Science & Technology

Crisp, clean, bright — all words that come to mind when thinking about white wine. Hazy? Not so much. 

White and rosé wines can become cloudy when transported in shipping containers or stored on supermarket shelves due to protein denaturation. While they are perfectly safe to drink, those murky wines tend to turn off consumers. 

Once fallow tomato fields on the UC Davis campus are now home to irrigated corn fields growing silage that will help feed dairy cows.

The project is part of a new initiative bolstering sustainability and research efforts in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences by bringing dormant fields back in action in support of campus research and facilities.  

California’s processing tomato industry, for the first time this past harvest season, agreed to voluntary equipment cleaning and notification guidelines to prevent the spread of broomrape, a parasitic weed that attaches to roots and sucks out key nutrients. 

What does the world look like to a cow and why do goats spook so easily? New tools are helping people experience how livestock perceive and respond to their surroundings—leading to safer, lower-stress handling for animals and the people who raise them. UC Davis researchers and veterinarians are bringing these tools to ranchers and others, showing how understanding animal behavior improves welfare in real-world settings. In this episode of Unfold, we explore where science meets the herd.

On a sunny day in early April, young wheat plants stood waist-high, their heads full of still-green grain. A walk along some furrows left pants and boots covered with a fine, orange dust. These plants in test fields near the UC Davis campus were bred to fight a stubborn pathogen that threatens the world’s wheat: stripe rust.

What can the world’s longest living individual teach us about longevity? A team of scientists coordinated by the University of California, Davis, sequenced the Great Basin bristlecone pine genome, which could help unlock the secrets of this tree’s exceptionally long life and provide insights for other species.

With a rising global population and environmental instability, global scientists are working diligently toward a more food-secure future. One avenue many are investigating is how engineered biomaterials can influence food production, creating a path toward sustainability.

The University of California, Davis, has received a gift of more than $25 million that will transform the advancement of agricultural technology and innovation for generations to come, made possible by a bequest from late philanthropist and local businessman Dan G. Best II.

The gift honors the enduring legacy of his grandfather, C.L. Best, an agricultural innovator and founding leader of Caterpillar Tractor Co., whose design of his first track-type tractor in 1912 still forms the basis for all current track-type machines used across the world today. 

Smoke from wildfires can alter grapes and affect the taste and sensory experience of wine, threatening California’s $88 billion industry as it faces an increase in fires on the horizon. 

Researchers from the University of California, Davis, and U.S. Department of Agriculture spent this summer applying a calcium spray to grapes to see if the treatment can protect the fruit from smoke exposure.