Why Planes Flying Like Geese Could Cut Back on Aviation Emissions Geese use this trick to save energy on long journeys—soon, airplanes could too.

Airbus is testing flying airliners in pairs, saving energy in the same way as geese. UC Davis engineer Christina Harvey says that while airplanes and birds aren't directly comparable, we can still get useful ideas inspired by biology @ucdavisengineering.bsky.social www.cntraveler.com/story/why-pl...

Egghead Weekend Basket for April 17 It's the 112th UC Davis Picnic Day tomorrow (April 18) and whether your tastes run to cockroach races or fashion, there's something for every taste on campus. A rundown from Dateline and highlights of...

A gene for Addison's disease in dogs, wheat resistant to fungus, radiation and space travel, and a cosmic honor round out the Picnic Day Eve edition of the Egghead Weekend Basket www.ucdavis.edu/blog/egghead...

I wrote my first story about the LSST project, which would become the Vera Rubin Observatory, in 2005 not long after Tony Tyson joined UC Davis. It's wonderful to see him get this kind of recognition! @vrubinobs.bsky.social

#AutismAcceptanceMonth is an opportunity to build understanding and support for those with neurodevelopmental conditions. Veronica Tuss shares why autism acceptance matters to her as a provider and as a mother. @ucdavismind.bsky.social
 
Video: Veronica sits on a bench speaking to the camera.

Home | Vine to Mind

Scholars from around the globe will meet in Davis May 18-21 for the Vine to Mind Symposium: Exploring the Intersection of Wine, Data Science & AI.

The event features panel discussions, networking and a blind wine tasting competition like the Judgment of Paris held 50 years ago. www.vinetomind.org

Tomato Industry Taking Steps to Stop Spread of Parasitic Weed UC Davis researchers are playing a key research role in the battle against branched broomrape, developing in-field sanitation guidelines for tomato harvesters.

Branched broomrape threatens California's $1.6B tomato harvest. UC Davis researchers are developing ways to sanitize harvesters and stop the spread of this parasitic weed @ucdaviscaes.bsky.social www.ucdavis.edu/food/news/to...

Eden Winslow Named 2026 UC Davis Grad Slam Champion Fourth-year Biomedical Engineering Ph.D. candidate Eden Winslow won first place at the UC Davis Grad Slam Semi-Final round on Friday, April 3, 2026. Her winning presentation "Born Without a Hand: Chan...

Biomedical engineering grad student Eden Winslow wins UC Davis Grad Slam with presentation on prosthetics, winning $5000 and a spot at the UC-wide Grad Slam April 22 @ucdavisengineering.bsky.social grad.ucdavis.edu/news/eden-wi...

Discovery of Addison's Disease Gene in Dogs Could Help Humans, Too Among dog breeds, Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers (tollers) have an unusually high rate of Addison's disease, a condition in which the adrenal glands do not produce enough hormones, notably cortis...

Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers are prone to Addison's disease, in which the immune system attacks adrenal glands. Now discovery of a gene for Addison's in tollers opens new ways to study this disease that affects both dogs and people @ucdavisvetmed.bsky.social www.ucdavis.edu/blog/discove...

Good News for Pasta Lovers: Durum Wheat Resistant to Deadly Stripe Rust Developed On a sunny day in early April, young wheat plants stood waist-high in test fields near the UC Davis campus, their heads full of still-green grain. A walk along some furrows left pants and boots covere...

UC Davis plant scientists are developing pasta and bread wheat resistant to stripe rust fungus, a devastating pathogen @ucdavisplants.bsky.social www.ucdavis.edu/egghead/blog...

ClimateSOM, a data visualization tool developed by PhD student Yuya Kawakami, helps climate scientists make sense of vast datasets and compare outcomes of climate models @ucdavisengineering.bsky.social www.ucdavis.edu/egghead/blog...

Radiation is a major problem for deep space travel. In a recent public talk, UC Davis physicist Daniel Cebra outlined the risks and how research in particle physics can help @ucdlands.bsky.social www.ucdavis.edu/egghead/blog...

Penguin ‘Toxicologists’ Find PFAS Chemicals in Remote Patagonia Penguins can serve as living monitors of their environment by using small, chemical-detecting leg bands, according to a study from UC Davis and SUNY-Buffalo.

By placing chemical-detecting leg bands on penguins, scientists att@ucdavisvetmed.bsky.social and @ubuffalo.bsky.social discover PFAS 'forever chemicals' in remote environments. www.ucdavis.edu/health/news/...

Egghead Weekend Basket for April 3 Back from Spring Break, here's a roundup of UC Davis research news from the past week.

Egghead's Easter weekend basket: Don't inhale disinfectant sprays; semiconductor crystals bent by light; brain health and aging in Latinos; and the short, bumbling lives of crane flies www.ucdavis.edu/blog/egghead...

I made a little Instagram reel about this image because it’s just so frickin’ cool

A great white shark in mid-air after leaping out of the water

Fishy business: Just published April 1, @ucdaviswater.bsky.social scientists claim fish are actually major predators of birds #April1 californiawaterblog.com/2026/04/01/f...

Fig. 1. Location of the study site in California, United States (a). Map of UC Davis Experimental Ecovoltaic Park (UC DEEP) and adjacent land uses (b). Experimental plots within permitted research area (c). Photos of pollinators visiting wildflowers (d–ag): Vanessa cardui on Eschscholzia californica (d) and Clarkia unguiculata (e); Burnsius communis on Phacelia Californica (f); Colias eurytheme on Helianthus bolanderi (g); Pieris rapae on Grindelia camporum (h); Hesperiina phyleus on G. camporum (i); Strymon melinus on P. Califronica (j); Autographa californica (k) and Heliothis phloxiphaga (l) on H. bolanderi; Battaristis concinnusella (m), Halictus spp. (n), and Agapostemon spp. (o) on G. camporum; Diadasia spp. on H. bolanderi (p); Epimelissodes obliqua on G. camporum (q); Melissodes spp. on H. bolanderi (r); Bombus vosnesenskii (s) and Bombus californicus (t) on P. Califronica; Apis mellifera on Collinsia heterophylla (u); Gilia capitata (v); E. californica (w), Nemophila menziesii (x), Silybum marianum (y), Erodium cicutarium (z), and Helminthotheca echioides (aa); Eupeodes spp. on E. californica (ab) and H. bolanderi (ac); Eristalis hirta on H. echioides (ad); Polistes dominula on E. californica (ae); Coccinella septempunctata on P. Califronica (af); Nemognatha lurida on H. bolanderi (ag).

🌱 Journal of Environmental Management: Restoring native prairie under solar panels can boost pollinator diversity up to sixfold, showing energy sites can support biodiversity with careful plant design.(Yudi Li,Rebecca R. Hernandez)
▶️ www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

#PlantScience #Restoration

Light Bends Perovskite Crystal Lattice, Opening Way to New Devices New types of semiconductor devices that respond to light could be possible using materials called perovskites, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Davis. The work,...

Perovskite crystals are semiconductors, but very unlike silicon. New work from Marina Leite's lab at UC Davis shows that light can reversibly bend the crystal lattice, opening possibilities for new applications and devices www.ucdavis.edu/news/light-b...

No, They Don't Eat Mosquitoes Some folks call them "Mosquito Hawks" or "Daddy Long Legs" or "Skeeter Eaters." But they're not hawks, they're not arachnids, and they don't eat mosquitoes. They are crane flies, members of the family...

No, they don't eat mosquitoes: Spare a thought for that crane fly bumping around the kitchen, it's only here for a few days www.ucdavis.edu/egghead/news...

Common Disinfectant Chemicals Far More Toxic When Inhaled, Study Finds Mouse study finds inhaling disinfectant chemicals (QACs) may be far more toxic than swallowing them, raising concerns about lung injury and disease.

Researchers @ucdavis.bsky.social found in a mouse study that chemicals commonly found in disinfectant sprays may be more harmful than once thought. @ucdavisvetmed.bsky.social
www.ucdavis.edu/health/news/...

New Research Suggests FDA Should Consider Redesign of Proposed Nutrition Labels Packaged foods offer convenience for families and individuals, but they can be a major source of saturated fat, sodium and added sugars, which when consumed in excess contribute to chronic disease. To...

As the @fda.gov considers new food labels that highlight added sugar, fat and sodium, UC Davis researchers find that simpler labels can help people make healthier food choices www.ucdavis.edu/news/new-res...

Managed Wetlands a Culinary Hot Spot for SF Bay Fish, But They Need Delivery Options A UC Davis study shows that part of the San Fransisco Estuary is teeming with fish food — the managed wetlands of Suisun Marsh. Timing seasonal flood releases from them could feed more fish.

Wetlands managed for duck hunting teem with fish food, a @ucdaviswater.bsky.social study finds. Better connection with tidal wetlands could support fish in San Francisco estuary www.ucdavis.edu/climate/news...

Where Do Sturgeon Go? White sturgeon can grow to 12 feet long and live for a hundred years. Despite this, not a great deal is known about the lives of these ancient fish as they move between rivers, estuaries and the ocean...

White sturgeon are large, long-lived and quite mysterious. A new @ucdaviswater.bsky.social study sheds some light on how they use different habitats in the San Francisco estuary over their lives www.ucdavis.edu/blog/where-d...

A Billion Daily Repairs: How Our Cells Mend Broken DNA A major new discovery could inspire improved treatments for cancer and genetic diseases.Coiled within our cells are fragile threads of DNA that contain the codes of life— determining when each of our ...

Our cells have to repair broken DNA strands a billion times a day. UC Davis and Genentech researchers have now figured out the structure of the Rad51 complex, which carries out this amazing feat www.ucdavis.edu/egghead/blog...

Unlocking Longevity Insights From Ancient Bristlecone Pine Scientists have sequenced the bristlecone pine genome, which could help unlock the secrets of this tree's exceptionally long life.

Bristlecone pine trees can live for at least 5,000 years and have survived in high, cold habitats since the last Ice Age. Scientists at UC Davis, Johns Hopkins University and @usfs.bsky.social have sequenced the DNA of these ancient trees www.ucdavis.edu/climate/news...

Egghead Weekend Basket for March 20 What happened in research this week at UC Davis? I'm glad you asked.

Protecting seals from H5N1 flu; How gut bacteria can make kidney disease worse; How calories are counted; and the hunt for room-temperature superconductors, round out Egghead's weekend basket www.ucdavis.edu/blog/egghead...

Everything You Need to Know About the David Protein Bar Class-Action Lawsuit The public’s reaction to the recent David Protein bar legal saga showcases how little we understand about calories to begin with.

How do we figure out the calories in food, anyway? UC Davis nutritionist Debbie Fetter explains the different methods likely at the heart of a lawsuit over a popular protein bar www.gq.com/story/david-...

A New Road Map to Room Temperature Superconductors Superconductors play a critical role in the modern-day scientific enterprise, from the magnets used in the CERN Large Hadron Collider to those in medical MRI machines. But these superconductors requir...

There's no physical reason room temperature superconductors should not exist. A team of physicists including UC Davis' Warren Pickett sets out a new roadmap to find them www.ucdavis.edu/egghead/blog...

Egghead Weekend Basket for March 13 Happy Friday! Time for another roundup of the week's research news from UC Davis. How apps make hitsCuihua (Cindy) Shen, a UC Davis professor of communication, has been working with colleagues in Chin...

Hit-making apps, practicing fetal surgery, origami robotics, the New Yorker on psychedelics and Poké-ecologists: catch them all in Egghead's weekend basket www.ucdavis.edu/blog/egghead...

Hunting for Cosmic Dawn With the James Webb Space Telescope At the most recent Astronomy on Tap event at Sudwerk Brewing, Professor Tucker Jones, Department of Physics and Astronomy, describes how the James Webb Space Telescope is being used to pinpoint the co...

In the beginning was the Big Bang, and 100 million years later the first stars shine. UC Davis astronomer Tucker Jones gave Sudwerk drinkers a tour of the Cosmic Dawn at a recent Astronomy on Tap talk @ucdlands.bsky.social lettersandsciencemag.ucdavis.edu/science-tech...

I can think of a campus that has a lot of ecology PhDs