A Sampling of Clips for May 12^th, 2008

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

British Birds Adapt to Global Warming
Los Angeles Times, May 10 -- Researchers have found that at least one bird population in England has managed to adjust to global warming. (Quotes Walter Jetz, a UCSD ecologist who was not involved in the research)
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Diet and Exercise Looked at as Risk Factors for Enlarged Prostates
Los Angeles Times, May 12 -- Age, genetics and hormones are the usual causal suspects in benign prostatic hyperplasia, but now some data suggest that the condition is a consequence of our Western lifestyle. In a 2006 study of 422 men published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, Dr. J. Kellogg Parsons, a urologist at UCSD, found that men who were obese had an increased risk of prostate enlargement, with severely obese men at 3.5 times higher risk. More

Canada Orders Vitamin D Study
Globe and Mail, Canada, May 10 -- Health Canada says it will launch a study by this fall investigating dramatic claims that a lack of vitamin D could be linked to ailments such as cancer, heart disease and multiple sclerosis. (Quotes Frank Garland, professor in the department of family and preventive medicine at UCSD) More

Scripps Scientists Believe They've Found a Red Tide Killer
Sacramento Bee, May 12 -- Scientists believe they've found a red tide killer. The Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego has discovered that RCA bacteria - a natural marine microbe - can attack and kill the single-cell plankton that produce red tide algae. The blooms often foul coastal waters, giving them a rust-colored tinge and some can even kill fish and birds. More

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Hugh Bradner, UC's Inventor of Wetsuit, Dies
San Francisco Chronicle, May 11 -- Hugh Bradner, a UC physicist whose love of the ocean and curiosity about everything in it led him to revolutionize diving by inventing the neoprene wetsuit, has died at his home in San Diego at the age of 92. Bradner was a professor emeritus at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. More

EPO: Tale of Mice and (Super) Men
San Diego Union-Tribune, May 12 -- Randy Johnson is a Harvard-educated biology professor at UCSD, and he recently headed a research project with mice that examined the role of skin in stimulating their production of red blood cells in low-oxygen environments. More

Climate Scientist Out to Change the World
San Diego Union-Tribune, May 11 -- Veerabhadran Ramanathan tours the globe to conduct experiments and advise world leaders about climate change. He helped craft the United Nations' landmark report in 2007 on global warming, and his research at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla has been featured in major journals such as Nature. More

U.S. Fire Managers Predict Bad Year for Blazes
San Diego Union-Tribune, May 10 -- U.S. fire managers are forecasting a grim year for blazes in drought-plagued Western states, just weeks after a premature start to the Southwest's wildfire season. (Mentions research by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography) More

Lankford & Associates to Build $115M Stem Cell Facility
San Diego Business Journal, May 9 -- Lankford & Associates Inc. has been selected by the San Diego Consortium for Regenerative Medicine to build a $115 million stem cell research facility in La Jolla, the company said May 9. UCSD is part of the consortium.  More

UC San Diego Receives $2M Grant for Geriatrics Division
San Diego Business Journal, May 12 -- UCSD received a $2 million grant for the new Division of Geriatrics from the Larry L. Hillblom Foundation, established by Larry Hillblom, co-founder of express shipping concern DHL. The division will study the process of aging and develop new ways of minimizing its adverse effects. More