News and Issues

Defying the Nazis: The Sharps' War is an account of a daring rescue mission that occurred on the precipice of World War II. It tells the story of Waitstill and Martha Sharp, a Unitarian minister and his wife from Wellesley, Massachusetts, who left their children behind in the care of their parish and boldly committed to multiple life-threatening missions in Europe. Over two dangerous years they helped to save hundreds of imperiled political dissidents and Jewish refugees fleeing the Nazi occupation across Europe. more »

Quinn McFrederick and co-authors collected bees and flowers at two sites in Texas and one on the UC Riverside campus. He simulated bee nests by drilling holes into wood and placing these nests in fields with wildflowers. The wild bees naturally nest in abandoned holes in trees created by beetles. McFrederick believes that the bacteria might help preserve the nectar and pollen the wild bee stores in her nest as a food source for her soon-to-be born larvae. more »

Senate Hearings to examine S.2763, to provide the victims of Holocaust-era persecution and their heirs a fair opportunity to recover works of art confiscated or misappropriated by the Nazis, S.3155, to amend chapter 97 of title 28, United States Code, to clarify the exception to foreign sovereign immunity set forth in section 1605(a)(3) of such title, S.3270, to prevent elder abuse and exploitation and improve the justice system's response to victims in elder abuse and exploitation cases, and the nominations of Lucy Haeran Koh, of California, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit, and Florence Y. Pan, to be United States District Judge for the District of Columbia. more »

Researchers used computer simulations to screen millions of molecules for opioid-like pain-relieving properties. The analyses allowed scientists to create a molecule that effectively alleviates pain in mice, but with fewer side effects than the opioid morphine. more »