Category: Science

The Evolution of Human Skin

8232While we know much about the structure and function of our skin and the evolution of skin pigmentation, there is much left to learn. How is it that while our mammalian cousins are furry, we are virtually naked and we sweat like we do? And how is it that some of those sweat glands evolved into mammary organs?

This symposium brings together scientists representing evolutionary biology, genetics, dermatology, anthropology, and physiology to share their knowledge and questions about the evolution of human skin and its many purposes.

Check out all of the videos in CARTA’s latest series, The Unique Features of Human Skin.

All About Those 2° C

8232Among the international delegations of climate experts gathering in Paris for COP 21 this month, leading researchers from the University of California are presenting “Bending the Curve,” a thorough report covering their top 10 scalable solutions for reducing global warming and addressing the impacts of climate change.

For a preview of what they are prescribing and why 2° C matter, check out the UC Climate Solutions series, featuring speakers from the UC Carbon and Climate Neutrality Summit held at UC San Diego in October. Joining the preeminent UC faculty are California Governor Jerry Brown, UC President Janet Napolitano, energy and other business leaders, policy makers, entrepreneurs and UC students who are responding to the call to “Bend the Curve.”

Explore all programs from the UC Carbon and Climate Neutrality Summit.

New Smart Puppy Episodes!

8232Holy hairball! Smart Puppy and Friends are back – this time enlisting friends from around the globe to have fun and introduce viewers to the basics of some fascinating facets of material science.

Science?

No, really it’s a goofy romp, and you might learn something you didn’t know you could learn from a talking Labrador puppy and some cuddly kittens.

With guest vignettes featuring Nobel Laureates smashing computer drives and tossing soccer balls, and Tel-Aviv University’s impresario of levitation Boaz Almog pulling some hijinks with a fantastic frozen flying saucer – Smart Puppy and Friends have a blast showing off some of the weird and wonderful things stuff can do when their inquisitive friends around the world get a hold of them.

Watch Smart Puppy now!

The Future of Visual Computing

8232At the newly launched UC San Diego Center for Visual Computing – or VisComp – researchers are building a future when photograph-quality images can be rendered instantly on mobile devices; a future in which computers and wearable devices have the ability to see and understand the physical world just as humans do; and a future in which real and virtual media content merge seamlessly across different platforms.

The opportunities in communication, health and medicine, city planning, entertainment, 3D printing and more are vast in this emerging field of ‘visual computing’ that pulls together computer vision, computer graphics, and virtual reality.

The director of VisComp and professor of Computer Science and Engineering Ravi Ramamoorthi, who produced breakthroughs that are now widely adopted by the movie and video game industries to recreate the visual appearance of the world, is
joined by two other faculty members on the interdisciplinary roster of VisComp: Cognitive Science professor Zhuowen Tu, and Qualcomm Institute research scientist Jurgen Schulze, who also teaches computer graphics in the Computer Science and Engineering department.

In a wide-ranging conversation about the future of visual computing, they discuss the advances on which they are working in distinct areas such as computer graphics, computer vision, computational imaging and augmented and virtual reality – and the kinds of devices and applications we’ll be seeing in the future.

Watch Computing Primetime: Visual Computing and browse other programs in the Computing Primetime series.

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Contributed by Producer, Rich Wargo

 

Understand Climate Change – and What You Can Do About It

Learn more about climate change with new programs that examine its impact from a variety of perspectives. Discover how humans and climate interact and affect one another, learn what you can do to reduce greenhouse emissions, and get a behind-the-scenes look at the Pope’s call to protect the environment.

8232Climate Change, Consumerism and the Pope with Daniel Kammen and Jennifer Granholm

After being summoned to the Vatican to advise on climate change, Dan Kammen of UC Berkeley shares an insider’s view on what inspired Pope Francis to issue such a passionate plea to protect the earth in Laudato Si, his 2015 encyclical on the environment. As a practicing Catholic, former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm praises the Pope for presenting “human ecology” as a moral issue in this lively exchange with Kammen and Henry E. Brady, dean of the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley.

Watch Climate Change, Consumerism and the Pope with Daniel Kammen and Jennifer Granholm.

8232What Are You Going to Do About It? The Effect of Uncertainty on Climate Change Policy

Taking action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions imposes costs now in order to avoid potentially very large costs from more severe climate change in the future. Steve Polasky, Professor of Ecological/Environmental Economics University of Minnesota, reviews major sources of uncertainty and how that alters the choice of optimal climate change policy. He discusses current debates on how best to frame climate change policy, and whether it should be framed as setting limits on greenhouse gas concentrations to avoid potentially catastrophic damages or as an application of benefit-cost analysis.

Watch What Are You Going to Do About It? The Effect of Uncertainty on Climate Change Policy.

8232CARTA: Human-Climate Interactions and Evolution: Past and Future

According to earth scientists, paleontologists, and scholars in other fields, the planet has entered a new geological phase – the Anthropocene, the age of humans. How did this transition of our species from an apelike ancestor in Africa to the current planetary force occur? What are the prospects for the future of world climate, ecosystems, and our species? This symposium presents varied perspectives on these critical questions from earth scientists, ecologists, and paleoanthropologists.

Watch CARTA: Human-Climate Interactions and Evolution: Past and Future.