A Sampling of Clips for Aug. 17, 2010

* UCSD faculty and staff may obtain a copy of an article by e-mailing the University Communications Office

Dreams Make You Smarter, More Creative, Studies Suggest
National Geographic, Aug. 13 -- Here's more evidence that sleep, including napping, can make you smarter. Dreaming may improve memory, boost creativity, and help you better plan for the future, new research, led by UC San Diego scientist Sara Mednick, suggests. More

Your Favorite Smart Animal
NOVA, PBS, Aug. 12 --  Which is "smarter"—a dog, a cat, a bonobo, or an octopus? Experts on animal cognition tend to bristle at the notion of ranking different species. Each creature, they'll argue, has brain-processing powers that allow it to thrive in its own ecological niche. Yet the experts we spoke to still had their favorites, and you may have yours. James Nieh, UC San Diego professor of biology, talks about honeybees. More

UCSD Among Greenest Campuses in America
San Diego Union-Tribune, Aug. 16 -- UC San Diego got a green star to add to the growing list of accolades about conservation measures at the La Jolla campus. Sierra magazine, the voice of the Sierra Club, has ranked UC San Diego as the 15th-greenest campus in the country for its efforts to stop global warming and operate sustainably. The rankings appear in the September/October issue. More

Salk Gets $21 Million to Study HIV/AIDS
San Diego Union-Tribune, Aug. 16 -- The Salk Institute in the La Jolla will lead a $21 million effort to clarify how the body's immune system responds immediately after it is exposed to the AIDS virus, a process that is not well understood despite the creation of drugs that effectively fights the disease in many people.  More than a dozen research groups from six institutions -- including teams from UC San Diego and Sanford-Burnham -- will join Salk in a study that will broadly look at how proteins work at the cellular level to mount a defense against the virus. More

Similar story in
UPI
North County Times

Local Colleges Score Well on Basics
San Diego Union-Tribune, Aug. 16 -- Four San Diego County institutions fare well on a new report card on the nation’s universities issued by a nonprofit organization dedicated to higher education reform. (Mentions UC San Diego) More

Disaster in the Making
San Diego Union-Tribune, Aug. 16 -- At first glance, the Christmas Atoll south of Hawaii seems to be a tropical paradise. That may be true above the waterline, but explorations of the surrounding seas by San Diego-based researchers found corals were dead or diseased, sharks and other large predators were scarce and only small fish darted past slime-covered reefs. That discovery prompted scientists at San Diego State University and UC San Diego to publish scholarly articles about the decline of coral, which play a critical role in the seafood chain and tourism. More

Is the Economy "Turning Japanese"?
San Diego Union-Tribune, Aug. 17 -- With interest rates at zero percent, little growth in retail sales, falling property values, continuing high unemployment  and stock prices well below historic highs, many economists think the U.S. is beginning to look a lot like the Lost Decade in Japan in the 1990s, which has now stretched into two decades of recessions and sluggish growth. (Quotes Takeo Hoshi, a Japanese-born economist at UC San Diego, who says he thinks and hopes that the U.S. will do better than Japan) More

Great White Shark Spotted Off La Jolla Shores
NBC San Diego, Aug. 16 -- San Diego Lifeguards are patrolling the waters near La Jolla Shores on Monday, warning swimmers and surfers about a Great White Shark that was spotted offshore Sunday morning. (Quotes Nick Wegner, a marine biologist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography) More

Similar story on
10News

SummerFest Artists Perform Live:
Wu Man, Christopher O’Riley and Jimmy Lin
KPBS, Aug. 16 – KPBS’s These Days previews SummerFest 2010 with in-studio, musical performances by some of the visiting artists, including Wu Man, pianist Christopher O'Riley, and San Diego composer Chinary Ung. Ung is on the UC San Diego faculty. More

Poway Unified Board Approves
Cell Phone Antennas for Del Norte High School
San Diego 6, Aug. 16 -- The Poway Unified School District school board voted unanimously Monday night to approve contracts with Verizon Wireless and AT&T Wireless to place cell phone towers on the campus of Del Norte High School in 4S Ranch. (Quotes Dr. Santosh Kesari from the Moores UC San Diego Cancer Center) More

* Subscribe with In the News and receive our clips automatically