A Sampling of Clips for July 2^nd, 2008

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

What’s Up With Volcanoes Under Arctic Sea Ice
The New York Times, July 1 – There was an eruption of assertions in recent days that the increasing summer retreats and thinning of Arctic Ocean sea ice might be a result not of atmospheric warming but instead all the heat from the recent discovered volcanoes peppering the Gakkel Ridge, one of the seams in the deep seabed at the top of the world. (Quotes Jeff Severinghaus, of Scripps Institution of Oceanography) More

Quake Revealed Deficiencies of China’s Military
The New York Times, July 2 -- After the May earthquake in southwestern Sichuan Province, China sent about 130,000 troops from the army, navy, air force and the Second Artillery Corps scrambling into the mountains in China’s broadest deployment of its armed forces since it fought a border war with Vietnam in 1979. (Quotes Tai Ming Cheung, a senior fellow at the Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation at UCSD) More

Genes Get Out the Vote
The Washington Post, July 1 -- Heading to the polls on Nov. 4? If so, your genes may be driving you there, a new study suggests. In fact, as much as 50 percent of whether you vote or not may be genetically determined, says a team at UCSD. Genes may even be more important to your tendency to cast a ballot than family political history. More

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Moon Dust: Astronaut Health Hazard?
Discovery Channel, July 2 -- Astronauts heading to the moon have more to worry about than rocket rides and radiation exposure. Researchers have discovered that breathing on the lunar surface could be hazardous to their health. UCSD researcher Chantal Darquenne is working under a NASA grant to study how moon dust lodges in the lungs. More

Fuels of the Future
Portfolio Magazine, July 2 -- As oil prices escalate and supplies tighten, and as new technologies vie with old ones (and with special-interest groups), the debate over the next generation of energy sources reminds me of the birth of an earlier energy source: steam. (Mentions UCSD) More

Rising Fuel Costs Threaten Polar and Marine Research
Chronicle of Higher Education, July 2 -- Many scientists who work at the far ends of the planet are finding out they might not be able to carry out their research next season because of high fuel prices. This is a particularly painful irony because those expeditions would occur during the third International Polar Year, a concerted scientific effort to promote our understanding of how polar regions affect the global climate. (Quotes Tony Haymet, director of UCSD’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography) More

Humanities and the Sciences
San Diego Union-Tribune, Opinion, July 2 -- The founders of Revelle College at the University of California San Diego were, for the most part, scientists of great distinction, and they are central to the mystique of Revelle College and to the values of UCSD.  (Writen by David S. Luft, who has taught since 1972 in the History Department and at Revelle College at UCSD) More

School's Out (of Cash)
San Diego Union-Tribune,
July 2 -- Thousands of students in the county won't take classes this summer, school officials say, because districts don't have money to run them. (Mentions the Birch Aquarium) More