A tiny sliver of plutonium safely stored on the UC Berkeley campus is making news for its connection to a momentous point in history. Nuclear scientists have recently determined with near certainty that the plutonium was created by a team led by the late UC Berkeley chemist Glenn Seaborg as part of the Manhattan Project.

Rarely has a food gone through as dramatic a transformation from dietary villain to superhero as coconut oil and, indeed, all things coconut. But is it all its cracked up to be? Berkeley Wellness assesses the health claims.

The legal profession's monetary emphasis, and practical barriers to becoming a lawyer (for some), undermine the law's ultimate mission, writes Haas Institute researcher Syreeta Tyrell.

Celebrated mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli is returning to Zellerbach Hall at UC Berkeley this spring for two concerts showcasing works from her Grammy-winning album Sacrificium, Cal Performances announced today (Tuesday, Jan. 13).

California Memorial Stadium and the Simpson Center for Student-Athlete High Performance at UC Berkeley have received a 2015 award for architecture from the American Institute of Architects, the highest honor given by the field’s leading professional association.

In advance of the inaugural symposium Jan. 15-16 of the new Kavli Energy NanoScience Institute, Kavli ENSI director Paul Alivisatos joins Paul McEuen, director of the Kavli institute at Cornell, and Nai-Chang Yeh, director of the Kavli institute at Caltech, to discuss the future of nanoscience.

Helicopter parenting may not be the best strategy for raising independent kids. But a healthy measure of overprotectiveness could actually be advantageous when raising dogs and cats, according to a new study that compares "dog people" to "cat people" and correlates neuroticism with better pet care.

UC Berkeley Law Professor Franklin Zimring turns up some surprises in his new study of shootings by and of police. He discusses the research, and the incomplete state of data on killings by police, on KQED radio's "Forum" show.

The NewsCenter sat down with EVCP Claude Steele, who serves as deputy to Chancellor Nicholas Dirks and the leader of the academic side of UC Berkeley, to hear his impressions of the university thus far and ideas for change.

Two and a half million years ago, our hominin ancestors in the African savanna crafted rocks into shards that could slice apart a dead gazelle, zebra or other game animal. Over the next 700,000 years, this butchering technology spread throughout the continent and, it turns out, came to be a major evolutionary force, according to new research that combines the tools of psychology, evolutionary biology and archaeology.

Berkeley scientists show that the effects of chronic stress on fertility persist long after the stress is gone. This is because a hormone that suppresses fertility, GnIH, remains high even after stress hormone levels return to normal. In rats, they successfully blocked the hormone gene and restored normal reproductive behavior, suggesting therapeutic potential for stressed humans and animals in captive breeding programs.

From Gravity to The Theory of Everything, Hollywood depictions of science and scientists are helping make the STEM fields more mainstream, even if scientific accuracy sometimes gets short shrift, writes Berkeley undergrad Alison Ong.

An analysis of 727 studies reveals that there have been more instances of rapid, catastrophic animal die-offs over the past 75 years. These mass kills appear to have hit birds, fish and marine invertebrates harder than other species.

Student demand for a spot in the UC Berkeley freshman class remains as strong as ever, with another record year of applications. More than 78,800 high school students have applied for 2015-16 freshman admission, a 7 percent increase over the previous year.

Listening to an academic lecture on flood prediction while a fifth of Pakistan was flooded by monsoon rains sparked a humanitarian drive in Syed Imran Ali’s studies in safe water delivery. Now he’s a post-doc at UC Berkeley’s Blum Center for Developing Economies, pursuing his vision of development engineering, which means helping bring safe water to people in ways that involve them and take into account their actual needs and realities.

An analysis of 12 observational studies from sub-Saharan Africa involving 39,560 women has found that use of an injectable birth control moderately increased the risk of becoming infected with HIV. The risk increased by 40 percent compared with women using other contraceptive methods or no birth control.

UC Berkeley researchers found that exposure to cold temperatures increases levels of a newly discovered protein, Zfp516, that is critical for the formation of brown fat, the type of fat in our bodies that generates heat. Mice with boosted levels of Zfp516 gained 30 percent less weight than control mice when both groups were fed a high-fat diet.

If you're checking your work email in the wee hours, is that a sign of dedication or a symptom of inefficiency? Tania Lombrozo, an associate professor of psychology, explores the allure of constant connection, and makes a resolution for 2015.

"We at the Graduate School of Journalism," writes Edward Wasserman "join the world of letters in mourning this awful loss and this outrageous assault on expressive freedom."

Born of UC Berkeley's Big Ideas contest, 100 Strong has overcome unexpected challenges to evolve into a leadership and mentoring program, with female undergraduates working with high school and middle school girls to boost their graduation rates and success in the world. The program's founders hope to make it a model for other campuses.