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Tackling the Teen Sleep Crisis

By Laura Smith

Five questions with Lisa L. Lewis '89, Author of The Sleep-Deprived Teen

Courtesy of the Science History Institute

The Man Who Loved DDT

By Elena Conis

Berkeley biochemist Tom Jukes was an ardent conservationist and life member of the Sierra Club, but he just didn’t get 1960s environmentalism. The thing that bugged him most about the movement was its “emotional binge” against the pesticide DDT.

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Mooooove Over, Meat

By Krissy Waite

Giving up hamburgers and ice cream in the next 15 years could save us from global climate catastrophe.

(NISARGMEDIA/Alamy Stock Photo)

Beware Second Hand Bong Smoke

By Krissy Waite

Most people today recognize the health risks of inhaling tobacco smoke, even secondhand. Fewer are aware of the dangers of cannabis smoke.

Sight Unseen

By Leah Worthington and Illustration by David Junkin

The paradox of blindsight might unlock the mystery of consciousness.

The View from the Trenches

By Glen Martin and Photos by Marcus Hanschen

Two years into the pandemic, SARS-CoV-2 continues to defy predictions. At the date of this writing, the Omicron variant—as contagious as ultra-transmissible viruses such as measles, if somewhat less severe than earlier COVID variants—continues to spread rapidly. While the surge appears to be ebbing in some areas of the United States, hospitalizations remain high and, nationally, about 2,500 deaths are reported daily. 

Peregrines in Love

By Hayden Royster

If Berkeley has a celebrity couple, it’s Annie and Grinnell, the peregrine falcons who alighted on the Campanile and have called it home since late 2016.

D9PEX9 Homeless young Iraq War veteran begging on 34th Street in New York City. There are many war casualties wandering city streets

Unpacking PTSD

By Dhoha Bareche

A study led by researchers from Berkeley and UCSF may help explain why some people are more resilient to traumatic stress than others and lead to possible therapies. Published in December in the journal Translational Psychiatry, the study found a link between increased myelination in the brain’s gray matter and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). 

You Are Probably Burned Out at Work

By Wyatte Grantham-Philips

A Q&A with Dr. Christina Maslach

Post-Pandemic, Teletherapy Is Here to Stay

DR. HANNAH ZEAVIN’S WORK explores the question of how we recover from trauma, and the roles that technology and media play in how we understand each other and ourselves. She is a lecturer in the English and History departments at UC Berkeley and an affiliate of Berkeley’s Center for Science, Technology, Medicine and Society, and […]

Slippery Slopes and Other Concerns About End of Life Options

By Leah Worthington

A Q&A on the ethics of aid-in-dying with Dr. Guy Micco.

Calculating the Emotional Cost of Remote Learning

The past year has been very difficult for the kids. Prolonged school closures, which have lasted over a year for most middle and high schoolers in California, have deprived students of normal social and academic interactions—during one of the most important stages in their social-emotional learning. Adolescent brains are particularly geared toward seeking status and […]