Science & Technology

Eric Rignot

Measuring melting ice sheets

Global climate change – especially as it relates to glacial melting and rising ocean levels – is the subject of much debate and research. Eric Rignot, Earth system science professor, studies ice sheet melting in Antarctica and Greenland. He will talk about his work March 31 as part of the 2008-09 Discover the Physical Sciences Breakfast Lecture Series.

Marc Madou

Technology links distant classrooms

With video teleconferencing technology in UC Irvine’s Teaching, Learning & Technology Center, Marc Madou can teach engineering to students in Irvine and Mexico simultaneously.

An eye with vision test letters projected on top

Halting herpes eye disease

Lbachir BenMohamed and Dr. Anthony Nesburn with The Gavin S. Herbert Eye Institute of UC Irvine’s ophthalmology department have developed a promising vaccine to prevent ocular herpes, a leading cause of blindness. The vaccine works against the virus that also causes genital warts and may help in the battle against the spread of AIDS.

Anthony Brock

A set of wheels for people in need

Just two months after Chancellor Michael Drake kicked off Free Wheelchair Mission’s 2008 national tour at UC Irvine, engineering students here were hard at work on a wheelchair prototype that would soon help people worldwide get around more easily.

Jorge De Paz

Creative electronics unveiled

A touch screen designed and built by UC Irvine students provides a glimpse of how simpler computer control could soon be at our fingertips. The project is one of about 40 on display at the UCI Senior Design Expo.

Luc Benard's 3D objects

The art of math

They look fragile and ornate, like glass vases on a tabletop. But the five objects in this still life are not real; they are computer-generated images of mathematical equations. They are giving mathematicians a powerful new way to visualize ideas and concepts, and showing the general public that math can be, well, breathtaking.

Wilson Ho

How things work

With his power tools, physics and chemistry professor Wilson Ho sheds light on molecules and atoms in action.

Michael Prather

Balancing the planet

Last spring, UC Irvine launched a new institute that will bring together scientists to identify new research needed for an improved understanding of society’s response to a changing climate and for environmental science to better respond to societal needs. Topics to be tackled by the UC Irvine Environment Institute: Global Change, Energy and Sustainable Resources […]

Michael Martin

Mission to Mars

As the rovers Spirit and Opportunity troll Mars for the sixth year, beaming images to Earth of a rock-strewn terrain, UCI alumnus Michael Martin wanders the lush vineyards near his home in Mendocino, Calif., some 30 million miles away. Now semiretired, he works at a local winery, pouring pinots for visitors who have no idea […]

nitric oxide synthase crystals

New compounds prevent cerebral palsy

Two compounds developed by UC Irvine and Northwestern University scientists prevented cerebral palsy in preclinical animal trials, giving hope that a new drug for humans may be on the horizon.