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Letters and Science

Four adults in farmers clothes, their faces lit, look up at a foreboding figure in a mask
Photo Credit
Jeff Liang
The allegory that is 'Animal Farm' examines the perils of unchecked power and privilege, the use of words as a political weapon, and revolutions that erode into regimes not unlike those they overthrew.

UCSB theater students take on Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm,’ a fable that still bites

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Doctoral candidate Amelia Ritger receives award for women researchers
Chris Erdman
Photo Credit
Debra Herrick
Chris Erdman is a recipient of the American Academy in Rome fellowship for 2024–25.

A residency in Rome to uncover the Eternal City’s ancient voting culture
Rosa Parks
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Courtesy
Rosa Parks

A rich and unsung legacy comes to light in ‘The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks’
Holly Moeller checks on flasks of mixotrophic algae.
Photo Credit
Holly Moeller
Holly Moeller hopes these nondescript algae will help her uncover the intriguing lifestyle of mixotrophs and understand how environmental conditions influence their growth.

Biologist Holly Moeller investigates the role of mixotrophs, organisms that can both eat and photosynthesize
Side-by-side headshots of Tanya Atwater, Leda Cosmides and Nelson Lichtenstein
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Courtesy photo
Left to right: Tanya Atwater, Leda Cosmides and Nelson Lichtenstein

Joining one of the world’s premier honorary societies, three professors are named to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences
A mountain made of multicolored pill capsules
Photo Credit
Ryan Allen and Peter Allen, Second Bay Studios
A new antibiotic susceptibility test revealed that existing FDA-approved antibiotics can effectively treat multidrug-resistant infections.

New test reveals existing antibiotics, hiding in plain sight on pharmacy shelves, can cure superbugs
Hillside daisy blankets hills in yellow, with splashes of pink, orange and blue.
Photo Credit
Joan Dudney
California’s wildflowers have painted parts of the state in a dazzling array of colors.

Tending to our superblooms requires developing plans for people to enjoy them
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Anti-hate event draws local and national AAPI activists to Multicultural Center
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Conference on the Americas features Chilean leader and activist Elisa Loncón Antileo
Ceramic reproduction of a meat market store front.
Photo Credit
Ruben Diaz
Christopher Suarez, La Gaviota Meat Market, detail, 2022, ceramic

To lionize his Long Beach barrio, Christopher Suarez turns to clay
Mono Lake with bright sunshine
Photo Credit
Matt Perko
Mono Lake, where brine flies are a key food source for water birds.

The productivity of brine flies is tied to the overall health of salt lake ecosystems; both are in decline
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Documentary screening features Nobel Prize-winning journalist Maria Ressa
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