Self-driving car flaws; women in Black Lives Matter

March 7, 2024

Anteater Time Machine: On Arbor Day in 1966 (which California celebrates on March 7, the birthday of horticulturist Luther Burbank), a “Friendship Grove” was planted at UCI and marked with a plaque (seen here in 1969).

UCI ANNOUNCEMENTS AND NEWS

Security flaws found in self-driving cars

A UCI research team discovered potentially hazardous vulnerabilities associated with the technology called LiDAR, or Light Detection and Ranging, which many autonomous vehicles use to navigate streets and highways. Computer scientists and electrical engineers at UCI and Japan’s Keio University used lasers to fool LiDAR into “seeing” objects that weren’t present and missing those that were – deficiencies that can cause unwarranted and unsafe braking or collisions.

UCI Podcast: Women in Black Lives Matter

In this episode of the UCI Podcast, Jordie Davies, an assistant professor of political science, discusses the role of women in the Black Lives Matter movement, which began in 2013 after the acquittal in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. Davies examines the foundations of similar social movements in response to anti-Blackness, forecasts what may be on the horizon, and discusses her recent publication on the process of building solidarity and sharing power in multiracial coalitions.

Stem cell therapy to fight Parkinson’s shows progress

New clinical trial data for bemdaneprocel, a stem cell-derived therapy for Parkinson’s disease, continues to show positive results 18 months after treatment. The results of the Phase 1 trial were presented Wednesday at the Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Diseases Conference by UCI Health neurologist Dr. Claire Henchcliffe, who conducted the trial at the UCI Alpha Clinic in tandem with colleagues at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City and the University of Toronto.

UC NEWS

UC sees increase for fall 2024 applications

On Wednesday, the University of California announced a total of 250,436 applications for fall 2024 (206,893 for freshman admission and 43,543 for transfers). Overall, applications increased 1.5% from the previous year. The uptick was driven by a rise in applications from transfer students, California residents and students from historically underrepresented groups in higher education.

SAVE THE DATE

Women Of The One: Trailblazers of Funk
Saturday, 7 p.m. (sponsored by Claire Trevor School of the Arts)

The Bald Soprano
Saturday, 8 p.m. (sponsored by Irvine Barclay Theatre)

UCI Wind Ensemble
Monday, 8 p.m. (sponsored by Claire Trevor School of the Arts)

UCI Guitar Ensemble
Wednesday, noon (sponsored by Claire Trevor School of the Arts)

For more events, visit UCI Today.

#IamUCI

Census researcher advocates for working women

Raised by her father in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, Liana Christin Landivar always knew she wanted to help people. After moving to California to attend Vanguard University of Southern California, she received her master's and doctorate at UCI in 2004 and 2007. During her career in the federal government, Landivar was a senior researcher at the Women’s Bureau in the Department of Labor, regularly briefing Congress, White House staff and national media on how lack of childcare, job flexibility and paid leave often cut women’s careers short. She was recently appointed to be senior researcher for equity at the Census Bureau. “There’s so much more work to do to get us where we need to be in terms of equity for working mothers,” she says. “I’ve cared about that issue for as long as I can remember, and there are many different ways that research can move it forward, and for me to contribute my little piece.”

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