A Sampling of Clips for
July 5, 2006
* UCSD faculty and staff may obtain a copy of an article by e-mailing the University Communications Office
The New Science of Siblings
CNN, July 2 — From the time they are born, our brothers and sisters are our collaborators and co-conspirators, our role models and cautionary tales. They are our scolds, protectors, goads, tormenters, playmates, counselors, sources of envy, objects of pride. They teach us how to resolve conflicts, and how not to; how to conduct friendships and when to walk away from them. Sisters teach brothers about the mysteries of girls; brothers teach sisters about the puzzle of boys. (Quotes Patricia East, a developmental psychologist at UCSD) More
Nasa's Climate Science 'in Moth-Balls'
BBC News, July 1 -- As the space shuttle Discovery prepares for launch, another Nasa spacecraft sits in storage, awaiting its own ride into space. The Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR), designed to measure the Earth's solar energy balance and which has already been built, is grounded at Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, after the agency cancelled it, citing competing priorities. "It is, as Nasa says, 'in mothballs,'" said DSCOVR lead scientist Francisco Valero of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UCSD. More
Is Altruism Encoded in our Genes?
Science and Technology News, July 4 -- The ability to think selflessly has been taken for some time to represent a specifically human trait. A study recently conducted at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, however, says that altruistic impulses may exist in primates other than humans. It also brings to light some surprising information about human altruism: It appears even in prelinguistic toddlers. (Quotes James Moore, an associate professor of anthropology at UCSD) More
China Exclusive:
High-tech Features First Tibetan Railway
People’s Daily, China, July 2 -- The first railroad linking Tibet with the rest of China, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, opened on Saturday with state-of-the-art technologies both on the railroad and trains. (Quotes Professor John West with UCSD’s School of Medicine) More
UCSD Takes Learning Beyond Time, Space
San Diego Union Tribune, July 3 -- When UCSD professor Mike Cole and his colleagues created a computer-based education program in 1981, they expected it to fizzle out. It was meant to be a case study illuminating the process by which successful reforms fail and need to be reinvented. But more than two decades later, the program – whimsically named Fifth Dimension – has spread in the county and throughout the world. It also has become the subject of scores of scholarly articles and research papers, and a book about the program is scheduled to be published in the fall. More
La Jolla Residents Sue City Over Hillel
San Diego Union-Tribune, July 1 -- The city is being sued, again, over its deal with Hillel of San Diego for a triangle of La Jolla land. The La Jolla Shores Association and a group of 100 La Jolla residents sued the city June 12, saying it violated California environmental law and sold land at a below-market price. Hillel, an organization for Jewish students, wants to build a 12,000-square-foot center where UCSD students can attend religious services on Fridays and major holy days. More
SDSC to Preserve Critical Data for NARA
Grid Today, July 3 -- The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and the San Diego Supercomputer Center, with concurrence from the National Science Foundation, signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding that provides an avenue for preserving valuable digital data collections. This collaboration marks the first time NARA has established an affiliated relationship for preserving digital data with an academic institution. More
Padres' Doctor
Knows a Thing or Two About Playing
North County Times, July 1 -- Far from the end of the world, Steve Copp's initial taste of failure was the beginning of an equally decorated career beyond the hardwood. He went on to medical school at UCSD, where he studied orthopedic surgery, and today he's in his 16th year as a team physician for the Padres. More
