Egghead Content

Creating Hallucination-free, Psychedelic-like Molecules by Shining Light on Life’s Basic Building Blocks

Andy Fell — January 07, 2026 - 4:17pm

�鶹��ý researchers have developed a new method that uses light to transform amino acids — the building blocks of proteins — into molecules that are similar in structure to psychedelics and mimic their interaction with the brain. Like psychedelics, these molecules activate the brain’s serotonin 5-HT_2A receptors, which promote cortical neuron growth, and could be candidates to treat a host of brain disorders, such as depression, substance-use disorder and PTSD. However, they don’t trigger hallmark hallucinogenic behavior in animal models.

LUX-ZEPLIN Latest: No Dark Matter Yet, But a Close Look at Solar Neutrinos

Andy Fell — December 01, 2025 - 2:42pm

The newest results from LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) extend the experiment’s search for low-mass dark matter and set world-leading limits on one of the prime dark matter candidates: weakly interacting massive particles, or WIMPs. They also mark the first time LZ has picked up signals from neutrinos from the sun, a milestone in sensitivity.

How Earth’s Greatest Extinction Really Happened

Andy Fell — November 21, 2025 - 1:18pm

Around 252 million years ago, the Earth experienced its largest mass extinction. Known as the “Great Dying,” this cataclysmic event wiped out more than 81% of marine species and 70% of life on land.

How Does a Parasitic Nematode Infect a Wide Variety of Plants?

Andy Fell — November 19, 2025 - 10:54am

Nematologists at the University of California, Davis, including Valerie Williamson, professor emerita in the Department of Plant Pathology and associate professor Shahid Siddique, Department of Entomology and Nematology, have long wondered how the the Northern root-knot nematode (Me

Deep-Water Sediments Reveal Patterns of Extraterrestrial Influence on Earth’s Ancient Climate

Andy Fell — October 31, 2025 - 10:42am

Roughly 34 million years ago, the Earth started transitioning from a greenhouse to an icehouse state — defined by long-term cooling trends that resulted in ice sheets in the planet’s polar regions. During this time, continental carbon reservoirs expanded as carbon dioxide decreased in the atmosphere.

But that trend has reversed. Fossil fuel consumption, among other sources of pollution, have resulted in increasing atmospheric and oceanic temperatures, leading to ice sheet melt and unprecedented shifts in our environments.

Population Decline of Franklin’s Bumble Bee Wasn’t Due to Pathogens, Museum Genomic Research Shows

Andy Fell — October 20, 2025 - 3:38pm

Franklin’s bumble bee (Bombus franklini) once inhabited a remote area spanning northern California and southern Oregon. But the bee’s numbers declined sharply after 1998 and it hasn’t been seen at all since 2006. A new study of the DNA of museum specimens, published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests this decline was most likely due to population bottlenecks and environmental issues such as fire and drought rather than infectious diseases.

Where's Our CRISPR? New Treatments Promise Hope for Rare Diseases, But Wait May be Long

Andy Fell — October 14, 2025 - 2:25pm

As the parent of a child with a rare genetic disease, Celena Lozano saw the hope that reports of a breakthrough treatment bring. As a graduate student in neuroscience at �鶹��ý, she knows that the road to effective treatments, let alone 'cures' for most such diseases, will be long and frustrating. Clear and nuanced communication about what research and clinical studies actually mean for patients is needed, she writes in an article for STAT.

A Stretchy Protein Senses Forces in Cells

Andy Fell — October 10, 2025 - 11:20am

How does skin hold you in? How do heart cells beat together? Researchers at the University of California, Davis, Department of Biomedical Engineering, are exploring how structures called desmosomes, which stick cells together, function and react to mechanical stress.

New work from Professor Sanjeevi Sivasankar’s lab, published Oct. 10 in Nature Communications, shows how a desmosome protein can respond to mechanical stress and potentially send signals within the cell.

Computational Model Uses Language Theory to Predict DNA Shapes That Underlie Gene Expression and Disease

Andy Fell — October 03, 2025 - 11:19am

Your DNA contains the genetic blueprint necessary to not just build your body but to build the proteins and molecules that ensure your body’s functionality. DNA encodes RNA, RNA encodes proteins and voila, your body functions.

UC Malaria Initiative Expands Acivities to Equatorial Guinea

Andy Fell — October 01, 2025 - 3:01pm

The University of California Malaria Initiative, which includes researchers at �鶹��ý, will partner in the Republic of Equatorial Guinea’s Vision 2030 strategy to eliminate malaria from the Central African country. The plan, which also includes Oxford University, Tsinghua University and a MCD Global Health, was announced Sept. 24 during the United Nations General Assembly in New York.