Media Watch
Was Australia's 10-year megadrought a teaching moment for California?
The Washington Post -
California’s government should be more direct about the problem state residents face in a paralyzing drought with no end in sight. “You can’t just come up with technical innovations and think that’s going to do the trick,” said David Feldman, a professor of planning and politics at UC Irvine and a co-author for the report. “You need education, you need public outreach, and you need all these people working on it.
Six lessons for California from a drought halfway around the world
KPBS -
Drought-stricken California has a lot to learn from Melbourne, Australia, according to UC Irvine civil and environmental engineering professor Stanley Grant. He's the senior author of a study published Tuesday outlining how Melbourne slashed its water consumption in half during a recent drought that lasted more than a decade. … "We can take inspiration in the degree of leadership, the very public debate, and the experimentation," Grant said.
Harvesting usable fuel from nuclear waste - and dealing with the last chemical troublemakers
The Conversation -
My research at UC Irvine, as well as that of other labs around the world, focuses on new ways to deal with the last few troublemakers in the used nuclear fuel. We’re working on how to remove the remaining long-lived trans-uranic actinides with an efficiency high enough that the remaining nuclear waste’s isolation time would be decreased to 1,000 years or less. … Mikael Nilsson; associate professor of chemical engineering and materials science at University of California, Irvine.
6 incredible health stories that have us proud to be an American
Fox News -
2. Interactive rehabilitation device restores vet’s use of hand after stroke … The device was invented by Nizan Friedman when he was a biomedical engineering postdoctorate student at the University of California, Irvine. While studying, Friedman worked under David Reinkensmeyer, a leader in the field of neurorehabilitation and Mark Bachman, a leader in miniaturized bionic and assistive devices.
Parents, foster the success of dealing with failure
Orange County Register -
It’s OK to be cautious, but to be so fearful of failure that you stop trying is deleterious. … a panel of successful people discussed failure. The participants were … Michelle Khine, an associate professor of biomedical engineering, chemical engineering and materials science at UC Irvine ... Khine talked about having hundreds of bad ideas in science for every great idea.
With its pilot project, one Irvine company is turning emissions into electricity
Orange County Register -
A company, Ener-Core, along with OC Waste and UCI have partnered to create a system to convert [methane] gas into an energy source. … Engineering students at UC Irvine will study the project’s results and work to improve technology. … UC Irvine received a $1.5 million grant from the California Energy Commission, and is coordinating subcontracts for the project.
Dynamic camouflage will let soldiers hide like a squid
Marketplace -
In a lab at UC Irvine, chemical engineering professor Alon Gorodetsky and his team are making synthetic squid protein using bacteria. The lab is recreating a protein called Reflectin – it's what allows squid to change color and disappear into their surroundings by manipulating light – in the hopes that it could someday be used by the military as part of more effective camouflage.
NASA water scientist Jay Famiglietti
PBS So Cal/KOCE Tavis Smiley -
Jay Famiglietti, senior water scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and UC Irvine professor discusses the severity of California’s drought.