UC Santa Barbara
@ucsantabarbara.bsky.social
📤 1127
📥 51
📝 229
Official Bluesky of
#UCSB
🎓 A top-ranked public university where beauty meets brilliance 💛 ucsb.edu
Scientists have discovered the first-ever impacts between large objects in a nearby star system 💫 "We have witnessed what we believe to be a collisional event between two comet-like bodies in the Fomalhaut system," said #UCSB's Maxwell Millar-Blanchaer. Full story:
https://ow.ly/nFM050XLGnM
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Astronomers discover huge dust clouds from violent collisions around nearby star
While searching for exoplanets, scientists observe the first-ever impacts between large objects in a nearby star system.
https://ow.ly/nFM050XLGnM
about 18 hours ago
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If reading more is one of your New Year's resolutions, #UCSB's Mona Damluji has an impactful list of suggestions for you 📚 The author shares five books that continue to shape her perspective—and remind her of the power of story to bring light, laughter and understanding: https://ow.ly/hUqb50XK2Ak
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Five books that matter
An assistant professor of film and media studies, Mona Damluji shares five books that continue to share her perspective — and remind her of the power of story to bring light, laughter and understanding.
https://ow.ly/hUqb50XK2Ak
3 days ago
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UCSB graduate students: Grad Slam 2026 registration opens on Jan. 5! The annual competition is a chance to showcase your research to a wider audience—and win some cash. The top presenter also wins an invite to present at the UC systemwide competition 🏆 Full story:
https://ow.ly/49Wb50XMGsc
4 days ago
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Wish you were here 🌊🏖️ Sprinkle in some holiday magic from UCSB and send these festive postcards to your friends and family to remind them that bikes and the beach are celebrated all year long when you're in Santa Barbara ✨
4 days ago
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As much of the early Black press remains scattered or difficult to access, UCSB's Jim Casey is leading a project to recover and share 19th-century African American newspapers—using artificial intelligence 📰 Full story:
https://ow.ly/osRA50XLvEo
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$750,000 Schmidt Sciences grant uses AI to transform Black press archives
Led by UCSB’s Jim Casey, a national coalition is working to make early African American newspapers freely accessible
https://ow.ly/osRA50XLvEo
5 days ago
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A stormy ocean voyage produced a wildly productive study led by UCSB researchers, revealing important insights for our understanding of Earth’s climate 🌊 It presents some of the first findings to predict fluxes of carbon into the deep sea:
https://ow.ly/WIUc50XKXZf
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A stormy ocean voyage yields insights on the global carbon cycle
Scientists overcame storms and bureaucratic setbacks to investigate the ocean’s carbon cycle. The expedition revealed more about how tiny organic particles, known as marine snow, transport carbon.
https://ow.ly/WIUc50XKXZf
6 days ago
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Throwback to
#UCSB
in 1976 💙 Did you know Kinko’s has roots in Isla Vista?
7 days ago
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Shifting focus on a visual scene without moving our eyes—think driving—is a behavior known as covert attention. #UCSB researchers have uncovered the foundation of covert attention, finding new, emergent neuron types, with assistance from A.I 🧠 Full story:
https://ow.ly/BAMX50XJMVP
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AI helps explain how covert attention works and uncovers new neuron types
Researchers use convolutional neural networks to model and predict the neural underpinnings of covert attention
https://ow.ly/BAMX50XJMVP
7 days ago
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A new study out of #UCSB found that global assessments systematically underestimate hunger—finding one in five may go uncounted. "This matters because these metrics are used to trigger funding for emergency relief." Full story:
https://ow.ly/lUKP50XIC17
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Global measure underestimates the severity of food insecurity
A new study in Nature Food finds that global assessments systematically underestimate hunger and food insecurity, the exact opposite of what many governments and aid organizations assumed.
https://ow.ly/lUKP50XIC17
8 days ago
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While social media addiction hasn’t been *officially* recognized as a mental health condition, it shows up in brain scans, according to #UCSB grad student Kylie Falcione, who works in René Weber's Media Neuroscience Lab:
https://ow.ly/fA6S50XIBNE
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Brain science, social media and a modern moral panic
In brain scans, social media addiction looks the same as gaming and gambling addictions and substance abuse, says grad student Kylie Falcione at UCSB's Media Neuroscience Lab
https://ow.ly/fA6S50XIBNE
9 days ago
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reposted by
UC Santa Barbara
Hypothesis Fund
12 days ago
3/ Awardee
@mixotrophe.bsky.social
aims to uncover how mixotrophs (marine microbes that harness energy from the 🌞 & organic matter) strategize their metabolisms. Her project may be key to understanding our changing ocean. 🎉 Congrats Dr. Moeller!
@ucsantabarbara.bsky.social
🙏
#HFScout
Ginger Armbrust
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reposted by
UC Santa Barbara
Nina Miolane
12 days ago
Thanks
@thetransmitter.bsky.social
for the feature! In our dementia work: 🧠 We predict cognitive decline by detecting early molecular signs. 🤖 We use LLM-augmented XAI to map key proteins to literature & accelerate biomarker discovery.
@louisacornelis.bsky.social
G Bernardez R Saloner K Casaletto
add a skeleton here at some point
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reposted by
UC Santa Barbara
Hypothesis Fund
12 days ago
✨Announcing our newest awardees, who are taking scientific leaps to uncover new knowledge across microbial ecology, marine microbiology, and mammalian genetics. Learn about their projects:
bit.ly/HFAwardees
Meet our awardees and hear from their
#HFScouts
in our 🧵/1
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The new issue of UC Santa Barbara Magazine is out now, with our cover story on #UCSB professors Michel Devoret and John Martinis reacting to their Nobel Prize in Physics 🎉🏆 It also features a soccer star who overcame a heart condition, marine scientist Ben Halpern & more:
https://ow.ly/ArK450XIvXU
11 days ago
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#UCSB's John Martinis & Michel Devoret officially accepted their Nobel Prize awards this week in Sweden 🤝🏅 They were selected for the prize "for the discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling and energy quantisation in an electric circuit." Full story:
https://ow.ly/3syu50XHACH
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UCSB physicists accept Nobel Prizes in Sweden
UCSB physics professors John Martinis and Michel Devoret receive their Nobel prizes in Physics from King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
https://ow.ly/3syu50XHACH
11 days ago
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A new $3.8 million grant from The National Institutes of Health is helping #UCSB scholars reimagine how virtual reality can support older adults who are aging at home—and the family members and professionals who care for them. Full story:
https://ow.ly/em3O50XH255
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NIH backs UCSB virtual reality project to help older adults build real social connections
For funders like the National Institute of Health and the National Institute on Aging, the $3.8 million project led by professors Tamara Afifi and Nancy Collins, speaks directly to two intertwined goals: extending lifespan and improving quality of life.
https://ow.ly/em3O50XH255
12 days ago
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reposted by
UC Santa Barbara
U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team bot
14 days ago
For the first time ever, we're playing at ucsantabarbara ✨ More info:
ussoc.cr/santabarbara
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Snaring—a hunting method that uses wire, rope or cable loops to trap animals—is contributing to wildlife declines across Africa. A team of researchers led by UCSB revealed just how common the practice is, along with the major consequences. Full story:
https://ow.ly/xY2150XGyXS
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Researchers map Africa’s snaring crisis, calling for sustainable solutions
A new look at snare hunting in Africa reveals the scope and severity of the issue, as well as possible solutions.
https://ow.ly/xY2150XGyXS
13 days ago
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UCSB’s new Engineering + Technology Management Fellows Program offers undergrad engineering students guaranteed admission & a grad fellowship to the Master of Technology Management program—as well as support that adds management and entrepreneurial skills to their training: https://ow.ly/TcRA50XG1yF
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UCSB engineering students get a management edge with new program
New fifth-year pathway prepares undergraduates for leadership in technology
https://ow.ly/TcRA50XG1yF
14 days ago
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Drawing on decades of fieldwork in Bulgaria, #UCSB anthropologist Elana Resnick's new book offers a rare view of how sustainability policies unfold in the daily lives of some of Europe’s most marginalized communities ♻️ Full story:
https://ow.ly/IWnh50XFORs
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How Europe’s green transition is reinforcing racial inequality
Anthropologist Elana Resnick’s research exposes how Europe’s sustainability agenda relies on Roma women’s labor and reproduces racial inequality.
https://ow.ly/IWnh50XFORs
15 days ago
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In a step toward better understanding how the ocean sequesters carbon, new findings from UC Santa Barbara researchers and collaborators challenge the current view of how carbon dioxide is "fixed" in the sunless ocean depths 🌊 Full story
https://ow.ly/ZWUz50XAZR9
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The mystery of the missing deep ocean carbon fixers
Researchers get a clearer picture of how ocean microbes sequester atmospheric carbon
https://ow.ly/ZWUz50XAZR9
18 days ago
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On Wildlife Conservation Day, let's hear it for the frogs: Once-endangered mountain yellow-legged frogs have leaped back to life in Yosemite 🐸 A study led by #UCSB details the endeavor comprising 24 reintroductions over more than 17 years. Full story:
https://ow.ly/Nfb150XC0lF
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Comeback kids
Once-endangered mountain yellow-legged frogs have leaped back to life in Yosemite
https://ow.ly/Nfb150XC0lF
19 days ago
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#UCSB scientists work together 🤝🏆 The Times Higher Education Interdisciplinary Science Rankings for 2026 have #UCSB at No 12. 🎉 Created to celebrate interdisciplinary science in higher education, the list includes 911 institutions from 94 countries:
https://ow.ly/GPhM50XBpwn
19 days ago
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#UCSB researchers have invented a new display technology for on-screen graphics that you can both see and FEEL 👉 "The question was simple enough: Could the light that forms an image be converted into something that can be felt?" Full story:
https://ow.ly/wBrw50XAQsK
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New haptic display technology creates 3D graphics you can see and feel
This technology could one day enable high-definition visual-haptic touch screens for automobiles, mobile computing or intelligent architectural walls.
https://ow.ly/wBrw50XAQsK
20 days ago
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#UCSB researchers and collaborators in Colombia, Brazil and Germany are progressing toward an understanding of mechanisms that underlie Alzheimer’s Disease, in particular an early-onset, genetic form that has afflicted generations of an extended family:
https://ow.ly/v4Al50XAZqk
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Mapping Alzheimer’s: UCSB’s Cristina Venegas follows a genetic puzzle tracing Alzheimer’s roots from Colombia
Professor Cristina Venegas films a unique partnership between neuroscientist Kenneth Kosik, Colombian counterpart Francisco Lopera and the largest kindred of early-onset genetic Alzheimer's patients
https://ow.ly/ilfg50XAZmz
20 days ago
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reposted by
UC Santa Barbara
Geometric Intelligence Lab
22 days ago
A special thank you to
@ucsantabarbara.bsky.social
for the thoughtful article on HerBrain – capturing our mission and the importance of understanding how pregnancy shapes the brain 🧠
tinyurl.com/4939bxu5
#TIMEBestInventions
#WomensBrainHealth
@ai-ucsb.bsky.social
@bowers-wbhi.bsky.social
add a skeleton here at some point
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UCSB physicist Boris Shraiman has been awarded the American Physical Society's Max Delbrück Prize in Biological Physics for contributions to morphogenesis, evolution, and biological information processing 🏆 Full story:
https://ow.ly/Loyq50XAey2
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Boris Shraiman points a physicist’s eye on biological quandaries
Boris Shraiman is awarded the American Physical Society’s Max Delbrück Prize in Biological Physics.
https://ow.ly/Loyq50XAey2
22 days ago
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UCSB Reads selected Michelle Zauner’s "Crying in H Mart," a provocative book about identity, food, grief and culture 📖🍜 The program launches with a free book giveaway for students. Zauner, also the lead vocalist of Japanese Breakfast, will later give a free talk on campus:
https://ow.ly/k0xP50Xyn1A
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Michelle Zauner’s “Crying in H Mart” named UCSB Reads 2026 book
For its 20th anniversary year, UCSB Reads, the campus’s award-winning common book program, has selected a provocative book about identity, food, grief and culture.
https://ow.ly/k0xP50Xyn1A
24 days ago
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While doing research for his book, "Empire of Refugees," #UCSB's Hamed-Troyansky visited more than 20 archives in 10 countries, a years-long endeavor during which he studied primary historical evidence in Arabic, Ottoman Turkish, Russian, Bulgarian and English:
https://ow.ly/vO4i50XylBM
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A feat of multilingual research, Hamed-Troyansky’s “Empire of Refugees” wins eight book prizes
Global studies associate professor Vladimir Hamed-Troyansky's award-winning first book, "Empire of Refugees," traces the migration of Muslims from Russia to the Middle East and the Balkans.
https://ow.ly/vO4i50XylBM
25 days ago
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New findings out of #UCSB challenge decades of assumptions on split-brain function 🧠 Researchers offer a new framework for understanding neural resilience, with implications for epilepsy surgery, brain injury recovery and more:
https://ow.ly/1ZlG50Xyf7F
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New findings in split-brain science: Even minimal fiber connections can unify consciousness
Researchers find that even a small portion of intact corpus callosum in split-brain patients can fully integrate sensory, motor and cognitive processes
https://ow.ly/1ZlG50Xyf7F
27 days ago
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#UCSB graduate student Deniz Çağlarcan has won the PRIX CIME 2025 International Electroacoustic Music Competition for "Shadows," an audiovisual transdisciplinary artwork 🎶 Next month, he will premiere his master's project at UCSB's AlloSphere. Full story: https://ow.ly/U8CI50XuTwv
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Electroacoustic composer Deniz Çağlarcan wins prestigious residency
Known for his media-blending esoteric artwork, UCSB composer Deniz Çağlarcan has won the PRIX CIME 2025 International Electroacoustic Music Competition.
https://ow.ly/U8CI50XuTwv
28 days ago
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Go for the gold! UC Santa Barbara will serve as the host for ParalympicsGB's athlete training and preparation camp during the summer of 2028, leading up to the Paralympic Games in Los Angeles 🚴🥇 Full story:
https://ow.ly/gA7Y50XwWYt
29 days ago
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UCSB religious studies professor Joseph Blankholm received a $1.55 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation to fund his three-year study that gives insight into how modern spirituality is shaping ethics, community and meaning in everyday life 🌿 Full story https://ow.ly/SuSm50Xup3t
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$1.5 million grant advances UCSB leadership in the study of modern spirituality
Professor Joseph Blankholm has received $1.55 million from the John Templeton Foundation to lead a three-year study exploring how spirituality is evolving outside traditional religious institutions.
https://ow.ly/SuSm50Xup3t
30 days ago
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reposted by
UC Santa Barbara
Procrastination happens to all of us. New research from #UCSB offers a science-backed way to break the cycle The team found that a brief reflection exercise can help people take the first step toward action, inspiring new app Dawdle AI, which features a guided exercise:
https://ow.ly/tqGz50XtaIs
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A two-minute fix for procrastination
Focusing on “the starting line problem,” a new large-scale study tackled that tiny psychological pause between intention and action, finding that a brief two-minute reflection exercise can reduce emotional resistance and help people take the crucial first step toward action.
https://ow.ly/tqGz50XtaIs
about 1 month ago
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UCSB's Iman Djouini will present her artwork in the 2026 Venice Biennale—the Olympics of the art world 🎨 Djouini teaches print media, book arts, & typography, helping students think critically about culture & public space. Her installation explores how languages evolve: https://ow.ly/gflV50XrOw5
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At the 2026 Venice Biennale, Iman Djouini gives language a new form
Djouini has been selected to present a solo exhibition with Personal Structures at the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia — the renowned Venice Biennale, often described as the Olympics of the art world.
https://ow.ly/gflV50XrOw5
about 1 month ago
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For #UCSB's Jesse Landesman, avocados—one of California's favorite crops—are the main focus. In studying how elevated soil salinity impacts avocados, her goal is to use science to help solve the real-world problems farmers face. Full story:
https://ow.ly/ByUq50XtNpU
#UCSB
#SpeakUp4Science
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Room to Grow
Securing a prestigious fellowship, doctoral student Jesse Landesman cultivates a career where academia meets avocados
https://ow.ly/ByUq50XtNpU
about 1 month ago
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in "Queer Traffic," #UCSB's Jennifer Tyburczy traces the intersections of global economics & social regulation, arguing that the rise of “trafficking” discourse reveals how economic & moral anxieties reinforce each other, shaping who is criminalized and who is protected: https://ow.ly/yqij50XqN4i
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Free trade, moral panic and the politics of belonging
In her new book “Queer Traffic: Sex, Panic, Free Trade” (Duke University Press, 2025), feminist studies scholar Jennifer Tyburczy traces the intersections of global economics and social regulation from the 1980s to the present.
https://ow.ly/yqij50XqN4i
about 1 month ago
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#UCSB's professor David Valentine's discovery of widespread DDT dumping off the California coast is featured in "Out of Plain Sight," an L.A. Times documentary making its L.A. theatrical debut: https://ow.ly/1rbN50Xuhqn More about Valentine's discovery:
https://ow.ly/cNgj50Xuhpf
about 1 month ago
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#UCSB researchers have proposed a target therapy could interrupt the growth of fluid-filled cysts caused by polycystic kidney disease 🔬 "The cysts just keep growing endlessly,” said UCSB's Thomas Weimbs. "And we want to stop them." Full story
https://ow.ly/8TLu50XuccZ
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A ‘magic bullet’ for polycystic kidney disease in the making
Researchers at UCSB develop and test therapeutic antibodies for the treatment of polycystic kidney disease
https://ow.ly/8TLu50XuccZ
about 1 month ago
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Procrastination happens to all of us. New research from #UCSB offers a science-backed way to break the cycle The team found that a brief reflection exercise can help people take the first step toward action, inspiring new app Dawdle AI, which features a guided exercise:
https://ow.ly/tqGz50XtaIs
loading . . .
A two-minute fix for procrastination
Focusing on “the starting line problem,” a new large-scale study tackled that tiny psychological pause between intention and action, finding that a brief two-minute reflection exercise can reduce emotional resistance and help people take the crucial first step toward action.
https://ow.ly/tqGz50XtaIs
about 1 month ago
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reposted by
UC Santa Barbara
Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR)
about 1 month ago
More on @ucsantabarbara.bsky.social's collaboration with the Dust-To-Digital Foundation to make rare historical recordings available for free online through DAHR. Reporting from @npr.org affiliate KPCC/@laist.com in Los Angeles.
laist.com/news/arts-an...
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#UCSB professor Daniel Blumenthal's lab joins the National Science Foundation's National Quantum Virtual Laboratory 🔬 With MIT, UCLA, Harvard & University of Maryland, the lab is working on high-tech infrastructure to accelerate the development of quantum technologies.
https://ow.ly/N6O850XrUFZ
about 1 month ago
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reposted by
UC Santa Barbara
A treasure trove of rare and historic American music—including songs by Memphis Minnie, the Carter Family, Blind Willie Johnson, and more—is now freely available to the public thanks to a new collaboration between the UC Santa Barbara Library and Dust-to-Digital Foundation
https://ow.ly/J8Bg50Xpuf2
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Vast collection of historic American music released via UCSB Library partnership with Dust-to-Digital Foundation
Thousands of rare and uniquely American songs from the Jazz Age and the Great Depression are available for free listening thanks to a partnership between UCSB and the Dust-to-Digital Foundation.
https://ow.ly/J8Bg50Xpuf2
about 1 month ago
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With two species of endangered river dolphins turning up dead, a team including #UCSB researchers has been documenting the unprecedented high water temps in the Amazon's freshwater lakes. The extreme droughts there in recent years are a warning:
https://ow.ly/Yq3A50XqAlf
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Hotter than your average spa: Rising temps in Amazon lakes sound alarm over climate change
A drought in the central Amazon cooked region's lakes. Water reached 104º F in Lake Tefé, killing river dolphins. UCSB scientists contributed to an international study of the causes and consequences.
https://ow.ly/Yq3A50XqAlf
about 1 month ago
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Traffic & creative freedom, urban sprawl & self-expression. The UCSB AD&A Museum exhibition "Big Bang Beat L.A." highlights the 1970s L.A. Environmental Communications collective. The photos are a historical record & a meditation on L.A.'s environmental vulnerability:
https://ow.ly/yYgW50XotoP
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Big Bang Beat L.A.: Environmental Communications and the city as canvas
UC Santa Barbara’s Art, Design & Architecture Museum revisits the visionary 1970s collective Environmental Communications, whose multi-media documentation of Los Angeles reimagined the city as a living ecosystem — and reshaped how we see the built environment today.
https://ow.ly/yYgW50XotoP
about 1 month ago
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A treasure trove of rare and historic American music—including songs by Memphis Minnie, the Carter Family, Blind Willie Johnson, and more—is now freely available to the public thanks to a new collaboration between the UC Santa Barbara Library and Dust-to-Digital Foundation
https://ow.ly/J8Bg50Xpuf2
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Vast collection of historic American music released via UCSB Library partnership with Dust-to-Digital Foundation
Thousands of rare and uniquely American songs from the Jazz Age and the Great Depression are available for free listening thanks to a partnership between UCSB and the Dust-to-Digital Foundation.
https://ow.ly/J8Bg50Xpuf2
about 1 month ago
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#UCSB
has proven it helps students take steps in the right direction 🔝 We're ranked as the No. 19 Best National University for Social Mobility 🏆 Full story: https://ow.ly/pzyy50Xm9XS
about 1 month ago
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#UCSB
professor Omar Saleh has spent decades studying polymer behavior, conducting experiments to better understand coacervates. He estimates his lab is 1 of 10 labs globally conducting nanoscale measurements of microgel polymers with custom-built machinery 💡 Full story https://ow.ly/GbZf50XmPoL
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From charged polymers to life-saving innovations
Materials scientist Omar Saleh’s NSF-funded research explores how charged polymers could power next-generation adhesives and drug delivery systems.
https://ow.ly/GbZf50XmPoL
about 2 months ago
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UCSB professor Michael Gurven's new book, "Seven Decades: How We Evolved to Live Longer," examines anatomic and societal aspects of aging. He believes being "old" is less about age than the ability to fend for one’s self and one’s community 🤲 Full story https://ow.ly/KPay50XmMsn
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Michael Gurven reframes aging as evolutionary success
By redefining aging as an evolutionary achievement, Gurven challenges a youth-obsessed culture to see the later decades of life as vital to our collective survival
https://ow.ly/KPay50XmMsn
about 2 months ago
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Civil rights lawyer Sherrilyn Ifill hosts a talk this week as part of
#UCSB
Arts & Lectures' Justice for All initiative. Ifill has dedicated decades to fighting for justice and challenges audiences to imagine a democracy that fulfills its founding ideals. Full story: https://ow.ly/Q6Qr50Xm8ZT
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Civil rights lawyer Sherrilyn Ifill reimagines democracy in talk for UCSB Arts & Lectures
In “Reimagining a New American Democracy,” Ifill explores themes including the 14th Amendment, the power of civic participation and the essential role of higher education in shaping engaged citizens.
https://ow.ly/Q6Qr50Xm8ZT
about 2 months ago
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