Five new post-doctoral scholars will spend the next two years at Berkeley as the 2009-2011 Mellon Postdoctoral Fellows. The fellows bring international talent to Berkeley, with research areas spanning the arts, humanities and humanistic social sciences.

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An unusual supernova rediscovered in seven-year-old data may be the first example of a new type of exploding star, according to an article by UC Berkeley astronomer Dovi Poznanski and his collegues. The discovery was published in the Nov. 5 issue of the journal Science Express.

Until as recently as the 1970s, many American cities had so-called “ugly laws” on the books, making it illegal for a person with "unsightly" disabilities to “expose himself to public view.” English Professor Susan Schweik explores these laws in "The Ugly Laws: Disability in Public."

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The National Cancer Institute has awarded UC Berkeley $15.7 million over five years to help physical scientists and engineers bring new perspectives to the mechanisms of cancer. Biophysicist Jan Liphardt, an associate professor of physics, is the principal investigator.