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Science Writing

Profiles and Features	Economics	Machine Translation	Psychology
Biology	Environment	Nanotechnology	Science and Culture
Biotechnology	Food Safety	Neuroscience	Science Education
Chemistry	Health	Pesticides	Women’s Health
Cosmology	Internet	Physics	Etc.

Biology

Infecting Students With a Love of Science Pitt Chronicle - June 26, 2006 National studies may show that high school students are losing interest in science, but don’t tell Andrew Hrykowian. As a sophomore at Greater Latrobe Senior High School, he began research that would lead to his discovery of a new bacteria-eating virus, which he named “catera” after a friend’s dog.	Pitt Chronicle
Pitt Scientists Study How Cancer Cells Get Out of Control Pitt Chronicle - January 18, 2005 Researchers at Pitt have identified how a single aberrant cell can duplicate to form cancerous tumors, suggesting a specific protein mechanism as a target for the treatment of cancer, they report in a paper titled “Spindle Multipolarity Is Prevented by Centrosomal Clustering,” published in Science.
CMU Students Ride Vomit Comet Over Spring Break The Tartan - March 29, 2004 Although plenty of students probably experienced feelings of dizziness and vomiting over their spring break, it’s doubtful that they were studying astrobiology 30,000 feet above the ground at the time.
“Project Steve” argues for evolution via manifesto* The Tartan - February 24, 2003

Biotechnology

New tissue engineering exhibit opens (PDF) The Tartan - February 3, 2003 Most of the people crowding the Carnegie Science Center this weekend came for PirateFest, but some stayed to see the “Tissue Engineering for Life” planetarium show about bone tissue engineering. After ten minutes of starting and stopping, while the announcer apologized for “technical difficulties,” the Henry Buhl, Jr., Planetarium darkened, stars came out, clouds drifted across the sky-dome, and the show began.

The Tartan

Geneticallymodified foods and plants stir controversy*

TheTartan - November 18, 2002

Chemistry

Pitt WaterResearch Named a Top Science 2004 Breakthrough

PittChronicle- January 18, 2005

Researchby a Pitt professor made Science magazine’s list of top 10 scientificbreakthroughs of 2004. Kenneth Jordan’s research on how water behaves whenextra protons or electrons are added was recognized as part of the number eightbreakthrough of the year for “providing new insights into aqueous chemistry.”

Pitt researchers workingon blood-sugar sensors that won't require finger prick

PittsburghPost-Gazette - July 15, 2003

Diabeticsmay eventually be able to test their blood sugar levels by wearing a contactlens or a skin implant, instead of having to prick their fingers several timesa day.

Cosmology

Pitt Chronicle		No Stars in the Clouds Pitt Chronicle - January 17, 2006 A team of astronomers from Pitt and the Universitäts-Sternwarte München in Munich, Germany, announced in a paper presented at the meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Washington, D.C., that their search for dwarf galaxies in fast-moving clouds of gas has yielded no results, leading them to suggest alternative avenues of research to find the supposedly “missing” galaxies.
Pitt, SDSS Researchers Confirm Einstein’s Prediction of Cosmic Magnification Pitt Chronicle - May 1, 2005 Applying cutting-edge computer science to a wealth of new astronomical data, Pitt researchers and their colleagues in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey reported the first robust detection of cosmic magnification on a large scale, confirming a prediction of Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity applied to the distribution of galaxies, dark matter, and distant quasars.			Pitt Chronicle
Pitt Chronicle	Pitt Researchers Illuminate How Stars, Galaxies Form Pitt Chronicle - January 18, 2005 Researchers at Pitt and other institutions participating in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey have found evidence confirming the role of gravity in the formation of stars and galaxies, they announced at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society in San Diego.

Economics

GSPIAPanel Discusses Economic Solutions to Global Problems

PittChronicle- September 26, 2005

Extreme poverty—defined as lackingaccess to adequate nutrition, clean drinking water, safe shelter, and basichealth care—kills20,000 people every day, noted Siddharth Chandra during aGSPIA forum titled “Environmental Threats to Human Security: Problems andPolicy.” Poverty, Chandra pointed out, is tied to environmental degradation.

Researchers debate conflicts of interest*

The Tartan - September 15, 2003

Op-Ed: Third world drowns in U.S. surpluses*

The Tartan - September 15, 2003

Environment

Lots of Flowers and Trees, Not Enough Birds and Bees Pitt Chronicle - January 23, 2006 In biodiversity hot spots like tropical rainforests, a dearth of pollinators could be putting many species at risk of extinction, according to a new study that includes three Pitt researchers. The finding is raising concerns that more may need to be done to protect the Earth’s most biologically rich areas.

Pitt Chronicle

CleaningWaste with Waste

PittChronicle- March 21, 2005

OnTuesday, March 15, the Environmental Protection Agency issued the Clean AirMercury Rule, the first-ever regulation to permanently cap and reduce mercuryemissions from coal-fired power plants. The next day, at the 229th AmericanChemical Society National Meeting in San Diego, Pitt researchers presented anewmethod of cleaning up such emissions, using a common industrial waste productas a resource.

Changing Environments, Emerging Diseases Pitt Chronicle - November 1, 2004 “HIV. SARS. West Nile. Mad Cow. More to come ” So began a chilling presentation on environmental change and emerging infectious diseases by Pitt Professor Robbie Ali during a panel discussion, “The Lab: Emerging Issues,” at the Society for Environmental Journalists conference in Pittsburgh.

Pitt Chronicle

New use for‘green’ catalysts*

TheTartan- September 15, 2003

Post-Gazette

Debunking the hype of hydrogen cars Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - July 28, 2003 Automobiles as we know them are almost out of gas. Engines that burn gasoline emit pollutants, such as carbon dioxide, that cause global warming. And we're running out of gasoline itself; Americans already import over half the oil they consume, weakening energy security.

Student groupproposes garden roofs*

TheTartan - April 28, 2003

Colborn tospeak on new pollution*

TheTartan- April 21, 2003

Eco-friendlybleaching*

TheTartan - March 3, 2003

Food Safety

Grandson's death turns Grove City woman into fighter for safe meat laws Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - June 4,2003 After years of waiting to go back to school and finish college, Patricia Buck was offered her dream position in 2001 as a reading specialist. But she had to turn it down. By then, the plight of her grandson Kevin had taken over the Grove City woman's life, and she was about to become a full-time activist, which last week saw her pushing for food safety legislation that is named for her grandson.

Post-Gazette

Freshens’smoothie boosters may do little good*

TheTartan - September 16, 2002

Health

	Pitt Chronicle	Pitt Researchers Develop Less Risky Treatment for Depression, Seizures Pitt Chronicle - January 23, 2006 Pitt researchers, with the help of a team of Pittsburgh high school science teachers, have developed a wireless device that is implanted in the neck to fight depression and epileptic seizures. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration already has approved a wired version of the device, but that one carries risks and several undesirable side effects.
Disease as an Enemy, and a Weapon Pitt Chronicle - April 18, 2005 “Technology is a queer thing,” writer and scientist C.P. Snow once observed. “It brings you great gifts with one hand, and stabs you in the back with the other.” The same technology used to make life-saving vaccines can produce viruses immune to those vaccines. Terrorists can employ improved drug delivery technology and other scientific advances to make their attacks more deadly.				Pitt Chronicle
Pitt Chronicle			Hard Choices:When to Accept Organs for Transplantation Pitt Chronicle - February 21, 2005 A transplant is the only option for someone with end-stage liver disease, but such patients face difficult questions when choosing the best time to receive a transplant. In a panel discussion at the 2005 American Association for the Advancement of Science Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., a Pitt researcher presented findings on how his mathematical models can help patients make the right decision.
Elderly People Cared for by Spouse Are at Greater Risk for Abuse Pitt Chronicle - February 7, 2005 When elderly people need assistance with the activities of daily life, one might assume that the best people to care for them would be the ones who know them best—their spouses. But being married to one’s caregiver could be a prescription for abuse, especially if the caregiver is also suffering from his or her own physical or mental problems.					Pitt Chronicle

One in FivePeople in Southwestern Pennsylvania Is Disabled

PittChronicle - December 6, 2004

Almostone-fifth of people over the age of 5 in Southwestern Pennsylvania —nearly halfa million people—report having a disability, according to a new study by Pittresearchers.

Post-Gazette

Practical tool kit helps ER docs treat dental emergencies Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - August 5,2003 Denise Benko remembers the day the bike messenger was brought into Mercy Hospital's emergency department. He was zooming over Downtown streets to the next delivery when somebody in a parked car opened the side door.

Taking drugs via nasal spraysis likely to become common

PittsburghPost-Gazette - July 1, 2003

The recent approval of an inhaled flu vaccine calledFluMist by the Food and Drug Administration might signal not only the eventualdemise of the flu shot, but also an accelerating shift to nasal sprays as afavored means of drug delivery.

SARS:CMUresearcher isolates himself from friends, family, and work as precaution*

TheTartan - April 14, 2003

Gammaknife surgerywebcast*

TheTartan - January 27, 2003

Internet

Pitt professor says personalization is the key to more effective online searching Pitt Chronicle - April 18, 2005 To make searching for information more effective, make it personal: That is the message from Pitt faculty member and new National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Award winner Peter Brusilovsky.				Pitt Chronicle
Pitt Chronicle	Oh, What a Tangled Web We Search Pitt Chronicle - October 25, 2004 In the last seven years, the percentage of Web searches on sex has declined, while that of business-related searches has gone up, according to a new book on Web-searching coauthored by a Pitt School of Information Sciences professor.
Mass E-mail Campaigns May Do More Harm Than Good Pitt Chronicle - October 18, 2004 Groups that send out tens or hundreds of thousands of similar e-mails seeking to influence government regulations may be “inadvertently petitioning themselves into obscurity,” according to a new report by a Pitt professor.			Pitt Chronicle
Post-Gazette		CMU trio develops Internet search tool that sorts results in helpful clusters Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - June 23, 2003 Google has muscled its way to the top of the heap among Internet search engines by ranking its results according to more than 100 factors. But the popular service still ends up producing a single, long list of Web sites that may not be topped by the results that are most useful to someone searching the net.

Machine Translation

The Many Tongues of the Arab World Pitt Chronicle - January 9, 2006 Under the Iraqi sun, sweat pours down the soldier’s face and into his eyes. He squints at the man standing before him, who gestures vehemently and repeats something. But the soldier doesn’t speak Arabic. Is the man threatening him? Warning him of danger?

Pitt Chronicle

“Speechalator” translates Arabic*

TheTartan - January19, 2004

Nanotechnology

Pitt Chronicle	Faster Method for Detecting Disease-Causing Mutations Developed by Pitt Researcher Alexander Star, Colleagues Pitt Chronicle - February 6, 2006 Pitt researcher Alexander Star and colleagues at a California-based company, Nanomix, Inc., have developed devices made of carbon nanotubes that can find mutations in genes causing hereditary diseases, they reported in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
Toward a Quantum Computer, One Dot at a Time Pitt Chronicle - January 23, 2006 Pitt researchers have developed a way to create semiconductor islands smaller than10 nanometers in scale, known as quantum dots.		Pitt Chronicle

Pitt’sSchafmeister, Student Win Feynman Prizes for Work on “Molecular Lego® Set”

PittChronicle - November 14, 2005

APitt researcher and his student have been awarded prestigious prizes from theForesight Nanotech Institute for their work in developing a “molecular Lego®set” that will enable, for the first time, the quick manufacture of sturdy,predictable nanostructures.

Pitt Chronicle

Pitt Researcher, Colleagues Create Self-Assembling Nanoparticle/Polymer Mixtures Pitt Chronicle - March 21, 2005 A Pitt researcher and her colleagues announced March 3 in the journal Nature that they have created self-assembling mixtures of nanoparticles and polymer layers that spontaneously assume different orientations.

Neuroscience

The Ant and the Grasshopper Pitt Chronicle - October 18, 2004 In Aesop’s fable of the ant and the grasshopper, a hardworking ant spends its summer days storing food for the winter ahead, while the indolent grasshopper lazes in the sunshine. A Pitt professor and his colleagues have found evidence that supports what many of us know from experience: When we face a choice involving the future, our inner ant and inner grasshopper begin to tussle.

Pitt Chronicle

Out-of-bodyexperience artificially produced*

TheTartan - September 30, 2002

Pesticides

Pitt Chronicle	Roundup® Kills Frogs and Tadpoles, Pitt Biologist Rick Relyea Discovers Pitt Chronicle - August 24, 2005 As amphibians continue to mysteriously disappear worldwide, a Pitt researcher may have found more pieces of the puzzle.
Herbicide Roundup ‘Extremely Lethal’ to Amphibians in Natural Setting, Relyea Finds Pitt Chronicle - April 11, 2005 The herbicide “Roundup” is widely used to eradicate weeds. But a new study by a Pitt researcher finds that the chemical may be eradicating much more than that.		Pitt Chronicle

Physics

FindingSuperconductors That Can Take the Heat

PittChronicle - November 14, 2005

The search for superconductors that function at highertemperatures has taken a step forward with new findings from Pitt professor ofphysics and astronomy Yadin Y. Goldschmidt and former Pitt postdoctoralassociate Eduardo Cuansing.

Pitt Chronicle	Pitt, Bell Labs Researchers Send “Heavy Photons” Over World-Record Distances Pitt Chronicle - July 5, 2005 Scientists from Pitt and Bell Labs reported that they have designed and demonstrated a two-dimensional semiconductor structure in which excitons exist longer and travel farther than previously recorded.
Pitt Researchers See Electron Waves in Motion for First Time Pitt Chronicle - June 13, 2005 Both the ancient art of stained glass and the cutting-edge field of plasmonics rely on the oscillation of electrons in nanosize metal particles.			Pitt Chronicle
Pitt Chronicle		“Wet” Electrons Provide Easiest Way To Transport Charge Pitt Chronicle - May 31, 2005 The task of transporting electrical charges between metal-oxide and water phases is critical in such technologies as catalysis, sensors, and electrochemistry. In a paper published in the journal Science, Pitt researchers reported that “wet” electrons afford the lowest energy pathway for transporting electrons between solid and liquid states.
Discovering the Secrets of Neutrinos Pitt Chronicle - March 14, 2005 Frederick Reines, discoverer o