Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Holly Ober @sciwri.bsky.social · 12m

2025's 5 Nobel Laureates who work and/or were educated in the University of California system reflect the power of a healthy, well-funded research ecosystem and of academic freedom. www.latimes.com/california/n...

Nobel Tote Board: University of California 5, Trump 0

UC Berkeley and other campuses win Nobel honors, despite a president who seems to loathe them.

www.latimes.com

Reposted by Holly Ober

Paul S. Weiss @pswnano.bsky.social · 4d

Congratulations to our friend & former @uclacb.bsky.social colleague Prof. Omar Yaghi on winning the @nobelprize.bsky.social in chemistry for his groundbreaking #nano work on MOFs

1 2

Reposted by Holly Ober

UCLA Updates @uclaupdates.bsky.social · 5d

Congratulations to former UCLA professor Omar Yaghi on winning the Nobel Prize in chemistry for his pioneering work in the development of metal-organic frameworks. Read more: ucla.in/48Vy1vt #NobelPrize #AcademicSky 🧪

Image of Omar Yaghi, smiling and wearing a black tie, sitting in an office with books behind him. The text on a blue gradient background reads, 'Winner: 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Congratulations to Omar Yaghi, UC Berkeley professor and former professor of chemistry and biochemistry at UCLA.'

1 3

Reposted by Holly Ober

University of California @uofcalifornia.bsky.social · 5d

Discoveries that changed the world: Meet UC’s women @NobelPrize laureates https://bit.ly/42wZj6x

Discoveries that changed the world: Meet UC’s women Nobel laureates

Nearly a quarter of the women who have received Nobel Prizes in science have ties to UC.

www.universityofcalifornia.edu

8 14

Holly Ober @sciwri.bsky.social · 5d

#UCLA neuroscientists discovered brain cells in rats that are wired for #uncertainty. The neurons, most active when a #decision outcome is unknown, appear to help with decision making and flexibility. ucla.in/3Wumo7g 🧪

Two arrow signs above one another. The top arrow points left and says One Way. The bottom arrow points right and says Or Another. Credit: Sophia Kunkel / Unsplash

1 3

Holly Ober @sciwri.bsky.social · 6d

In the 1980s, Louis Ignarro, a UCLA pharmacology professor , studied how air pollutant nitric oxide dilated blood vessels.
Then, he was on the fringes of his field. “I pursued that much to the dismay of my colleagues, who thought I was crazy,” Ignarro recalled. Viagra emerged from this work. 🧪

Trump slashed funding for universities that helped create these vital drugs

Medications that prevent HIV, shrink tumors and treat seizures were invented with government funding. At research universities, that money is now canceled or in jeopardy.

www.washingtonpost.com

3 12

Holly Ober @sciwri.bsky.social · 7d

Funded entirely by taxpayer dollars and developed exclusively at UCLA, a first-of-its-kind drug targets cellular metabolism to promote tissue repair of multiple organs and is ready for clinical trials. ucla.in/46DzOUx 🧪

A heart model made by BruceBlaus on Wikimedia Commons

6 20

Holly Ober @sciwri.bsky.social · Sep 12

"I think the consensus that #science was a route to national #well-being and #prosperity was widely shared by people across the political spectrum until very recently. It’s only been the past few years that we’ve seen a rising lack of trust in #scientists." 🧪

How the US became a science superpower

America's leadership "isn't some fixed, unchanging feature of the scientific landscape," says one UC historian.

www.universityofcalifornia.edu

6 15 44

Reposted by Holly Ober

William H. Grover @wgrover.bsky.social · Sep 12

❤️❤️❤️ these posters in the Geology building at UC Riverside ❤️❤️❤️

Seriously, why aren't we putting messages like these everywhere? I'd happily chip in some pro-NSF and pro-NIH billboards? 🧪

The internet is the
greatest single scientific innovation of the 20th century
Brought to you by NSF

NSF Funds
Supercomputing
Facilities
Bringing You:
Weather Forecasts
Heat Advisories

NSF and NASA
Maintain GPS
Satelites
Bringing You:
Navigation Apps

NSF Funds
Supercomputing
Facilities
Bringing You:
Surf Forecasts
Severe Weather Alerts

1 22 52

Holly Ober @sciwri.bsky.social · Sep 12

“It’s not like you can just hit pause and pick it up and continue,” Vidya Saravanapandian of UCLA’s Brain Research Institute told @latimes.com reporter @jaweedkaleem.bsky.social. 🧪

Yes, that’s a human brain on a cafeteria tray. UCLA fair shows off science cuts under Trump

UCLA's researchers go low-tech to plead their case to the public with poster boards and props. The Trump administration has suspended more than $500 million in research grants to the university.

www.latimes.com

6 11

Holly Ober @sciwri.bsky.social · Sep 12

UCLA Fields Medalist Terence Tao: "Basic #science is an investment in many, many small projects, and if even just a small percentage of them yield fruit, then it's a massive return on investment." youtu.be/skWt_PZosik?... #ResearchPowersProgress 🧪

Terence Tao: Research Powers Progress

YouTube video by UCLA

youtu.be

5 15

Holly Ober @sciwri.bsky.social · Sep 12

“We’re being affected by battles that are taking place well beyond the scope of our focus on training the best scientists,” UCLA professor Rachelle H. Crosbie told @aishabee.bsky.social for @chronicle.com. She said every federal grant across her department has been frozen. 🧪

Caught in a Political Fight, UCLA Professors Grapple With Uncertainties Large and Small

Rank-and file academics across the UCLA campus find their work in the line of fire of a larger political battle with the Trump administration.

www.chronicle.com

1 3 8

Holly Ober @sciwri.bsky.social · Sep 10

#UCLA @ioes.ucla.edu geographers Emelly Ortiz-Villa and Kyle Cavanaugh told Spectrum News reporter Nathalie Basha how marine protected areas help #kelp forests recover after marine heatwaves. Learn more: ucla.in/4fRcC8a #climate #environment 🧪

1 2

Holly Ober @sciwri.bsky.social · Sep 8

🧪

UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Center @uclastemcell.bsky.social · Sep 8

Using #stemcell models, @ucla.edu scientists find how epilepsy genes disrupt different brain regions. The study establishes the first hippocampal assembloid model, creating a new platform for studying epilepsy, autism and Alzheimer’s disease.

#ResearchPowersProgress 🔗 bit.ly/3JTyjbR

3 8

Holly Ober @sciwri.bsky.social · Sep 8

UCLA neurologists discovered a gene that helps neurons regenerate, and developed a drug that mimics this gene to help people recover after a stroke. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/04/s... 🧪

A Pill to Heal the Brain Could Revolutionize Neuroscience

www.nytimes.com

3 10 29

Holly Ober @sciwri.bsky.social · Sep 8

UCLA biologists have discovered that genes linked to some autoimmune diseases are also linked to #mRNA stability. This matters because if mRNA degrades before it can deliver protein-making instructions, enough protein might not get made. There may be a connection to disease risk. ucla.in/4noFIOU 🧪

7 24

Holly Ober @sciwri.bsky.social · Sep 8

🧪

Carolyn Johnson @carolynyjohnson.bsky.social · Sep 8

Terry Tao, the world’s greatest living mathematician, avoided politics. Then Trump cut science funding.
Tao on math, funding and why America has been such a special place to do research. 🎁 link: wapo.st/47r7Ig1

The world’s greatest mathematician avoided politics. Then Trump cut science funding.

Terence Tao, a renowned mathematician at UCLA, faced funding challenges after the Trump administration froze federal research funds.

wapo.st

2 11

Holly Ober @sciwri.bsky.social · Sep 3

A poignant plea from @allard-lab-ucla.bsky.social: The attacks on science and research are multi-pronged and incessant. Yet it is difficult to understand why something as essential as health research has stopped receiving bipartisan support. bit.ly/3HPVWS1 🧪

Frozen Grants, Canceled Futures: The Human Toll of UCLA’s Research Suspension

A frozen grant is more than halted experiments and lost data; it is a career derailed for many of the trainees dependent on this research support.

bit.ly

2 7 25

Reposted by Holly Ober

UCLA Environment @uclaioes.bsky.social · Aug 28

A new #UCLA study shows how African elephant poop helps ebony trees grow, the slow-growing source of wood used for guitars and pianos 🎸 In areas where elephants are poached, researchers found nearly 70% fewer ebony saplings.

ucla.in/47NATtO

1 4 9

Holly Ober @sciwri.bsky.social · Aug 29

“I can’t tell you the number of people who are getting aggressive inquiries, many from out of the country,” Professor Tracy Johnson, UCLA’s dean of Life Sciences, told What A Day. “What we’re looking at is the potential for a serious brain drain.” 🧪

What A Day: Xi Blinded Me With Science

China and other countries are trying to take advantage of Donald Trump’s crusade against UCLA.

crookedmedia.substack.com

2 4 22

Reposted by Holly Ober

Williams Institute @williamsinstitute.bsky.social · Aug 29

"Though data sources are being erased, the transgender population will not be. And yet it will likely be at least a decade before we can publish updated figures on the estimated number of people in the US who identify as transgender." - Jody Herman and @aflor017.github.io for @theconversation.com

We’ve been tracking the number of Americans who identify as transgender – soon, there will be no reliable way to measure them

The federal government has erased gender identity questions from federal surveys. Researchers say it will cost them at least a decade’s worth of data.

theconversation.com

1 5 8

Reposted by Holly Ober

University of California @uofcalifornia.bsky.social · Aug 28

The Orphan Kitten Project, nonprofit run by @ucdavisvetmed students, has rescued and rehabilitated neonatal kittens since 1988. https://bit.ly/4mUbqTO

Caring for kittens — it’s more than just cuteness

The Orphan Kitten Project offers hands-on veterinary experience — and saves lives.

bit.ly

4 7

Holly Ober @sciwri.bsky.social · Aug 28

Definitely!

Holly Ober @sciwri.bsky.social · Aug 28

Meet Joseph Curti, a #UCLA #bat scientist. 11 of California's 25 bat 🦇 species have been detected in the Santa Monica Mountains. By controlling insect 🦟populations, dispersing seeds 🌱and pollinating plants 🌺, #bats provide ecosystem services that humans depend on more than we realize. 🧪

1 13 43

Reposted by Holly Ober

University of California @uofcalifornia.bsky.social · Aug 28

Republican and Democratic voters share common ground when it comes to the University of California: Both sides express widespread support for UC, its research, medical centers and ability to elevate the lives of students, a statewide poll shows. (via @latimes) https://lat.ms/3JD8T1Z

California Democrats and Republicans agree on one big thing: They support UC, poll shows

A poll of California voters conducted by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies showed strong support among Republicans and Democrats for UC research, hospitals and the value of UC degrees.

www.latimes.com

1 5 13