Driven by Curiosity Content

�鶹��ý and Proteus Space to Launch First-Ever Dynamic Digital Twin into Space

Andy Fell — June 25, 2025 - 10:12am

The Center for Space Exploration Research at the University of California, Davis, has partnered with Proteus Space to launch a US government-sponsored satellite into space with a custom AI-enabled payload in a brand-new, first-ever rapid design-to-deployment small satellite.

The team will launch the satellite and payload in October 2025 from Vandenberg, CA. From the time the project was fully approved, the design and launch will occur within an unprecedented 13 months. (The normal pace for small satellites is often measured in years.)

Big Bang! Business Competition Celebrates 25 Years of Empowering Entrepreneurs

Jocelyn C Anderson — June 24, 2025 - 9:03am

Benjamin Wang ’06, a medical doctor, brought his life-saving innovation to the �鶹��ý Big Bang! Business Competition in 2014. His team won first place — and Wang credited the experience with helping him launch the venture.

After witnessing a patient die from an antibiotic-resistant infection, he developed NEVAP — a breathing tube designed to prevent bacterial infections in ventilated patients.

"Winning the competition helped to validate the idea that creating a better breathing tube was possible and viable as a business," Wang said.

First Images Revealed From Vera C. Rubin Observatory

Andy Fell — June 23, 2025 - 10:47am

The results of two decades of scientific and technological innovation were unveiled today with the reveal of the first imagery captured by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, a facility jointly funded by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science.

Tackling Nuclear Waste Challenges One Atom at a Time

Andy Fell — June 09, 2025 - 3:29pm

Nuclear energy is having a bit of a moment, with recent interest from big tech companies like Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Meta, which are pursuing nuclear energy as a sustainable and reliable source of power for their growing data centers.

The Singular Mathematics of Daily Life

Andy Fell — June 02, 2025 - 3:56pm

On a Sunday morning in September 2023, �鶹��ý mathematician Roger Casals Gutiérrez was entranced by a beautiful pattern of intersecting lines, curves and points thrown on the kitchen wall by sunlight filtered through the window.

City-Dwelling Monarch Butterflies Stay Put

Andy Fell — May 28, 2025 - 10:00am

Monarch butterflies are famous for their annual migrations, but not all migrate. In recent years, more and more monarchs have been living and breeding year-round in California’s Bay Area, thanks in part to the growing presence of non-native milkweeds in urban gardens.

How Are They Biting? High Speed Video Reveals Unexpected Jaw Movements in Reef Fish

Andy Fell — May 05, 2025 - 5:20pm

Some reef fish have the unexpected ability to move their jaws from side to side, biologists at the University of California, Davis have discovered. This ability – which is rare among vertebrate animals – allows these fish to feed rapidly and efficiently on algae growing on rocks. The work is published May 5 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

How Aggie Square Is Advancing Innovation in Sacramento

Jocelyn C Anderson — April 29, 2025 - 8:45am

Learn how �鶹��ý’ Aggie Square is solving pressing challenges through collaborative research and cutting-edge technology.

Study Suggests Dance and Lullabies Aren’t Universal Human Behaviors

Andy Fell — April 29, 2025 - 8:00am

Social singing and dance are often assumed to be hard-wired into the human condition; studies have supported the conclusion that these are common across cultures. But new research from a University of California, Davis, anthropologist challenges the idea that dance and lullabies are universal among humans.

Can Citizen Science Be Trusted? New Study of Birds Shows It Can

Andy Fell — April 15, 2025 - 4:18pm

Platforms such as iNaturalist and eBird encourage people to observe and document nature, but how accurate is the ecological data that they collect?