A Sampling of Clips for August 11^th, 2009

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

Earth Hums, and It's "Loudest" in Europe, Americas
National Geographic, Aug. 10 -- Earth hums, and it's the west coasts of Europe and parts of the Americas that are the main sources of the sound, a new study says. For the new study, Peter Bromirski and fellow scientist Peter Gerstoft from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, collected data between November 2006 and June 2007 from a U.S.-based array of sensors that can read global seismic activity. More

Stealing in Childhood Does Not a Criminal Make
The New York Times, Aug. 11 -- By the time a worried parent asked me about a child who had stolen something, I had some answers — because I had already been a worried parent and had asked my own pediatrician. (Quotes Dr. Martin T. Stein, another expert on behavior and development, and a professor of pediatrics at UCSD/Rady Children’s Hospital) More

Tiny Cell Antennas Get Respect for Role in Brain Health, Cancer
Bloomberg, Aug. 10 – UCSD researchers have now identified a gene defect linked to Joubert syndrome, a rare cluster of defects in which part of the brain doesn’t develop fully. This leaves children with mental retardation, disrupts their ability to move normally and may cause kidney disease and deformities of toes, fingers and mouth More

Students, Researchers Set Out to Study Garbage Patch in the Pacific
Chicago Tribune, Aug. 11 -- The Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch, a floating mass of plastic trash about twice the size of Texas, is a striking reminder of human effect on the ocean. In a seagoing expedition that began last week, students and researchers from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UCSD, are studying the scope and effect of the patch. More

Tamper-Proof Electronic Voting Unlikely
KPBS, Aug. 10 -- Scientists at UCSD have devised a software program that once again challenges assumptions that electronic voting machines can be made secure. Computer Science Professor Hovav Shacham says it’s possible to reprogram electronic voting machines by scrambling the existing software. He likens it to cutting up newspaper headlines to create ransom notes. More

Group Hustles to Keep Stem Cell Center on Schedule
KPBS, Aug. 11 — San Diego's Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine is working to meet a Thursday deadline for a major loan on it's research center. The center will be the most visible benefit to San Diego of Prop 71, which funds stem cell research. The consortium includes UCSD. More

A Quiver for a Cure
NBC San Diego, Aug. 10 -- This weekend hundreds of San Diegans will hit the beach- but not in the way that you would expect. The third annual Survivor Beach charity event brings locals to the shore to support and important cause. The event, which began in 2007, is sponsored by Moores UCSD Cancer Center and Genentech Oceanside and is meant to raise awareness about cancer and to support local cancer research. More

Gluten’s Downside
San Diego Union-Tribune, Aug. 11 -- Celiac disease, is an autoimmune disorder in which gluten, one of the proteins in wheat, barley and rye, damages the lining of the small intestine. The damaged intestinal villi do not effectively absorb important nutrients. (Quotes Dr. Martin Kagnoff, pediatrician and director of the Warren Celiac Center at UCSD) More

From Homer to Harry Potter
Vancouver Sun, July 2009 -- The history of children's literature has been neatly set out by Seth Lerer in his book, Children's Literature: A Reader's History. Lerer notes that while the kids' lit canon has changed superficially over time, the stories have remained pretty well the same. Lerer is the dean of Arts and Humanities at UCSD. More

Hospitals Are Under Pressure to Improve Quality of Care
San Diego Business Journal, Aug. 10 -- As federal lawmakers consider ways of squeezing the most value out of the U.S. health care system, San Diego hospitals and others nationwide are preparing for higher fines and additional scrutiny from government and private payers. (Mentions the UCSD Medical Center) More

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