pimg src=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/graphics/images/2009/11-09Gordon01TS.jpg alt=Gordon Logo height=80 width=120 //p pThe San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) at UC San Diego has been awarded a five-year, 20 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to build and operate a powerful supercomputer dedicated to solving critical science and societal problems now overwhelmed by the avalanche of data generated by the digital devices of our era. a href=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/supercomputer/11-09Gordon.aspMore/a/p

pThe University of California, San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering is the ninth best in the world for engineering/technology and 15th in the world for computer sciences, according to an academic ranking of the top 100 world universities published by the Institute of Higher Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. a href=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/general/11-09Jacobs.aspMore/a/p

pimg src=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/graphics/images/2009/11-09Water01TS.jpg alt=Photo of water height=80 width=120 //p pTaking the University of California, San Diego, off the "water grid" is a daunting proposition. As one of the largest clients of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, UC San Diego consumes 800 million gallons of water annually and spends a whopping $6 million per year on water and sewage services. a href=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/general/11-09Water.aspMore/a/p

pimg src=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/graphics/images/2009/10-09CREB01TS.jpg alt=Photo of Solar Panels height=80 width=120 //p pThe San Diego region has been allocated financing opportunities for 192 solar installation projects for public facilities, which will promote hundreds of new green jobs and increase by more than 40 percent the capacity of locally produced solar energy with an estimated 20 megawatts of additional solar power. A coalition of San Diego stakeholders, led by CleanTECH San Diego, captured $154 million in allocations for financing renewable energy projects for public facilities under the Clean Renewable Energy Bonds (CREBs) program. The total allocations to the San Diego region make up 19 percent of the total allocations going to public agencies nationwide. a href=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/general/10-09CREB.aspMore/a/p

pimg src=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/graphics/images/2009/10-09CancerCenterTS.jpg alt=Logo of CIRM height=80 width=120 //p pResearchers led by Moores UCSD Cancer Center Director Dennis A. Carson, MD, professor of medicine, and Catriona Jamieson, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine and director of the Cancer Stem Cell Research Program at the Moores UCSD Cancer Center have been awarded $20 million over four years to develop novel drugs against leukemia stem cells. a href=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/health/10-09CancerCenter.aspMore/a/p

pimg src=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/graphics/images/2009/10-09Genius01TS.jpg alt=Photo of Luke Barrington height=80 width=120 //p pElectrical engineers recently pitted Genius – the music recommendation system in Apple’s iTunes – against two experimental music recommender systems. Genius appears to capture acoustic similarities among songs within the same playlist, the researchers found. The University of California, San Diego electrical engineers also discovered that the music recommender they built from scratch can generate song playlists that human subjects thought were as good as those that Genius generates. a href=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/science/10-09Genius.aspMore/a/p

pimg src=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/graphics/images/2009/10-09SpinalCord01TS.jpg alt=Photo of Mark Tuszynski height=80 width=120 //p pScientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report that regeneration of central nervous system axons can be achieved in rats even when treatment is delayed more than a year after the original spinal cord injury. a href=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/health/10-09SpinalCord.aspMore/a/p

pimg src=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/graphics/images/2009/10-09iMurmur01TS.jpg alt=Photo of iPhone App height=80 width=120 //p pBeing a full-time, third-year medical student is tough enough but Michael “Fuj” Fujinaka is also busy helping his fellow students learn. He answered his own questions about identifying heart murmurs by inventing a practical, high-tech learning tool. a href=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/health/10-09iMurmur.aspMore/a/p

pimg src=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/graphics/images/2009/10-09Volcano01TS.jpg alt=Photo of Mt. Pinatubo eruption height=80 width=120 //p pA 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. a href=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/science/10-09Volcano.aspMore/a/p

pimg src=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/graphics/images/2009/10-09HemmingTS.jpg alt=Photo of Alan Hemming height=80 width=120 //p pDistinguished transplant and cancer surgeon, Alan Hemming, MD, has been recruited to the University of California, School of Medicine to launch a multidisciplinary center for the treatment of advanced liver disease at the UC San Diego Medical Center and Moores UCSD Cancer Center. a href=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/health/10-09Hemming.aspMore/a/p

pimg src=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/graphics/images/2009/10-09MacKenzie01TS.jpg alt=Photo of Sophia Mac Kenzie height=80 width=120 //p pSince 1977, a small foundation based in Los Angeles has made a big impact on nearly 800 medical students at the University of California, San Diego. The Mac Kenzie Foundation—established by Sophia Mac Kenzie to alleviate the financial burden of medical school for California students—has given $1.7 million in total donations for students in the UC San Diego School of Medicine. This year, the foundation gave $85,000, benefiting 24 students. a href=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/campaign/10-09MacKenzie.aspMore/a/p

pimg src=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/graphics/images/2009/10-09NSFRankings01TS.jpg alt=Photo of UCSD height=80 width=120 //p pThe University of California, San Diego again ranks sixth among top U.S. universities in federal research and development expenditures for fiscal-year 2008, with $491 million in federal R and D money and 842 million in total R and D expenditures. The numbers were announced by the National Science Foundation (NSF). a href=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/general/10-09NSFRankings.aspMore/a/p

pimg src=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/graphics/images/2009/10-09Philanthropy01TS.jpg alt=Photo of Chancellor Fox and Students height=80 width=120 //p pIn the face of rising educational and living costs, many students are rallying to support philanthropic endeavors at the University of California, San Diego. From helping fund scholarships to building awareness about the true cost of a UC San Diego education, students are making a difference throughout the campus community. a href=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/campaign/10-09Philanthropy.aspMore/a/p

pimg src=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/graphics/images/2009/10-09ALS01TS.jpg alt=Photo of Don W. Cleveland, PhD height=80 width=120 //p pA chemical cousin of a drug currently used to treat sepsis dramatically slows the progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease, in mice. The results offer a bit of good news in efforts to develop a therapy to stop or slow the progression of a disease that generally kills its victims within just a few years. a href=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/health/10-09ALS.aspMore/a/p

pimg src=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/graphics/images/2009/10-09Brocas01TS.jpg alt=Photo of a Brain scan height=80 width=120 //p pA study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine reports a significant breakthrough in explaining gaps in scientists’ understanding of human brain function. The study – which provides a picture of language processing in the brain with unprecedented clarity – will be published in the October 16 issue of the journal Science. a href=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/health/10-09Brocas.aspMore/a/p

pimg src=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/graphics/images/2009/10-09CarbonationTaste01TS.jpg alt=Photo of bubbles height=80 width=120 //p pIn 1767, chemist Joseph Priestley stood in his laboratory one day with an idea to help English mariners stay healthy on long ocean voyages. He infused water with carbon dioxide to create an effervescent liquid that mimicked the finest mineral waters consumed at European health spas. Priestley’s man-made tonic, which he urged his benefactors to test aboard His Majesty’s ships, never prevented a scurvy outbreak. a href=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/science/10-09CarbonationTaste.aspMore/a/p

pimg src=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/graphics/images/2009/10-09ARRA01TS.jpg alt=Image of a Brain Scan height=80 width=120 //p pThanks to a grant of $8,950,590 provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), researchers at the University of California San Diego looking for the biological bases of differences in human behavior will use sophisticated gene-mapping tools and imaging technology to collect a wealth of data about brain development in children. a href=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/general/10-09ARRA.aspMore/a/p

pimg src=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/graphics/images/2009/10-09KellyKovacic01TS.jpg alt=Photo of Kelly Kovacic height=80 width=120 //p pKelly Kovacic, social studies department chair at UC San Diego’s Preuss School, has been selected as one of five San Diego County “Teachers of the Year” and will contend in state Teacher of the Year awards next month. a href=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/awards/10-09KellyKovacic.aspMore/a/p

pimg src=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/graphics/images/2009/10-09Carson01TS.jpg alt=Photo of Dennis Carson, MD height=80 width=120 //p pResearchers at the Moores UCSD Cancer Center have received $6 million from the National Institutes of Health to spend the next five years looking for, testing and developing chemicals called “adjuvants” that they hope will make current vaccines more effective. a href=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/health/10-09Carson.aspMore/a/p

pimg src=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/graphics/images/2009/10-09SustainabilityTS.jpg alt=Photo of Sustainability height=80 width=120 //p pYears of emphasis on sustainable operations have resulted in an outstanding green “report card” for UC San Diego. Citing such factors as the organic food served in its dining halls and strong student involvement in sustainability initiatives to 56 hybrid and 33 biodiesel vehicles in its fleet, the non-profit Sustainable Endowments Institute listed UC San Diego as one of the nation’s 26 greenest campuses in its 2010 College Sustainability Report Card. a href=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/general/10-09Sustainability.aspMore/a/p