Can life be found in planetary “terminator” zones?

In a new study, UCI astronomers describe how extraterrestrial life has the potential to exist on distant exoplanets inside a special area called the “terminator zone,” which is a ring on planets that divide it between one side that always faces its star and one side that is always dark. Ana Lobo, a postdoctoral researcher in the UCI Department of Physics & Astronomy led the new work, which was just published in The Astrophysical Journal. Lobo says such planets are common because they exist around stars that make up about 70 percent of the stars seen in the night sky. Historically, researchers have mostly studied ocean-covered exoplanets in their search for candidates for habitability. But now that Lobo and her team have shown that terminator planets are also viable refuges for life, it increases the options life-hunting astronomers have to choose from.

University of California’s medical programs help cure the state’s medical woes

The six campuses that make up the University of California are producing 700 new MD graduates this year, including 98 from UCI alone. Today is “Match Day” for these future doctors, when graduating medical students all over the country discover where they will serve their residencies, a period of hands-on training in their medical specialty that can last from three to seven years. The good news for California is that roughly three-quarters of UC medical students are likely to stay and practice medicine in the state.

UCI Chamber Music Concert – Winter 2023

Organized by Sarah Koo, a lecturer at Claire Trevor School of the Arts who specializes in cello and chamber music, the concert will be held at Winifred Smith Hall and features talented students from UCI’s Department of Music performing chamber music masterworks. Admission is free. 

Visit today.uci.edu to see and submit event listings. Events of general interest will be shared in UCI Digest two days before they occur.

Persian History Month: Celebrating Iranian women

In honor of Persian Heritage Month, UCI writer-in-residence Sholeh Wolpé, an Iranian-American poet, playwright and librettist, highlights the accomplishments and struggles of Iran’s women, past and present, in a perspective piece. Wolpé starts with Iranian poet Tahirih (1817-1852) who defied conventional norms and unveiled in public. She was later strangled, a symbolic gesture to shut her up. Her final words proved prophetic: “You can kill me as soon as you like, but you cannot stop the emancipation of women.”

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