Science / Technology News Archive | USC News

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Science / Technology

Science / Technology News Archive

Scientists Identify Major Source of Cells’ Defense Against Oxidative Stress: Both radiation and many forms of chemotherapy try to kill tumors by causing oxidative stress in cancer cells. New research from USC on a protein that protects cancer and other cells from these stresses could one day help doctors to break down cancer cells’ defenses, making them more susceptible to treatment.
Jae Jung Honored With 2012 Ho-Am Prize in Medicine: Jae U. Jung of the Keck School of Medicine of USC has been awarded South Korea’s 2012 Ho-Am Prize in Medicine, an honor that often is referred to as the Korean equivalent of the Nobel Prize.
USC Scientists Find Unexpected New Autism Gene: Scientists from the Keck School of Medicine of USC have discovered the first gene associated with autism that has genome-wide significance.
Quantum Computer Built Inside a Diamond: Diamonds are forever - or, at least, the effects of this diamond on quantum computing may be. A team that includes scientists from USC has built a quantum computer in a diamond, the first of its kind to include protection against “decoherence” - noise that prevents the computer from functioning properly.
Study to Explore Internet’s Effects on Maltreated Youth: A new study by USC School of Social Work research assistant professor Sonya Negriff MA ’04, PhD ’07 will explore how online social technology influences the development of risk behaviors among maltreated youth.
A Paradigm Shift in Understanding Chemical Reactions: Scientists at USC and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab have discovered a new route by which a proton (a hydrogen atom that lost its electron) can move from one molecule to another - a basic component of countless chemical and biological reactions.
New Facial Recognition Research Turns Heads: A team of researchers that includes a USC scientist methodically has demonstrated that a face’s features or constituents - more than the face per se - are the key to recognizing a person.
USC Viterbi Lecture Celebrates Information Theory: In 1948, an American researcher almost singlehandedly laid the foundation for computers, cell phones, compact discs, the Internet, interplanetary communications and most other aspects of what we call the Information Age.
Analyzing Life on a Molecular Level: Three faculty members at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences received research grants from the National Institutes of Health to analyze data on proteins, genes and their interactions.
Emotional Economics: Filmmakers are using functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure activity in the viewer’s brain.
Thinking Outside the (Cardboard) Box: With their endless applications, smartphones keep users connected to the real world.
Scientists Search for Source of Creativity: It takes two to tango. Two hemispheres of your brain, that is. USC researchers are working to pin down the exact source of creativity in the brain and have found that the left hemisphere of your brain, thought to be the logic and math portion, actually plays a critical role in creative thinking.
Earth's Past Is a Warning for the Future: Too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will make the oceans more acidic and imperil key parts of the marine food chain - it has happened before and can happen again, scientists warn.
Nobel Laureate Visits USC, Inspires Students: Ada Yonath, one of just four women ever to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, told USC students last month what it takes to be a successful scientist: curiosity, passion and perseverance.
USC Pharmacy, Allergan Celebrate Joint Legacy: Pioneering institutions Allergan Inc. and the USC School of Pharmacy celebrated their legacy and two of their visionary past leaders, Gavin S. Herbert and John A. Biles, along with the fellowship program that the two men established decades ago, at a luncheon in Irvine on Feb. 8.
USC Sea Grant Funds Studies of Urban Ocean Issues: The USC Sea Grant urban ocean program has awarded $727,700 to support seven new research projects led by researchers at universities throughout California.
Time Flies When You Enter a Contest: To learn why time moves only forward, one must first understand a fundamental law of physics: the increase of entropy. The law describes the tendency for systems to go from a state of higher organization to disorder.
USC Viterbi Students to Shape Body Engineering: Three USC graduate students will start an educational enterprise under the auspices of Body Engineering Los Angeles, a new National Science Foundation program headquartered at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering.
Harvard Scientist to Lead USC Center in Stem Cell Research: Biologist Andrew P. McMahon will leave Harvard University to join the Keck School of Medicine of USC on July 1 as a Provost Professor and the inaugural holder of the W. M. Keck Professorship of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine.
Mark Benthien Honored by White House: The 6.7-magnitude Northridge earthquake that shook Southern California in 1994 did more than rattle Mark Benthien out of his bed at UCLA.
USC Team Tracks Down Cause of Birth Defect: A USC research team has pinpointed the source of a genetic disorder that causes life-threatening birth defects, which may allow doctors to quickly diagnose and better treat the disease.
Fasting Weakens Cancer in Mice: Man may not live by bread alone, but cancer in animals appears less resilient, judging by a study that found chemotherapy drugs work better when combined with cycles of short, severe fasting.
Delving Into the Emotion of Gratitude: Put yourself in the position of a Jew during World War II who escapes to France penniless and is forced to beg on the streets. A passerby gives you roasted peanuts - your first morsel of food in several days.
Tough Assignment for a Top Team: The USC students’ goal was simple: Utilize the techniques of synthetic biology and genetic engineering to design bacteria to perform unusual and uncharacteristic actions.
USC Dornsife Professor Honored by Chemistry Journal: USC assistant professor Richard Brutchey was lauded for his work as a researcher by ChemComm.
USC Hosts X PRIZE Day: The X PRIZE Foundation will bring its “visioneering” process to USC today, encouraging students to develop solutions that address the biggest problems facing the planet.
Life Discovered on Dead Sea Vents: Scientists at USC have uncovered evidence that even when hydrothermal sea vents go dormant and their blistering warmth turns to frigid cold, life goes on.
Golomb Receives Prize for Scientific Achievement: Distinguished University Professor Solomon Golomb was selected to receive the 2012 William Procter Prize for Scientific Achievement, the highest honor bestowed by the research society Sigma Xi.
USC Scientists Build Working Model of Life’s Engine: Researchers at USC have built a theoretical working model of the cellular engine that powers all life.
Expert Lectures on Multisensory Integration: The USC Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy and the university’s Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute co-hosted Mark T. Wallace, director of the Vanderbilt Brain Institute, at a Jan. 13 seminar.
USC Institute Helps Inventors Become Entrepreneurs: There’s a myth that all it takes to change the world is a single great idea, usually conceived by an inventor with vision sweating away in a garage workshop.
USC Scientists Keep Their Eyes on Peripheral Vision: Two USC scientists are bringing peripheral vision into focus, showing that the way the brain sharpens its attention while the eyes are in motion leads to false assumptions about how objects should look.
Material That Cleans Carbon Dioxide From the Air: A team of USC scientists has developed an easy-to-make material that can scrub large amounts of carbon dioxide from the air.
FDA Panel Recommends Approval of Device Used at USC to Treat Heartburn: A U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel has endorsed approval of a novel device - tested in clinical trials at USC - to treat severe acid reflux.
A Quantum Leap in Computing: When American physicist Richard Feynman in 1982 proposed creating a quantum computer that could solve complex problems, the idea was merely a theory scientists believed was in the distant future.
USC Forum Examines California’s Energy Future: Leaders from government, business, academia, media and the community recently met at USC to discuss the state's energy future in a forum titled “Powering California.”
In Memoriam: Sidney W. Benson, 93: USC Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Chemistry Sidney W. Benson, who became scientific co-director of the Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences when it opened in 1977, has died.
Scientists Create First 3-D Map of Human Genome: For the first time, scientists have developed a method for generating accurate three-dimensional models of the entire DNA strand of a cell, known as a genome.
Signaling Process Linked to Obesity and Cancer: Researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of USC have discovered that a signaling process between a hormone receptor produced by the brain and a hormone produced by fat tissue is a characteristic feature of a variety of tumor-initiating stem cells.
Gene Mutation That Increases Risk for Lupus Found: An international team of researchers led by Chaim O. Jacob, associate professor of medicine and microbiology & immunology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, has identified a gene mutation involved in causing lupus, a chronic inflammatory disease that affects the skin, joints and organs.
Four USC Professors Elected as AAAS Fellows: Four USC professors have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, recognizing their contributions to science and technology.
Surprising Results in USC Study of Twins: Older female cancer survivors are significantly more likely to suffer from long-term cognitive impairment after diagnosis and treatment compared to their twin sibling with no history of cancer, a USC study found.
USC Viterbi Students Capture Solar Power for Electric Cars: The Global Electric Motorcars vehicles that are ubiquitous on USC’s University Park campus currently plug into the power grid for a recharge. But someday they may be plugging into solar charging stations built and designed by USC Viterbi School of Engineering undergraduates.
Irrationality May Be the Result of Mental ‘Noise’: Humans systematically make irrational decisions and poor estimates, but new research shows that real-world biases such as prejudice and self-aggrandizement may be explained by simple “noisy” deviation in our mental processes.
USC Scientists Find Missing Link in Regulation of Glucose: A team led by USC neuroscientist Alan Watts identified for the first time a biochemical signal that helps regulate the amount of glucose in the blood.
Restricting Use of ‘Atypical’ Antipsychotics: Restricting access to second-generation or “atypical” antipsychotics led to decreased use of all antipsychotics from 1999 to 2008, according to new research from the Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics at USC.
An Inspirational Look at Poetry: Like it or not, most people take work home with them. Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, a neuroscientist and educational psychologist at USC, takes inspiration from home to work.
The Shape of Things to Come: A USC scientist has developed an innovative method of predicting the shape of DNA, for the first time making it expedient to do so on a genomic scale.
Curtailing Poisonous Shellfish: USC Dornsife professors David Caron and Burt Jones are part of a team to receive a $4 million grant to research early detection of red tides.
NASA Funds USC Lunar Project: The natural home for an experimental USC Viterbi School of Engineering technique involving full-scale buildings may be the moon.
Epigenetic Control of Infection-Fighting Blood Cells Discovered: USC researchers have discovered how a particular enzyme results in modifications to DNA proteins.
USC Scientists Find Mechanism for Reprogramming Stem Cells: In healthy bodies, liver cells beget liver cells, while skin cells beget skin cells.
Automaton Model Predicts Regeneration of Follicle Stem Cells: One’s hair - or lack of it - is the result of a lifelong tug-of-war between activators that wake up and inhibitors that calm stem cells in every hair follicle on the body.
Scientists Find Complex Switch Regulates Simple Bodily Function: Researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of USC have uncovered a complex regulatory mechanism involving an enzyme that affects how cells use energy.
USAID Taps USC Viterbi for Geothermal Education Effort: The U.S. Agency for International Development has selected the USC Viterbi School of Engineering to work with a top Indonesian university to train experts in geothermal power.
Program Helps Children Fight Obesity: Operated by USC Dornsife’s Joint Educational Project (JEP), the USC Young Scientists Program joins forces with the USC Division of Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy to hold a health and fitness studio at a local elementary school.
Twin Study Offers Glimpse of Antisocial Behavior: There is good reason students and faculty walking the halls of the Seeley G. Mudd building think they are seeing double - they are.
Robotic Hand Picks Up Best Paper Prize: Two USC Viterbi School of Engineering doctoral students won the top prize for a paper on the instruction of robots.
USC Research Finds Clues to Genetic Instructions: The USC Epigenome Center at the Keck School of Medicine of USC has made a breakthrough in cancer research that is expected to have a long-term impact on the diagnosis and treatment of cancer.
USC and Boeing Test Unmanned Submarine: With news cameras rolling earlier this month, a team of scientists from USC and Boeing ran an 18-foot-long unmanned submarine through its paces off the coast of Catalina Island.
Saving Da Vinci’s ‘Last Supper’ from Air Pollution: Having survived long centuries, political upheaval and even bombings during World War II, Leonardo da Vinci’s “Last Supper” masterpiece now faces the risk of damage from air pollution due to its location in one of Western Europe’s most polluted cities.
Recipient’s Immune System Governs Stem Cell Regeneration: A new study in Nature Medicine describes how different types of immune system T-cells alternately discourage and encourage stem cells to regrow bone and tissue.
From Deep Sea to Dry Dock: This week a USC scientist who spent 65 days at sea in search of life hidden beneath the seafloor returns from a successful expedition, which she chronicled in regular blog posts from her ship.
Is the ‘Dead Planet’ Full of Life?: David Bowie asked it best in his 1971 song “Life on Mars?” But when it comes to the question of whether there’s currently life on the Red Planet, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences professor Kenneth Nealson is fairly confident that the answer is no.
USC Launches Cloud Archive: The USC Digital Repository, based in the USC Libraries, was launched to provide researchers and collections from all over the world with a place to digitize, catalog, preserve and provide access to content.
Common Virus Identified as Cancer-causing Oncovirus: Cytomegalovirus is a cause of the most common salivary gland cancers, according to a new study from the Laboratory for Developmental Genetics at the Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC.
USC Researchers Discover Key Aspect In Gene Activation: Researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of USC have discovered key processes by which estrogen, the female sex hormone, activates genes in breast cancer cells.
Sun Sets on Oil Wells: For more than 20 years, George Olah and G. K. Surya Prakash have quietly and consistently worked toward saving the world.
Building a Way to Save Energy: Buildings have lives - they are active, and they sleep. They have different personalities and different attractions for occupants.
Antonio and Hanna Damasio Receive Honorary Degrees: University Professors Antonio and Hanna Damasio - who together have challenged dominant 20th century views about brain function and demonstrated how emotions play a critical role in high-level cognition - have been awarded honorary degrees from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL).
USC Debuts Admissions Twitter Event: From as far away as New Zealand and Korea, USC student hopefuls got their chance to ask university admissions officers what it takes to become a Trojan - without ever having to leave their computers.
The Computer Says He Sounds Drunk: People find it easy to pick up on verbal clues that someone is drunk - his or her speech is slowed, slurred, stumbling and often louder than usual. But can a computer learn to do the same?
Toyota Supports Science Education for Local Students: The USC Neighborhood Academic Initiative (NAI) has received a $600,000 grant from the Toyota Corp. to increase science literacy among students in grades 6-12.
‘Workflow’ Technology Aims at System Defense: Cybersecurity traditionally has focused on protecting entire computer networks from cyberattack.
Exactly How Contagious Are Ideas?: The language of contagious disease has long infected computer science.
Academic Journal Honors USC Professor’s Contributions: Early in his career, USC marine biologist Dennis Hedgecock explored a pair of hypotheses that since have significantly influenced science’s understanding of how marine animals pass genes on to future generations.
Pharmacy Establishes International Center for Regulatory Science: The USC School of Pharmacy has established the International Center for Regulatory Science to help assure that promising new medical products reach the marketplace faster while also maintaining proper safety standards.
Two Molecules Kill Lymphoma Cells In Mice: USC researchers have identified two molecules that may be more effective cancer killers than currently available on the market.
Grant Allows USC Scientist to Study Brain Tumor: Anat Erdreich-Epstein was awarded a two-year exploratory grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to study a newly discovered gene that slows the growth of malignant brain tumors.
ICT Virtual Humans Change the Face of Training: At a Naval training facility in Newport, R.I., gunner’s mate Jacob Cabrillo, a new junior sailor, sits hunched in his chair, fully outfitted in his Navy uniform.
Scientist’s Revolutionary Drug Pump Draws NSF Support: Last month, for the first time in 11 years, USC associate professor Ellis Meng found herself raising her hand and asking questions in the classroom - not answering them.
Mexican Student Brings His Talents to USC Viterbi: Juan-Miguel Ramírez-Rocamora began the doctoral program in USC’s biomedical engineering (BME) in August, but he had to take two days off in September to fly back to his alma mater for ceremonies honoring his academic achievements.
Quantum Computing Center Established at USC: Building on its history of pioneering advances in high-performance computing and the Internet, USC now is exploring the future of quantum computing.
USC Conference Targets Aging: Americans 65 years or older numbered 39.6 million, or 12.9 percent of the total population, in 2009, a number that is projected to grow to 72.1 million, or 19 percent of the population, by 2030.
USC Event Reviews Progress of Energy Nanoscience: More than 70 scientists examining new ways to turn light into energy and energy into light recently gathered at USC to discuss achievements and decide directions.
Azad Madni Named an INCOSE Pioneer: USC Viterbi School of Engineering professor Azad Madni was given the 2011 Pioneer Award by the International Council on Systems Engineering.
USC Scientist Cracks Mysterious Copiale Cipher: The manuscript seems straight out of fiction: a strange, handwritten message in abstract symbols and Roman letters meticulously covering 105 yellowing pages hidden in the depths of an academic archive.
A Digital Landscape of Diseases: USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences scientists and their colleagues have been awarded a $5.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study disease connections as part of a collective of research centers.
USC and IBM Go to Bat on Social Media Project: IBM and the USC Annenberg Innovation Lab have begun a new social media analysis project focusing on Major League Baseball during the World Series.
Massry Prize Winners Discuss Protein Folding: Correct folding of proteins can make the difference between health and disease, according to researchers F. Ulrich Hartl of the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry and Arthur Horwich of Yale University. The two were jointly awarded the 2011 Massry Prize this month for their work in discovering how proteins fold.
Researchers to Investigate Drug Resistance: A team of researchers from Keck School of Medicine of USC-affiliated Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and City of Hope has received a five-year, $2.5 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to establish a research center that will study drug resistance in pediatric cancer, particularly in childhood neuroblastoma.
USC Lab Stresses Security on the Web: DETERlab should come with a warning: Don’t try this at home.
USC Scientist Targets Genetic Cause of Infant Mortality: The disease is heartbreaking. It turns babies into ragdolls and extinguishes lives just as they are getting started.
And the Microbes Shall Inherit the Earth: Global warming is not a novel phenomenon, and by studying what happened to the planet during a period of global warming about 250 million years ago, one USC scientist hopes to discover what could happen to us this time around.
Ming Hsieh Institute Symposium Explores Nanomedicine: Small medicine was the big idea as the Health Sciences campus hosted the USC Ming Hsieh Institute for Research on Engineering Medicine for Cancer Symposium on Sept. 29.
Motor Memory: The Long and Short of It: For the first time, scientists at USC have unlocked a mechanism behind the way short- and long-term motor memory work together and compete against one another.
USC Scientist Tracks Neurotoxin-Producing Algae: With toxic algal blooms ramping up in frequency and severity locally, USC scientists have developed a new method to monitor algae in hopes of one day being able to predict when and where toxic “red tides” will occur.
The Internet of Tomorrow: Faster, Better and Cheaper: Researchers from USC, the University of Arizona and seven other institutions are attempting to save the Internet by making it cheaper, faster and better.
It Could Happen One Night: Envision a romantic comedy with a science-based plot. The leading roles are biologists, let’s say, working in the same lab, using Schizosaccharomyces pombe to find a cure for cancer. Love ensues, followed by some terrible mishap in the lab, a breakup, makeup and the obligatory walk down the aisle.
Autism May Have Had Advantages in the Past: People with autism face multiple challenges because of their condition, but they may have been capable hunter-gatherers in the prehistoric era, according to a paper published in Evolutionary Psychology.
First Detailed Map of Human Neuroreceptor Generated: For the first time, USC scientists have mapped out a neuroreceptor. This scientific breakthrough promises to revolutionize the engineering of drugs used to treat ailments such as Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia.
The Importance of Life’s Day/Night Cycle: USC researchers were surprised recently to discover just how much the rising and setting of the sun drives life on Earth - even in unexpected places.
Hungary Honors Native Son George Olah: His native country of Hungary honored its hero George Olah with the Széchenyi-nagydíj Grand Prize during a ceremony at the Bel Air Crest Clubhouse.
USC Viterbi, Metrolink Study Rail Safety: An ongoing safety initiative by the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and Metrolink, the regional rail commuter system serving Southern California, led to a two-day class that brought together academic experts and rail system executives who collaborated on a problem-solving format.
Scientists Probe Connection Between Sight and Touch: Shakespeare famously referred to “the mind’s eye,” but scientists at USC now also have identified a “mind’s touch.”
Key Protein Linked to Acute Liver Failure: New research from the Keck School of Medicine of USC may help prevent damage to the liver caused by drugs like acetaminophen and other stressors.
Peer Pressure? It’s Hardwired Into Our Brains: A new USC study explains why people take stupid chances when all of their friends are watching that they would never take by themselves.
Brinton Receives Planning Award for Alzheimer’s Research: Roberta Diaz Brinton is one of 19 researchers to receive a CIRM Disease Team Therapy Development Award from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine
A Search for Life at the Earth’s Extremes: A USC scientist will take a research expedition this month into the heart of the Mid-Atlantic Ocean to explore the very limits of life on Earth.
Freedom of Speech or Personal Security?: A new breed of hacker is afoot. Having moved beyond targeting and shutting down websites, this hacker doesn’t do it for glory or money, but for political purposes.
USC School of Pharmacy Announces Quintiles Gift: The USC School of Pharmacy has received a gift from Quintiles to establish the Quintiles Chair in Pharmaceutical and Regulatory Innovation and the Quintiles International Lecture Series, both to be housed at the Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics at USC.
Innovation Lab Creates Space for New Ideas: The USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism introduced a new idea-generation space for the USC Annenberg Innovation Lab on Aug. 23 at an open house event filled with students, faculty and corporate partners.
USC Breakthrough in Hydrogen Fuel Cells: A team of USC scientists has developed a robust, efficient method of using hydrogen as a fuel source.
Natural Anti-Oxidant Deserts Aging Body: When the body fights oxidative damage, it calls up a reservist enzyme that protects cells - but only if those cells are relatively young, a study has found.
USC Viterbi Professors Tapped Among Top Innovators: USC Viterbi School of Engineering faculty members Jernej Barbič and Bhaskar Krishnamachari have been named among the world’s top innovators under the age of 35 by Technology Review magazine.
Grant Funds New Tool to Help Cancer Treatment: USC School of Pharmacy assistant professor Andrew MacKay has received a $75,000 grant from the Ming Hsieh Institute for Engineering Medicine for Cancer to visualize how therapeutics interact with the tumor environment.
Inventing Ways to Spark Interest in STEM: Gary Scott, associate professor of clinical education at the USC Rossier School of Education, is using the wonder of invention to spark an interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
Scientists Study Advancement of Myeloma: Research at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, conducted with other scientists, has shown that a cellular-signaling mechanism spurs the advancement of multiple myeloma, a bone-marrow cancer accounting for 10 percent of all blood-borne malignancies, and also makes the disease resistant to drugs.
USC Discovery Sheds Light on Sight: Neurons in the primary visual cortex respond selectively to lines and edges of visual images, allowing the brain to distinguish their orientation.
One Gear for Fear?: Do you run when you should stay? Are you afraid of all the wrong things? An enzyme deficiency might be to blame, according to new research in mice by USC scientists.
USCmobile Website Wins Design Award: The USCmobile website, designed by the USC Information Technology Services’ Web Services team, has won the 2011 eduStyle Judged Award for best mobile site.
USC Scientist Develops Virus That Targets HIV: In what represents an important step toward curing HIV, a USC scientist has created a virus that hunts down HIV-infected cells.
Ocean Probes Offer Insight Into Climate Change: A USC researcher has opened a new window to understanding how the ocean impacts climate change.
USC Conference Plugs Into Robotics: As it does every summer, the Robotics: Science and Systems Conference brought together top researchers working on the algorithmic and mathematical foundations of robotics and its applications.
Virtual Classmates Unite in Real World: This summer, students in online graduate programs in geographic information science and technology gathered at the USC Wrigley Marine Science Center on Catalina Island to meet their classmates face-to-face and collaborate on research projects.
Swanson Elected President of Society for Neuroscience: Larry Swanson, Milo Don and Lucille Appleman Professor of Biological Sciences at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, has been elected president-elect of the Society for Neuroscience.
USC Scientists Contribute to a Breakthrough in Quantum Computing: Scientists have taken the next major step toward quantum computing, which will use quantum mechanics to revolutionize the way information is processed.
Student Presents Study at National Diabetes Meeting: USC School of Pharmacy student Jason Lebowitz has studied obese patients with type 2 diabetes.
Cancer Cells, Stem Cells Share Same Origin, Researchers Say: Oncogenes generally are thought to be genes that, when mutated, change healthy cells into cancerous tumor cells.
USC Researchers Explore the Source of Empathy in the Brain: Your brain works hard to help understand your fellow person - no matter how different they may be.
USC Makes a Game of Getting More Students to College: For many with college aspirations, navigating the dizzying world of applications and financial forms may seem like a maze. So why not turn it into a game?
Tavaré Elected to the Royal Society: Simon Tavaré, holder of the George and Louise Kawamoto Chair in Biological Sciences at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, has been named a fellow of the Royal Society.
The Brain Co-opts the Body to Promote Pro-Social Behavior: The human brain may simulate physical sensations to prompt introspection, capitalizing on moments of high emotion to promote moral behavior, according to a USC researcher.
SETI Director Jill Tarter Appointed Adjunct Professor at USC: Jill Tarter, holder of the Bernard M. Oliver Chair for SETI Research and director of the Center for SETI Research, has been appointed adjunct professor of physics and astronomy at USC.
Researchers Engineer Functioning Intestine in Lab: Researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of USC have engineered a small intestine in mice that replicates the structures of a naturally occurring intestine.
Vanderveen Voices Support for Pharmacists: With the implementation of health care reform comes a restructuring of the health care team.
USC Researchers Examine Cell Signaling Pathway: In a new study, three USC researchers examined how one form of a protein important in forming tooth enamel also can tip the balance of mesenchymal stem cells within bone marrow into the formation of bone or fat tissue.
Chronic Stress Can Cause Brain Disease: Chronic stress has long been linked with neurodegeneration. Scientists at USC now think they may know why. The study, which has tremendous implications for understanding and treating Alzheimer’s disease, was published in the June issue of the Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.
The Genius of a Disorderly Enzyme: Why is antibody diversity important?
Restoring Memory, Repairing Damaged Brains: Scientists have developed a way to turn memories on and off - literally with the flip of a switch. Using an electronic system that duplicates the neural signals associated with memory, they managed to replicate the brain function in rats associated with long-term learned behavior, even when the rats had been drugged to forget.
Genetic Mutation Causing Excessive Hair Growth Is Discovered: Researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, together with scientists in Beijing, China, have discovered a chromosomal mutation responsible for a rare condition in which people grow excess hair all over their bodies.
Water’s Surface Not All Wet: Air and water meet over most of the earth’s surface, but exactly where one ends and the other begins turns out to be a surprisingly subtle question.
Neamati Gets Funding for Breast Cancer Research: USC School of Pharmacy associate professor Nouri Neamati has received a grant to study GRP78 inhibitors as novel therapeutics for breast cancer.
USC Viterbi Specialists to Design Software for Cluster Satellite: The USC Viterbi School of Engineering has been selected to develop the design software for the F6 satellite.
Undergraduates Launch Science Blog: A group of ingenious USC undergraduates aren’t waiting for that golden opportunity to publish their science articles.
Spending a Saturday on Catalina Island: This summer, the USC Wrigley Marine Science Center on Catalina Island welcomes the general public to visit its research facilities through its “Saturday at the Lab” program, which began on Memorial Day weekend.
Researchers Create Robotic Aids for Visually Impaired: For the visually impaired, navigating city streets or neighborhoods brings constant challenges. And the reality is that a significant number of such people must rely on a rudimentary technology - a simple cane - to find their way through a world filled with obstacles.
USC Study Locates the Source of Key Brain Function: Scientists at USC have pinned down the region of the brain responsible for a key survival trait - people’s ability to comprehend a scene, even one never previously encountered, in a fraction of a second. Findings of the study appears in the June 1 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.
USC Wins Top Prize at Managed Care Meeting: The USC School of Pharmacy came out on top at the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy 23rd Annual Meeting and Showcase in Minneapolis.
First in the World: The USC School of Pharmacy awarded the Doctor of Regulatory Science, abbreviated as DRSc, to Martin Solberg, Michael Jamieson and Susan Bain at the USC Commencement on May 13, an international first.
Dispatches From the Oceans of Micronesia: What happens when 24 students take to the ocean to study the fragile ecosystems of Micronesia’s coral reefs?
USC Awarded Two Department of Defense Grants: Two USC Viterbi School of Engineering professors have received highly competitive and sought-after five-year grants for interdisciplinary basic research.
Swedish Institute Confers Honorary Doctorate on Margaret Gatz: Margaret Gatz knew she was onto something special when she arrived in Sweden 25 years ago. She was invited to join a group of researchers who had discovered a sample of twins raised apart that largely had been forgotten.
Leadership Lessons From the Top of the World: Conrad Anker and Geoff Tabin are two of the world’s foremost adventure seekers. Each has made several death-defying climbs of the world’s highest peaks.
Music Meshed With Science: Meet this year’s poster child for the joys of intellectual exploration. Samantha Ancona is graduating with a perfect 4.0 GPA biological sciences and oboe performance.
Navigating the ‘Political’ Web: Truthdig, co-founded by USC Annenberg communication professor and journalism alumna, wins a second consecutive Webby Award for best political blog.
Science + Business = Prize: Jeremy Tanner, a neuroscience major at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, has been selected as one of 10 Sample Renaissance Scholar Prize recipients.
Online Communication Master's Program Set to Launch in Fall: USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism is set to launch an online version of its Master of Communication Management program this fall.
Celis and McKnight Awarded Technology Prize: Bill Celis and Anne McKnight were awarded the Provost’s Prize for Teaching With Technology.
Peeling Off the Layers: For the first time, an active delamination of continental lithosphere has been found beneath the Colorado Plateau. Meghan Miller, assistant professor of earth sciences at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, and her team’s discovery is featured in Nature.
Postcards From the Edge of a Leaf: Entomologist May Berenbaum is bugged by Rep. Joe Baca. Seeking to forever squash the Delhi sands flower-loving fly, the congressman for California’s 43rd district is pushing for a bill that would amend the federal Endangered Species Act.
Team Wins Maseeh Prize for Innovative Technology: Seven teams presented their visions for new technology on April 15 to four judges at the Maseeh Entrepreneurship Prize Competition - and one received a $50,000 check to move forward.
Engineering Fresher American Flowers: It is an unlikely connection - a partnership between the California Cut Flower Commission and the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering.
Gene Therapy Has Potential to Restore Sight to the Blind: Researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of USC have developed a potential therapy for blindness that involves delivering a gene encoding a light-sensitive protein to inner retinal cells, enabling photosensitivity in these cells and restoring visual function in mouse models.
Researchers Focus on Gene Activation: Researchers have discovered that only a small region of a protein responsible for controlling the proliferation of both normal and cancer cells is required for the initial process of turning on genes.
Science Writing for Everyone: Do Japanese people have a special sushi-digestion gene? What are 10 things everyone must know about comets? Can giraffes swim?
Nothing Fishy About Sardine Kill: The few million silvery sardines that recently went belly up at Redondo Beach have been removed and the rotten egg smell nearly has dissipated.
Beyond Geography: Jack Dangermond, founder of Esri, the world’s largest and most successful geographic information system (GIS) software company, shared his vision for spatial sciences at the inaugural USC Spatial Sciences Institute event.
Pharmacy Student Participates in Global Forum: For Dimple Modi, being part of an international pharmacy community has been an enriching experience.
USC Experts Present Findings From Japan’s Quake: Within hours of Japan's catastrophic earthquake and tsunami on March 11, scientists from the Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the USC School of Engineering were heading to coastal communities to survey damage.
Motors on a Mission: Within each of our bodies are billions of neurons. These cells relay chemical and electrical signals, forming vast networks that comprise the human nervous system.
Dana and David Dornsife Honored for Their Gift: USC president C. L. Max Nikias on Wednesday held up two engraved, long golden chains - an honor presented to only one other person in USC’s 131-year-history.
Ocean Education for the Masses: USC College scientists are working with staff and volunteers at informal education centers across Southern California to bring the results of their ocean research to education programs aimed at the general public.
New Director Appointed for USC Wrigley Institute: Roberta Marinelli has been appointed the new director of the USC Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies by USC College dean Howard Gillman.
USC Delegation Meets With Congressional Leaders: A delegation of USC administrators and trustees led by President C. L. Max Nikias met with congressional leaders March 15 to discuss the importance of federal research funding in education, innovation and job creation.
Valter Longo Receives $11.5 Million NIH Award: USC Davis School of Gerontology cell biologist Valter Longo received an $11.5 million award from the National Institute of Health for a research program focusing on dietary restriction and mechanisms of differential cellular protection.
USC Receives Largest Single Gift in Its History: USC has received $200 million - the largest single gift in its history - from longtime supporters and international philanthropists Dana and David Dornsife.
Pharmacy Students Win Clinical Counseling Competition: Members of the USC chapter of the Student National Pharmaceutical Association traveled to Houston for the its regional conference, which took place Feb. 18-20 at Texas Southern University.
Health Experts Ponder Medication Therapy Management: Is medication therapy management the best way to ensure that the high-cost, high-impact biologics often used to treat cancer patients are used correctly?
MAT@USC Wins 2011 Innovation Award: MAT@USC, the USC Rossier School of Education’s online master of arts in teaching program, was honored with a 2011 International Award for Innovative Practices in Higher Education in Washington, D.C., for melding new technologies with hands-on classroom teaching experience.
Mark Thompson: A Scientist With Influence: Mark Thompson, professor of chemistry, materials science and environmental sciences at USC College, is ranked 12th on Thomson Reuters’ Science Watch list as one of the world’s most influential chemists.
Forsburg Lauded for Commitment to Women in Science: Susan Forsburg, professor of biological sciences at USC College, has received the 2011 Roche Diagnostics Alice C. Evans Award from the American Society of Microbiology for contributions to the advancement of women in science.
Professors Receive Millions in NIH Funding: Faculty in USC College’s Department of Biological Sciences earned exceptionally high priority scores from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) during the past year, which will translate to generous funding for their diverse research projects.
Geo-immersion Inspires Students and Faculty: One of the longest-running research efforts at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering recently assembled an enthusiastic audience to hear about its new realm of expertise: space.
New Robotic Surgery for Kidney Cancer: USC urologists have developed a new method of robotic surgery for kidney cancer, which could help reduce organ damage.
Research That Sparks New Ideas: Students of the Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC presented research projects and received awards as part of this year’s annual Research Day.
Dwarfism Gene Linked to Protection From Cancer and Diabetes: A 22-year study of abnormally short individuals suggests that a growth-stunting mutation also may stunt two of humanity’s worst diseases.
USC Hosts Drug Design Symposium: Although the quest to identify new therapeutics is a huge undertaking, the methods used to get there are conducted on a molecular scale.
USC School of Pharmacy Leaps Up in NIH Funding: The USC School of Pharmacy climbed up the rankings for total National Institutes of Health funding for pharmacy schools nationwide, moving from the No. 17 spot in 2009 to the No. 2 spot in 2010.
Researchers Probe Mechanism for Detecting Viruses: Researchers have discovered the mechanism by which the body turns off the production of interferon I, a protein that enables cells to communicate about detecting and fighting viruses.
Talk About Jeopardy! It’s Humans vs. Computer: The USC Viterbi School of Engineering announced that members of its Information Sciences Institute are among scientists collaborating with IBM to advance the Question Answering (QA) technology behind the IBM Watson computing system.
USC Targets Neurosciences as Key University-wide Focus: Provost’s Professor Pat Levitt has been named chair of a faculty committee that will work to raise USC’s neuroscience programs to a level of undisputed academic excellence and to recruit transformative faculty to accelerate that rise.
How Much Information Is There in the World?: A study appearing Feb. 10 in Science Express, an electronic journal that provides select Science articles ahead of print, calculates the world’s total technological capacity — how much information humankind is able to store, communicate and compute.
Humayun, Requicha Elected to National Academy of Engineering: Mark S. Humayun and Aristides A. G. Requicha have been elected members of the National Academy of Engineering.
USC Smart Fence Recognizes Bad Airport Neighbors: Smart Fence, a perimeter-protection system created by a team from the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, soon will be implemented at a Florida airport.
Ioannou to Design Smart Cars for Crowded Cities: USC Viterbi School of Engineering professor Petros Ioannou and the Center for Advanced Transportation Technologies have been selected to be partners in the recently launched “Audi Urban Intelligent Assist” project.
Stories Set in Stone: When four members of the USC College Department of Earth Sciences took a fieldwork expedition to the United Kingdom, they didn’t have to venture out to the middle of nowhere, drive on dirt roads for hours or hike miles to reach their destination.
USC, SETI Institute Team Up: An affiliation between USC and the SETI Institute will create formal ties between one of America’s premier research universities and one of the most innovative and highly regarded scientific research institutions.
Digital Makeover Improves USC's Learning Locales: USC's Information Technology Services (ITS) has launched a major redesign of the university's learning spaces intended to foster diverse approaches to learning and teaching.
Study: Pharmacists Improve Clinical Outcomes for Diabetes Patients: A study led by USC School of Pharmacy faculty members Kathleen Johnson, Steven Chen, Mel Baron and Jeffrey McCombs demonstrates that integrating pharmacist-led management of type 2 diabetes into safety net clinics with the patient-centered medical home model improves clinical outcomes.
Eight USC Professors Named AAAS Fellows: Eight USC professors have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in recognition of distinguished accomplishments in advancing science and serving society.
New Study on Adults With Type 2 Diabetes: High-risk adults with type 2 diabetes whose long-term blood sugar levels very high or very low, may be at greater risk of heart attack and stroke.
USC Research Among Year’s Top Breakthroughs: Groundbreaking research by Keck School of Medicine of USC scholars has been selected as one of Science magazine’s top 10 breakthroughs of 2010.
USC Viterbi Nanosatellite Blasts Off: All systems were go Dec. 8 at Cape Canaveral where a newly developed Falcon 9 heavy lift vehicle sent into orbit a packet of nanosatellites.
Smartphones, Videogames Let Public Monitor Health: While the public's yearning for health news and information can be seen in the popularity of such TV shows as The Doctors and Web sites such as WebMD, these outlets only hint at the possibilities that technology will have on health care in the near future.
Reaching Toward the Fountain of Youth: To understand the promise and pitfalls of anti-aging therapies, start with the research and lifestyles of anti-aging scholars.
Robotics Gains Traction in Military and Civilian Sectors: A captivated audience of Naval Postgraduate School students, faculty and staff in Monterey, Calif., attended a lecture on autonomous systems, presented by George Bekey, Emeritus Professor of Computer Science at USC.
Pharmacy Student Presents Research at Conference: Tim Bensman was honored with an invitation to give a poster and oral presentation at the 24th annual North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference,
Groundbreaking Surgeries Save Kidneys of Two Patients: Two groundbreaking surgeries recently performed by a team of surgeons led by Keck School of Medicine of USC professor Inderbir Gill have allowed two patients who might otherwise have lost their kidneys to keep the organs, with the likelihood of resuming their normal lives.
Sour Research, Sweet Results: This Thanksgiving, when you bite into the cranberry sauce and the tartness smacks your tongue as hard as that snide comment from your sister, consider the power of sour.
Speed Heals: Both the rate and direction of axon growth in the spinal cord can be controlled, according to new research by USC College professor Samantha Butler and her collaborators.
USC Scientist Recognized for Alzheimer’s Research: “Perspectives in Alzheimer Science,” an article released by the Alzheimer's Association, highlights the work of Liqin Zhao,
Mobile Voices Wins U.N. Technology Award: Mobile Voices/Voces Móviles has won a United Nations-sponsored World Summit Award for innovative mobile applications.
Shih, Kinder Collaborate on Genes DVD: An educational DVD has been developed by University Professors Jean Shih and Marsha Kinder.
Who We Are and Why: The brain, mind, self and consciousness, on their own and in relationship to each other, are the focus of Antonio Damasio's lifelong research and his latest book Self Comes to Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain.
One Bear of a Research Trip: Dressed in layers of thermal underwear, a wool sweater, raincoat and balaclava, Cara Magnabosco trekked 2.5 miles in below-freezing weather, lugging 30 pounds of gear to her research destination each morning.
School of Pharmacy Conference Hits Its Target: Nearly 150 students, faculty, clinicians and industry representatives attended the ninth annual “Moving Targets” symposium.
Pharmacy Student Recognized for Leadership: Level four PharmD student Cynthia Gong has been recognized by the California Society of Health-System Pharmacists for her leadership within the organization.
Pharmacy Graduate Receives International Acclaim: Daya Perkins was selected for the 2010 International Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism President's Young Investigator Award.
New ICT Building Opens in Playa Vista: USC President C. L. Max Nikias and guests from the military, state, city and entertainment industry joined the USC Institute for Creative Technologies executive director Randall W. Hill Jr. in a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the institute’s new campus in Playa Vista on Oct. 28.
The Future of Biodiversity: In the Sichuan province of China, there is an abundance of orchards but no bees.
Methanol: A Fuel for the Future: USC College scholars George Olah and Surya Prakash share a passion for the power and possibilities of the methanol economy.
Essential Vitamins in the Marine Environment: Two USC College biologists have received support from the National Science Foundation to examine the conditions that lead to the synthesis of B vitamins in the marine environment and the influence of those vitamins on marine life.
USC Launches Foursquare Campaign: University Communications has launched a social media campaign aimed at bringing the USC community closer together to celebrate the inauguration of President C. L. Max Nikias.
Breaking Curveball Too Good to Be True: Curveballs curve and fastballs go really fast, but new research suggests that no pitcher can make a curveball “break” or a fastball “rise.”
Space Is Not Limited: Two years ago, the facilities and technology department at the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism faced a dilemma.
Microbial Hair: It’s Electric: Some bacteria grow electrical hair that lets them link up in big biological circuits, according to a USC biophysicist and his collaborators.
Professor Directs $16 Million ‘Smart Vision’ Project: Laurent Itti is heading a $16-million effort by the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Advanced Research Project Agency to build machines that see the world in the way he discovered humans see.
USC Researchers Investigate HIV Shedding in Saliva: Research led by the Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC has documented the important relationship between oral and overall health and the likelihood of passing HIV through saliva.
Computer Security Students in Cyberland: Where can students learn to defend computer systems against the smartest, meanest, most malignant viruses known - without exposing their own systems and the Internet to this nasty code?
Breakthrough Award Goes to Artificial Retina Team: Keck School of Medicine of USC scientists Mark Humayun and James Weiland are recipients of a Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Award for their role in developing the Argus II retinal implant.
Fighting Cancers by Tagging Their Triggers: Imagine the day a machine can draw your blood, screen it for genetic mutations and chemical variations that can cause cancer and pop out a drug tailor-made for your DNA.
LGBT Science Leaders to Meet: A groundbreaking career summit for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students, faculty and industry professionals in science and engineering fields will be held Oct. 9 at USC.
Immunotherapy Experts to Speak at USC: The ninth annual Moving Targets Multidisciplinary Scientific Symposium, presented by the USC School of Pharmacy, will be held Oct. 23 at the Davidson Center.
Kast Named Eminent Scientist of the Year: W. Martin Kast, professor of molecular microbiology and immunology, and obstetrics and gynecology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, was named the 2010 Eminent Scientist of the Year.
Brain Finds Gestures Not So Familiar: What could be simpler to understand than a simple “thumbs up”? Apparently a lot of things: New research suggests that the brain uses deliberate thought to respond even to familiar gestures.
Sparkling Drinks Spark Pain Circuits: You may not think of the fizz in soda as spicy, but your body does.
Brains and Beauty: Established in 2006, the Brain and Creativity institute’s research is providing a new look into the functioning of the human brain.
Antonio Damasio Wins Honda Prize: The Honda Foundation of Japan has announced that its annual Honda Prize, one of the most important international awards for scientific achievement, will go to Antonio Damasio.
Studies Find New Genetic Links to Ovarian Cancer Risk: Researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of USC have discovered new genetic variants in five regions of the genome that affect the risk of ovarian cancer in the general population.
Monitor the Air - With a Smartphone: USC Viterbi School of Engineering researchers have found a way to combine smartphone resources with a novel application that allows the phones’ users to help monitor air quality.
Hit and Myths: Grant Imahara ’93 may have the most fun job in the world.
No Rest for the Narcissist: Narcissists spend their resting time deep in thought, a new imaging study shows, though such reflection likely revolves entirely around the thinker.
USC Stevens Sets New Leadership Team: The USC Stevens Institute for Innovation has announced the appointment of Rick Friedman as senior director of technology advancement and licensing and the expansion of Richard Hull’s role as senior director of new ventures and alliances.
A Memory Aid: Consistent Brain Patterns: People are more likely to remember information if the pattern of activity in their brain is roughly the same with each review, according to psychologists at USC, the University of Texas at Austin and Beijing Normal University.
Povinelli Lauded as a Top Innovator: USC Viterbi School of Engineering assistant professor Michelle Povinelli has been recognized by Technology Review magazine as one of the world’s top innovators under the age of 35.
USC Labs Open Doors to LAUSD Science Teachers: Eight teachers from Los Angeles middle and high schools spent five weeks this summer working in science and engineering labs at USC.
Cool Science: At the bottom of the Earth - the planet's coldest, driest, windiest place - the sky radiates a lavender-yellow hue in the midnight sun.
Professor Awarded Grant for Alzheimer’s Research: The Alzheimer’s Association has awarded USC School of Pharmacy research assistant professor Liqin Zhao with a $200,000 Investigator-Initiated Research Grant for her study of insulin-degrading enzyme.
Stiles Awarded Grant for Diabetes Research: USC assistant professor Bangyan Stiles has received a five-year, $283,500 grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
Stem Cell Technology Yields First ‘Knockout’ Rats: Researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of USC have, for the first time, generated “knockout” rats
Sing-Song Speakers and Measures of Empathy: A new study suggests that people whose speech is most sing-songy may have a stronger ability to empathize with others.
New Study Examines the Brain’s Wiring: The brain has been mapped to the smallest fold for at least a century, but still no one knows how all the parts talk to each other.
Roberta Diaz Brinton Honored at White House: Roberta Diaz Brinton, director of the USC Science Technolgy and Research Program, was presented with the prestigious 2010 Presidential Citizens Medal by President Barack Obama in a ceremony at the White House on Aug. 4.
He Has It All Mapped Out: Not long ago, people referred to their Thomas Brother guides to find out how to get across town. Now they access GPS navigation systems or tap into mapping programs on iPhones, Blackberries or other devices.
Not Your Typical Summer Class: One of the new courses in the summer lineup of USC College's Problems Without Passports program takes students to the USC Wrigley Marine Science Center on Catalina Island.
A Conversation With Lucy Hood: If you used your mobile phone during the recent season of American Idol to vote for your favorite contestant, you can thank Lucy Hood for making it possible.
The Building Blocks of Discovery: Scientific research is a process whereby scientists from around the world make stepped discoveries, building on each other’s work along the way.
Will T-Shirts Soon Power Cell Phones?: A USC team has produced flexible transparent carbon atom films that the researchers say have great potential for a new breed of solar cells.
Making the Most With Yeast: There is good reason Susan Forsburg’s laboratory smells of sourdough.
Microbes on the Menu: The functioning of marine ecosystems depends on the size and flavor of microbes at the base of the food chain. Changes to the Earth's atmosphere might rearrange that microscopic menu.
Key Protein Shown Important for Memory: A protein implicated in many biological processes also may play a role in memory, according to a study led by USC and the National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health.
Tweet as Can Be: Loud and lively singers, some liken the sound of finches to toy trumpets.
What’s the (Gray) Matter?: USC Viterbi School of Engineering graduate students Viviane Ghaderi and Sushmita Allam have won a $100,000 grant from Qualcomm, the wireless telecommunications and technology company.
USC Awarded $56.8 Million Grant for Clinical Research: USC has received a prestigious $56.8 million Clinical and Translational Science Award from the National Institutes of Health to support and promote scientific discoveries and their application in real-life settings to health and health care.
New Experiences for Pharmacy Students: This summer, 32 students from Taipei Medical University, China Medical University and Kaohsiung Medical University in Taiwan are participating in a four-week program at the USC School of Pharmacy.
Mixed Practice Makes Perfect: Struggling with your chip shot? Constant drills with your wedge may not help much, but mixing in longer drives will, and a new study shows why.
Seasons in the Sun: Behind the wheel of his Cadillac SRX, Edward Rhodes slows to a stop at Big Tujunga Canyon Road, where a crew works on asphalt leading to the Mt. Wilson Observatory.
Let There Be Light: Let’s consider what New Jersey is famous for. The birthplace of Ol' Blue Eyes? Where Thomas Edison invented the light bulb? Or, heaven help us, Jersey Shore?
USC Researchers Create HIV-Resistant Cells: Researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of USC successfully have transplanted blood stem cells modified to be resistant to HIV into mice, allowing the animals to control HIV infections.
Of Plants, Flies and Men: A torrent of fluorescent light rushes out onto the cement floor as Marie-Stanislas Remigereau opens the door to the growth chamber.
Making the Switch: The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering has awarded USC professor Andrew MacKay with a $445,500 grant.
Architecture School Earns Award in Miami: The American Institute of Architecture’s Technology in Architectural Practice jury has awarded the USC School of Architecture a 2010 Building Information Modeling Award.
Nature Versus Nurture: Keck School researchers have reached surprising findings about the role of nature versus nurture in the development of the neural circuits in the auditory cortex.
When Do Newborns First Feel Cold?: Cold sensing neural circuits in newborn mice take around two weeks to become fully active, according to a new study.
Space Probe Peers Into Dark Cosmos: Imagine watching the birth of the universe - the Big Bang - from the outside. What would you have seen?
People, Power and Information Technology: After six months of intensive negotiation and planning, the Department of Energy-funded Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Smart Grid Project is set to start turning green keys.
Science Students Earn Trip to Catalina: Environmental educators at USC have been showing the university’s research facilities on Catalina Island to hundreds of students from middle schools and high schools since the conclusion of the 2010 QuikSCience Challenge.
Supercomputer Rises to 5th in Nation: USC's Center for High-Performance Computing and Communications houses the nation’s fifth-fastest supercomputer in an academic setting.
Dismantling a Volcanic Puzzle: If tectonic plate collisions cause volcanic eruptions, as every fifth grader knows, why do some volcanoes erupt far from a plate boundary?
Finding the Right Application: USC journalism, business, engineering and computer science students presented entrepreneurial ideas and plans for the future of journalism at the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism.
USC Hosts Pacific Rim Events: USC hosted the third Chief Information Officers Forum and the first Education and Research Technology Forum for the Association of Pacific Rim Universities from May 24-27.
USC Viterbi Tapped to Advance Robotics: The USC Viterbi School of Engineering is one of 11 worldwide universities that have won grants to research and develop robotics. As a result, a Personal Robot 2 soon will arrive at the Robotics Research Lab in Tutor Hall.
School of Pharmacy Receives Campbell Foundation Grant: Doctoral candidate Erik Serrao was abroad in Belgium when he learned that his mentor, professor Nouri Neamti, had been selected as one of only a handful of recipients of a Campbell Foundation grant.
Success Is in His Genes: Ph.D. candidate Robert Mo has received his second year of predoctoral fellowship funding from the American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education.
Between a Rock and a Shard Place: Hang around the Department of Earth Sciences at USC College in the spring, and you might notice posters on the walls asking pointed questions.
SPPD Boot Camp Wins Technology Award: The USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development recently won an award from the American Planning Association’s technology division for its Multimedia Boot Camp class taught by professor Martin Krieger.
Closing the Gender Gap: Nonlinear partial differential equations (PDEs) are difficult mathematical problems to study. Notice it didn’t say "solve."
Teaching With Technology Prize Winners: USC College faculty Colin Keaveney and Charles McKenna were awarded the Provost’s Prize for Teaching With Technology.
Potential Bummer for Baby Boomers: There was no faulting the consistency of the message at a USC conference on aging - just its unwelcome content for U.S. baby boomers.
Swanson Elected to National Academy of Sciences: Larry Swanson has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences for his excellence in original scientific research.
R&D Plus Wizardry: You don’t have to penetrate a Microsoft bunker in Redmond, Wash., to find out what may be coming after Apple’s iPad or to learn about the newest trends in 3-D graphics, serious games and smartphones.
Neural Stem Cells Reverse Deficits in Mouse Model: Roberta Brinton leads a team developing a therapeutic to treat and prevent the onset of Alzheimer's disease.
Social Work Sets Virtual MSW Program: USC has announced a second virtual master’s degree program, this time at the School of Social Work.
Marsella, Gratch Honored for Virtual Breakthroughs: Stacy Marsella and Jonathan Gratch strive to broaden the understanding of emotion and how it can make for more believable computer-driven characters and environments.
Geography Courses Now Mapped Out: USC College has launched a new Web site for its online Geographic Information Science and Technology Master of Science and Graduate Certificate Programs.
Richard F. Thompson Is Good as Gold: Memory expert wins a gold medal for his lifetime achievement in science.
Water Retreat Quenches Thirst for Knowledge: USC’s first “Water Retreat”: simple name, complicated issues.
Osteporosis Research Is Rewarded: Three School of Pharmacy students were recognized at the Clinical Osteoporosis 2010 Symposium held March 10-13 in San Antonio, Texas.
Searching for Genes Behind a Trait: A method pioneered to find the genetic basis of human diseases also holds promise for locating the genes behind important traits in plants, according to a study published online today by the journal Nature.
From Discovery to Real-World Application: The USC School of Pharmacy has launched a new Ph.D. program designed to train translational scientists to bridge the gap between scientific discovery and clinical application.
A Collaboration With Lots of Class: Throw together an engineer, an artist and a marketer and ask them to develop the next hot commercial product — together.
Donal Manahan Studies Growth of Oysters: In physical, as in financial growth, it’s not what you make but what you keep that counts, USC marine biologists believe.
Breast Cancer Drug Tested at USC Norris: The USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center is among 20 leading cancer centers in the United States and Canada that will recruit and treat patients as part of a large-scale clinical trial aimed at quickly developing new breast cancer drugs.
The Mechanisms of Memory: It's not a unique situation in scientific research to have a hypothesis disputed. But finally having visual evidence that basically closes the books on decades of scientific debate is a unique and sweet success. For Michel Baudry, a USC College...
Researchers ID Key Mechanism in Heart Tissue Formation: The finding provides scientists with a deeper understanding of heart development.
Winners of 2010 Tyler Environmental Prize Announced: Two conservationists whose careers have centered on understanding ecosystem functions as the essential foundation for ecosystem restoration will share the 2010 Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement.
These Two Are Virtually Unforgettable: Ada and Grace, two bright and bubbly young women, literally stopped visitors in their tracks in the National Science Foundation booth at the recent American Association for the Advancement of Science conference.
USC Sea Grant Director Headed to China: Linda Duguay, director of the USC Sea Grant program, has been selected to participate in a National Science Foundation workshop in China to discuss a foundation-supported ocean science education project.
USC Viterbi Professors Lead Underwater Research: Say you let loose a dozen robots into the ocean. The launch is easy. What’s harder is figuring out how best to program this “search party” to collect data.
USC Awarded $25 Million NSF Grant: The National Science Foundation support will establish a new center to study the biosphere beneath the oceans.
USC Rossier Lauded for Innovative Technology: The American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education has selected the USC Rossier School of Education as this year’s recipient of the Best Practices Award for the Innovative Use of Technology.
USC Wins Top Award at Statewide Event: The California Pharmacists Association held its annual meeting Feb. 4-7 in Long Beach, where several USC School of Pharmacy students were recognized.
Aeneas Satellite Program Blasting Off: The USC Information Sciences Institute, in conjunction with the USC Space Engineering Research Center, is now at work on Aeneas, a dedicated USC satellite mission.
A Pill Against Chemo?: The researchers who proposed limited fasting as a protective strategy against chemotherapy now say that existing drugs may be able to do the job without the hardship and risks of fasting.
Scientist Takes a Quantum Leap: First, the highly popular Asymptotia is not a science blog. It’s a blog that happens to be written by a scientist.
Unfulfilled Promise in Mapped Genome: Donald Kennedy, President Emeritus at Stanford University, spoke about the promise of — and the problems associated with — the human genome map and society’s use of it.
One Drug, Two Diseases: Nouri Neamati, associate professor at the USC School of Pharmacy, has been working with Ph.D. candidate Helen Ha and postdoctoral researcher Srinivas Odde to develop a novel inhibitor, CX25.
Beaming With Joy: For the second consecutive year, archaeologist Lynn Swartz Dodd of USC College has won “beam time,” enabling her and her students to conduct research on ancient artifacts using the nation’s most powerful X-ray.
Does Music in Speech Equal Empathy in Heart?: Some people are annoyed by upspeak: the habit of making a sentence sound like a question?
NSF Extends Funding for Research: Rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere might indirectly fertilize the ocean with nitrogen in places that are now poor in this essential nutrient.
Teens Recruited for Science Challenge: An aquatic science challenge in Southern California that is sponsored in part by USC reached a new audience of middle school and high school students this year.
Memory Molecule, Deja Vu: A second high-profile paper in as many months has found an important role in learning and memory for calpain, a protease whose academic fortunes have ebbed and flowed for 25 years.
Pharmacy Students Excel at National Event: Paulin Heng and Allison Komatsu represented USC at the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists’ 14th National Clinical Skills Competition.
Support Hiked for Amazon River Study: An enormous plume of freshwater leaves the Amazon River and spreads across the tropical Atlantic Ocean, setting the stage for the symbiosis of some bacteria and algae.
Funds to Help in the Fight Against Cancer: Oscar Aparicio, associate professor of biological sciences at USC College, has received a $316,417 federal stimulus grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences.
Experts Help Redraw Tsunami Hazard Maps: Costas Synolakis, Jose Borrero and Aggeliki Barberopoulou of the USC Tsunami Research Center provided basic research for a new set of inundation maps recently released jointly by USC, the California Geological Survey and the California Emergency Management Agency.
Go South, Young Scientist: What land mass a) holds 70 percent of the world’s fresh water but almost no animal life, b) was settled only about a hundred years ago and c) hosts exactly one prestigious summer workshop for young biologists?
The Fly Could Prove Fruitful: Michelle Arbeitman, the Gabilan Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences at USC College, has received a $325,148 federal stimulus grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences.
Cancer Group Awards Grants to Researchers: Two researchers with the Saban Research Institute of Childrens Hospital Los Angeles and the Keck School of Medicine of USC have received grants from the organization Stand Up to Cancer.
ICT Effects Lauded in Avatar: Three members of USC's Institute for Creative Technologies team have been recognized with film credits for their work using the institute’s facial screening technology in Avatar.
Five Faculty Named AAAS Fellows: Five USC faculty members have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in recognition of their outstanding contributions in science and engineering.
New Bacterial Behavior Discovered: Bacteria dance the electric slide, officially named electrokinesis, in a new study by USC geobiologists.
Professor Wins Grant for Geothermal Research: USC Viterbi School of Engineering professor Fred Aminzadeh and his colleagues have won Department of Energy funding for a 3-D geothermal mapping and modeling effort.
Viterbi, Boehm to Receive IEEE Medals: USC trustee Andrew J. Viterbi and USC professor Barry Boehm have been honored by IEEE, the professional society dedicated to the advancement of electrical and computer sciences.
Cut Out the Middleman: Estrogen seems to act like a middleman in its positive effect on the brain, raising the possibility that future drugs may bypass the carcinogenic hormone altogether while reaping its benefits.
A Nanoscale Development With Macro Potential: The future of cancer treatment might be microscopic in size, at least according to USC School of Pharmacy assistant professor Andrew MacKay’s groundbreaking research.
Quake Prediction Model Developed: The third in a series of papers in the journal Nature completes the case for a new method of predicting earthquakes.
Why Humans Outlive Ape Ancestors: In spite of their genetic similarity to humans, chimpanzees and great apes have maximum life spans that rarely exceed 50 years.
New Nanoscience Labs Are Completed: After four years - a blink of an eye in research time - the USC Biomedical Nanoscience Initiative has built out the core laboratories specified in Executive Vice President and Provost C. L. Max Nikias’ original vision.
USC Leads Way in Transformative Grants: USC recently learned that it fared remarkably well in a new grant program from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Zumberge Awards Call for Proposals: A call for proposals for USC’s annual faculty research grant programs has been announced by the Office of the Provost.
Can Cleft Palate be Healed Before Birth?: In a study published in the journal Development, investigators at the USC School of Dentistry describe how to non-surgically reverse the onset of cleft palate in fetal mice - potentially one step in the journey to a better understanding of similar defects in humans.
Supercomputer Rises to Sixth Nationally: USC’s Center for High-Performance Computing and Communications houses the nation’s sixth fastest supercomputer in an academic setting, according to TOP500 Supercomputer Sites, which ranks the 500 most powerful computer systems in the world.
Ruvkun and Ambrose Receive Massry Prize: Gary Ruvkun has come a long way from living in his van after being denied medical school admission by USC and UCLA in the early 1970s.
USC Symposium Targets Key Pharmaceuticals: The “Moving Targets” symposium, hosted on Nov. 9 by the USC School of Pharmacy, focused on therapeutics involved in the tumor microenvironment.
Hydrogen Peroxide’s Link to Living Cells: If a circadian rhythm is like an orchestra - the united expression of the rhythms of millions of cells - a common chemical may serve as the conductor, or at least as the baton.
Davies Wins Grant to Study Oxidative Stress: Kelvin Davies, associate dean and holder of the James E. Birren Chair of Gerontology at the USC Davis School of Gerontology, has received a $244,000 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant from the National Institutes of Health for research on oxidative stress and aging.
Once More, With Robotic Feeling: Emily Mower, a Ph.D. student in electrical engineering at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, is making robots more friendly.
Pharmacy Student Earns Research Award: USC School of Pharmacy graduate student Tim Bensman’s work in the lab of professor Paul Beringer may prove to be an integral step toward the treatment of inflammation caused by cystic fibrosis.
Prep Student Excels in University Lab: Be on the lookout for possibly USC College’s youngest researcher.
Nobel Laureate Prefers Peer Instruction: Nobel Laureate Carl Wieman brought his message to nearly100 USC faculty members that current methods of teaching subjects such as physics, chemistry and engineering are wrongminded and inefficient.
Science Is Never Geek to Him: You’ve seen him in the blogosphere, you’ve seen him on TV. He’s no reality star or guitar god, but he plays with both stars and strings.
Brinton Research Earns Wide Support: Roberta Diaz Brinton recently won the 2009 North American Menopause Society/Wyeth Pharmaceuticals SERM Award.
Stimulus Grants Enhance Therapeutic Work: Three USC School of Pharmacy scientists have been awarded the school’s second grouping of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grants.
The Other Oppenheimer: People know all about Robert Oppenheimer, the Promethean figure who gave us the atomic bomb.
USC Neuroscientists to Map Gene Expression: Two USC neuroscientists have been awarded nearly $9 million to map how genes are expressed in different regions of the human brain throughout development.
Jordan Receives $1.6 Million Stimulus Grant: Thomas Jordan was awarded a $1.6 million federal stimulus grant to continue developing the PetaShake Project, an advanced computational research platform.
Fossils Fuel Their Imagination: David Bottjer and Luis Chiappe have established the College’s Center for Chinese Fossil Discoveries.
Lake Research That Isn’t All Wet: The federal government may not have been able to save California from massive budget cuts, but at least a stimulus research grant will help scientists understand the biology of western lakes.
USC Researchers Win Two ‘Big Idea’ Awards: The first group of winners of a prestigious award from the National Institutes of Health includes two USC scientists working independently to mine the proteome - the universe of proteins and protein-like molecules - for important new compounds.
Information Technology Chief Joins USC: Mark D. Amey has joined USC as chief information officer for several units.
The Doctor Can Understand You Now: USC computer scientists, communication specialists and health professionals hope to create a cheap, robust and effective speech-to-speech translation system for clinics, emergency rooms and ambulances.
Sergey Nuzhdin Awarded Stimulus Grant: Sergey Nuzhdin, professor of molecular biology at USC College, has been awarded a $563,000 stimulus grant to purchase an Illumina/Solexa Genome Sequencer.
Blurring the Lines Between Earth and Life: For decades, “geo” and “bio” have been seen as separate disciplines. No longer. In the past few years, USC has become the center of the emerging field of geobiology, involving rock-eating bacteria and intra- and extra-terrestrials.
Carroll, Nikias and Garrett Visit ICT: USC football coach Pete Carroll took a break from real world football training to explore the world of virtual training during a recent visit to the USC Institute for Creative Technologies on the Marina del Rey campus.
Bucks Stop Here for Building Blocks: Computational biochemist Frank Alber compares determining the architecture of a macromolecular machine to solving a jigsaw puzzle.
USC Engineer to Lead Study on CO2 Storage: Stanford’s Global Climate and Energy Project has initiated an international collaboration to address fundamental issues associated with large-scale sequestration of carbon dioxide in China’s saline aquifers.
USC Gets $2.9M in Stem Cell Funding: Keck School of Medicine of USC researchers have been awarded $2.9 million in grants from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine to support research into stem cell discoveries that lay the foundation for future therapies.
The WiSE Women of Science: For the past decade, USC’s Women in Science and Engineering program has been working to make academic research and scholarship more hospitable to women scientists. The reason is simple: In today’s global economic competition, American research universities need all the brainpower they can get.
Grants Boost New Pharmacy Developments: The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has awarded five grants supplementing support for current research at the USC School of Pharmacy.
Life Is Looking Up: The federal stimulus package came too late to help Morgan Hawkins - his own strength of character had already set him back on his feet - but a stimulus-funded research job will let him take the next step.
USC Program Offers STAR Power: The USC Science Technology and Research (STAR) Program provides an opportunity for seniors at the Bravo Medical Magnet High School to work as an integral part of a USC research team.
Rizzo Honored for Virtual Reality Innovations: Institute for Creative Technologies research scientist Albert “Skip” Rizzo was selected as the first winner of the Intellectual Leadership Award established by the Los Angeles chapter of Mensa to recognize, honor and celebrate the region’s leaders in research and innovation.
Grant to Fund Look at Tongue Development: Though the intricate movements of the human tongue are so vital to everyday activities such as speaking and eating, the process by which the tongue forms during development largely remains a mystery.
Catch a Rising Star: The Special Libraries Association presented USC science librarian Norah Xiao with its Rising Star award at an event held in the Library of Congress.
ICT Director Wins Major AI Award: William Swartout, director of technology at the USC Institute for Creative Technologies (ICT), received international recognition for his pioneering work, including efforts toward creating virtual humans that look and behave just like real people.
DNA Repair Is a Quirky Process: The “sloppier copier” discovered by USC biologists is also the best sixth man in the DNA repair game, an article in the journal Nature shows.
Complex Concepts That Really Add Up: An annual outreach program run by USC’s Collaboratory for Advanced Computing and Simulations is helping shape the future of computational science.
A Revealing One-Finger Exercise: “Push your finger as hard as you can against the surface. Now as hard as you can but move it slowly — follow the ticking clock. Now faster. Now faster.”
USC Researchers Support Genetics Study: An international research consortium that includes researchers from the Keck School of Medicine of USC has discovered that many common genetic variants contribute to a person’s risk of schizophrenia and explain at least a third of the risk of inheriting the disease.
Key Mutation in Lymphoma Identified: Researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of USC have identified a key mechanism that causes chromosomes within blood cells to break — an occurrence that marks the first step in the development of human lymphoma.
The Artifacts of Life: USC’s first pilgrims to a temple of high-energy physics will be seeking answers to worldly questions about ancient commerce.
Family Time Decreases With Internet Use: More and more of America’s Internet-connected households report erosion of face-to-face family time, increased feelings of being ignored by family members using the Web and growing concerns that children are spending too much time online.
Biologist Brings Hands-on Science to Kids: According to the National Science Foundation, 80 percent of jobs in the future will require some math and science skills. “Math and science are the new foundational literacy for everyone,” said Tom Luce, chief executive officer of the Math and Science Initiative.
Cool Plasma Pack Heat Against Biofilms: Though it looks like a tiny purple blowtorch, a pencil-sized plume of plasma on the tip of a small probe remains at room temperature as it swiftly dismantles tough bacterial colonies deep inside a human tooth.
A Quicker, Cheaper SARS Virus Detector: USC researchers say they have made a big improvement in a new breed of electronic detectors for viruses and other biological materials - one that may be a valuable addition in the battle against epidemics.
Teaching With Technology Grant Winners Announced: USC faculty members Steven Anderson, Glenn Clark and Mark Redekopp were awarded the provost’s Teaching With Technology grants on May 26.
The Chatter of Neurons: USC College neurobiologist Tansu Celikel and his fellow researchers examine how the brain processes sensory data.
The Case for Fish and Oyster Farming: Super corn and soybeans are so 20th century. With the world's population nearing 7 billion on its way to 9 billion by 2050, marine scientists are looking for reliable new food sources through a Blue Revolution -- the intelligent use of aquaculture to supplement depleted wild fish stocks with farm-raised oysters and other valuable ocean "crops."
Student Receives National Science Foundation Fellowship: A Ph.D. student in occupational science with the Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy received a three-year award from the National Science Foundation's Graduate Research Fellowship Program.
Mara Mather Wins Award for Career Development: Mara Mather, associate professor of gerontology and psychology, has received a K02 award from the National Institutes of Health.
Teaching With Technology Prize Winners Announced: USC faculty members Steven Anderson and Virginia Kuhn were awarded the Provost’s Prize for Teaching With Technology at a conference held at the Radisson Hotel.
Yeast Live Long and Prosper: Cell biologists have found a more filling substitute for caloric restriction in extending the life span of simple organisms.
Energy Research Center Coming to USC: The U.S. Department of Energy has designated USC as the site of an Energy Frontier Research Center. P. Daniel Dapkus of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering will direct the center for Emerging Materials for Solar Energy Conversion and Solid State Lighting.
Tyler Prize Laureates on Global Warming: Scientists estimating ice-sheet shrinkage and subsequent sea-level rising would occur in the next century believe the phenomenon is happening now, glaciologist Richard Alley said during a lecture at USC.
USC Teams on Computer Modeling Effort: Two USC faculty members and a French drug discovery company have been awarded a biomedical research partnership to study the amino acid behind numerous diseases.
School of Pharmacy Honors Scholarship Donors: The USC School of Pharmacy held its annual scholarship luncheon, a unique opportunity for benefactors to share insights and experiences with their students, on April 16 at the school’s Centennial Park.
Young Scholars Display Their Creativity: Marie Anne Cuevas, a former high school cheerleader interested in studying theatre, may seem an unlikely student to excel in nanoscience.
Autopilot Guides Proteins in Brain: Proteins go everywhere in the cell and do all sorts of work, but a fundamental question has eluded biologists: How do the proteins know where to go?
New Drug Targets Tumor Cells and Blood Vessels: USC researchers have identified a new drug compound that appears to target tumor cells and surrounding blood vessels without the negative side effects typically associated with Cox-2 inhibitors.
On the Trail of Huntington Disease: Using gene therapy, USC Davis School of Gerontology researchers have taken an important first step toward protecting against Huntington disease.
Peter A. Jones Honored for Cancer Research: Peter A. Jones has been awarded the 2009 Prize for Basic Cancer Research from the American Association for Cancer Research and the Kirk A. and Dorothy P. Landon Foundation.
Nobler Instincts Take Time: Emotions linked to our moral sense awaken slowly in the mind, according to a new study from a neuroscience group led by corresponding author Antonio Damasio, director of the Brain and Creativity Institute at USC College.
School of Pharmacy Takes National Honors: USC pharmacy students and faculty members are recognized in San Antonio.
New Opportunity for Energy Research Awaits: The $787 billion federal economic stimulus package provides more than $43 billion for energy efficiency and renewable energy programs, opening a major door for new university research initiatives, according to Donald L. Paul, executive director of the USC Energy Institute.
This Tricho Can be Very Tricky: Trichodesmium is unusual among marine microbes because it both “breathes” carbon dioxide like plants, while also taking nitrogen gas from the air and “fixing” it into a fertilizer of the seas.
Student Wins Poster Prize in D.C.: The USC Viterbi School of Engineering had an excellent showing at the third annual Department of Homeland Security university summit held March 17-19 in Washington D.C.
Faculty Member Wins ACM Honor: Shahram Ghandeharizadeh is a recipient of the Association of Computing Machinery’s 2008 Software Systems Award.
A Flying Fountain of Youth: Fruit flies may be small enough to squish with your finger when they invade your kitchen, but these tiny creatures may soon play an important role in answering a question: Why does one person live longer than another?
Fresh Thinking and Startling Ideas at USC: The university plays host to an experimental conference that embraces the unexamined.
The Machine That Goes Ping: USC’s top-of-the-line gene sequencer on Catalina Island is literally shedding light on the secrets of life.
Science Event Gets ‘Bigger and Better’: The Edison Challenge, an annual competition overseen by the USC Wrigley Institute, marks its third anniversary with an awards ceremony at the California Science Center.
National Engineering Summit Reaches Heights: Fifty deans, policymakers and students from across the country take part in the two-day event co-sponsored by USC Viterbi.
$10M Contract Goes to USC Institute: Interactive technology will help soldiers recognize and react to improvised explosive devices, the leading cause of casualties in Iraq.
Engineers Use MRI for Linguistic Studies: Imaging the soft tissues of the vocal tract in real time could explain some mysteries of human speech production.
Students Honored for Research, Leadership: Funds will allow School of Pharmacy students to expand their respective studies of HIV and Sj�gren’s syndrome.
Airport Police Salute USC Security System: The system attempts to prevent anyone from predicting security operations at Los Angeles International Airport.
Black Holes: Eternal Prisons No More: Stephen Hawking delves into the mind-bending physics of natural phenomena and quantum theory at a USC College event.
MySpace Exec to Teach at USC This Fall: Chief technology officer Aber Whitcomb will work with teams of students to develop a social application.
Biofilms: Even Stickier Than Suspected: Bacteria in common slime can evolve to become hardier, say USC biologists Steven Finkel and Alison Kraigsley.
Tiny Brain Region Better Part of Valor: Piece of hypothalamus is key to animals’ fear of territorial rivals and predators, according to a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
USC Well Represented at AAAS: Largest scientific meeting of the year draws USC researchers among thousands of scientists, policymakers and media.
Tyler Environmental Prize Winners Named: Richard Alley of Penn State, V. (Ram) Ramanathan of Scripps were among first to realize the global reach and severity of human impacts on climate. They will deliver public lectures at USC on April 23.
USC Researchers Identify Gene Variant: The gene is associated with both autism and gastrointestinal dysfunction, say researchers at USC and Vanberbilt.
Researchers Receive Sloan Fellowships: Alber, Celikel and Kempe are among the nation’s 118 scholars to earn two-year grants for their scientific studies.
Computer Exercises Improve Memory: Nearly 500 adults over 65 participate in a controlled trial. Half of them use a fitness program intended to ‘retrain the brain’ over the course of eight weeks.
Another Dimension in Technology Awaits: Starting next month, a Home 3-D Experience Lab at USC will explore the promise of new innovations for the consumer.
Alum to Say Yea or Nea for Satellite Launch: Engineer Ralph Basilio also manages the mission designed to measure concentrations of natural and human-induced carbon dioxide around the world.
Iron From the Deep May Feed Oceans: Katrina Edwards' study published in Nature Geoscience reveals a new way for iron from the sea floor to reach life at the surface.
Olah, Scholtz Named to National Academy: The USC Viterbi School is one of only six schools in the nation with two or more elected members in the National Academy of Engineering.
How Do You Build a Synthetic Brain?: USC electrical engineers attempt to create cortical neurons that can communicate with each other.
Beauty Is in the Eye of TV’s Beholders: Women in search of a lofty ideal are drawn to plastic surgery by makeover shows, says a new study.
Anti-aging Strategy May be Pointless: Eating less only benefits obese mice, according to a study by professor Raj Sohal in the Journal of Nutrition.
USC Gets Grant for Biomedical Research: The five-year, $22.5 million grant will support the computerized analysis of biological data at the university.
Predictions for New Technologies Released: Susan Metros of Information Technology Services helps to identify emerging trends that may change both teaching and learning on campuses across the country.
A Tradeoff for Educators and Students: USC Viterbi engineers train to teach aspiring young scientists. In return, they learn about keys to communication.
Embryonic Stem Cells Derived From Rats: The major USC advance in biomedical science will contribute to basic and applied research and drug development.
Fullerton Installed as Endowed Professor: In her new post, the writer-designer will serve as the School of Cinematic Arts’ top interactive game tester.
Real-Time Gene Tracking Developed: USC and Cambridge biologists measure expression of chosen gene at every point and time of a fly’s life. The method has many potential applications.
A Closer Look at Ancient Documents: The USC Archaeological Research Center has studied the Dead Sea Scrolls for more than two decades - and their technology remains unparalleled.
Nano Initiative Rolls Threes: USC’s biomedical nanoscience initiative adds three new faculty and completes three core labs.
Shedding Light on Coral Reef Health: Scientists unveil the first global index correlating night light with threats to reefs.
Innovations in Manufacturing: USC engineer Yong Chen wants to develop new software that could yield key advances in buildings of the future.
Training for Iraq, Virtually: A team of USC experts and gamers are shaping the way U.S. soldiers hone negotiation skills.
Supercomputer Rises to 7th Nationally: USC’s supercomputer becomes the country’s seventh most powerful computer system in an academic setting.
Old Flies Can Become Young Moms: A fly can have it all: frequent breeding and long life, according to a new study by USC biologists.
Suppressing Prostate Cancer Development: Inactivation of a specific protein associated with cancer development halts prostate tumor progression in animal models.
Where There’s Smoke, There’s Toxicity: Previous wildfires produced a dangerous mix of particulate matter, according to a new study led by USC Viterbi.
Megacities: ‘A New Dynamic Organism’: USC hosts workshop that sparks discussions of innovative research, technology and planning for urban growth.
Pat Levitt Named Zilkha Institute Director: Neuroscientist will study brain diseases, develop philanthropic plans and lead recruitment efforts with other USC departments.
Anatomy of a Natural Disaster: In their new book, SPPD professors review lessons learned from the tragic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Translating Research Into Action: Housed in the USC College Department of Psychology, a new research-based center has been created to benefit urban youth.
Goad to Head Pharmacists Association: Jeff Goad has taken over the top job at the California Pharmacists Association.
USC College Biologists Given $3.2M Grant: A small North African legume may contribute to sustainable agriculture and lessen the world’s food shortage. By Susan Andrews
Two Seminars to Chart Research Trends: Office of Federal Relations to offer post-election assessments of potential changes after Bush leaves White House.
Deep-Sea Expedition Begins: USC team to study some of Earth’s smallest organisms in some of the ocean’s darkest depths.
Making Space for Some Big Plans: A long-running class uses current NASA studies and ongoing projects as the jumping-off point for creative alternatives to reaching the moon.
Let’s Play ‘Beat the Quake’: Earthquake Center at USC offers online preparedness game ahead of Nov. 13 regional drill
Tuning Up for a New Software System: Two USC Viterbi scholars devise an accompaniment system that makes songwriting accessible to both experts and novices.
USC Salutes Andrew J. Viterbi: Top university officials honor the USC trustee and Viterbi School namesake for winning the National Medal of Science.
Across Campus: For Your Benefit The benefits open enrollment period begins Saturday and runs through Nov. 26. Note these important items: Since all transactions are done via eTrac, make sure you can log into eTrac at http://ais-ss.usc.edu/; questions relating to benefits...
Three Quake Seminars Shake It Up: Emergency specialist Steve Goldfarb will help the Trojan community cover what steps should be taken before, during and after an earthquake.
When Medical Met Engineering: A weekend research retreat ponders potential collaborations between the Keck School and USC Viterbi.
The Highs and Loh of Political Humor: Mirthmeisters keep USC crowd laughing during a funny forum on comedy and politics.
Massive Preservation of Archives: Effort to save one of the world’s largest video archives is under way at the USC Shoah Foundation Institute.
USC Institute Designs Digital Docents: National Science Foundation grant will allow the Institute for Creative Technologies to build virtual humans who will interact with visitors at the Museum of Science, Boston.
USC Viterbi Moves Up in the World: The school advances to No. 11 in annual rankings of engineering, technology and computer science programs.
Body’s Anti-HIV Drug Explained: Nature study reveals long-sought atomic structure of key enzyme, suggests new directions for drug development.
Air Marshals Study USC Security Program: USC Viterbi School researchers showcase their security application, currently in use at LAX, for the Federal Air Marshals Service.
Genes Key to Success on Mussel Beach: Scientists find that mussels in their natural habitat express their genes in cyclic waves, in what appears to be a survival strategy akin to the circadian rhythms that govern sleep.
The High Ground in Space: A growing industry poses myriad challenges for tomorrow's systems engineers.
Four Trojans Inducted Into Nat'l Academy: Nikias, Yortsos, Austin and Livanos are cited for significant contributions to the field of engineering.
Brain Has Competing Risk and Reward: Areas Imaging study reveals a battle between the lure of reward and fear of failure.
Alzheimer Research Center Honors Founder: University Professor Caleb Finch has a widespread influence in the neurobiology of aging.
Cultural Sensitivity Tames Tough Customers: A USC study finds a person’s country of origin determines how well they cope with uncertainty, which in turn drives their evaluation of service quality.
Andrew J. Viterbi Honored at White House: Trustee receives National Medal of Science from President Bush in East Room ceremony.
Can Virtual Reality Offer Actual Relief?: Childrens Hospital Los Angeles researcher Jeffrey Gold examines the power of virtual reality environments for youngsters in pain.
Extinction by Asteroid a Rarity: Preliminary evidence suggests that 'sick earth' extinctions are more likely.
Gerontology Adds a Touch of Tech: Globetrotting USC Davis School dean touts the innovative technology that can streamline the lives of healthier, happier seniors.
'Mission: Engineering' Accomplished: With help from USC's Pre-College Office, prep students get hands-on experience learning how to build bridges, gliders and robots.
Postdoc Decides to Take Policy Route: USC College researcher Christopher Viggiani is chosen as Science & Technology Policy fellow.
Relax... You are Feeling Into a Deep Sleep: USC School of Dentistry teaches hypnosis as an alternative to needles and Novocain.
John Walsh to Develop Online Tool: National Science Foundation grant will allow the USC Davis School researcher to create a tool for campus-wide neuroscience lectures.
New Certificates in Regulatory Science: With safety experts in high demand, the USC School of Pharmacy meets the needs of working professionals with weekend and distance-learning classes.
USC News Light Sport Plane Concept Honored: Aerospace and mechanical engineering student designs a single-engine aircraft with detachable wings.
New USC Center Backed by Infosys: For the first time, the Bangalore-based IT outfit will support software research outside its borders.
USC Rossier, 2tor Inc. Offer Online Degree: Using interactive Web 2.0 technology as part of its curriculum, the first online Master of Arts in Teaching degree program offered by a leading private research university will begin enrolling students in January.
Ogling the Google Bus at USC: Hundreds of students drop by to share their impressions of Google Apps during the vehicle’s daylong visit.
USC Experts Monitor Coastal Waters: Using radar, underwater gliders and other sensors, faculty and grad students survey the shores of L.A. and Orange counties.
Engineering Research Center Gets Grant: USC and Rancho Los Amigos experts will examine technologies that assist individuals aging with disabilities.
USC Hosts Workshop on Modeling Method: Specialists from corners near and far ponder aspects of engineering design and analysis.
USC Breaks Ground on Stem Cell Center: The Eli and Edythe Broad CIRM Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC will serve as a regional hub.
Gas Shale Research at USC Viterbi: Energy Corp. of America will fund the project undertaken by Mork Family Department professors.
Donald Paul to Advise Energy Institute: Former Chevron executive will work with a new USC institute to further the university’s efforts in energy research.
Engineering Faculty Win IBM Awards: Barry Boehm, Leana Golubchik, Murali Annavaram and Shrikanth Narayanan are chosen for promising research in their respective fields.
USC and Chevron Extend Partnership: The energy company will add $915K in scholarships and training to its extensive research commitment to the USC Viterbi School.
Engineers to Work With HP Labs: The USC Viterbi School of Engineering is among recipients of an innovative research award designed to encourage collaboration that results in high-impact research.
New Wiki Can Improve TA Experience: Administrators are counting on a new Web site to help USC teaching assistants deal with daunting situations in the classroom.
Unlocking the Key to Catalyst Mystery: New model brings USC College chemists closer to ‘Holy Grail’ of catalyst design.
Vendt, Keller Extend Gold Medal Streak: USC athletes have won at least one gold medal in every Summer Olympics from 1912.
Breaking Up Is Hard to Do: Science study provides first proof of an unlikely phenomenon involving three-way splits of a molecule.
Viterbi Algorithm Takes a Quantum Leap: Graduate student's research on data transmission will serve as his Ph.D. thesis.
Daring to Dream: The Bernard Harris Summer Camp provides a forum in which the former astronaut brings science to life for curious youngsters at USC and other campuses across the country.

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