amgen foundation

A South Coast astronomer is part of a global effort to solve the mystery behind a mysterious deep space event which researchers believe sent a burst of gravitational waves towards the Earth. Andy Howell is a scientist with the Las Cumbres Observatory, which is based in Goleta. Las Cumbres operates a global network of telescopes used by researchers around the world. It was a split second burst, and is the type of thing normally associated with an event like black holes colliding.

Researchers on the South Coast are developing a unique robot that can do what other robots can’t. This vine-like robot can expand and move around obstacles to navigate its environment. It could even be life-saving in medical and disaster relief situations.

Scientists on the South Coast are working to bring back an endangered marine animal from the brink of extinction. There were perhaps millions but now only several thousand white abalone remain in the ocean. A new exhibit is highlighting researchers’ conservation efforts to save white abalone.

A university on the South Coast is building a new math lab. The goal is to help underrepresented students succeed.

California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks is creating a 700-square-foot Math Center inside Pearson Library.

Dr. Gabriela Cazares of Cal Lutheran says the project is being funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education to increase the number of underrepresented students who earn teaching credentials.

Some high school students in Ventura County are spending part of their summer learning the science behind flying.

This aviation course teaches them how to use STEM - which stands for science, technology, engineering and math – to design and build small airplanes.

UC Santa Barbara researchers helped solve a mystery as to why large salt deposits are piling up at the bottom of the Dead Sea in the Middle East.

The Dead Sea between Israel and Jordan is 10 times as salty as the ocean. In the summer, the lake has a top layer of hot, salty water and a bottom layer of cooler, less salty water. Since the top layer is less dense, the laws of physics don’t explain how all that salt could pile up at the bottom of the lake.

There’s a new way for kids on the South Coast to learn about science. A Ventura County museum has just unveiled an interactive lab where children can delve into the earth sciences in a creative and educational approach.

“That’s cool. It’s really sparkly,” says 10-year-old Rowan Rahbar who is looking at a piece of granite through a microscope.

“Those are the different minerals. So, the pink one is called feldspar and the black one is called hornblende and the clear one is quartz,” says museum educator Erin Valenzuela who gives her a science lesson.

More than a billion people in the developing world live off the grid, without electricity.

A professor at a Central Coast college is working to change that, with a new device to help them get power.

Taufik is an electrical engineer from Indonesia, where many people - like himself - are known by only one name.

Engineering students on the Central Coast created a device to improve a severely injured veteran’s life.

Navy veteran Taylor Morris has been living as a quadruple amputee since he was wounded while serving in Afghanistan in 2012.

College students on the Central Coast are creating prosthetics for a boy who lost his fingers in a fiery car crash.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo engineering students are working on a pair of prosthetic hands for 10-year-old Julian Reynoso.

There’s a unique science program that’s being taught to some middle school students on the South Coast that involves eating insects. It may sound nasty, but they’re doing it in the name of science.

Some kids in the Conejo Valley are spending time at a unique business where they’re learning how to develop computer programs known as coding.

“You’re able to use coding to affect things in the real world like controlling one of these drones,” says 12-year-old Mason Tarter who comes to Code Ninjas in Thousand Oaks.

You may notice more and more people using standing desks at work. Many of them opt for standing, rather than sitting, for its health benefits.

However, a scientist on the South Coast says his research shows that standing is not as healthy as you would expect. The study found people who stand when working only burn a few more calories than those who sit.