A Sampling of Clips for February 15^th, 2008

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

Running Dry
Newsweek, Feb. 14 -- It may sound like the plot of an apocalyptic sci-fi flick, but Tim Barnett, a research marine geophysicist and climate expert at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UCSD, says there's a 50 percent chance that a reservoir created by Hoover Dam located on the Colorado River 30 miles southeast of Las Vegas, will be dry by 2021, or even sooner if climate changes continue as expected and water use is not curtailed. More

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Are Political Leanings All in the Genes?
New Scientist, February 2008 -- According to an emerging idea, political positions are substantially determined by biology and can be stubbornly resistant to reason. (Quotes UCSD researcher James Fowler) More

Hopes High for Experimental Alzheimer's Treatment
San Diego Union-Tribune, Feb. 14 -- A dramatic gene therapy trial at UCSD that involved injecting skin cells containing human nerve growth factor into the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease may have taken a significant step forward. More

Changes of Heart
San Diego Union-Tribune, Feb. 14 -- Maybe it won't surprise you – today least of all – to discover there's an actual medical condition called broken heart syndrome. It's caused by a tragic or shocking event that stuns the heart, producing classic heart-attack symptoms, such as chest pain and shortness of breath. (Quotes Dr. Lori Daniels, a practicing cardiologist at the UCSD Medical Center) More

Fishing: Making Sure Supplies Are Sustained
San Diego Union-Tribune, Opinion, Feb. 15 -- If fishermen were forced to only catch big fish, they would make more money, researchers announced recently in Science. Conservation pays, in other words. Not only does it protect endangered fish stocks and the environment, but also the people whose livelihoods depend on the seas – all of which, in turn, preserves consumers' access to high-quality seafood. (Written by Carmel Finley, who recently completed her doctorate in the history of science at UCSD) More

SIO Researchers Look to the Sea for Cures to Diseases
News8, Feb. 13 -- Scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography are looking to the sea for promising new cures to diseases. In fact, one research team has just found a new compound in algae that could help fight cancer. More

Blogging, to Make a Print Text Better
The Daily Pennsylvanian, Feb. 14 -- UCSD communications professor Noah Wardrip-Fruin is publishing his in-progress manuscript on the blog - which he helps run - in addition to submitting it through the traditional peer review system at MIT Press. More

Tet Ushers In Lunar New Year
NBC San Diego, Feb. 14 -- Thousands gathered in Balboa Park for the 3rd Annual Lunar New Year Tet Festival. The three-day event brought the local community together to celebrate Vietnamese culture. Festival - goers enjoyed performances on the main stage from lion dancers, West African drums, UCSD Hip Hop dancers and a Cambodian dance group. More