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Articles by Katharine Chi
Best of Scientific Breakthroughs
A look back on notable scientific happenings and achievements at UCSB during the 2024-25 school year. Black bear on campus By Jesse Chamberlain On April 15, a furry visitor came to UC Santa Barbara but it wasn’t here for a tour. A black bear was first spotted meandering near West Campus, and shortly thereafter, near the bus loop. It was here that it managed to scurry up a tree just shy of Kerr Hall. This adventure seems like something out of a cartoon — a bear taking a beach vacation.
The hidden environmental cost of groundbreaking AI models
In this new age of artificial intelligence, large language models are now more than ever integrated into the daily lives of humans. The ground-breaking technology is a quick query away from answering any curious question and written task. As of 2025, one of the major large language models, ChatGPT, receives over and averages 123.5 million daily active users.
Letter from the editors: What does a second Trump presidency mean for the fate of science?
“I don’t think science knows, actually.” This was Donald Trump’s response on Sept. 14, 2020 when California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot urged him, as then-President of the United States, to recognize the role of climate change in wildfires that were ravaging the American West. A defining characteristic of Donald Trump’s first term in office was the politicization of factual information.
Simply Stated: The mind game of fantasy football
The season has approached, and the sound of football and passionate yelling emerges from living rooms across neighborhoods and throughout restaurants. Fantasy sports, including fantasy football, are made up of leagues in which participants choose and “draft” their fantasy team, which competes against other users’ teams within the league. Points are accumulated based on the real life statistics of each individual player on each fantasy team for a specific season, and the highest scoring team wins.
The CrowdStrike crisis | The Daily Nexus
So what is CrowdStrike, and how did it trigger one of the largest global information technology (I.T.) outages in history? CrowdStrike is a United States cybersecurity firm that detects and blocks hacking threats. It is a cloud-based endpoint protection system that utilizes artificial intelligence to detect intrusions across networks and endpoints. Endpoints are physical devices that can connect to a network system, such as mobile phones and desktop computers.
Best of Scientific Breakthroughs
A look back on notable scientific achievements from UCSB researchers during the 2023-2024 year. UCSB Professor earns early technical achievement award By: Nandini Kuppa In the rapidly advancing field of computer science and artificial intelligence (AI), the struggle to balance the accuracy and ability of machine linguistics has come to a head.
Simply Stated: The science behind blacking out
After a night of heavy drinking and regrets, one can experience fear and anxiety when all the memories of the previous night are nowhere to be found. Per the definition of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, alcohol-related blackouts are gaps in memory of events that occurred while intoxicated. Blackouts occur when a person consumes enough alcohol that it temporarily blocks the transfer of short-term to long-term memory storage in the brain region named the hippocampus.
Simply Stated: Are aphrodisiacs a hoax?
What is an aphrodisiac? An aphrodisiac is a substance or food that can provoke arousal, sexual desire, behavior and even pleasure. There are three typical usage types for aphrodisiac foods: increasing libido (sexual desire), increasing sexual potency and performance and improving sexual pleasure.
UCSB Lab Studies Emergence and Disease Risk of Mosquito-Borne Viruses
Andrew MacDonald, an assistant professor at UC Santa Barbara’s Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, is leading a team that was awarded a grant from a new USDA grant program that focuses on the impact of extreme weather on food and agricultural systems.
Stand-out STEM Events Hosted by UCSB in the 2022-23 Year
Meha Jain By: Katharine Chi “If all groundwater is lost from over-exploited regions, India could lose up to 20% of winter cropped area” – Meha Jain On Jan. 23 at UC Santa Barbara’s Bren Hall, Meha Jain, an assistant professor in the School for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan presented her research in groundwater depletion and its connection to the ongoing climate crisis.
MethaneMapper: A new effective AI-based tool for methane detection
From erratic weather patterns to increasing occurrences of hurricanes, the climate crisis is worsening by the minute. The main component of climate change is greenhouse gas emissions, with methane in particular accounting for 30% of the rise in global temperature. This wide-scale emergency calls for innovative solutions that have the potential to mitigate the disastrous consequences of human activity.
Simple Dicho: ¿Que tan poderoso es ChatGPT?
Desde el comienzo de la pandemia, el aprendizaje en línea ha tentado a los estudiantes a abandonar la integridad académica. Algunos programas familiares incluyen Photomath, Quizlet y Socratic, que están diseñados para ayudar a los estudiantes con problemas de trabajo problemáticos y ayudarlos a estudiar para el próximo gran examen. Aunque los creadores pueden tener buenas intenciones al crear estos programas, fácilmente pueden verse como una gran amenaza a la honestidad académica.
Simply Stated: How Powerful is ChatGPT?
Ever since the beginning of the pandemic, online learning has tempted students into abandoning academic integrity. Some familiar programs are Photomath, Quizlet and Socratic, which are designed to help students with troublesome work problems and to assist with studying for the next big exam. Although the creators may have had good intentions while creating these programs, they can easily be viewed as a great threat to academic honesty.
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