Physical Sciences in the News

• Previously Unknown Volcanic Eruption Helped Trigger Cold Decade   
  A team of chemists from the U.S. and France has found compelling evidence of a previously undocumented large volcanic eruption that occurred exactly 200 years ago, in 1809.
  

• Academic R&D Spending Trends   
  UC San Diego is now ranked 3rd in the nation in federal research and development support for chemistry behind Caltech and Harvard University. That ranking, based on fiscal 2007 data from the National Science Foundation, is an increase in the number 6th ranking nationally that UCSD achieved in 2006.
  

• Discovery Brings New Type of Fast Computers Closer to Reality   
  Physicists at UC San Diego have successfully created speedy integrated circuits with particles called “excitons” that operate at commercially cold temperatures, bringing the possibility of a new type of extremely fast computer based on excitons closer to reality.
  

• Five UCSD Researchers Recipients of NIH Awards to Encourage High-Risk Research and Innovation   
  Five researchers from the University of California, San Diego have been awarded grants totaling $8.5 million for their innovative research.
  

• A Twist in the Genome Thwarts Hepatitis C   
  Viruses like Hepatitis C proliferate by tricking cellular machinery into manufacturing the parts for duplicate viral particles.
  

• Astrophysicists Solve Mystery in Milky Way Galaxy   
  Two recent scientific papers show that this distribution of gamma rays can be explained by the way “antimatter positrons” from the radioactive decay of elements, created by massive star explosions in the galaxy, propagate through the galaxy.
  

• Sulfate Lens Enhances Climate Warming Properties of Atmospheric Soot   
  Particulate pollution thought to be holding climate change in check by reflecting sunlight instead enhances warming when combined with airborne soot.
  

• Michael L. Norman Named Interim Director of the San Diego Supercomputer Center   
  Norman succeeds Francine Berman, who announced plans in April to join the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute as vice president of research, effective August 1.
  

• UC San Diego Astrophysicist Wins Shaw Prize in Astronomy   
  Frank H. Shu, a professor of physics, whose wide-ranging research advanced our understanding of how stars, spiral galaxies and planetary systems form has been awarded the $1-million Shaw Prize in Astronomy.
  

• From Physics Degree to Hollywood Success   
  How do you go from earning a degree in physics to becoming a successful filmmaker and the creator of cult animated TV series? How do you find your passion? And how to do you get a job in this economy anyway?
  

Announcements and Clips

• 19th-Century Eruptions Sent a Chill Across the Planet  (North County Times)
  

• Professor Susan Taylor Receives the 2010 Excellence in Science Award by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology  (Division of Physical Sciences, UC San Diego)
  

• Award Given to Undergraduate Students for Accomplishments  (Division of Physical Sciences, UC San Diego)
  

• Peter Wolynes Awarded the 2009-10 Joseph O. Hirschfelder Prize in Theoretical Chemistry  (Division of Physical Sciences, UC San Diego)
  

• Faster computer? Use excitons, not electrons  (Elektor - Electronics Worldwide)
  

• Nonprofit Group Takes on Math Problem  (San Diego Union-Tribune)
  

• Speedier Computer Circuits Created  (United Press International)
  

• Exciton Transistors Inch Toward Commercialization  (EE Times)
  

• A Twist in the Genome Thwarts Hepatitis C  (Division of Physical Sciences, UC San Diego)
  

• New Type of 'excitonic' Computer a Step Closer to Commercial Viability  (ZDNet)
  

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