UCSD News

pimg src=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/graphics/images/2009/09-09ScienceEducation01TS.jpg alt=Photo of Liz Johnstone height=80 width=120 //p pAs part of a U.S. initiative to improve science education in public schools, graduate students and teachers from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego and San Diego Unified School District are partnering on an innovative program to help translate cutting-edge earth science research into new education programs and curriculum for aspiring young scientists. a href=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/science/09-09ScienceEducation.aspMore/a/p

pimg src=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/graphics/images/2009/09-09SmartGrid01TS.jpg alt=Photo of a smart grid height=80 width=120 //p pWith smart grid pioneers from around the world convening this week at University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego), San Diego Gas and Electric (SDGE), UC San Diego and CleanTECH San Diego today announced the formation of a coalition of 25 local, national and global organizations to transform the San Diego region’s electrical grid into a digital smart grid. a href=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/science/09-09SmartGrid.aspMore/a/p

pPreparations are in place at UC San Diego in anticipation of a possible surge in numbers of H1N1 flu cases as more than 28,000 students return to campus Sept. 21. Plans to handle prevention and/or treatment of the new influenza virus have been underway since spring at various locations, ranging from the Early Childhood Education Center and its toddlers, to the Medical Center and its staff and patients, to the Preuss School and its teen-age students. a href=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/general/09-09H1N1.aspMore/a/p

pDue to budget cuts imposed on the University of California system, estimated undergraduate enrollment for the fall quarter at UC San Diego is expected to remain relatively unchanged from last year’s 28,500 students. a href=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/general/09-09FallQuarter.aspMore/a/p

pimg src=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/graphics/images/2009/09-09OOITS.jpg alt=Photo of The OOI Cyberinfrastructure project team height=80 width=120 //p pThe U.S. has taken the next step toward construction of the revolutionary Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI): a network of ocean observing components, and their associated cyberinfrastructure, that will allow scientists to examine ocean processes on global, regional and coastal scales. a href=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/general/09-09OOI.aspMore/a/p

pimg src=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/graphics/images/2009/09-09CollegeRankings01TS.jpg alt=College Rankings Logo height=80 width=120 //p pIn new rankings announced today by the Washington Monthly measuring “what colleges are doing for the country,” the University of California, San Diego was ranked second in the nation. UC Berkeley topped the list of 253 public and private universities, with UCLA ranked in third place and Stanford University in fourth. a href=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/general/09-09CollegeRankings.aspMore/a/p

pimg src=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/graphics/images/2009/09-09BelievingSeeing01TS.jpg alt=still photographs of faces height=80 width=120 //p pFolk wisdom usually has it that “seeing is believing,” but new research suggests that “believing is seeing,” too – at least when it comes to perceiving other people’s emotions. An international team of psychologists from the United States, New Zealand and France has found that the way we initially think about the emotions of others biases our subsequent perception (and memory) of their facial expressions. So once we interpret an ambiguous or neutral look as angry or happy, we later remember and actually see it as such. a href=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/soc/09-09BelievingSeeing.aspMore/a/p

pimg src=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/graphics/images/2009/09-09Convocation01TS.jpg alt=Photo of Convocation speaker Larry Smarr, Ph.D. height=80 width=120 //p pInternet pioneer Larry Smarr and the director of UC San Diego’s Community Law Project, Alejandra Sotelo-Solis ’01, will address more than 4,000 students and faculty at the 2009 Welcome Week Convocation and Dinner on Tuesday, September 22 on RIMAC Field. a href=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/events/09-09Convocation.aspMore/a/p

They ate burgers, ice cream and pop corn. They danced and sang along as UC San Diego staff members and students performed. They made funny hats and picked up information about UCSD’s various staff associations. More than 3,700 members of the UCSD community turned out for this year’s All Staff Picnic. More

pimg src=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/graphics/images/2009/08-09HeatWaveTS.jpg alt=Photo of the sun height=80 width=120 //p pFrom mid July to early August 2006, a heat wave swept through the southwestern United States. Temperature records were broken at many locations and unusually high humidity levels for this typically arid region led to the deaths of more than 600 people, 25,000 cattle and 70,000 poultry in California alone. a href=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/science/08-09HeatWave.aspMore/a/p

pThe Greenopia national publication has ranked the University of California, San Diego as ninth out of the 100 largest U.S. colleges for its “environmental performance.” a href=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/general/08-09Greenopia.aspMore/a/p

pimg src=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/graphics/images/2009/08-09NetworkDelaysTS.jpg alt=Photo of student height=80 width=120 //p pComputer scientists have developed an inexpensive solution for diagnosing delays in data center networks as short as tens of millionths of seconds—delays that can lead to multimillion-dollar losses for investment banks running automatic stock trading systems. Similar delays can delay parallel processing in high performance cluster computing applications run by Fortune 500 companies and universities. a href=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/science/08-09NetworkDelays.aspMore/a/p

pimg src=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/graphics/images/2009/08-09BlackCarbonTS.jpg alt=Photo of people height=80 width=120 //p pThe world could buy time to forestall disastrous environmental and geopolitical climate change effects by using existing technologies to curb emissions created through diesel and solid biomass fuel burning, according to an article co-authored by Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego climate and atmospheric scientist V. Ramanathan. a href=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/science/08-09BlackCarbon.aspMore/a/p

pimg src=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/graphics/images/2009/08-09SummerScholarsTS.jpg alt=Photo of students height=80 width=120 //p pA new crop of students from the University of California, San Diego, are participating in Calit2's Undergraduate Summer Scholar Program, engaging in hands-on research that will culminate in real-world implications for a variety of fields. a href=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/general/08-09SummerScholars.aspMore/a/p

pimg src=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/graphics/images/2009/08-09EconautsTS.jpg alt=Photo of natural foods height=80 width=120 //p pStudents entering the University of California, San Diego campus in September will find a next-generation array of green innovations ranging from Econauts and drought tolerant bio-swale landscaping to organic foods and “hydration stations” that eliminate the need for disposable water bottles. And as an incentive to keep energy consumption as low as possible, each student in the new Village apartments will receive individual electricity bills. a href=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/general/08-09Econauts.aspMore/a/p

pimg src=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/graphics/images/2009/08-09GreenBombers01TS.jpg alt=Photo of Worm height=80 width=120 //p pIn the latest proof that the oceans continue to offer remarkable findings and much of their vastness remains to be explored, scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego and their colleagues have discovered a unique group of worms that live in the depths of the ocean. a href=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/science/08-09GreenBombers.aspMore/a/p

pimg src=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/graphics/images/2009/08-09BestColleges01TS.jpg alt=Americas Best Colleges height=80 width=120 //p pThe University of California, San Diego ranked as the seventh best public university in the nation in the 2010 America’s Best Colleges guidebook issued today by U.S. News and World Report, and 35th among the 262 ranked national universities, both public and private. a href=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/awards/08-09BestColleges.aspMore/a/p

pimg src=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/graphics/images/2009/08-09MilitaryFriendly01TS.jpg alt=XXXXX height=80 width=120 //p pUC San Diego has been ranked among the top 15 percent of the nation's military-friendly schools by G. I. Jobs magazine for embracing veterans as students. The results are based on the universities’ efforts to assist student veterans with new initiatives, including financial aid benefits and additional support to the campus’s student veteran organization (SVO). a href=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/students/08-09MilitaryFriendly.aspMore/a/p

pimg src=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/graphics/images/2009/08-09IITKGP01TS.jpg alt=Photo of IIT height=80 width=120 //p pOfficials of the University of California, San Diego Health Sciences and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur today signed a historic preliminary agreement to collaborate in the development of an International Medical Center (IMC) at IIT Kharagpur. a href=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/health/08-09IITKGP.aspMore/a/p

pimg src=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/graphics/images/2009/08-09ComplexSurgery01TS.jpg alt=Photo of Surgical pioneers Derweesh (left) and Downs (right) height=80 width=120 //p pSurgeons at the University of California, San Diego Medical Center have performed the next in a series of groundbreaking single-incision surgeries. Through one small port in the navel, surgeons removed a kidney and ureter and reconstructed a patient’s bladder as part of an innovative cancer surgery. This is the first time this minimally invasive procedure has been performed in the western United States. a href=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/health/08-09ComplexSurgery.aspMore/a/p