Research

chemist Reg Penner

Kicking the oil habit

Can the U.S. cure its addiction to oil? To help wean the country from its petroleum habit, UC Irvine researchers have been working to find viable sources of alternative energy – from deep in the earth to the sun. Here, researchers Scott Samuelsen, Reg Penner and Derek Dunn-Rankin discuss their work on transforming solar power, […]

cochlear implants

From bench to business

The first time Fan-Gang Zeng invented a cochlear implant – a device he believed could help thousands regain lost hearing – things didn’t work out too well. The company that licensed his invention shelved the project. “Today, he says, “it benefits no one.” The hard lesson – that most inventions never reach the consumer – […]