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Life Sciences

illustration of neurons and chemical signaling

Hormone cycles shape the structure and function of key memory regions in the brain

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Samantha Mladjov pilots a drone above a beachgoers and dogs.
Photo Credit
Neil Nathan
With an eye in the sky, researchers can track white sharks off the coast.

Scientists use drones to track white sharks along California beaches
scientist looking at brain imaging scans
Photo Credit
Matt Perko
Emily Jacobs

New study reveals changes in the brain throughout pregnancy
scientists in lab with crates
Photo Credit
Jeff Liang
UCSB ExFAB staff and senior participants, from left, Oliver Vining, Elaine Kirschke, Jean-Marie Volland, Nathalie Elisabeth, Sherylle Mills Englander, Max Wilson, Michelle O'Malley, Joel Rothman, Niels Volkmann and Carolyn Mills.

UCSB to lead $22M NSF-funded center on exceptional microbes
Pedestrians in IR walk along a cobblestone street.
Photo Credit
Ildar Abulkhanov via iStock
It’s not quite heat vision, but mosquitoes do use thermal infrared to find human hosts.

Mosquitoes sense infrared from body heat to help track humans down
An illustration of macrophages attacking a cancer cell.
Photo Credit
Wildpixel via iStock
Priming macrophage immune cells could supercharge certain cancer therapies.

An appetizer can stimulate immune cells’ appetite, a boon for cancer treatments
orange and black butterflies on a branch
Monarch butterflies undertake a multigenerational migration that covers thousands of miles

Neurobiologist Sung Soo Kim receives 2024 Scholar Award from McKnight Foundation
Yellowtail dascyllus and other tropical fish swim by a cauliflower coral in American Samoa.
Photo Credit
Dam via Adobe Stock
Damselfish like these yellowtail dascyllus have an outsized effect on reefs compared to their humble proportions.

Coral reefs: battlegrounds for survival in a changing climate
concept illustration of chemical reactions using light
Photo Credit
Courtesy Image

Shining a light on new chemical reactions
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Understanding aging on a cellular level
eye with circuitry blue tint

AI learns to pay covert attention
A mantis shrimp emerges from its burrow to confront a rival.
Photo Credit
Roy Caldwell
These territorial crustaceans use their tails as shields to defend against the explosive punches of their rivals.

Rolling with the punches: How mantis shrimp defend against high-speed strikes
2024 Goldwater scholars
Clockwise, from left: Matthew Unger, Riya Nilkrant, Xuanwei Liang, Isaac Hair, Anika Jena

Five UC Santa Barbara undergraduates named Goldwater Scholars
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