A Sampling of Clips for July 29^th, 2008

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

Toxic Mix of Pills, Alcohol Fuels Spike in Deaths
MSNBC, July 29 -- The number of Americans who died at home after ingesting toxic combinations of prescription medications, alcohol and street drugs such as marijuana exploded by more than 3,000 percent during the past two decades, new research led by a UCSD researcher shows. More

Similar story in
CBS News
FOX News
CNN
NPR
USA Today
The Wall Street Journal
Los Angeles Times
Reuters
Bloomberg
Forbes
Newsweek
Newsday
San Diego Union-Tribune

Whales’ Lower-Pitch Sound Has Experts Guessing
The New York Times, July 29 – The song of the blue whale, one of the eeriest sounds in the ocean, has mysteriously grown deeper. The calls have been steadily dropping in frequency for seven populations of blue whales around the world over the past 40 years, say researchers at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and WhaleAcoustics, a private research company. More

The Nature of Glass Remains Anything but Clear
The New York Times, July 29 -- The arrangement of atoms and molecules in glass is indistinguishable from that of a liquid. But how can a liquid be as strikingly hard as glass? (Quotes Peter G. Wolynes, a professor of chemistry at UCSD) More

Drugs to Reverse Alzheimer's Disease Prove Elusive
Los Angeles Times, July 28 -- On Tuesday, someone from the biotech company Myriad Genetics Inc. will stand before hundreds of sober-faced scientists in a conference room in Chicago and try to explain why yet another highly anticipated medication for Alzheimer's disease will not make it to the marketplace. (Quotes Dr. Paul Aisen, a leading Alzheimer's researcher at UCSD) More

Scientists Working To Test Energy Efficiency
KPOJ, Ore., July 29 -- Scientists and engineers at UCSD said they are building an instrument to test the energy efficiency of computing systems under real-world conditions. They said their goal is to persuade computer designers and users in the scientific community to re-think the way they do their jobs. More

Destination: San Diego
The Golf Channel, July 29 -- Golf Digest named San Diego "One of the Top 50 Golf Destinations in the World". We have over 90 courses located throughout the San Diego region, from seaside settings to desert mountains to inland valleys. With a wide range of courses, there is a course for every type of golfer and a range of greens fees that will fit every budget. (Mentions the Birch Aquarium at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography) More

UCSD Warming To Sun's Energy Another Campus Building Goes Solar
KPBS, July 29 -- UCSD continues its effort toward generating its own energy using green sources such as solar and wind. A major solar project on a campus parking structure is one of many planned in coming months. More

Similar story on
KFMB

UCSD Bomb Scare Draws 15-Month Sentence
San Diego Union-Tribune, July 28 -- A La Jolla man who caused a bomb scare that shut down a portion of the UCSD campus was sentenced Monday to 15 months in prison. More

Similar story in
San Jose Mercury News

Robot Teachers
Voice of San Diego, July 29 -- A third year computer science graduate student at UCSD, Jacob Whitehill and his colleagues are working to make a new generation of robots that would be effective and responsive teachers. They believe the key is to train them to recognize and respond to facial expressions, the way humans do naturally. Whitehill described the demonstration, part of his research at UCSD's Machine Perception Laboratory, as "almost like having a remote control built into your face." More

* Subscribe with In the News and receive our clips automatically