Fig. 1

Explore groundbreaking ideas

Fig. 1 is a video series that investigates big ideas and the brilliant UC minds behind them.

Latest episode

A vaccine for acne? Scientists discover root cause of breakouts

85% of young people deal with acne. For some, a daily regimen of scrubs, lotions, and antibiotics can clear up breakouts. But UC San Diego research uncovered a new way to stop acne. Could their acne vaccine be on the horizon?

Read more about the acne breakthrough

Episodes

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Psychology & behavior

Measurement scales with a heart and a sad face on each end. The side with the sad face weighs more and moves down.

September 12, 2019

Why negative campaigning works — and how to fight it

An illustration of a brain with a hand point to specific areas of it

March 25, 2020

The evolutionary advantage of the teenage brain

Illustration of a stressed out person with researchers observing them

March 24, 2020

How to live well with stress — even in the coronavirus era

An illustration of a young man looking worried, with stress lines radiating from him next to a Gameboy with the game Tetris

March 21, 2024

Can’t stop worrying? Why video games help

Health & wellness

An illustration of a vaccine vial with the word "new!" above it on a sign

May 19, 2021

The COVID vaccine came out super quickly. Here’s why it’s safe.

Aminta Kouyate, a UC Prime medical student, smiling outside UCSF

February 15, 2022

A doctor who’s trying to fix what’s broken

Harold Lloyd dangling from a clock in the film Safety Last

March 16, 2022

Why Congress is moving forward from turning the clocks forward

An illustration of bottles of mosquito spray

June 27, 2017

Making the ultimate mosquito repellent

Climate & the environment

Poop emojis with smell lines coming off of them

March 1, 2016

Will cars of the future run on poop?

A close up photo of fire with the text "good fire" and an arrow pointing at it

April 6, 2022

How the Indigenous practice of ‘good fire’ can help our forests thrive

A weatherman in front of a heat wave map with an emoji of a grimace for a face

August 18, 2022

Heat waves aren’t going away. Here’s how we can prepare

Daniel Swain, wearing khakis and a maroon shirt, leans against a low adobe-colored wall, with a snowy forest in the backdrop and an arched breezeway behind him.

November 9, 2023

The weather whisperer

A blue whale next to a research boat

April 17, 2023

How we can protect our last remaining blue whales, the world’s largest-ever animal

Sequential shots of an Anna's hummingbird (Calypte anna) navigating an aperture too small for its wingspan by sidling through while flapping its wings.

March 15, 2024

Hummingbirds' unique sideways flutter gets them through small apertures

Innovation

An illustration of an asteroid heading towards Earth

February 11, 2021

What Hollywood gets wrong (and right!) about protecting the Earth from asteroids

Two green, flowing jelllyfish swimming and tubes of GFP in a variety of colors next to it

April 24, 2020

How glow-in-the-dark jellyfish inspired a scientific revolution

Wi-Fi scanning robots with x-ray vision

February 19, 2016

How Wi-Fi can give us X-ray vision

Society & culture

A tv with Sansa Stark saying, "You're spoiling everything!"

May 24, 2016

Spoiler alert: spoilers make you enjoy stories more

An illustration of a crowd of people carrying a "Gay Pride" banner

June 26, 2020

Five years ago, love won. Here's how research helps make progress possible

The words "Latino", "Latinx", and "Hispanic" on a blue background

October 6, 2021

What’s the difference between Hispanic, Latino and Latinx?