What's Current in
Letters and Science
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![kacie ring with blue background young white woman](/sites/default/files/styles/large_2340x1212/public/2024-05/Grad-Slam-Final_2024_0072-kacie-ring-opt.jpg?itok=RqEpWHZZ)
Photo Credit
Jeff Liang
A Ph.D. student in ecology, evolution and marine biology, Kacie Ring placed second in the UC Grad Slam.
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![A mantis shrimp emerges from its burrow to confront a rival.](/sites/default/files/styles/large_2340x1212/public/2024-05/Mantis-shrimp-fight-uc-santa-barbara.jpg?itok=dVwHyRUg)
Photo Credit
Roy Caldwell
These territorial crustaceans use their tails as shields to defend against the explosive punches of their rivals.
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![Black woman lying on ground partially submerged by light or water](/sites/default/files/styles/large_2340x1212/public/2024-05/for%20performance%20Hope%20Okere%20Dance-72dpi.jpg?itok=K2-rnFhX)
Photo Credit
Hope Okere
A still from "movement:::Water / movement:::Support," choreographed by Hope Okere
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![Two workers in white coveralls and masks examine solar cells in a cleanroom.](/sites/default/files/styles/large_2340x1212/public/2024-05/Solar-cell-fab-iStock.jpg?itok=XdNRn720)
Photo Credit
Gorodenkoff via iStock
Alternatives to silicon-based solar cells could allow solar panel production to move out of cleanrooms like this.
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![Image of Black Studies professor on gray background](/sites/default/files/styles/large_2340x1212/public/2024-04/Jeffrey-Stewart-Current-Hero.jpg?itok=9sReJ9a_)
Photo Credit
Matt Perko
Jeffrey C. Stewart
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![An illustrative image of small peptide helices.](/sites/default/files/styles/large_2340x1212/public/2024-04/protien-illustration-uc-santa-barbara.png?itok=7P1UbUrL)
Photo Credit
Matt Perko
This is a story about proteins, how they malfunction, and what cells do to prevent that.
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![A river meanders through forests and fields in Columbia.](/sites/default/files/styles/large_2340x1212/public/2024-04/Columbian-river-iStock.jpg?itok=Wh9xfAKO)
Photo Credit
EGT via iStock
Meandering rivers create a dynamic landscape, depositing sand bars and eroding steep banks as they undulate across their floodplains.