2024 Media Watch Archives
California's beaches are eroding: An expert explains how to save them
Phys Org -
Brett Sanders and his research group, the UCI Flood Lab, have developed advanced coastal dynamics simulation technologies through remote sensing to monitor sand movement and identify hot spots of sand depletion. This could help plan for mitigation efforts against further beach erosion. Read More
California’s Dream of a Green Hydrogen Future Could Backfire
Capital & Main -
California’s current energy mix would result in 11 kilograms of carbon emissions for every kilogram of hydrogen produced ... The Treasury Department’s solution to such problems is to offer tax credits to hydrogen producers who ensure that their electricity comes from clean sources that adds to existing clean electricity already on the grid. That would prevent producers from monopolizing the grid’s renewable power. They would also have to confirm that the clean power goes to electrolyzers as it is generated. Such requirements could “delay the advancement of clean renewable hydrogen production in California,” said Jack Brouwer, director of the Clean Energy Institute at UC Irvine, at the hearing in Sacramento. He was heavily involved in preparing California’s hydrogen hub application. Read More
After months of delays and decades of waiting, fluffy sand is being delivered in San Clemente
The Orange County Register -
UC Irvine Civil Engineering Professor Brett Sanders, who researches the region’s sand erosion trends and troubles [said], “It will spread out across the coast,” explained Sanders, whose team has measured the coastline and studies wave action that moves sediment. “There will be times it gets pulled offshore. When there’s milder waves, it tends to push it back on shore. It will get dispersed around.” Looking out at the beach, Sanders explained the complex puzzle that has caused the region to see a dwindling sand supply. Read More
Super alloy’s stamina to bear extreme heat and cold shocks scientists
Interesting Engineering -
Researchers have uncovered a new remarkable metal alloy that doesn’t crack at extreme temperatures due to kinking, or bending, of crystals in the alloy at the atomic level. Unlike most materials, the new alloy displays impressive strength and toughness at extremely hot and cold temperatures, a combination that seemed nearly impossible to achieve until now. … The research was carried out by a team led by Robert Ritchie at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and UC Berkeley, in collaboration with the groups led by professors Diran Apelian at UC Irvine and Enrique Lavernia at Texas A&M University. Read More
Researchers uncover kinky metal alloy that won't crack at extreme temperatures at the atomic level
Phys.org -
A metal alloy composed of niobium, tantalum, titanium, and hafnium has shocked materials scientists with its impressive strength and toughness at both extremely hot and cold temperatures, a combination of properties that seemed so far to be nearly impossible to achieve. … The team, led by Robert Ritchie at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and UC Berkeley, in collaboration with the groups led by professors Diran Apelian at UC Irvine and Enrique Lavernia at Texas A&M University, discovered the alloy's surprising properties and then figured out how they arise from interactions in the atomic structure. Their work is described in a study that was published in Science. Read More
Team Finds New Source for Sleep-Related Brain Waves
Futurity -
“Our research sheds light on a previously unrecognized aspect of deep sleep brain activity,” says lead author Mengke Wang, formerly an undergraduate student in biomedical engineering at the University of California, Irvine, who is now a graduate student at Johns Hopkins University (Wang conducted the study while at UC Irvine). “We’ve discovered that the hippocampus, typically associated with memory formation, plays a crucial role in generating slow waves and sleep spindles, offering new insights into how these brain waves support memory processing during sleep.” Read More
TMJ Horrors: Chronic Pain, Metal Jaws and Futile Treatments
U.S. News & World Report -
Kyriacos Athanasiou, a biomedical engineering professor at the University of California, Irvine, said it was because TMJ disorders are more prevalent among women that they were historically dismissed as neither serious nor complex, slowing research into the cause and treatment. The resulting dearth of knowledge, which is glaring when compared with other joints, has been "a huge disservice" to patients, Athanasiou said. In a 2021 study he co-authored, researchers found that the knee, despite being a much simpler joint, was the subject of about six times as many research papers and grants in a single year than the jaw joint. Read More
Neuroscientists Uncover Brain Region 'Crucial' to Deep Sleep
Newsweek -
Neuroscientists have discovered a surprising new source of deep-sleep brain waves, shaking up our understanding of the architecture of sleep and how we treat sleep disorders. … "These findings have significant implications for sleep research, potentially paving the way for new approaches to treating sleep-related disorders," co-author Gregory Brewer, adjunct professor of biomedical engineering at UC Irvine, said in a statement. Read More
Researchers find new origin of deep brain waves
Medical Xpress -
University of California, Irvine biomedical engineering researchers have uncovered a previously unknown source of two key brain waves crucial for deep sleep: slow waves and sleep spindles. Traditionally believed to originate from one brain circuit linking the thalamus and cortex, the team's findings, published in Scientific Reports, suggest that the axons in memory centers of the hippocampus play a role. Read More
New Source of Brain Waves Linked to Deep Sleep
Sleep Review -
University of California, Irvine biomedical engineering researchers have uncovered a previously unknown source of two key brain waves crucial for deep sleep: slow waves and sleep spindles. Traditionally believed to originate from one brain circuit linking the thalamus and cortex, the team’s findings, published in Scientific Reports, suggest that the axons in memory centers of the hippocampus play a role. Read More