Research

A new Pew Research survey shows that one-third of Americans have trust in a higher power or spiritual force, whether they call it “god” or not, and two new studies show that people who think they have that force in their corner feel empowered in battle.

Every 10 minutes, someone is added to the national organ transplant waiting list, and about once every hour, someone on the list is removed — either because they died while waiting or grew too ill for surgery.

The number of Americans on the waiting list totals more than 114,000 as of this writing, and about 30,000 transplants will be performed this year. In part, that’s because there are not enough organ donors.

Besides being a groundbreaking research powerhouse, the University of California is an economic engine for California and the nation, providing an educated workforce and generating new knowledge, technologies, jobs, startup companies and spinoff industries.

Many of the state’s leading industries grew from UC research, including biotechnology, computing, semiconductors, telecommunications and agriculture, and our work in nanotechnology, clean energy, neuroscience, genomics and medicine is helping drive the next wave of California’s economic growth.

Driving past Merced Falls on the way to Lake McClure doesn’t usually inspire thoughts of a bustling mini-metropolis with its own movie theater.

But a new exhibit opening at the Merced County Courthouse Museum highlights a slice of Merced County’s past as an industrial center and showcases a new collaboration between the museum and the UC Merced Library and a graduate student.

A group of interdisciplinary scientists have put the practice of science itself under a microscope to begin quantifying the fundamental drivers of scientific discovery and to help develop tools and policies aimed at improving the scientific endeavor.

An article co-written by 14 researchers from various universities including UC Merced, lays out a framework that could pave the way to improving the current researcher-evaluation system. Many people say the current system stifles younger researchers, especially those working at the intersections of disciplines.

At a ceremony held earlier today, UC Merced Chancellor Dorothy Leland and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Director Michael Witherell signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to establish a formal partnership between the two organizations. The agreement sets terms for the appointment of joint faculty and the sharing of resources.

Jason Sexton traveled to research sites to learn more about the evolution of monkey flowers. Teamrat Ghezzehei installed soil sensors in the Sierra. Asmeret Berhe laid the foundation for a large collaborative soil-science project. And Emily Ritter is employing a graduate student to conduct research for an upcoming book.

Professor Laura Giuliano isn’t the only female economics faculty member at UC Merced, but she is the only faculty member who worked in the Obama administration before joining the campus.

As a senior labor economist supporting the president’s Council of Economic Advisers, Giuliano and her colleagues played a big role in policy written during the last administration.

A new study published online in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences finds that the giant sequoia, a fixture of California’s Sierra Nevada forests for the past 2.6 million years, might be in jeopardy from the effects of drought and climate change.

If you’ve ever wondered why people stand where they do on the political spectrum, science might have at least part of the answer: People can be biologically predisposed to certain feelings toward politics and society.

A new paper lead-authored by UC Merced graduate student Chelsea Coe indicates that physiological factors can predict how someone will react when presented with political scenarios — an idea that demonstrates an emerging area of study, the intersection of biology and politics.