Research Excellence

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...

A graphic depicts a clock and dots connected by a wavy line

Tiny Artificial Cells Can Keep Time, Study Finds

A team of UC Merced researchers has shown that tiny artificial cells can accurately keep time, mimicking the daily rhythms found in living organisms. Their findings shed light on how biological...

Igniting Our Response to Wildfires: the Power of Metaphors

As wind-whipped walls of flame destroyed hundreds of Los Angeles-area residences last January, one media report framed the disastrous wildfires in beastly terms, saying they were “ripping...

Professor Sora Kim swam with a Nile crocodile for this year's Shark Week special, which focuses of sharks versus prehistoric reptiles. Photo courtesy of Kruger National Park, South Africa.

Professor Dives with Crocs, Displays Megalodon Expertise During Shark Week

Shark Week starts Sunday and Professor Sora Kim will be featured again this year in a special airing at 9 p.m. Monday, titled “Jaws vs. Mega Croc,” and the filming allowed her to swim...

Photo depicts Brittany Barreto Martinez pouring liquid into a test tube in a lab.

UC Merced Breakthrough Could Transform How California Monitors Toxic Algae

San Luis Reservoir in Merced County - one of California's largest artificial lakes - not only irrigates Central Valley farmland and supplies drinking water across Silicon Valley and the South Bay...

UC Merced Professor Christopher Ojeda and his book "The Sad Citizen"

Depression Due to Politics: the Quiet Danger to Democracy

On laptop screens, televisions and social media feeds across the nation, images and words fueled by a fractured political landscape spout anger, frustration and resentment. Clashing ideologies burst...

Professor Clarissa Nobile investigates the mechanisms of biofilm infections that affect human health.

NIH Grant Enables Outstanding Investigator to Advance Knowledge of Microbial Infections

The National Institutes of Health are backing Professor Clarissa Nobile ’s mission to understand the mechanisms by which microbes form biofilms, specifically those that can be hazardous to...

Photo depicts UC Merced Professor Christopher Viney and graduate researcher Kiana Shirzad on a blue and gold graphic background

Researchers Apply Materials Science Equation to Broader Real-World Issues

At first glance, a mathematical model that describes how quickly materials transform from one phase to another might seem to have few other practical applications. But what if this kind of model...

Photo depicts UC Merced student Jesse Martinez operating a robot on the Experimental Smart Farm.

UC Merced's Smart Farm Abuzz with Activity

At UC Merced's biggest lab, students work from before sunrise to well after dusk. They are operating the university's Experimental Smart Farm, 40 acres of dirt and plants, research and...

Photo depicts construction materials at a building site.

Study: Mass Deportations Would Cost California Economy $275 Billion, Decimate Critical Industries

Mass deportation of California's undocumented residents would open a $275 billion hole in the state's economy, cripple industries ranging from agriculture to hospitality, disrupt countless...

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