HOUSE DIGEST - Have you ever noticed that many hummingbird feeders are bright red? Have you ever wondered why? Well, science indicates that the vibrant color attracts hummingbirds, which is also likely why nectars have long been colored red. Although the little birds have a penchant for red, it has been less obvious whether or...
HEALIO - Vaping devices with games are creating an even bigger challenge when it comes to convincing adolescents not to vape, posing dangers of nicotine addiction and gaming disorder, according to a press release. In a paper published in Tobacco Control, Man (Jon) Wong , lab assistant at University of California - Riverside, and Prue...
THE U.S. SUN - Scientists have created a 3D illustration charting a list of nearby stars that may be hosting "habitable" alien worlds. They used data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory to identify these planets. It involved finding stars that are close enough to Earth that we could use future telescopes to take images of...
LIVE SCIENCE - NASA's Chandra X-ray space telescope has created a three-dimensional map of stars close to the sun that may help astronomers search for alien planets that could host life. The map created by Chandra — which just celebrated 25 years in orbit but is facing a troubling budget crunch — could inform scientists...
STUDYFINDS - For scientists, mice often serve as stand-ins for humans. So, what happens when these tiny test subjects are bred to be Olympic-level athletes? Researchers from the University of California-Riverside are shedding light on how exceptionally active animals respond to food and calorie restrictions, with surprising implications for our understanding of diet, exercise, and...
NEW YORK POST - A new e-cigarette with built-in video games is being illegally sold in New York and other parts of the United States, critics warn. The disposable “smart vapes” are available in catchy-named flavors like “merry berry” and “cherry pop,” and have built-in, high-definition screens preloaded with multiple games, including ripped-off versions of...
LOS ANGELES TIMES - Move over, dogs. We’re entering the spider days of summer. When it warms up, spiders come out of their hidey-holes. Not to tan, but to catch their bread and butter: bugs. ... “There’s no sense making a web … if there’s nothing to eat,” said Rick Vetter, a retired research associate...
LOS ANGELES TIMES - Five years ago, Lisa Clark and her husband left her hometown of El Centro for Niland, a small town of 500, in search for more affordable housing. But now they’re paying a hidden cost for living just two miles southeast of the Salton Sea. “I’ve been having very bad asthma lately,”...
POPULAR MECHANICS - Scientists have combined a powerful simulator with data about the universe to explain a large discrepancy in our understanding. The simulation suite, called PRIYA, debuted last year and is helping scientists study a special phenomenon of hydrogen atoms in deep outer space. Now, in a new study, PRIYA has enabled scientists from...
NATURE - The monstrous fires that are now charring vast areas of western North America aren’t just colossal and fast-moving, they have also created their own thunderstorms — an example of exotic fire behavior that scientists say is becoming more common as the climate changes. Both the Park Fire, which has burnt more than 160,000...
DISCOVER MAGAZINE - Beyond Earth's blue skies stretches a universe full of possibilities, including countless stars with planets that might support life. While Earth is the only known host of life, astronomers have identified several exoplanets that could potentially support it. "An exoplanet is a planet that orbits a star other than our Sun,” explains...
IFLSCIENCE - A team of astrophysicists have mapped the “Lyman-Alpha Forest", and provided further supporting evidence that galaxy and galaxy cluster formations are better explained by dark matter than alternative theories. While observing the universe, astronomers found that galaxies and galaxy clusters don't behave in the way we would expect. In short, stars at the...
YAHOO UK - Dark matter, the invisible substance believed to account for over 80 percent of the universe's mass, is not an easy thing to detect. We can see its gravitational pull on visible matter, however — which makes hydrogen, as the most common element out there, a prime candidate to watch for those interactions...
THE DESERT SUN - Humidity, hot winds and the decaying Salton Sea have long been been a recipe for nostril and stomach misery during the summer across large swaths of the eastern Coachella Valley. But now, an analysis of 20 years worth of records by a UC Riverside laboratory shows a disturbing new trend: The...
GIZMODO - Using a supercomputer, a team of physicists has confirmed a discrepancy between observations of the universe and theoretical predictions about its structure. The team used PRIYA, a suite of simulations that takes optical light data from two surveys to refine cosmological parameters, to determine constraints on measurements of the universe and its evolution...
BBC SCIENCE FOCUS - Bed bugs have been around longer than humans. When researchers used bed bug DNA to get an idea of when they first evolved, they found that the ancestors of today’s bed bugs were already tiny but successful predators over 115 million years ago, during the reign of the dinosaurs. What they...
LOS ANGELES TIMES - Introduced as battery-powered sticks that emit nicotine-infused vapor, vape pens have transformed into increasingly sophisticated entertainment devices. And that, researchers say, is a potentially huge problem. Disposable vapes gained small illuminated displays last year, typically to show how much battery life remained. In about six months, though, the displays grew to...
ABC 7 - Termite activity is considered to be "very heavy" in California and other southeastern states, and the options to rid your home of the destructive insect are limited and often expensive. But new research at UC Riverside is showing that help might be on the horizon. The two basic strategies to control termites...
NASA - NASA-supported scientists have examined the long and intricately linked history of microbial life and the Earth's environment. By reviewing the current state of knowledge across fields like microbiology, molecular biology, and geology, the study looks at how microorganisms have both shaped and been shaped by chemical properties of our planet's oceans, land, and...
GRIST - Michael Diamond thought he’d have to wait until this year, at least, to have enough data to understand how a shipping regulation aimed at curbing pollution affected the clouds that deck the ocean. “They’re so variable. They’re so wispy. They’re so ever, ever changing,” he said. “So you really often need a lot...