A Sampling of Clips for Feb. 11, 2011

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

As Computer Capacity Soars, Users Drowning in Data
Discovery Channel, Feb. 11 -- In case you didn’t get the memo/text/call/e-mail/tweet, this just in: The world is drowning in information. A new assessment of the world’s technological capacity from 1986 to 2007 confirms that the data deluge has long since washed over us -- and presents some astounding data of its own to make the case. (Quotes technology-management expert Roger Bohn of UC San Diego) More

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Pucker Up: Exploring ‘The Science of Kissing’
MSNBC, Feb. 10 -- Sheril Kirshenbaum delves into the origins of one of the most intimate forms of human expression. Here's an excerpt. (Mentions UC San Diego neuroscientist Vilayanur S. Ramachandran) More

Remote Pacific Island a Living Laboratory for Climate Change
The New York Times, Feb. 11 -- The sign welcoming outsiders to a coral reef island 1,000 miles southwest of Hawaii reads: "Palmyra Atoll, Elevation: 6 feet, Population: 10." The series of islands and islets, totaling 700 acres arranged in a horseshoe pattern around shallow lagoons and supported by a 16,000-acre coral reef, is more than a remote paradise, however. It is a living laboratory for how these unique tropical islands respond to climate change. The atoll has hosted researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. More

A Study Asks, Could E-Cigarettes Really Help Smokers Quit?
TIME Magazine, Feb. 10 -- Electronic cigarettes, the smokeless battery-operated nicotine-delivery devices that look like real cigarettes, are becoming increasingly available online, with manufacturers marketing them largely to people who are trying to quit smoking. Question is: do they work? (Quotes John Pierce, a professor of cancer prevention at the Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego) More

Climate: A New Study Finds
That Global Warming Could Dry Out the Southwest
TIME Magazine, Feb. 10 – It's not the heat that might get us with climate change—it's the humidity, so to speak. The risk of sea level rise due to melting land ice is one of the most recognized—if controversial and hard to predict—threats posed by global warming. (Quotes marine geophysicist Tim Barnett of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography) More

New Against Old
The Economist, Feb. 10 -- Zombies still stalk Japan’s corporate landscape. These barely profitable companies, propped up by cheap bank loans, include railways that expanded into property and retailing, like Kintetsu. It offers a microscopic return on assets of 0.2%. (Quotes Ulrike Schaede of UC San Diego) More

Innovator: Alberto Cavallo
BusinessWeek, Feb. 10 -- Each day, software developed by Alberto Cavallo, a 33-year-old economist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, scours the websites of roughly 300 online retailers and records the prices of some 5 million goods sold on the Web. (Quotes UC San Diego economist James Hamilton) More

Looking for Hope in the Midst Of Mexico’s Trouble
KPBS, Feb. 10 — About a dozen Mexican scholars and artisans gathered at UC San Diego Thursday to talk about the country’s deep troubles and uncertain future. The theme of the one-day seminar, "Mexico Moving Forward", was based on the Spanish saying: "El que no mira hacia delante se queda atras." Translation: "He who doesn't look ahead, remains behind." More

Local Professors React to Egyptian Pres. Decision
10News, Feb. 10 -- Two San Diego-area college professors who study the Middle East expressed surprise Thursday that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak announced he would not step down immediately. "He sounds like a desperate guy trying to re-establish his authority," said Babak Rahim of UC San Diego, who was born in Iran. More

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Study: Mutant Genes Linked to Increase in Heart Attacks
CBS8, San Diego, Calif., Feb. 10 - Mutant genes have been linked to increased risk of heart attacks and aortic aneurysms, researchers at the Scripps Translational Science Institute, UC San Diego and area healthcare organizations announced Thursday. More

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Nobel Prize Winner to Speak at UCSD
San Diego Union-Tribune, Feb. 11 -- Amartya Sen, a Noble-prize winning economist, will speak on “Justice: Local and Global” at 7 p.m. March 31 in UC San Diego’s Price Center Ballroom West. The talk is part of the Helen Edison Lecture Series, which is conducted in partnership with the UCSD Division of Social Science and the Institute for International, Comparative and Area Studies. More

$10k Buys a Trip to See Floating Trash
San Diego Union-Tribune, Feb. 11 -- Still looking for that perfect Valentine's Day gift? How about a 20-day tour on the high seas in search of the world's largest garbage dump. The $10,000 opportunity will allow a few lucky -- and wealthy -- people to research what's been cast as "one of our time's most pressing environmental concerns" and earn their keep with all manner of ship duties. (Mentions the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, which has conducted research in the garbage patch) More

Local Researchers Reveal Who is Watching Your Web Usage
10News, Feb. 10 -- A team of UC San Diego researchers has concluded a groundbreaking study about who is tracking your Internet browsing history without your knowledge. More

UCSD Answers Questions About University House
La Jolla Light, Feb. 10 -- Here is some more information provided by the UC San Diego Chancellor’s Office on Feb. 8 about plans for University House provided by the university’s communications office. Environmental impacts of restoring the house will be considered at a hearing on Feb. 24. More

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