Inflammation can be a good thing.
When the human body is exposed to injury or infection, inflammation - which can result in redness, heat, swelling and pain as white blood cells fight threats - is the first line of defense. Inflammation helps fight bacteria, viruses and other pathogens and repair...
News
April 22, 2026
Mechanical force can do more than just push things around - it can also trigger chemical reactions. A new review by researchers at UC Merced and Penn State brings together decades of work to explain how these reactions occur and why they matter for technologies ranging from pharmaceuticals to the...
April 20, 2026
A throng of people came to UC Merced on a crisp, blue-sky Saturday for Bobcat Day. More than 7,000 were registered to attend the April 18 event for admitted and prospective first-year and transfer students, along with their families.
The day was an opportunity for people to meet professors,...
April 16, 2026
As crops go, agave holds a lot of promise for the northern San Joaquin Valley. The succulents thrive in hot sun, don't require much water and can be grown in the region's sandy soils. And though agave, mainly grown in Mexico, is best known as the source of tequila and mezcal, it has other uses that...
April 15, 2026
Rahim Moulanazada’s path from Modesto to major construction projects across California has been shaped by persistence, family and a deep appreciation for collaboration.
Moulanazada, 24, graduated from UC Merced in spring 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. He now works as an...
April 15, 2026
Nervous but prepared, Tahirah Williams took the stage at UC Merced’s Grad Slam competition in March and delivered her three-minute talk, “More Than Slime: When Mucus Meets the Valley Fever Invader.” By day’s end, she had been announced as the university’s 12th Grad Slam Campus Champion.
“It feels...
April 8, 2026
It's no secret that artificial intelligence uses a lot of electricity.
A standard ChatGPT query consumes approximately 0.34 watt-hours - roughly 10 times more than a Google search. According to the Pew Research Center, U.S. data centers consumed 183 terawatt-hours of electricity in 2024 - more than...
April 7, 2026
UC Merced saw broad gains in the U.S. News and World Report 2026 Best Graduate Schools rankings with graduate programs rising in national standing, reflecting the campus’s growing academic and research profile.
UC Merced’s School of Engineering broke into the top 100 in the rankings, securing No....
March 31, 2026
Most weekdays, civil engineering major Jacqueline Garcia travels 45 minutes each way from her hometown of Hughson to attend classes at UC Merced.
“The perk is being able to pursue my undergraduate degree while still having a tie to home. It's been great having the campus here in the Valley,” she...
Celebrating 20 Years of Firsts
