A Sampling of Clips for April 24^th, 2009

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

British Copies Found of Ben Franklin Letters
The New York Times, April 23 -- A professor from UCSD, who was researching Benjamin Franklin at the British Library made a discovery on the last day of his trip in 2007: copies of 47 letters by, to and about Franklin that were written in the spring and summer of 1755 and not seen since. More

Similar stories in
The Washington Post
Los Angeles Times
Chicago Tribune
Chronicle of Higher Education
The Oregonian
CBS News 8, San Diego, Calif.

Device Thwarts Attacks
On Transplanted Pancreatic Cells
U.S. News & World Report, April 23 -- Transplanted pancreatic precursor cells encapsulated in polytetrafluorethylene are protected from the immune system and able to mature into functional beta cells that control blood sugar levels, report scientists at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research and the UCSD School of Medicine. More

Similar story on
Forbes
KTVN, Reno, Nev.

Composer Xenakis Still Out There
Boston Globe, April 21 -- At a time when many 20th-century composers have lost their aura of radicalism and begun to seem approachable, Iannis Xenakis resists the trend. Xenakis - who was born in Romania to Greek parents and died in 2001 at the age of 78 - was an engineer by training, and he created a compositional technique based on abstruse mathematical theories. (Quotes UCSD music professor Steven Schick) More

U.N. Backs Scientist's
Pollution-Control Efforts
San Diego Union-Tribune, April 24 --  The United Nations has pledged $150,000 for La Jolla climate scientist Veerabhadran Ramanathan's project to reduce pollution from cooking fires in India, he said last week. Ramanathan, a researcher at UCSD’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, is buying and distributing clean-burning stoves, then studying their effect on the environment. The internationally known researcher launched his effort, called Project Surya (Sanskrit for “sun”), last month in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. More

Swine Flu Cases Mount, More Expected
San Diego Union-Tribune, April 24 -- A public health mystery widened yesterday when federal health officials identified three new cases of swine flu in San Diego and Imperial counties and predicted more will surface. (Quotes Dr. Douglas Richmand, a professor of infectious diseases at UCSD Medical Center and the San Diego VA Healthcare System in La Jolla) More

Wisdom in a Bottle
Voice of San Diego, April 23 -- So, what if you could take a pill and gain wisdom? Researchers at the UCSD School of Medicine think it might be possible someday. And they have outlined why in a paper published this month in the Archives of General Psychiatry. More

Exhibition Documents Resurgence
of Drawing as a Medium in
Contemporary Art through Major Gift
Art Daily, April 24 -- The Museum of Modern Art presents Compass in Hand: Selections from The Judith Rothschild Foundation Contemporary Drawings Collection, an exhibition that features 300 works by over 150 artists from this collection. (Mentions UCSD artist Jennifer Pastor) More

UCSD School of Medicine Ranked 15th nation
La Jolla Light, April 23 -- U.S. News & World Report ranked UCSD’s School of Medicine 15th among the nation's 120 research-intensive medical school programs, it was announced Thursday. More

Stem Cell Breakthrough Reported
San Diego Business Journal, April 23 -- A team of scientists led by The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla has demonstrated a new way to reprogram cells without introducing new genes, a major advance toward the goal of one day turning an individual’s own cells into a powerful tool for combating disease. (Quotes Larry Goldstein, head of UCSD’s stem cell research program) More

UCSD Mathematician
Receives Fulbright Award
San Diego Daily Transcript, April 23 -- Daniel Wulbert, mathematics professor at UCSD has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to conduct research and lecture in southwest India. More

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