The loss of biological diversity is one of the greatest challenges of our time. At the fourth World Biodiversity Forum in Davos, leading biodiversity researchers are joining participants from politics, business, civil society and the arts to develop a common approach for biodiversity protection.

UC San Diego Health recognized for leadership in environmental sustainability, representing commitment to supporting healthier patients, staff and communities.

Marine wildlife trafficking is big business, raking in billions of dollars every year and threatening species’ survival and the health of ecosystems. But trafficked sea creatures are often concealed in ordinary travelers’ luggage or packages, which makes it hard to spot and seize illicit shipments. Now scientists have used a neural network, a form of AI, to teach an algorithm to spot three commonly trafficked products — shark fins, sea cucumbers, and dried seahorses — in CT scans of bags like those taken at airports. The algorithm, which had a 92% success rate in testing, could help detect marine wildlife trafficking at scale and stop the trade in progress.

Professor Akihiro Kaneko of Okayama University of Science has achieved international recognition for a second consecutive year at Kura Master, a prestigious Japanese sake competition held in France. “Aldebaran,” a red wine produced from Muscat Bailey A grapes grown in Ibara, Okayama Prefecture, under Professor Kaneko’s supervision, received a Gold Award in the Muscat Bailey A category. The award highlights ongoing efforts to preserve a historic local grape variety whose cultivation has declined in recent years. In addition, “Junmai -eme-,” a sake brewed using yeast isolated from Muscat of Alexandria grapes by Professor Kaneko and his research team, earned the competition’s highest distinction, the Platinum Award, in the Junmai Sake category. The awards demonstrate the growing international impact of research and innovation in viticulture and enology at Okayama University of Science.

As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary amid deep political division, a major new bipartisan report from the State of the Nation Project asks a fundamental question: How are we really doing as a country? The first-of-its-kind State of the States report analyzes more than three decades of data and 4,000 indicators across all 50 states and Washington, D.C., ranking states on 31 measures of well-being, trust, education, health, inequality, the economy and more. The findings point to an increasingly unhappy nation: Despite sharp political divides, red and blue states are facing many of the same struggles, including worsening mental health, declining trust, rising social isolation and falling life satisfaction. No state is improving on eight key measures, including life satisfaction, adult and youth depression, fatal overdoses, trust in the federal government, income inequality, long-term unemployment and hourly earnings growth.

Researchers, including a faculty member from Penn State Smeal College of Business, examined how AI use affects worker well-being, job satisfaction and psychological connection to work. The research, published in Scientific Reports, observed how copy-and-pasting responses to writing prompts can make people doubt their skills and find their work meaningless.