Geologists have been baffled by perforations in an Australian quartzite rock, identical in shape to burrows made in sands by crustaceans; the original sandy sediment is a billion years older than the oldest known animals. An international team of scientists has now resolved the mystery.
New research shows that VR therapy can be used for the early diagnosis and treatment of memory disorders, ranging from Alzheimer’s to ADHD.
On July 2, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Emily Carter circulated the announcement below: Dear Colleagues: Following a customary five-year administrative review, Chancellor Block and I have asked Miguel García-Garibay to continue to serve as dean of the Division of Physical Sciences at UCLA. I am pleased to inform you that he has accepted the…
From mathematics to virology, scientists in UCLA’s Division of Physical Sciences have taken the mechanisms they specialize in and applied them to creating tools to combat COVID-19.
New developments in analyzing data A perspective article by Dr. Jingyi Jessica Li, associate professor of statistics, was published in the journal Patterns, a new data science journal of Cell Press. The article can be read here. Co-authored by Dr. Xin Tong at University of Southern California, Dr. Li’s article offers practical guidelines for choosing…
UCLA Mathematics Professor Olga Radko (1975-2020), Founder of Los Angeles Math Circle Pioneering UCLA mathematics professor Olga Radko died of ovarian cancer on June 29 at the age of 45. She was known for her work in the field of Poisson geometry, in particular her complete classification of two-dimensional Poisson structures, objects now sometimes referred…
Andrea Bertozzi, distinguished professor of mathematics, joined a team of other mathematicians and scientists to compare the results of three mathematical models of disease transmission that they used to analyze data from local and national governments. The models all highlight the dangers of relaxing public health measures too soon. The study, published in the journal…
Ni Ni, a UCLA associate professor of physics, and her research team reported the discovery of the first intrinsic ferromagnetic topological insulator. They also reported in Nature Communications their discovery of an intrinsic magnetic topological insulator early this year. “We are quite excited about these two sequential discoveries, which provide new material systems to explore new…
Efforts from the California NanoSystems Institutes at UCLA and researchers at UCLA to advance the use of microbes for sustainable production of new plastics has been supported by a $23.7 million grant from the National Science Foundation Materials Innovation Platforms program. Current synthetic polymers (plastic and its chemical cousin) are used widely now, however they…
Seth Puttterman, physics & astronomy professor, has been selected to receive a $50,000 Newton Award for Transformative Ideas during the COVID-19 Pandemic from the U.S. Department of Defense. The award, named in honor of Isaac Newton’s achievements, sought “transformative ideas” to resolve challenges, advance frontiers, and set new paradigms in research of immense potential benefit…