A Sampling of Clips for March 20^th, 2009

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

Nitrogen Fertilizer: Agricultural
Breakthrough--and Environmental Bane
Scientific American, March 20 -- One hundred years ago this month, a laboratory experiment at the University of Karlsruhe in Germany set the stage for the Green Revolution. Chemist Fritz Haber placed a sheet of osmium in a steel chamber, pumped in a mix of nitrogen and hydrogen gases, and cranked up the heat and pressure. (Quotes marine ecologist Jeremy Jackson of Scripps Institution of Oceanography) More

Experts See Similarities Between Japan's
1990s Banking Crisis, Current US Economy
Voice of America, March 19 -- Experts on Japan's lost decade of bad loans, deflation and economic stagnation say there are similarities between that episode of the 1990s and the current economic crisis in the United States. At a seminar at the International Monetary Fund in Washington, Takeo Hoshi of UCSD said the lesson of Japan's 1990s financial crisis is the absolute need to get bad loans out of the banking system. More

The Conficker Worm:
April Fool’s Joke or Unthinkable Disaster?
The New York Times, March 20 -- The Conficker worm is scheduled to activate on April 1, and the unanswered question is: Will it prove to be the world’s biggest April Fool’s joke or is it the Information Age equivalent of Herman Kahn’s legendary 1962 treatise about nuclear war, “Thinking About the Unthinkable”? (Quotes UCSD computer scientist Stefan Savage) More

Odes, Bees and Battles in Textured Sounds
The New York Times, March 16 -- The American composer Arlene Sierra has been inspired by an unusually wide range of sources, including bees, poetry and Chinese and Roman military tactics. The excellent International Contemporary Ensemble performed five of her recent works on Friday, conducted by Jayce Ogren as part of the Composer Portraits series at the Miller Theater. (Mentions Susan Narucki, who is on the UCSD music faculty) More

Actress's Death Puts Focus on Syndrome
San Diego Union-Tribune, March 19 -- The sudden, startling and strange death of actress Natasha Richardson after a seemingly minor fall on a ski slope appears to be an example of “talk-and-die syndrome,” when a traumatic brain injury's initial symptoms are subtle and unnoticed until the patient's condition rapidly deteriorates. (Quotes Dr. Lawrence Marshall, chief of neurosurgery at the UCSD Medical Center in Hillcrest and an internationally renowned researcher of traumatic head injury) More

Sink or Swim for the Concrete Canoe
NBC San Diego, March 20 – Typically a rock thrown in water sinks, but that's just what engineers at UCSD are trying to avoid. The students said "bon-voyage" to a twenty-five-foot "concrete canoe" Thursday, that will hopefully take sail in Hawaii next month as part of a civil engineer’s competition. More

UCSD Med School
Graduates Become Residents
KPBS, March 19 -- Club med is a small building on the campus of the UCSD med school where one hundred and twenty-two students gathered to learn where they'll become doctors. A map of the U.S., covered with yellow stick pins, showed the locations of the residencies the students got. They ranged from San Diego to Boston. Associate med school Dean Carolyn Kelly says the class of 2009 has all types. More

Ancient Bones Found
at UCSD Back in Dispute
San Diego Union-Tribune, March 20 -- Skeletal remains unearthed at UCSD more than 30 years ago have sparked a fresh debate between the interests of science and culture – and the university is caught in the crossfire. More

Annual Gala to Battle
Heart Disease on Saturday
Annual Gala to Battle Heart Disease on Saturday
The San Diego Daily Transcript, March 19 -- A 12-year tradition to conquer heart disease, the annual "Heart of San Diego" gala to benefit the Sulpizio Family Cardiovascular Center at UCSD, will take place Saturday. More

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