FEATURED INFORMATION
Oceanic “Dead Zones” Increasing
A global study led by Virginia Institute of Marine Science Professor Robert Diaz shows that the number of “dead zones”— areas of seafloor with too little oxygen for most marine life — has increased by a third between 1995 and 2007. Diaz and collaborator Rutger Rosenberg of the University of Gothenburg in Sweden say that dead zones are now “the key stressor on marine ecosystems” and “rank with over-fishing, habitat loss, and harmful algal blooms as global environmental problems.” To learn more, visit http://www.vims.edu/deadzone/index.html To listen to a related National Public Radio story, go to http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93619388
Grant Will Support Planning for Proton Radiotherapy
The Daily Press newspaper has reported that the Hampton University physics department received a nearly half-million-dollar grant from the Virginia Center for Innovative Technology's Commonwealth Technology Research Fund to develop a planning system for proton radiotherapy cancer treatment. The money will be used by HU and Eastern Virginia Medical School to work on system development. The effort will be part of the HU Proton Therapy Institute, a $200 million building set to open in 2010 and projected to annually treat about 2,000 patients for prostate, breast, lung, pediatric and other cancers. To read more go to http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/hampton/dp-local_hugrant_0819aug19,0,4038213.story and http://www.hampton.gov/ed/releases/hu_breaks_ground.html
New Research Pinpoints Vital Protein
Researchers from Eastern Virginia Medical School, the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute for Medical Research in London have become the first to describe in detail a key interaction in the function of a protein vital to muscle contraction and the health of virtually every tissue and cell in the body. A study detailing the work was published in the July 30 issue of the premier scientific journal Nature. Although the research is very basic, the findings have important implications for understanding the function and regulation of the protein and its role in human health and disease. For more information, visit http://www.evms.edu/about/news/2008-08-04-howard-white-muscle.html
Voters Prefer Tolls Over Taxes to Improve Hampton Roads Transportation
A regional survey on transportation jointly sponsored by the Center for Public Policy at Christopher Newport University and the Hampton Roads Center for Civic Engagement reveals that voters rank expanding the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel and improving and expanding mass transit, including light rail, first and second on any potential transportation-upgrades list. However, most respondents are opposed to additional taxes to pay for improvements, preferring tolls instead. To read the complete story, go to http://universityrelations.cnu.edu/news/2008/04_30_08tunnel.html
Helping Hubble’s Successor
Jefferson Lab researchers are designing a new refrigeration plant for NASA Johnson Space Center that will be used in testing components of the next space telescope, tripling the capacity of the current refrigeration system. JLab staff will help NASA scientists cool the telescope’s components to temperatures its instruments will experience in space. Read more at http://www.jlab.org/news/articles/2008/A_Bigger_Chill.html |
