california state university Archives

Coral reefs may be able to adapt to moderate climate change

Study challenges Japanese conceptions of U.S. rice

Japanese consumers know rice. And nearly 80 percent of them “know” that California grown rice is inferior to domestically produced rice, and maintain they can tell the difference. The perception plays a significant part in justifying Japanese trade restrictions on imported rice. But can they really tell the difference? “The answer is, ‘no,'” said Ken Chinen, professor of international business at California State University, Sacramento. “In blind tests they cannot tell the difference even though they say they can.”

Even in fish, one parent does more

Like bickering spouses in an underwater episode of “Dr. Phil,” parents in the fish world want their mates to take more responsibility for child-rearing – so they can do less, says CSUS biological sciences professor Ronald Coleman. In convict cichlids, for example, Coleman finds that while parenting duties are shared, they’re not shared equally. “Both hope the other will do the work,” he says. Convict cichlids are good parents who defend their children, Coleman says. But individual pairs vary in determining how much each parent should do for their offspring.