate cocktail of soot, dust, chemical fumes, and other compounds that linger in the atmosphere, is a worldwide problem. It’s unsightly, triggers environmental harms like acid rain, and is terrible for the health of humans and wildlife alike. Scientists and environmental advocates generally agree: We want...
By Lauren Leffer | Inverse |

Invasive insect continues its spread across SoCal, killing more than 80,000 oak trees so far

ABC 7 - Who would think something so small could be so devastating? Nevertheless, entomologists continue to sound the alarm about the goldspotted oak borer, an invasive insect that some experts believe has killed more than 80,000 oak trees across Southern California. "It's just fascinating how this insect has been around for 50 million years...
By Rob McMillan | ABC 7 (KABC) |

Sweater-eating moths are an unbeatable enemy

THE ATLANTIC - Every year, beginning around the end of March, my household starts planning a massacre. Our targets are our home’s clothes moths: My spouse and I lay pheromone-laced traps in the closets, living room, and bedrooms; we—and our two cats—go on alert for any stray speckle of brown on a cream-colored wall. The...
By Katherine J. Wu | The Atlantic |

Tree-killing beetle is on a death march through Southern California's oaks. Can it be stopped?

LOS ANGELES TIMES - The goldspotted oak borer has spread across Southern California since its discovery in 2008 in San Diego County, where it has slaughtered more than 80,000 trees. Joelene Tamm, a graduate student with UC Riverside’s entomology department who studies the goldspotted oak borer, is concerned with slowing its march north into the...
By Lila Seidman | LA Times |

Astronomers aim to look for terraformed ‘Snowball’ Earths

FORBES - Man-made greenhouse gases have long been a hot button topic here on earth since as pollutants, they are largely responsible for anthropogenic climate change. But what about alien civilizations that intentionally use greenhouse gases to save their planet from the onset of a snowball earth type situation; that is, a completely ice-covered planet...
By Bruce Dorminey | Forbes |

Massive new NASA exoplanet catalog unveils 126 extreme and exotic worlds

SPACE.COM - A new catalog of 126 worlds beyond the solar system contains a cornucopia of newly discovered planets — some have extreme and exotic natures, but others could potentially support life as we know it. The catalog's mix of planets is further evidence of the wide and wild variety of worlds beyond our cosmic...
By Robert Lea | Space.com |

NASA releases catalog packed with the most bizarre alien worlds

GIZMODO - Do we live in an unusual star system? Astronomers have been trying to figure out if the Solar System is unique compared to other stars and their orbiting planets, and they just took a major step towards answering the longstanding cosmic mystery. An international team of planet-hunting astronomers spent three years analyzing thousands...
By Passant Rabie | Gizmodo |

New to US: Hornets that butcher bees and sting people. Humans are fighting back.

USA TODAY - In August 2023, a beekeeper near the port of Savannah, Georgia, noticed that something odd was hunting his honeybees. Black with bright yellow legs, the flying insect would hover at the hive entrance, capture a flying honeybee and butcher it before darting off with the bee’s thorax, the meatiest bit. “He’d only...
By Hannah Hoag | Knowable Magazine |

Scientists discover a volcano-rich planet hotter than some stars

ZME SCIENCE - A research team led by University of California Riverside researchers has unveiled a new member of the HD 104067 star system. Located approximately 66 light years from Earth, this is one of the hottest solar systems out there — quite literally. The newly identified fiery planet, designated TOI-6713.01, exhibits conditions so extreme...
By Jordan Strickler | ZME Science |

Strange, red-glowing planet may be 'melting from within,' scientists report

LIVE SCIENCE - A newly discovered planet in a faraway star system appears to be erupting with so many volcanoes, it glows a fiery red when seen from space. No planet like this has ever been observed before, researchers say, and follow-up observations will be required to confirm the strange world's existence. The newfound planet...
By Sharmila Kuthunur | Live Science |

Debunked: NASA is about to confirm alien life on another planet

FORBES - Media outlets widely reported last fall that a possible sign of life had been found on another planet. The evidence came from the James Webb Space Telescope, which identified the presence of a molecule called dimethyl sulfide on an exoplanet called K2-18b. On Earth, DMS is produced by phytoplankton in the oceans. Evidence...

By Jamie Carter | Forbes |

NASA discovers gravity-squeezed world 'exploding with volcanoes'

NEWSWEEK - A roiling-hot exoplanet billions of miles away has been discovered, dotted with so many volcanos that it would visibly glow in the darkness of space. This planet, named TOI-6713.01, orbits a star situated around 66 light-years away from our solar system and is a rocky world around 30 percent larger than Earth, according...
By Jess Thomson | Newsweek |

Here’s a great new tool to help protect butterflies in your area

THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE - A look at our local Lepidoptera (butterfly and moth) species and share some tips on how to protect them. New conservation tool One of the ways you could help butterflies and moths in your local area is by creating a space with plants they are attracted to. Chris Cosma, a recent Ph.D...
By Kurt Snibbe | The Press-Enterprise |

RFK Jr. revealed he had a parasitic brain worm. Here’s what to know.

THE WASHINGTON POST - Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. revealed that he was diagnosed with mercury poisoning around the same time doctors discovered a parasitic worm in his brain, adding to questions about cognitive fitness that have roiled the 2024 campaign. “It’s not necessarily a problem right away to have this infection, but it’s...
By Fenit Nirappil | The Washington Post |

Turns out JWST hasn’t found life in another planet…yet

COSMOS MAGAZINE: In 2023, an exoplanet made international headlines because James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) observations suggested that the planet has a “biosignature” – signs of gas in its atmosphere produced by “life.” A new study published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters pricks a hole in this hypothesis. K2-18b is a planet orbiting a star...
By Evrim Yazgin | Cosmos Magazine |

Did the James Webb Space Telescope really find life beyond Earth? Scientists aren't so sure

SPACE.COM - Recent reports of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) detecting signs of life of a distant planet outside the solar system are, unfortunately, somewhat premature. That's the conclusion of research conducted by scientists from the University of California Riverside (UCR). While likely to disappoint all of us eager for the confirmation of extraterrestrial...
By Robert Lea | Space.com |

JWST’s detection of life on alien planet could be a premature claim

INTERESTING ENGINEERING - Earlier this year, reports emerged that NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) had likely found signs of life on a distant alien planet. Celebrations were premature, according to a new study on the findings. Not all hope is lost, though, as the new paper also outlines how the telescope might still verify...
By Chris Young | Interesting Engineering |
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