Lorena Anderson

Astronomers Reveal Hidden Activity in the Early Universe’s Most Massive Galaxies

January 5, 2026

Spectroscopy at the UC's W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii helped the researchers interpret complex data about ultramassive galaxies. Photo courtesy of the W.M. Keck Observatory.

An international team of astronomers has studied ultramassive galaxies - galaxies containing more than 100 billion stars - as they existed when the universe was less than 2 billion years old. The results show that while some of these ultramassive galaxies, or UMGs, had already shut down star...

MACES Focuses on Tiny Particles, Broad Horizons

Researchers at UC Merced are making a big deal out of a piece of equipment that lets them look at really tiny things. And they should — the new Zeiss Gemini SEM 500 scanning electron microscope is...

Students Show Climate Impacts, Pitch Solutions in UC-wide Contest

Several students, faculty members and the provost represented UC Merced at the University of California’s recent Carbon Slam event, placing in the presentation competitions and increasing the campus’...

Students Present the Face of Yosemite to the First Family

For many UC Merced students, visiting Yosemite is a relaxing way to spend a weekend. But for several UC Merced students, the past weekend was extremely hectic and a little nerve-wracking — but full...

Studying the ’Saurs: New Class is a ‘Gateway to Science’

One of the campus’s newest professors is teaching one of its newest classes on one of the world’s oldest subjects: dinosaurs. But there’s much more to Professor Justin Yeakel’s Natural History of...

Bioengineering Student Wins Strauss Scholarship to Help Visually Impaired

Harkanwalpreet Sodhi, a third-year bioengineering student, won a $10,000 Donald A. Strauss Foundation scholarship to help visually impaired people in Merced. The scholarship will help Sodhi start a...

Scientists Unveiling the Complexity of Mysterious Protein Folding

Imagine trying to reverse engineer a car when all you have is a finished product or a box full of parts — no instructions. That’s what scientists have been trying to do with proteins, the mysterious...

Brainstorm: Professors Take Holistic Approach to Study Thinking, Learning and Neuroscience

The following article is the main story in a six-piece package that appeared in the spring issue of UC Merced Magazine focusing on the research performed at UC Merced that relates to the brain. You...

Wildfire Increasing in the West Because of Climate Change, Research Shows

The number, size and duration of large mountain forest fires in the Western United States has increased dramatically in the past 40 years, according to research from UC Merced Professor LeRoy...

Campus Getting Greener with New Research Growing Spaces

Everyone knows UC Merced is growing, but pretty soon, the campus will be growing lots of plant specimens for research, too. The School of Natural Sciences is buying a pair of greenhouses that will be...