A Sampling of Clips for October 7^th, 2008

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

Guess What? There's No Harm in a Little Gossip
MSNBC, Oct. 7 -- But contrary to the typical defenses of our chatty-Cathy behavior — gossip is an easy, soothing distraction from our complicated world — research suggests that our love of juice has less to do with the zeitgeist and more to do with the way we're wired. (Quotes John Beard Haviland, professor of anthropology at UCSD, observed a small village in Mexico for his 1977 book "Gossip, Reputation, and Knowledge" in Zinacantan) More

Study: Oral Vitamin D May Help Prevent Some Skin Infections
Xinhua, Oct. 6 -- A new study by UCSD researchers suggests that use of oral Vitamin D supplements may help prevent skin infections that are a common result of atopic dermatitis, the most common form of eczema. More

For Burned Illegal Immigrants, a Long Road to Recovery
Los Angeles Times, Oct. 7  -- They arrived by ambulance every half-hour, their blistering wounds caked in soot and mud. In the hospital trauma bay, doctors examined their scorched backs and limbs, black in the sterile, white light. They smelled of burnt flesh. "They just kept coming; it was challenging to keep up," said Dr. Bruce Potenza, director of the UC San Diego Regional Burn Center. More

Time to Adapt as Earth Warms Up, Scientists Say
Bloomberg, Oct. 7 -- Preparing for global warming also demands government action because temperature increase is unavoidable and will affect everyone, European scientists said in a study published today by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. Adaptation is needed ``so that humankind can cope with the significant inevitable climate change that we are already committed to,'' Richard Somerville of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography said in an interview. Somerville, a distinguished professor emeritus at the San Diego-based research group, was not involved in the new study. More

Pet Theory
Sacramento Bee, Oct. 7 -- There is a bit of a tendency for people and pets to look alike, according to the small amount of research that has been done. "It's the kind of thing that everyone has wondered about," said Nicholas Christenfeld, a psychology professor at UCSD. He decided to test it. More

UCSD Cancer Researchers Receive Grants
10News, Oct. 6 -- Four researchers at the UCSD Moores Cancer Center received grants totaling $1.14 million to study the nature, development and spread of breast cancer, it was announced Monday. More

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When Politics and Pop Culture Merge
KPBS, Oct. 7 – These Days host Tom Fudge speaks with a couple of scholars, who have studied the phenomenon of popular entertainment, as it relates to political contests: James Fowler, political science professor at UCSD and Timothy Moore, economics scholar at the University of Maryland. More

Bailout No Quick Fix for Wide Financial Crisis
San Diego Union-Tribune, Oct. 7 -- When the Bush administration pushed its $700 billion bailout bill through Congress last week, the stated goal was to calm the stock market and ease the global flow of credit. (Quotes UCSD economist James Hamilton) More

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