Golden Nuggets: The Secret to Good Broccoli, Making a Career out of suing the Feds, and a Nobel-worthy invention

BACK IN THE SADDLE AFTER A WEEK OFF WITH THE FLU

Hello and welcome to Golden Nuggets, our weekly (or bi-weekly. Thanks “the flu”!) recap article where we try to highlight all the fun, funny, or interesting things you might have missed roughly over the last week across Bear Territory (the whole damn world of course). Think of it like a cheat sheet for small talk about Cal.

Thank you Write for California for unfettered access to Photoshop.

Hot Links

Harvesting Water from Thin Air

This week my Google Alert pulled this article focusing on an invention by UC Berkeley Chemistry Professor and Nobel Prize Winner Omar Yaghi that captures water molecules out of the air at night, then uses ambient sun during the day to condense the water and turn it into drinkable water. Read more about it here.

Making Your Broccoli Taste Better

Another fun Google Art this week comes us to from Real Simple with a quick additive to make your broccoloski taste better. The author credits what they learned in a UC Berkeley Plant Biology course! Learn the secret ingredient here!

Small Bites

• Bay Nature profiled UC Berkeley student Maya Williams who while finishing midterms finds time to sue the Trump Administration’s EPA (Keep going!) Read more here.

• Learn about Black History at Cal!

• Tell the Whole Dame World podcast interviewed Jack Clark! Watch it here.

• If you want to argue online, the folks over at r/ACC ranked the ACC Fight songs and there’s some Cal Songs that are a bit too low

• The Tahoe Bears are enjoying the snow.

• Filmmaker Frederick Wiseman passed away at 96 a few weeks ago. Wiseman created “At Berkeley” which premiered in early 2014 and covered life at Cal in 2013. Read it here.

• Happy Senior Day Cal Men’s Basketball!

• Happy Senior Day Cal Women’s Basketball!

This Week in e-Commerce

Fall Rush at Berkeley is having a going out of business sale and has MASSIVELY reduced prices for Cal Gear in store and online! Check out what’s left here!

Can I interest you in a Homefield Apparel t-shirt for $10!

Or maybe some $17 overalls?

Check it out while the getting is good!

Golden Bear Honors

• Charmin Smith was selected to the 2026 USA Women’s U18 National Team Coaching Staff

• Mari Testa tied an Austrian U23 Record, Set a School Record, and is your ACC Silver Medalist in the 60M Hurdles

• Nik Iwanki received Bronze in the Shotput

• Ali Sahaida is your ACC Bronze Medalist in the Pole Vault

• Nairobi Smith is your ACC Bronze Medalist in the 200M

• Mari Testa, Nairobi Smith, Ali Sahaida, Nik Iwankiw, Jeremiah Bolanos, and Lucija Leko were all named to the All-ACC First and Second Team

• Tucker Yasunaga (Men’s Gymnastics) tied a Cal High Bar record

• Layna Gerhard (Softball) threw a no-hitter!

• Mark Madsen was named a finalist for the Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award

• Tonya Paulsson (Women’s Gymnastics) was named the Tonya Paulsson ACC Newcomer of the Week

• Lulu Twidale (Women’s Basketball) was named to the All-ACC Second Team

• Julia Bonaguidi (Women’s Water Polo) was named the MPSF Player of the Week

Cal Athletics Recap

• Baseball beat UC Davis (7-2), and swept Sacramento State (5-4, 8-2, 3-2)

• Men’s Basketball beat SMU (73-69) but lost to Pitt (56-72)

• Softball lost to BYU (6-7) and Florida (0-8), but beat Seattle University (4-3) and Oregon State (6-3), lost to Cal State Fullerton (3-9), and beat East Texas A&M University (16-0)

• Women’s Basketball lost to Clemson (63-70) but smoked SMU (78-34)

• Track and Field competed in the ACC Indoor Championships (Day 1, Day 2, Day 3)

• Beach Volleyball beat Sacramento State (5-0), UC Davis (5-0), and San Francisco (5-0), University of the Pacific (5-0)

• Men’s Tennis lost to Duke (2-4) but beat North Carolina (4-2)

• Women’s Tennis lost to NC State (1-4) but beat Wake Forest (4-1)

• Women’s Gymnastics beat Sacramento State and San Jose

• Men’s Rowing competed in the California Cup Challenge

• Women’s Rowing competed in the California Cup Challenge

• Women’s Water Polo beat Arizona State (11-10)

• Lacrosse lost to Duke (7-16) and Syracuse

• Men’s Gymnastics lost to Stanford

• Men’s Golf competed in the Cabo Collegiate (Day 1, Day 2, Day 3)

Cal Pros Recap

Golf

Max Homa got his first Top 25 Finish of the season at the The Cognizant Classic off this birdie chip.

Baseball

Bob Melvin is being hired back by the A’s for a Baseball Operations Role.

Basketball

ESPN talked about the rise of the Jaylen and variants name. Read it here.

Soccer

Karlie Lema got an invite to the US U-23 Women’s National Team Camp.

Next Week in Bear Territory

• Men’s Basketball ends the regular season against Georgia Tech (3/4) and Wake Forest (3/7) before starting the ACC Tournament (3/10)

• Women’s Basketball starts the ACC Tournament against Wake Forest (3/4-3/8)

• Baseball plays CSU Bakersfield (3/4), San Diego (3/6, 3/7, 3/8) and San Jose State (3/10)

• Beach Volleyball competes in the MPSF Coast to Coast Classic against USC and LSU (3/6), Grand Canyon and Washington (3/7)

• Softball takes on Duke (3/6, 3/7, 3/8) and Pacific (3/10)

• Men’s Tennis takes on Virginia (3/6) and Virginia Tech (3/8)

• Men’s Rowing competes in the Redwood Shores Invitational (3/7-3/8)

• Women’s Rowing competes against Oregon State (3/7)

• Lacrosse takes on Boston College (3/7) and Stonehill (3/9)

• Women’s Water Polo takes on San Jose State (3/7)

• Rugby takes on the Navy (3/7)

• Men’s Gymnastics competes against Oklahoma (3/7)

• Women’s Tennis plays Pepperdine (3/8)

• Swimming and Diving competes in the Zone E NCAA Diving Championships (3/9-3/10)

• Women’s Golf competes in the Juli Inkster Invitational (3/9)

• Men’s Golf competes in the The Desimone Invitational (3/9)

And so we find ourselves again at the end of Golden Nuggets. I appreciate you all reading this, and I have a ton of fun writing it. Last week’s most clicked link was ESPN’s List of Most Exciting Players for 2026. Give it another read here.