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Science + Technology

Satellite imagery shows the difference between current and average sea surface temperatures in the Eastern Pacific Ocean as a literal heatmap.
Photo Credit
NOAA Satellites
Sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean were already far higher than average by the first week of June 2026 due to El Niño.

El Niño has become more intense over last 40 years than the previous 1,000 years

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Biochemist Yang Yang becomes UCSB’s first Freeman Hrabowski Scholar
A barracuda school off Bikar Atoll, Marshall Islands.
Photo Credit
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Monitoring fishing activity far from shore presents a challenge for resource management and marine conservation.

Satellites show that strictly protected marine areas exclude industrial fishing
drone footage of river with water based plastic trash collectors
Photo Credit
Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory
A depiction of various river plastic collection technologies utilized for data collection

How plastic pollution flows from rivers to oceans — and how to stop it
white man in front of blackboard
Photo Credit
Matt Perko
Joseph Polchinski at UCSB’s Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, where he advanced pivotal ideas in string theory and quantum gravity.

Polchinski archive opens digital window into renowned physicist’s work
Rare earth element names with suffix “ium.”
Photo Credit
Matt Perko

A simple filter for rare earth elements will ensure a clean domestic supply of these crucial metals
Old, abandoned barn in a large field with white wildflowers and prairie grass.
Photo Credit
Richard McMillin via iStock
While global trends dominate environmental outcomes, decisions about recultivating or rewilding abandoned fields can influence habitat health.

Protecting nature may depend on where — not just how — we farm
dead tree on salt island in the Dead Sea

Dead Sea’s salt giants offer rare glimpse into Earth’s geological past
woman working at a desktop computer with a sleeping baby on her chest
Photo Credit
iStock

To benefit from the internet, ‘not all screens are created equal’
digital abstraction
Photo Credit
iStock

NSF grant supports advances in cyberinfrastructure for multimodal imaging data
man sneezing in bed

Optogenetic platform illuminates new antiviral strategies
An Icelandic braided river, seen from above.
Photo Credit
Luca Ronchi via iStock
Multi-channel rivers predominate in Iceland’s easily eroded volcanic soil.

Rivers choose their path based on erosion — a discovery that could transform flood planning and restoration
turbulence as ink is dispersed into water

New mathematical insights into Lagrangian turbulence
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