A Sampling of Clips for Sept. 2, 2010

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

Scientists Figure out What Makes Fish Oil So Good for You
Los Angeles Times, Sept. 2 -- You’ve probably heard of omega-3 fatty acids, the nutrients that make fish oil so healthy. You may even have heard of particular ones, such as DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), ALA (alpha-linolenic acid) or EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid).  But unless you’re one of the scientists who worked on a study being published in Friday’s edition of the journal Cell, you surely have no idea why omega-3 fatty acids are so good at tamping down inflammation and enhancing sensitivity to insulin.  (Mentions UC San Diego) More

Alzheimer's Find Could Create Drug Breakthrough
San Francisco Chronicle, Sept. 2 - In a year when news about Alzheimer's disease seems to be, at times, encouraging and, at others, disheartening, a new discovery by an 84-year-old scientist has illuminated a new approach. (Quotes Paul Aisen, professor of neuroscience at UC San Diego) More

Fish stories: Seafood Eco-labels Not Always Reliable, Says Study
Global BC, Canada, Sept. 1 -- An international program run by the Marine Stewardship Council purports to certify only sustainably harvested fish but is "failing" to protect the environment and needs radical reform, says a highly critical report released Wednesday.  (Quotes Paul Dayton of Scripps Institution of Oceanography) More

Ancient Bacteria Could Improve Anti-ageing Cosmetics
New Scientist, Sept. 2 -- Where better to look for a sunscreen formula than in cyanobacteria – organisms that thrived on Earth before there was enough oxygen to block harmful ultraviolet light? The genes and enzymes responsible for producing sunscreen molecules in one such cyanobacterium have now been identified, a step towards making bio-inspired sun protection. (Quotes Bradley Moore, professor at the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at UC San Diego). More

SDSU Goes Cage-free for Eggs
San Diego Union-Tribune, Sept. 1 -- San Diego State University has joined a growing list of universities and businesses serving eggs only from hens raised cage-free.  (Mentions Becky McDivitt of Housing, Dining and Hospitality at UC San Diego). More

UC San Diego's Toy-piano Man Scott Paulson Channels Jerry Lewis
San Diego Reader, Sept. 1 -- “I think I’m stealing this line from Kathy Griffin, but we all need to find the strong black woman inside of us and set her free.”  Scott Paulson offers this in response to a question about the score he wrote as a modern soundtrack for Josephine Baker’s 1927 silent-film classic Siren of the Tropics.  In May, the UC San Diego Arts Library outreach coordinator and multi-instrumentalist was selected to perform his Tropics soundtrack at the Black France Film Festival in Paris. More

Bestselling Author Jonathan Franzen
Picks 4 New Novels That You Shouldn’t Miss
The Daily Beast, Aug. 30 – Ms. Hempel Chronicles by Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum: What appear at first to be just interconnected short stories—albeit beautifully written, distinctively voiced, deeply smart, and very funny—in the end reveal themselves to have been a complete, organic novel about a love like none I’ve ever read about before. I don’t understand why people didn’t carry Bynum around New York City on their shoulders after this book was published.  (Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum is a professor of literature at UC San Diego). More

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