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Wednesday, 28 October 2009
1. Chemicals found that turn ants into warriors
San Francisco Chronicle
October 28, 2009
A research team of UC scientists has decoded the words in the secret chemical language of Argentine ants - a discovery that could lead to an environmentally benign pesticide against the insects that march into Bay Area homes every time the weather turns cold or wet.
The researchers found special signaling chemicals on the bodies of one aggressive group of the ants, and then synthesized the chemicals to induce peaceable members of the same species to turn them into highly aggressive beasts, perhaps leading them to turn on each other.
The experiments with the hydrocarbons that trigger the ants' silent battle calls cost tens of thousands of dollars, and the difficult experiments led by UC BERKELEY EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGIST NEIL D. TSUTSUI, often risked failure before they succeeded....
Almost all Argentine ants in California belong to a genetically distinct group of the species whose members are cooperative and social and form one huge "super colony" that extends from Oregon to San Diego, Tsutsui and Fisher said in interviews. Although the ants are viciously aggressive against other species of ants, they are peaceable even when brought together in the lab from different parts of the state, the scientists said.
But in San Diego County exists a tribe whose ants attack each other, and it was there, Tsutsui said, that TWO POST-DOCTORAL RESEARCHERS IN HIS LABORATORY, MIRIAM BRANDT and ELLEN VAN WILGENBURG, collected samples to remove the wax-like chemicals that cover the insects' skins....
[UPI also issued a story on this topic] Full Story
2. Tough Commute Likely After Bay Bridge Rod Snaps
New York Times Online (*requires registration)
October 28, 2009
San Francisco (AP) -- The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge has been closed indefinitely after a rod installed during last month's emergency repairs snapped, causing a traffic nightmare for the 26,000 motorists who cross the landmark span every day....
The rod that fell Tuesday was erected last month during an emergency repair job. It was holding in place a saddle-like cap that had been installed over a cracked link discovered over the Labor Day weekend.
ABOLHASSAN ASTANEH-ASL, A CIVIL ENGINEERING PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY who has spent 20 years studying the Bay Bridge, called the initial crack a ''warning sign'' of potentially bigger safety issues with the bridge.
''The repair they were doing was really a Band-Aid,'' said Astaneh-Asl, who criticized Caltrans at the time for rushing to reopen the bridge. ''The Band-Aid broke, in essence.''
Astaneh-Asl said the failure of the repair job demonstrates the need for a longer-term solution. The bridge's age and design make it susceptible to collapse, especially if commercial tractor-trailers are allowed to continue using it, he said.
''I think Caltrans is putting public relations ahead of public safety,'' he said.
[This story appeared in hundreds of sources nationwide, including the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, Contra Costa Times, Sacramento Bee, and Wall Street Journal. Professor Astaneh was also interviewed on KQED Radio's Forum with Michael Krasny (link to audio)] Full Story
3. Engineer Blog: High Winds a Credible -- But Shocking -- Explanation For Bay Bridge Failure
SF Weekly
October 28, 2009
JACK MOEHLE -- A U.C. BERKELEY ENGINEERING PROFESSOR and one of the Bay Area's acknowledged experts on freeway and bridge failure -- said that Caltrans' initial claims that high winds contributed to yesterday's rupture on the Bay Bridge is "a credible explanation." Still, he's taken aback that the failure occurred just weeks after the installation of the parts in question.
"Wind can result in resonance of a cable or rod, which can amplify stresses," wrote Moehle in an e-mail. "Normally, this is a longer-term problem associated with high-cycle fatigue (steel can fail at a stress below its one-cycle strength if millions of cycles are applied). What is surprising is that it happened just six weeks (or so) after initial installation."
Here's the professor's explanation in more layman-friendly terms: Wind makes cables and rods vibrate, which induces wear and tear ("wear and tear" is the blue-collar way of referring to the engineering term "fatigue"). "One-cycle strength" is, essentially, steel's breaking point. But steel can actually fail at less than its breaking point, if minor stresses are persistently applied over time. The analogy that springs to mind is "death from one thousand small cuts."
Moehle, being the responsible engineer that he is, would not speculate further. But it stands to reason that the failure could be the result of three factors (independently or combined): Faulty engineering, faulty manufacture, or faulty installation.... Full Story
4. Richmond High gang rape, lack of action from onlookers outrages community
San Jose Mercury News (*requires registration)
October 27, 2009
Atianna Gibbs knows it could have been her sister. In a way, it was.
A hint of resignation tinges Margarita Vargas"s voice when she says, "They think it's cool. They weren't raised to respect girls."
A Richmond High School student named Alexandra, worried enough about safety to withhold her last name, believes the 15-year-old girl gang-raped on campus Saturday would have died if police hadn't broken up the assault....
...Police say they don"t know exactly how many people watched during the course of the attack, but some reports have said as many 20....
NEIL SMELSER, A PROFESSOR EMERITUS OF SOCIOLOGY AT UC BERKELEY, said crowds in such situations often can be broken into four categories: those who perpetrate the action; those who actively encourage it but don"t participate; those who observe without supporting or speaking out against the action; and those who object to it and may or may not vocalize that to the rest of the group.
"They may think, "Why do I need to get involved in this if it doesn"t involve me?" Maybe they"re stunned, maybe it"s denial, or fear," Smelser said. "You don"t necessarily want to blame these people in not getting involved and calling police. You often have to avoid simple judgments and look at all the circumstances. It"s the kind of scene that encourages a helpless feeling."...
[This story also appeared in the Contra Costa Times and Oakland Tribune. Professor Smelser was also quoted in an Associated Press story on this topic] Full Story
5. Bay Area logs six stim winners
San Francisco Business Times
October 28, 2009
Five Bay Area companies and one university are among the 37 awardees of the first $151 million round of a highly anticipated federal stimulus program funding high-risk technologies.
Envia Systems out of Hayward, snubbed by the federal government's first awards slated for energy storage companies, got $4 million through the Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy program for its high energy density lithium-ion batteries....
Porifera Inc, in conjunction with the UNIVERSITY OF CALFIORNIA, BERKELEY, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory will receive more than $1 million for carbon capture technology. ...
ARPA-E was established under the America Competes Act of 2007 but funded with $400 million in federal stimulus money in April. More than 3,600 applicants applied for the first round of funding. Of that, 300 were asked to submit full applications. Awardees were chosen after a review process by panels made up of U.S. energy science and technology experts and ARPA-E program managers.
ARUN MAJUMDAR, the Associate Laboratory Director for Energy and Environment at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and a PROFESSOR OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING AND MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING AT UC BERKELEY was nominated in September to direct the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy. Full Story
6. What Ails California? What Doesn’t?
California Progress Report
October 28, 2009
When it comes to diagnosing, and prescribing remedies for, the state’s fiscal and governmental problems, last week was clinic week in California.
On Thursday, the legislature’s grandly named Select Committee on Improving State Government heard a panel of incumbent and retired politicians, academics and fiscal experts try to untangle the state’s convoluted problems.
On Friday, a similar but larger group of doctors and would-be doctors (including, in the interest of full disclosure, this writer) were gathered at UC BERKELEY at a conference simply entitled “What Ails California?”
There were the familiar diagnoses – the two-thirds legislative requirement to enact budgets or raise taxes; the extreme polarization of the two major parties; the mess created by voter initiatives; public distrust of government; the confusing overlap of state and local jurisdictions.
There were also warnings from, among others, State Treasurer Bill Lockyer, of fiscal crises yet to come. Maybe the worst of them is the huge future cost of pensions and health care for retired state employees, a subject that’s so unpleasant that almost no one is willing to face it.... Full Story
7. California water legislation at a standstill
Republicans roll out their own version of a water bill, as state legislators are being held up mostly by obscure water policy details and regional self-interests.
Los Angeles Times
October 28, 2009
Lawmakers have been chewing over water legislation for weeks, unable to seal a final deal despite threats from the governor, weekend negotiating sessions and their own deep desire to disprove the widespread perception that they can't get anything done.
Many of the choking points involve often arcane details of water policy and regional self-interests that haven't always followed the usual partisan lines....
"It's a little bit like the Balkans. There's a lot of history and distrust going back," said RICHARD FRANK, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR LAW, ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT AT UC BERKELEY LAW SCHOOL.
It's a fight as old as statehood, he added.
"There's not enough water to go around. . . . Something's gotta give. There are going to be winners and losers here." Full Story
8. Op-Ed: Let a hundred theories bloom
Business World Online [Philippines]
October 28, 2009
Budapest — The economic and financial crisis has been a telling moment for the economics profession, for it has put many long-standing ideas to the test. If science is defined by its ability to forecast the future, the failure of much of the economics profession to see the crisis coming should be a cause of great concern.
But there is, in fact, a much greater diversity of ideas within the economics profession than is often realized. This year’s Nobel laureates in economics are two scholars [including UC BERKELEY'S OLIVER WILLIAMSON] whose life work explored alternative approaches. Economics has generated a wealth of ideas, many of which argue that markets are not necessarily either efficient or stable, or that the economy, and our society, is not well described by the standard models of competitive equilibrium used by a majority of economists....
Ideas matter, as much or perhaps even more than self-interest. Our regulators and elected officials were politically captured — special interests in the financial markets gained a great deal from rampant deregulation and the failure to adapt the regulatory structure to the new products. But our regulators and politicians also suffered from intellectual capture. They need a wider and more robust portfolio of ideas to draw upon.
That is why the recent announcement by George Soros at the Central European University in Budapest of the creation of a well-funded Initiative for New Economic Thinking (INET) to help support these is so exciting. Research grants, symposia, conferences, and a new journal — all will help encourage new ideas and collaborative efforts to flourish.... Full Story
9. Forum with Michael Krasny: Flu Vaccine
KQED Radio
October 28, 2009
San Francisco will begin vaccinating for H1N1 on Thursday. We discuss where vaccines will be available across the Bay Area, who most needs to be vaccinated and how to differentiate H1N1 from seasonal flu.
Guests:
ART REINGOLD, PROFESSOR AND HEAD OF THE DIVISION OF EPIDEMIOLOGY AT THE UC BERKELEY SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH...
[Link to audio] Full Story
10. UAW opposition mounts to Ford concessions
Reuters
October 27, 2009
Detroit, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co (F.N) workers represented by the United Auto Workers had rejected concessions at five plants as of Tuesday, threatening to scupper a deal to give the automaker cost parity with U.S. rivals General Motors Co [GM.UL] and Chrysler.
Despite pressure from UAW national leaders to ratify the agreement, rank-and-file workers have objected to giving Ford the same kind of "no-strike" pledge on wages and benefits the union gave GM and Chrysler in bankruptcy....
"For Ford, they view the contract as key to competing effectively," said HARLEY SHAIKEN, A LABOR LAW PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY. "For the UAW, they view the contract as critical to locking in future jobs.
"But you've got a lot of apprehensive and angry members out there because of a dismal economy and an industry that has been on a roller coaster. That combination is proving volatile in these votes."... Full Story
11. Number-Crushing: When Figures Get Personal
Real-Estate Developers Factor In Love of 6 and 8, Fear of Unlucky 4 and 13; What Happened to Floors 40 Through 59?
Wall Street Journal (*requires registration)
October 28, 2009
Everyone can agree that 1+1=2. But the idea that 7 is greater than 13 -- that some numbers are luckier than others -- makes no sense to some people. Such numerical biases can cause deep divisions.
And that is what happened earlier this month in Hong Kong. Property developer Henderson Land Development Co. made news for selling a condominium for $56.6 million, a price the developer called a residential record in Asia. But after that sale was announced, the property began making news for other unusual numbers. Henderson is labeling the floors of its property at 39 Conduit Road with numbers that increase, but not in the conventional 1-then-2 way. The floor above 39, for example, is 60. And the top three floors are consecutively labeled 66, 68 and 88.
This offended some people's sense of order....
Henderson chose to name the floors as it did because of positive associations with 6 and 8, and negative ones with 4. In Cantonese and Mandarin, the word for eight sounds like "faat," which means prosperity. Hence the Beijing Olympics starting time of 8 p.m. on Aug. 8, 2008. The word for four, meanwhile, "sounds very much like 'death,' and is therefore avoided at all costs," says HUNG-HSI WU, PROFESSOR EMERITUS OF MATHEMATICS AT UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY, who was born in Hong Kong. Six is also considered lucky....
While mathematicians generally don't go to Tesla-like extremes, they possess a generally positive outlook about all numbers and that distinguishes them from numerologists, they say.
For example, KENNETH RIBET, A PROFESSOR OF MATHEMATICS AT BERKELEY, considers some prime numbers "friends," he says. One is 144,169, which reads like 12 squared followed by 13 squared; another the easily remembered number of 1,234,567,891.
"Mathematicians don't have numbers that they're afraid of or shy away from because we do really like all of the numbers," says Prof. Ribet. "On the other hand, some of us have favorites." Full Story
12. Out of the Labs: Building Black Holes
Forbes.com
October 28, 2009
Black holes capture imaginations as readily as they capture light. They are enormous--the ones at the centers of galaxies are thought to be several billion times more massive than the sun. They are scary--nothing can escape the power of their gravitational pull. Even light is too slow. And they are weird--they are believed to slow down time.
But because black holes are so outlandish, it is thought that they make matter behave in ways we don't yet understand and they may therefore hold clues to the answers of some of the toughest problems in physics. If only we could see them.
Now scientists are learning to create black holes in their labs, using what are called metamaterials. These are common materials whose structures have been altered so they can make light or sound behave in bizarre ways. In 2008, XIANG ZHANG AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY used metamaterials to create an invisibility cloak. Instead of reflecting light, the way most things do (which is how we see them) Zhang's materials bend light around an object, rendering it invisible.
These metamaterials can be designed so light goes in and doesn't escape, like a black hole. Of course these aren't quite the type of black holes that swallow space with their brute gravitational force. In fact, they have little or no mass at all.... Full Story
13. Success story of young Indonesians in the US
Jakarta Post
October 28, 2009
The Youth Pledge was declared on Oct. 28, 1928, where three ideals of Indonesia - one motherland, one nation and one language - were immortalized and became the unifying promise among young Indonesians.
Today, such commemoration may sound like a routine without much practical meaning. While it is true that it was an important milestone in Indonesian history and we appreciate those heroic youth role models, many of us aren't even aware of today's young Indonesians who are inspiring and successful internationally and have been carrying the country's name on their shoulders. We should give proper accolades to past and present heroes and ambassadors, and breed future ones....
If you know Steve Jobs' Apple, you probably know SEHAT SUTARDJA's Marvell, or not. SEHAT SUTARDJA, wife Weili Dai and brother Pantas Sutardja founded Marvell Technology Group in Santa Clara, which is a part of Silicon Valley, in 1995.
To date, they have more than 150 patents to their names, and in 2006, Sutardja was named Inventor of the Year by the Silicon Valley Intellectual Property Law Association.
THE SUTARDJA DAI HALL AT UC BERKELEY'S CENTER FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH IN THE INTEREST OF SOCIETY is named after this impressive couple. Marvell (Nasdaq ticker: MRVL) is a Silicon Valley-based leading semiconductor public company that produces one billion chips annually, which is owned by the Indonesian-born individuals.... Full Story
14. The Ticker Blog: 'The American Prospect' Examines Inequality in Higher Education
Chronicle of Higher Education Online (*requires registration)
October 28, 2009
A report in the November issue of The American Prospect examines inequality in higher education in a series of articles that focus on how the recession is widening the gap between public and private institutions and which policy changes could increase access and opportunity. The report, "Inequality Goes to College," also discusses the advantages and potential of community colleges, and the job market for graduates. The authors include professors at Harvard University and the UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY, and several community-college presidents.
[Link by subscription only] Full Story
15. Charlie Rose Show
PBS
October 27, 2009
[UC BERKELEY PSYCHOLOGY PROFESSOR] ALISON GOPNIK discusses her book "The Philosophical Baby: What Children's Minds Tell Us About Truth, Love, and the Meaning of Life"
[Link to video] Full Story
16. Book Review: Bridging the Gender Gap
Time Magazine
October 28, 2009
The Global Gender Gap Report
World Economic Forum
Ricardo Hausmann, Harvard University; LAURA D. TYSON, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY; and Saadia Zahidi, World Economic Forum
205 pages
The Gist:
The global recession has unseated its government and clobbered its economy — even McDonald's is jumping ship — but when it comes to gender equality, Iceland is the world's beacon. The tiny island nation tops the World Economic Forum's 2009 Gender Gap Index, the group's fourth annual assessment of global equality between the sexes. With more women elected to Parliament and advances in female economic and educational participation, Iceland leapfrogged its larger Nordic neighbors, edging Finland, Norway (last year's No. 1) and Sweden to lead an all-Scandinavian top four — an honor determined by measuring the gap between female and male economic participation, educational attainment, political empowerment and quality of health in 134 countries. Elsewhere on the list, South Africa and Lesotho surged into the top 10, while the Philippines led Asia's entrants at No. 9 despite falling in the rankings for the first time in four years. The U.S. slipped four places to 31st, and Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan checked in near the very bottom of the list.... Full Story
17. Unexpected Philosophers
Inside Higher Ed
September 2, 2009
When you think of successful university careers, you might think of presidents, provosts and deans; when you think of the wisdom to be found on campus, you’re likely to think of professors sharing the fruits of their decades of research on chemistry, classics, or quantum mechanics. You almost certainly won’t think of the folks cleaning the bathrooms, washing the floors, and changing the trash bags. Might you be missing something?
Patrick Shen thought so. While working on a previous film, Shen -- who works at Transcendental Media, the independent film company he founded, as a director and producer of documentaries -- interviewed Sheldon Solomon, a professor of psychology at Skidmore College. During one conversation, Solomon remarked -- Shen told Inside Higher Ed -- “that he is often mistaken for a homeless person because of the way he dresses and wears his hair long.”
“That got me thinking,” Shen said, “about what wisdom we might find from the people on the fringes of society.” So, along with his co-producer, Greg Bennick, Shen set out to make a film about the wisdom of people whom we rarely think of as wise. The two called colleges and universities across the United States to ask if they could interview the janitors.
Why universities? Because, Shen said, “these are learning institutions, and it’s important to point out that learning isn’t exclusive to classrooms -- learning can happen just about anywhere, in any area of our lives.”
After numerous inquiries and telephone interviews, Shen and Bennick narrowed the candidates down to the eight custodians who appear in The Philosopher Kings: Melinda Augustus of the University of Florida, Corby Baker of Cornish College of the Arts, Luis Cardenas of the California Institute of Technology, Oscar Dantzler of Duke University, Jim Evener and Gary Napieracz of Cornell University, Josue Laujenesse of Princeton University, and MICHAEL SEALS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY.... Full Story
18. Financing new Kings arena with seat 'mortgages' is discussed
Sacramento Bee
October 28, 2009
Would you pony up $100,000 or more for a 30-year "mortgage" to buy your own personal seat up close at Sacramento Kings games?
That's what city officials, eager to find a way to get the Kings a new arena, are wondering.
Officials have met twice recently with a Chicago-based company pitching the concept of "equity seat rights" or "seat mortgages" to finance stadiums and arenas without having to go hat-in-hand to voters with unpopular tax increase proposals.
The company, Stadium Capital Financing Group, is putting together a similar deal to renovate the FOOTBALL STADIUM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY.
There about 3,000 seats are for sale to fans, ranging from $40,000 to $220,000 per seat, university officials said. Fans purchase the seats for 40 or 50 years and either pay in whole upfront or in annual chunks.... Full Story
19. Corrections
San Francisco Chronicle
October 28, 2009
Don't aid athletics, Cal professors say, Oct. 27, front page
A bar chart mislabeled the revenue and expenses of UC BERKELEY'S DEPARTMENT OF INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS. ...
[Link to corrected chart] Full Story
20. UC Berkeley Building Up Bloch
San Francisco Classical Voice
October 28, 2009
There are a lot of composer anniversaries out there, and the lesser ones tend to be ignored. In 2009, the 50th anniversary of ERNEST BLOCH's death took a back seat to other commemorations, and the UC BERKELEY SYMPHONY is doing its part to take up the slack.
Even if you're an experienced concertgoer you may not have heard much by Bloch beyond Schelomo, his famous “Rhapsody on Hebraic Themes” for cello and orchestra. In the Bay Area, you've had a couple of opportunities to hear his impressive Sacred Service. But BLOCH, WHO TAUGHT COMPOSITION AT BERKELEY from 1939 to 1951 and left a large collection of letters and scores to the music library there, has a lot more to offer than that. The University Symphony Orchestra this weekend offers the Suite Hebraique (1951), with Nils Bultmann as viola soloist, and the Concerto Grosso No. 1 (1925) for strings and piano. Although primarily associated in popular imagination with his Jewish-themed works, the Concerto Grosso shows another side of the composer, framed as it is by a Prelude and Fugue in Bloch's Romantic idiom....
Organization: UC Berkeley Music Department
Venue: Hertz Hall
City: Berkeley
Date: October 30, 2009 8:00 PM
Price Range: $15-5
Tickets: 510-642-9988
Additional Dates: October 31, 2009 8:00 PM, Hertz Hall Full Story