A Sampling of Clips for August 18^th, 2008

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

Beijing Smog Cleanup: Has It Worked?
TIME Magazine, Aug. 15 -- Gold medals, athletic glory and national pride are all up for grabs at the 29th Summer Olympics in Beijing. But to Veerabhadran Ramanathan, an atmospheric scientist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UCSD the sporting events are just a sideshow to the real excitement: air pollution studies. More

The Lost Leonardo Da Vinci
60 Minutes, CBS News, Aug. 17 -- After three decades of battling skepticism and bureaucratic resistance, an art detective and UCSD researcher named Maurizio Seracini believes he's close to finding Leonardo Da Vinci’s "The Battle of Anghiari." More

Greenpeace Rocks Cause a Storm
Nature, Aug. 15 -- Greenpeace has sailed into a mini-storm of annoyed marine biologists after dropping massive granite boulders into the North Sea in an attempt to disrupt fishing. (Quotes Miriam Goldstein, a grad student at Scripps Institution of Oceanography) More

Top Public Colleges for Getting Rich: No. 3: UC San Diego
Forbes, July 30 – A survey published on Forbes.com found that UCSD alumni have third-highest salaries among graduates from public colleges. More

How "Gene Doping" Could Create Enhanced Olympians
National Geographic, Aug. 14 -- Although athletes at the Beijing Olympics have been subjected to some of the most aggressive testing ever for performance-enhancing drugs, no case of so-called gene doping has yet been detected. (Quotes Theodore Friedmann, a gene therapy researcher at UCSD) More

There's 'Truthiness' to Claims That Colbert Can Give Politicians a Bump
Chronicle of Higher Education, Aug. 15 – James Fowler, a political scientist  at UCSD, has found that Democratic politicians who appear on Stephen Colbert’s show, The Colbert Report, enjoy a significant increase in the number and total amount of donations their campaigns receive over the next 30 to 40 days after their appearance. More

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Marijuana Use for Chronic Pain and Nausea
The Los Angeles Times, Aug. 18 -- Medical marijuana use has a history stretching back thousands of years. In prebiblical times, the plant was used as medicinal tea in China, a stress antidote in India and a pain- reliever for earaches, childbirth and more throughout Asia, the Middle East and Africa. (Quotes Dr. Igor Grant, a UCSD psychiatrist who directs the university's Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research) More

McCain and Obama Try to Navigate the Politics of Abortion
The Los Angeles Times, Aug. 18 -- When Barack Obama and John McCain offered their sharply divergent views on abortion this weekend at an Orange County church, it was a rare chance to hear the presidential rivals address one of the most contentious issues in American politics. (Quotes UCSD political scientist Gary Jacobson) More

Asthma Drug Tested for Long Term Safety
NBC5, Fla., Aug. 15 -- A 52-week study examined the long-term safety of the maintenance combination asthma therapy, SYMBICORT® (budesonide/formoterol fumarate dehydrate) Inhalation Aerosol, at up to double the approved dosage.  (Quotes study investigator, Dr. Bruce Prenner, of UCSD) More
 
Water Polo to Triathlon? It's No Big Deal for Ertel
San Diego Union-Tribune, Aug. 16 -- A three-year captain of UCSD's water polo team in the 1990s, Julie Swail Ertel, 35, will represent the United States in triathlon tomorrow night (San Diego time). Having served as captain of the United States' silver-medal water polo team in 2000, Ertel joins a short list of two-sport Olympic athletes. More

Veterans Suffering from Gulf War Syndrome Given Hope
KPBS, Aug. 18 -- Seventeen years after the Gulf War ended, medical experts and researchers are still looking for answers to the puzzle of Gulf War syndrome. It has a range of symptoms, from immune system problems to brain cancer to birth defects...to eczema. Other possible medical problems could include muscle fatigue, loss of balance, and even Lou Gehrig's Disease. In March, a doctor at UCSD found a link to the chronic illness - exposure to a certain class of chemicals. More

Futurist David Brin on the Age of the Amateur
KPBS, Aug. 18 – For the rest of this century, new technology will continue to change our lives. Our limited resources on earth will present its own set of challenges. In spite of all that, or perhaps because of it, David Brin is optimistic about the future. Brin is a graduate of UCSD who’s a renowned author of science fiction novels. He is a futurist, and he’s a consultant on the use of new technologies. More

From San Diego to Timbuktu, Long-Distance Surgery
Voice of San Diego, Aug. 18 -- When military doctors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln in the mid-1990s needed to perform abdominal surgery while the ship was deployed to the Persian Gulf, far from a well-staffed operating room, they needed some help. In a pioneering trial, Dr. Mark Talamini, a renowned surgeon and now a UCSD professor, led the operation from his office in Maryland. More

Grad Student Develops Software to Keep Track of Stolen Laptops
San Diego Business Journal, Aug. 18 -- A graduate student at UCSD helped develop free software that tracks stolen or lost laptop computers. Called Adeona, the software tracks personal information such as the computer’s identification, called Internet Protocol Address, which network it’s using, and on newer Macintoshes with built-in cameras, Adeona even takes pictures of those using the laptop. More

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