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sand dunes against an ocean background

California has lost more than half of its coastal sand dunes, first-ever comprehensive assessment reveals

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A closeup of a man playing cello, with other musicians fading into a blurry background.
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Cyano66 via iStock
If the mind is a symphony, the orchestra playing it remains obscured.

New mathematical frameworks reveal how stable thoughts emerge from chaotic brain activity
Paul Atzberger holds a mathematical figure.
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Matt Perko
Paul Atzberger is designing AI that sees the world more like a geometer.

Giving AI geometric awareness allows it to better understand the world
illustration of light-activated molecule
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Courtesy Image

Yang group develops new mechanism for metal carbene radical cross coupling
Geometric image of multicolored lines extending from a gray, rectangular structure
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Brian Long
Co-PI Andrew Jayich will use the new technology to create ion traps like the one shown here, in which colors indicate independent electrodes to control trapped ions.

Galan Moody leads successful effort to secure $1.3 million for advanced 3D printing
A mosquito feeds on a person's skin.
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panom via iStock
California's warming climate is making the state more hospitable to dengue virus, and to the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that carry it.

As California warms, cases of dengue fever are expected to grow
A woman tends to casava while carrying a baby on her back.
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Annie Spratt via Unsplash
Rain forecasts and drought warnings can save lives in regions like Sierra Leone, where subsistence farming is still a major part of society.

New rainfall dataset enhances global monitoring of extreme weather
A field of potatoes framed by wildflowers in the foreground and forest in the background.
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Grigorev_Vladimir via iStock
Agriculture and timber production need not come at the expense of carbon storage and biodiversity.

Better land use and management could improve biodiversity, climate and economic development
A forest smothered in vines.
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Jonathan Hammond via iStock
Kudzu got a foothold in North America in 1876 and has since gotten a stranglehold on the forests of the Southeast.

Vast botanical data help solve Darwin’s puzzle of why some exotic plants become pests
a young lady with a yellow bandana sits at a table, smiling at the camera
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Courtesy Image

Schmidt Family Foundation renews multi-year funding of UCSB’s Environmental Solutions Fellows Program
nighttime photo of cars in the foreground, wildfire in the background

Six roads to safety: New study finds a critical threshold for wildfire survival
Whitecaps stir up on the ocean surface under dark clouds
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Oporkka via iStock
Climate dynamics can be quite nuanced, with far off winds influencing tropical oceans.

Distant winds can drive massive tropical warming deep below the ocean surface
photo of a brightly colored optical experiment
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Courtesy Image

Atomic physicist David Weld selected for 2026 National Brown Investigator Award
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