A Sampling of Clips for Feb. 19 - 22, 2011

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

Largest Antimatter Trap Ever Under Construction
MSNBC, Feb. 18 -- Creating matter's strange cousin antimatter is tricky, but holding onto it is even trickier. Now UC San Diego scientists are working on a new device that may be able to trap antimatter long enough to study it. More

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How the Fed Prints Money Without Any Ink
CNN Money, Opinion, Feb. 18 -- If the Federal Reserve's quantitative easing program is printing money, why is the growth of new currency in circulation below average? (Written by UC San Diego economist James Hamilton) More

Life 2.0? First Let's Figure Out Life 1.0
Scientific American, Feb. 19 -- Pornography, Life 2.0 and the citizens of a quaint New Mexico town were just some of the subjects invoked during "The Great Debate: What is Life?" a panel presentation featuring preeminent scientists, held on the campus of Arizona State University (A.S.U.) in Tempe, Ariz., on Saturday, February 12. Roger Bingham, director of The Science Network and cognition professor at UC San Diego was one of the participants. More

Tours Target Fish Sex on the Beach
San Diego Union-Tribune, Feb. 18 -- It's become something of a spectator sport in Southern California: watching small fish spawn near midnight on local beaches. The mysterious grunion are expected back on the sand in a matter of weeks and Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego is offering public outings to watch the unusual mating routine. More

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Two Hearts Beat as One
Daily Mail, U.K., Feb. 21 -- They say two heads are better than one, now pioneering surgeons have proven that two hearts can beat stronger as a pair as well... and they have caught the moment on video. Patient Tyson Smith, 36, was suffering from heart failure but was too weak to have a traditional heart transplant. So surgeons at the UC San Diego's Thorton Hospital left Mr Smith's own heart in place and implanted a second donor heart next to it, which they then fixed together. More

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Will Politics Get in the Way of QE3?
FOXNews, Feb. 18 -- Is the Federal Reserve caving in to political pressure against further monetary easing? Some analysts say the Fed, an institution that prides itself on independence, has been swayed by critics at home and abroad. Others say the central bank is simply holding fire on further easing until it sees how current efforts pan out. (Quotes James Hamilton, professor of economics at UC San Diego) More

Behind the Information Overload Hype
The Wall Street Journal, Feb. 19-- The latest information about information overload is a lot to handle. Wielding numbers that stretched to 20 or more digits, researchers recently reported on the world's massive ability to store, communicate and compute information. All three have grown at annual rates of at least 23% since 1986, according to a study published this month in Science. (Quotes Roger Bohn, director of the Global Information Industry Center at UC San Diego) More

The Case for Play
The Chronicle of Higher Education, Feb. 20 -- The Ultimate Block Party was held last fall that brought together companies like Disney, Crayola, and Lego, along with researchers from Columbia and MIT, and attracted thousands of parents and children. The goal was to "celebrate the science of play" and to push back against the notion that education happens only when students are seated at their desks, staring at chalkboards, and scribbling furiously in their notebooks. (Quotes Nina Chien, a postdoctoral researcher at UC San Diego) More

Medicine Pursues a Mind-heart Connection
Los Angeles Times, Feb. 21 --  The melancholy mind and the broken heart: For poets and philosophers through the ages, the two have been fellow travelers, chicken and egg, bookends in a long litany of tragedies. Leave it to medical researchers, then, to put the dark bond between heart and mind under a microscope — and find even deeper mysteries. (Quotes UC San Diego psychiatrist Joel E. Dimsdale) More

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2010 Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalists Announced
Los Angeles Times, Feb. 22 -- Contrarian social critic Christopher Hitchens, rocker Patti Smith, novelist Jonathan Franzen and UC San Diego science historian Naomi Oreskes are among the finalists for the 2010 Los Angeles Times Book Prizes, it was announced Tuesday. The 31st annual prizes will be awarded at a ceremony at The Times on April 29. More

Japanese Troops Train at Camp Pendleton for Island Defense
Los Angeles Times, Feb. 20 -- Japanese troops from the Western Area Infantry Regiment are assaulting the green hills of Camp Pendleton in operation Iron Fist.  For a month, about 200 Japanese troops are training with Marines -- leading to a “final exam” where together they will launch a mock amphibious assault against a common enemy. (Quotes Ellis Krauss, professor and Japan expert at the graduate school of international relations and Pacific studies at UC San Diego) More

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Praying for an Energy Miracle
MIT Tech Review, March 2011 -- Many were founded over the last decade, during a boom in venture capital funding for "clean tech"—not only in solar but also in wind, biofuels, and batteries. Many have benefited from increases in federal support for energy research since President Obama took office. Though the companies are working on different technologies, they share a business strategy: to make clean energy sources cheap enough, without any government subsidies, to compete with fossil fuels. At that point, capitalism will kick into high gear, and investors will rush to build a new energy infrastructure and displace fossil fuels—or so the argument goes. (Quotes David Victor, the director of the Laboratory on International Law and Regulation at UC San Diego) More

Aztec Solar Finishes UC San Diego Project
Sacramento Bee, Feb. 22 -- Aztec Solar Inc. of Rancho Cordova said it has completed the installation of a major solar project at UC San Diego. Aztec developed the solar water heating systems for the university's newest green student apartment complex, which will house more than 800 students this fall. More

UCSD Paper Under Fire for Attack on Student Leader
KTLA, Feb. 18 -- A controversial student-run publication at UC San Diego is being criticized for an article that calls a student leader a whore and shows a photo of male genitals over her face. More

Snoop Dogg Could Come to Town
NBC San Diego, Feb. 18 -- Snoop Dogg, a Southern California-based icon who has sold tens of millions of albums worldwide, is offering a free concert to the university that collects the most votes in a nationwide online poll. San Diego State University, UC San Diego, and the University of San Diego are among the laundry list of schools in the running. More

Marine Study Finds Fish Spawning Earlier
San Diego Union-Tribune, Feb. 21 -- New research by a UC San Diego scientist shows that some of Southern California’s most abundant marine fish are spawning earlier than they did 60 years ago, possibly signaling a shift in ocean health. More

GOP is Ready for Issa's "Absolute Right"
San Diego Union-Tribune, Feb. 19 -- After 10 years in office, Rep. Darrell Issa has now risen to a place of unprecedented prominence among San Diego County’s Congressional delegation. The Vista Republican is the new chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. By deciding which areas of government to investigate for waste, fraud and abuse, he will help spearhead GOP opposition to President Barack Obama and help choose what the nation talks about as the 2012 presidential election nears. (Quotes UC San Diego political scientist Gary Jacobson) More

Budget Cuts Based on 'Sacramento Math'
North County Times, Feb. 18 -- Gov. Jerry Brown is traveling around the state to drum up support for his plan to rescue the government from its fiscal mess, and a major piece of that strategy ---- which he proposes to adopt by March 1 ---- calls for $12.5 billion in "spending cuts." But like his predecessors, Brown, is relying on math that is foreign to the typical family and most local governments. (Quotes UC San Diego economist Ross Starr) More

The Hype, Hurdles and Complications of Library Art
Voice of San Diego, Feb. 22 -- Starting construction against a backdrop of more than 30 years of skepticism and hurdles reenergized the argument that San Diego’s new public library will yank the city’s reputation from the gutters of pedestrianism. Among the chief pieces trusted with said yanking: the planned public art for the project, new sculptures and art pieces taking over entire walls and features of the library. (Quotes Mary Beebe, the director of the public Stuart Collection at UC San Diego, who participated in choosing the artists to be featured at the library) More

UCSD Celebrates Week of Innovations With Expo, Symposia
La Jolla Light, Feb. 21 -- As part of its continuing 50th anniversary celebration, UC San Diego is hosting a series of events highlighting the innovations coming out of the campus. Called IDEaS — Innovation Day Expo and Symposia — the events run from Feb. 22-25. They include discussions featuring Nobel laureates, alumni explorer Maurizio Seracini, a panel of medical experts and cultural innovators. More

UCSD Baseball Teams Up With TERI
La Jolla Light, Feb. 21 -- The UC San Diego Triton baseball team recently hosted a game for youngsters from TERI, the Training Education & Research Institute. TERI aims is “to improve the quality of life for children and adults with developmental and learning disabilities … serving individuals who have needs which cannot be met by other existing programs,” according to its website. More

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