This month in science:
Linking fast radio bursts to neutron stars; Hubble Telescope images combined into astronomical mosaic; alumna Julie Packard retires from Monterey Bay Aquarium, and more.
A team of scientists including UCSC researchers has provided the clearest evidence yet that some fast radio bursts (FRBs)—enigmatic, millisecond-long flashes of radio waves from space—originate from neutron stars, the ultra-dense remnants of massive stars that have exploded in a supernova.
Undergraduates Jules Rivera, Liza Tsyvinsky, and Ph.D. student Mariam Ayad won top prizes in a national competition where students make short videos explaining the scientific research they do and the importance of federal funding. The annual Fund It Forward Student Video Challenge is held by the nonprofit Science Coalition, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to sustaining federal investment in basic scientific research.
Among those with UC Santa Cruz ties who were honored at the American Astronomical Society meeting this month was Professor Puragra "Raja" GuhaThakurta. He received the society's 2025 Education Prize for leading the campus's Creating Equity in STEAM initiatives, including the Science Internship Program, Shadow the Scientists, and Python & Research Tutorial series.
In this engaging Kraw Lecture, Eric Palkovacs will describe the development of transformative approaches to recover wild salmon populations by connecting novel insights from genes to ecosystems. Learn how this integrative research program spanning the fields of genomics, physiology, behavior, and ecology can provide insights to transform the future of Pacific salmon and the ecosystems and fisheries they support.
FEBRUARY 22 | 1:30–5:30 p.m. | UC SANTA CRUZ HAY BARN
Join us at the Hay Barn for our annual public natural history symposium: "Radical Then, Critical Now: Interdisciplinary Strategies in Environmental Conservation." The event includes a talk by UC Santa Cruz professors Gary Griggs and Karen Holl; participatory art with Norris Center Art + Science graduate fellows; live music; and a conservation career networking pre-event for students only.
