A Sampling of Clips for Dec. 9, 2010

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

Single Whale Swallow: Half a Million Calories
CBS News, Dec. 9 -- The filter-feeding strategy of blue whales, the largest animals on Earth, may explain their enormous size, according to a study that determined a single mouthful of food can contain 457,000 calories, or 240 times as much energy as they burn when grabbing that mouthful. A team of researchers led by Jeremy Goldbogen, who is now at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, calculated the efficiency of eating this way. More

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New Scientist, U.K.

History Sniffing
The New York Times, Dec. 8 -- A UC San Diego study has found that browser vulnerabilities can be exploited in order to access your Web surfing history, Chloe Albanesius reported on PC Mag. More

Protein–protein Interactions: Interactome Under Construction
Nature, Dec. 9 -- Finding interaction partners for a protein can reveal its function. To that end, researchers are now building entire networks of protein–protein interactions. (Quotes Trey Ideker, a systems biologist at UC San Diego, and principal investigator at the National Resource for Network Biology, which provides open-source software for network visualization) More

The Top Ten China Myths of 2010
The New Yorker, Dec. 8 -- Harmony is the mantra of the new Chinese empire. But 2010 was a year in serious need of a tune-up. On trade, diplomacy, the environment, the Internet, and even basketball, China spent the year staking out a muscular new role in the world—with combustible results. (Quotes UC San Diego economist Barry Naughton) More

Greg Lynn, Teddy Cruz Win $50,000 USA Awards
Architectural Record, Dec. 8 -- On Tuesday night, architects Greg Lynn and Teddy Cruz were named United States Artists Fellows for 2010, and they celebrated the no-strings-attached gifts of $50,000 at a reception at New York’s Jazz at Lincoln Center. Fifty other artists from the U.S. and Puerto Rico also received the fellowships, which have been distributed annually since 2005. Cruz is on the UC San Diego faculty. More

Shooting the Messenger
Cosmos Magazine, December 2010 -- We now live in an age where the only certainty is uncertainty. Most grown-ups know that uncertainty isn’t a problem to be solved, it is a reality to be lived through. But not the people who are making Robyn Williams’ life hell. (Quotes Naomi Oreskes, professor of history and science at UC San Diego and co-author of Merchants of Doubt) More

Warming Climate May Dry Up Water Supplies
North County Times, Dec. 8 -- The San Diego region is likely to see its water supply from the Colorado River reduced 10 to 25 percent in coming decades, as climate change reduces rainfall to the region and higher temperatures cause more evaporation upstream, David Pierce, a climate researcher with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, said Wednesday at the San Diego Coastkeeper's forum on the region's water supply. More

Five Questions About the 'Bomb Factory'
Voice of San Diego, Dec. 8 -- Local authorities are preparing themselves for one of the more interesting challenges of the year: On Thursday, they're scheduled to light an explosive-laden Escondido house on fire and hope it doesn't blow up and take its neighborhood with it. Here are five questions (and five answers) about the "bomb factory" and the big burn. (Quotes William Trogler, a chemistry professor at UC San Diego) More

Study Eyes Hypothermia’s Potential to Help Stroke Patients
San Diego Business Journal, Dec. 8 -- Researchers at the UC San Diego School of Medicine — along with the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Los Angeles — have launched the largest clinical trial of hypothermic brain cooling for stroke to date. More

Construction Begins on UCSD Fuel Cell
The San Diego Daily Transcript, Dec. 8 -- Last month, BioFuels Energy LLC announced that financing terms had been completed for its $45 million project to develop a methane gas purification facility in Point Loma and install a 4.5-megawatt fuel cell system in the city. Now, the project is taking shape, as construction of one of the planned fuel cells has begun on the UC San Diego campus. More

UCSD in La Jolla: Dr. Ivor Royston
La Jolla Light, Dec. 8 -- Editor’s note: To mark UC San Diego’s 50th anniversary, the Light is asking people for their thoughts on how the university has affected La Jolla. Today, we hear from Dr. Ivor Royston, who was on the oncology faculty at UCSD from 1978 to 1990. More

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