45+ min ago   (789+ words) Researchers found that four immune system genes bear signatures of thousands of years of human evolution. The study identified rare variants in a particular gene that were associated with severe COVID-19 and with prior organ transplants, which are linked to…...

4+ day, 20+ hour ago   (483+ words) The Weight of Gold: Peruvian Forests Pay a Hidden Price for Artisanal-Scale Mining USC Dornsife Birds-eye view of the landscape left behind by artisanal-scale gold mining in the MDD, a mosaic of sandy tailings and abandoned ponds. The Weight of…...

6+ day, 23+ hour ago   (727+ words) What makes the cells of the muscles contract? — Samarth, age 13, India Muscles are amazing. They’re what let you strum a guitar, kick a soccer ball and high-five your friends. When you decide to move, your brain tells your muscles what…...

1+ week, 1+ hour ago   (662+ words) When French writer Marcel Proust famously recalled his childhood from the taste of a Madeline cookie, his stomach may have done some of the work. We generally associate our memories almost exclusively with the brain, which we imagine both forms…...

1+ week, 3+ day ago   (165+ words) Research conducted at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences has been recognized with the 2026 Fields Medal, widely regarded as one of mathematics’ highest honors. Yu Deng, who served on the USC Dornsife faculty from 2018 to 2024 and is…...

2+ week, 6+ day ago   (220+ words) USC Dornsife Congratulations to Dr. Michael C. Campbell on his well-deserved promotion to Associate Professor of Human and Evolutionary Biology, with tenure. Dr. Campbell’s research explores how evolutionary processes have shaped human biological diversity and continue to influence health and disease…...

2+ week, 6+ day ago   (249+ words) USC SSI student Juan Sebastian Cortes won the student prize in Esri’s StoryMaps Competition for “From Ashes to Action,” a project documenting Altadena’s water infrastructure recovery after the Eaton Fire and connecting residents to FEMA and state funding resources. Juan…...

1+ mon, 3+ day ago   (304+ words) The Wrigley Institute for Environment and Sustainability (WIES) has named its 2026-2028 cohort of Faculty Innovation Award winners. The awards, worth up to $50,000 each, support original, solutions-focused environmental and sustainability research by USC faculty from any discipline. This year’s awarded projects…...

1+ mon, 6+ day ago   (826+ words) Venezuela and its capital, Caracas, were rocked by two massive earthquake pulses on June 24, just seconds apart. The shaking from the magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 events caused buildings to collapse in cities across the northern part of the country, killing more than…...

1+ mon, 3+ week ago   (921+ words) Just weeks after graduating from the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, Darnell Adler won the top prize in a global innovation competition for students and first-time founders. Adler’s startup, Lifeline AI, won Red Bull Basement’s 2026 World Final…...