Media Watch
After a year of lobbying, Johnson backs fossil fuel bill over green objections
Politico -
“The thing that we must realize is that actually achieving a zero emissions goal is a little more complicated than the popular thinking understands,” said Jack Brouwer, director of the National Fuel Cell Research Center at the University of California, Irvine. Read More
University engineering clubs get moving again
Medium -
The current restrictions, as a result of the COVID-19 social distancing measures, is shaping and testing a new generation of young professionals in ways that will yield greater resiliency and adaptability in the workplace of the future. The University of California, Irvine Solar Car team is no exception. Like most research university engineering clubs, they have a limited timeframe to complete their objectives, are resource constrained and have their normal coursework to attend to. … The project manager of UC Irvine’s Solar Car team, Subin Shrestha, is one of those young engineering mavens that is traversing the challenges of our day. Read More
The ball is different again, and it’s changing the way pitches move. Now what?
The Athletic -
Now there’s new research from Glenn Healey and Lequan Wang in the electrical engineering and computer science departments at the University of California, Irvine which shows that as the seam height changes, the movement on pitches changes. By using optical and radar tracking, and correcting for weather effects, Healey and Wang were able to graph the movement of pitches by season in major league baseball. … Healey’s new study has the benefit of over 700,000 pitches of TrackMan data behind it. [Subscription required, you can request an electronic copy of the article by sending an email to communications@uci.edu.] Read More
Is the electric grid closer to a devastating cyberattack that could mean lights out?
SC Magazine -
And then there’s the evidence presented … by researchers at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) that a spoofing mechanism tucked into a disposable coffee cup could generate a 32 percent change in output voltage, a 200 percent increase in low-frequency harmonics power and a 250 percent boost in real power from a solar inverter. “Without touching the solar inverter, without even getting close to it, I can just place a coffee cup nearby and then leave and go anywhere in the world, from which I can destabilize the grid,” said Mohammad Al Faruque’s research group in UCI’s Henry Samueli School of Engineering. Read More
Microscopy reveals mantis shrimp’s shock-absorbing secrets
Chemistry World -
A team led by University of California, Irvine, materials scientist David Kisailus has analyzed the impact-resistant coating on the shrimp’s dactyl club. Using transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy the researchers made a 3D map of the club’s surface layer. … The researchers say that the particulate layer’s combination of stiffness and shock-absorbing properties outperform many artificial materials and could provide inspiration for new lightweight protective coatings with potential uses in construction, vehicles and body armor. Read More
Low-cost, rapid COVID-19 testing platform could be available across U.S. by year end
Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News -
University of California, Irvine (UCI) scientists say a robust, low-cost imaging platform, utilizing lab-on-a-chip technology, and costing just a couple of hundred dollars, may be available for rapid coronavirus diagnostic and antibody testing throughout the United States by the end of the year. Using blood from a finger prick, the UCI test probes hundreds of antibody responses to 14 respiratory viruses, including SARS-CoV-2. Results are available in two to four hours. Read More
Disrupting a power grid with cheap equipment hidden in a coffee cup
Help Net Security -
Mohammad Al Faruque, UCI associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science, and his team revealed that the spoofing mechanism can generate a 32 percent change in output voltage … “Without touching the solar inverter, without even getting close to it, I can just place a coffee cup nearby and then leave and go anywhere in the world, from which I can destabilize the grid,” Al Faruque said. “In an extreme case, I can even create a blackout.” Read More
Lab-on-a-chip technology detects COVID-19 antibody
News Medical Life Sciences -
A robust, low-cost imaging platform utilizing lab-on-a-chip technology created by University of California, Irvine scientists may be available for rapid coronavirus diagnostic and antibody testing throughout the nation by the end of the year. … UCI investigators Weian Zhao, Per Niklas Hedde, Enrico Gratton and Philip Felgner believe that their new technology can help accelerate the testing process quickly and affordably. Read More
Research team develops low-cost, accurate COVID-19 antibody detection platform
Phys.org -
A robust, low-cost imaging platform utilizing lab-on-a-chip technology created by University of California, Irvine scientists may be available for rapid coronavirus diagnostic and antibody testing throughout the nation by the end of the year. … UCI investigators Weian Zhao, Per Niklas Hedde, Enrico Gratton and Philip Felgner believe that their new technology can help accelerate the testing process quickly and affordably. Read More
UCI researchers hacked solar inverters using just $50 worth of equipment
LEED Points -
Cyber-physical systems security researchers at the University of California, Irvine can disrupt the functioning of a power grid using about $50 worth of equipment tucked inside a disposable coffee cup. In a presentation delivered at the recent Usenix Security 2020 conference, Mohammad Al Faruque, UCI associate professor of electrical engineering & computer science, and his team revealed that the spoofing mechanism can generate a 32 percent change in output voltage, a 200 percent increase in low-frequency harmonics power and a 250 percent boost in real power from a solar inverter. Al Faruque’s group in UCI’s Henry Samueli School of Engineering have made a habit in recent years of finding exploitable loopholes in systems that combine computer hardware and software with machines and other infrastructure. Read More