At the cellular level, human stick-to-itiveness appears to hold the clue as to how our brains evolved beyond those of other primates. a team of berkeley researchers from the lawrence national laboratory and joint genome institute, led by Edward Rubin, have shown that cell adhesion control in humans is more advanced than in chimpanzees, mice, and other vertebrates, enabling neural connections that account for more complex brain functions.

Use of light waves inside degenerated human eyes may allow them to better detect external light. In 2004, berkeley neurobiologist Ehud Isacoff and other campus researchers showed the effectiveness of this approach in cultured nerve cells, leading to successful trials in diseased rat eyes. under isacoff's direction, berkeley's new niH-funded nanomedicine Development center will develop the technology toward human application.

The tropics are a cradle of biodiversity, and new research by berkeley biologists James Valentine and Kaustuv Roy highlights the importance of preserving tropical habitat. The study of bivalve mollusks such as oysters, clams, and scallops shows that about 75 percent of current life originated in the tropics and spread from there. The study helps put to rest theories that just as much life originates at higher latitudes and is lost only due to higher extinction rates.

Is information more reliable if you can touch the paper it's printed on? Recent interviews with about 50 Berkeley-connected faculty, administrators, librarians, editors, and publishers show a bias against publishing research in online forums. Regardless of the actual peer-review quality of web outlets, the perception and stigma that they are less rigorous persists. The research was conducted by the Center for Studies in Higher Education.

To the untrained mind and eye, the spread of a wildfire is a mysterious phenomenon. is your house in danger of burning? there anything you can do about it? answers are now online at firecenter.berkeley.edu/toolkit, where berkeley fire specialists led by Max Moritz have housed a wealth of data for homeowners and scientists about California wildfire history and risk.

Power really does go to our heads, say recent studies by Haas associate Professor Cameron Anderson and a colleague at Northwestern. The research showed that subjects who perceived that they had more power were more likely to take risks and feel immune to potential downfalls. The study authors note that those who are over-prone to risk should temper their behavior by considering negative outcomes more closely.

Turbulent combustion is the method by which we spew pollution out of automobiles and industrial factories. berkeley mechanical engineer Fabrizio Bisetti is using computer simulations to get a handle on the complexity of the process, with the aim of helping design more efficient chambers. Past simulations have taken a month to run on supercomputers; a new rudimentary version by bisetti and colleagues takes just a few hours.