A Sampling of Clips for February 25^th, 2009

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

'Harmless' Prion Protein
Linked to Alzheimer's Disease
Nature, Feb. 24 -- Non-infectious prion proteins found in the brain may contribute to Alzheimer's disease, researchers have found. (Quotes Paul Aisen, an Alzheimer's researcher based at the neurosciences department of UCSD) More

Four Developments to Watch in Clean Tech
The San Jose Mercury-News, Feb. 25 -- The nexus of global energy markets and climate change science is a dynamic place these days. As more than 800 clean-technology leaders representing about $3 trillion in capital gather this week at the Cleantech Forum in San Francisco on the eve of a new era for green jobs and the environment, major shifts are under way that could change the global energy and climate agenda. Here are four prognostications for 2009. (Written by Tony Haymet, director of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UCSD) More

Atlantis on Google Earth
Popular Science, Feb. 24 -- Last week, a strange-looking pattern off the west coast of Africa triggered speculations that the undersea marks might be the ruins of the lost city of Atlantis -- a legendary island that, according to the Greek philosopher Plato, sank into the Atlantic Ocean. But two scientists -- Walter Smith of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and David Sandwell of Scripps Institution of Oceanography -- say the explanation for the patterns is a bit less exotic: the marks are actually "ship tracks" created during the process of echosounding. More

Similar story in
Voice of San Diego

Campus Building Blamed for Cancer Cluster
The New York Times, Feb. 25 -- A building on the UCSD campus is being blamed for a cluster of breast cancer cases, raising new questions about the risks of exposure to electromagnetic fields. More

Vaccine Court: Autism Debate Continues
Huffington Post, Feb. 25 -- On February 12, the federal "Vaccine Court" in Washington issued a sweeping ruling in three highly touted "test cases" against families who claimed that their childrens' autism had been caused by vaccines. (Mentions research at UCSD) More

Engaging Moments in New Music
The Philadelphia Inquirer, Feb. 24 -- In “Cryosphere,” UCSD music professor Rand Steiger combined slabs of glistening orchestral colors and atmospheric electronics with Zen-like unity (like Kaija Saariaho) in a tone poem inspired by the dissolution of icebergs. Blocks of endlessly detailed but directionless sound so deftly defy the typical beginning, middle and end, I didn't want it to stop. More

Men Urged to Consider Prostate Cancer Pill
San Diego Union-Tribune, Feb. 25 -- For the first time, leading medical groups are advising millions of healthy men who are regularly screened for prostate cancer to consider taking a drug to prevent the disease. (Quotes Dr. Christopher Kane, professor and chief of urology at the UCSD Medical Center and the Moores Cancer Center) More

Imaging Tumors
With Degradable Nanoparticles
Chemical and Engineering News, Feb. 24 -- The first fluorescent nanoparticles that can circulate in the blood and degrade into nontoxic by-products could also help image tumors and carry cancer-fighting drugs. Michael J. Sailor, a chemist at UCSD, and colleagues developed the porous silicon nanoparticles. More

Health Care Taking 
A Financial Toll on Americans
KPBS, Feb. 25 -- Tonight, on Envision San Diego and KPBS' special program Right to Health, you’ll meet a woman who tried to refinance her house to pay for an MRI, and a man who went blind because he couldn’t afford to see a doctor. These stories replay themselves in just about any city in America. It is the fallout from a privatized health care system that is bloated with administration costs. (Quotes Dr. Jerry Phelps, of the UCSD Wellness Center) More

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