Dear Readers,

Science is a scavenger hunt. In pursuit of knowledge, we find curious facets hidden within the familiar. For this issue of the Berkeley Science Review, come along as our authors explore the world around and inside us. Start on the dusty fourth floor of the Campanile amid scraps of 1920s newspaper. Sara ElShafie will reveal the fossils stored there for nearly a century in Bones in the Belltower. Now head up the hill to Cyclotron Road and look for the path by which scientists become entrepreneurs. Antoine Wojdyla, Ioana Aanei, and Chris Holdgraf will explain this increasingly well-trodden route in Cyclotron Valley. Next, peer out across the Bay and try to spot the promises—and pitfalls—of an increasingly automated world. Daniel Aranki, Roel Dobbe, Jaime F. Fisac, and Cathy Wu help you examine these complexities in Automating Us, in which they expose the interplay between society and technology and invite you to join the conversation around ethics and innovation. Now, off to SFO—make your way to Croatia, where you’ll head underground to trace the human family tree. Catalina Casillas will give you some clues in Caves, Bones and Genomes, explaining how scientists are mapping our genetic heritage. On the return trip, examine something a little closer to home—the inside of each cell in your body. In The Original Origami, Nicole Haloupek will show you how scientists spy on the intricate folding and unfolding of proteins and what these insights mean for collections of proteins such as, well, us.

Finally home, head to your kitchen to check out the science and politics of nonstick coatings. As you wait for water to boil, learn about the challenges of developing and disseminating clean-burning cookstoves around the world. In Issue 29, you’ll get a fresh glimpse at the everyday as well as the unknown: from the environmental impacts of marijuana to the discovery of flying spiders. We hope you enjoy this tour of UC Berkeley research.

Our team devotes a great deal of their free time to this magazine, and they deserve recognition for their efforts. I want to first address two attribution errors from Issue 28: Alexandra Courtis should have been listed as “Editor” (as well as “Managing Editor”), and the authors of “From the Field” should have been listed as Alexandra McCleary, Melanie Miller, Jillian Swift, and Kirsten Vacca, from the Department of Anthropology (only Jillian Swift was listed). My sincere apologies for these oversights. Our internal procedure has been corrected to avoid future problems.

I want to say thanks to our authors and tireless editorial team. I want to especially thank our Art Director, Holly Williams, and the design team for another gorgeous issue. Thanks also to our blog editor Daniel Freeman, our web team, Sean Doris and Chris Holdgraf, and our managing editor, Jake Seeley. Further thanks to our mobile director Jo Downes. Make sure to check out our free tablet app (available in the iTunes store)!

This is my last issue as Editor in Chief. I feel lucky to have had the opportunity to work with this incredible group of people to tell stories about science. I’d like to introduce Rachel Hood, a fifth-year graduate student in molecular and cell biology, as the next Editor in Chief. Rachel has written for the BSR since 2012 and edited since 2014, and she is excited to continue covering the diverse and exciting research community at UC Berkeley.

Sincerely,

Anna Lieb

This article is part of the Fall 2015 issue.