Main USC news site published by the University Public Relations office. http://uscnews.usc.edu/ en-us Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:40:00 -0800 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. Even fasting on its own effectively treated a majority of cancers tested in animals, including cancers from human]]> http://uscnews.usc.edu/science_technology/fasting_weakens_cancer_in_mice.html http://uscnews.usc.edu/science_technology/fasting_weakens_cancer_in_mice.html#72654 Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:58:23 -0800 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. Unfortunately, you are allergic to peanuts. Do you feel grateful?]]> http://uscnews.usc.edu/science_technology/how_does_a_person_show_gratitude.html http://uscnews.usc.edu/science_technology/how_does_a_person_show_gratitude.html#72552 Tue, 31 Jan 2012 13:36:10 -0800 The USC students’ goal was simple: Utilize the techniques of synthetic biology and genetic engineering to design bacteria to perform unusual and uncharacteristic actions. The desired action: manipulating the genes of the recently discovered “immune” system of bacteria to make them susceptible to antibiotics, which could help contribute to the]]> http://uscnews.usc.edu/science_technology/tough_assignment_for_a_top_team.html http://uscnews.usc.edu/science_technology/tough_assignment_for_a_top_team.html#72537 Mon, 30 Jan 2012 08:45:00 -0800 Richard Brutchey, assistant professor of chemistry at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, was lauded for his work as a researcher by ChemComm, a leading chemical sciences journal published by the Royal Society of Chemistry. The journal named Brutchey an emerging Investigator, a distinction that recognizes top]]> http://uscnews.usc.edu/science_technology/usc_dornsife_professor_honored_by_chemistry_journal.html http://uscnews.usc.edu/science_technology/usc_dornsife_professor_honored_by_chemistry_journal.html#72471 Fri, 27 Jan 2012 07:30:00 -0800 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. The foundation will team up with the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, the USC Marshall School of Business, the USC Annenberg School for Communication and]]> http://uscnews.usc.edu/science_technology/usc_hosts_x_prize_day.html http://uscnews.usc.edu/science_technology/usc_hosts_x_prize_day.html#72454 Wed, 25 Jan 2012 10:56:57 -0800 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. Or rather, it is replaced. A team led by USC microbiologist Katrina Edwards found that the microbes that thrive on hot fluid methane and sulfur]]> http://uscnews.usc.edu/science_technology/life_discovered_on_dead_hydrothermal_vents.html http://uscnews.usc.edu/science_technology/life_discovered_on_dead_hydrothermal_vents.html#72442 Wed, 25 Jan 2012 10:03:46 -0800 Distinguished University Professor Solomon Golomb has received the 2012 William Procter Prize for Scientific Achievement, the highest honor bestowed by the research society Sigma Xi. The Procter Prize has been presented annually since 1950 to an outstanding scientist or engineer known for effective communication of complex ideas. Past recipients include]]> http://uscnews.usc.edu/science_technology/golomb_receives_prize_for_scientific_achievement.html http://uscnews.usc.edu/science_technology/golomb_receives_prize_for_scientific_achievement.html#72436 Mon, 23 Jan 2012 11:03:02 -0800 Researchers at USC have built a theoretical working model of the cellular engine that powers all life. The model will allow scientists to better understand the forces of life at the molecular level and potentially replicate them, including designing miniscule mechanical motors for nanomachines and nanorobots. The work was published]]> http://uscnews.usc.edu/science_technology/usc_scientists_build_working_model_of_lifes_engine.html http://uscnews.usc.edu/science_technology/usc_scientists_build_working_model_of_lifes_engine.html#72375 Mon, 23 Jan 2012 10:00:41 -0800 The USC Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy and the university’s Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute (ZNI) co-hosted Mark T. Wallace, director of the Vanderbilt Brain Institute, at a Jan. 13 seminar focusing on his most recent research on sensory and multisensory integration in autism. “There is a constant interaction taking]]> http://uscnews.usc.edu/science_technology/expert_lectures_on_multisensory_integration.html http://uscnews.usc.edu/science_technology/expert_lectures_on_multisensory_integration.html#72370 Fri, 20 Jan 2012 08:07:47 -0800 There’s a myth that all it takes to change the world is a single great idea, usually conceived by a visionary inventor sweating away in a garage workshop. Build it, the adage goes, and they will come. “The failure rate is high on that,” said Jonathan Lasch, director of the]]> http://uscnews.usc.edu/science_technology/usc_institute_helps_inventors_become_entrepreneurs.html http://uscnews.usc.edu/science_technology/usc_institute_helps_inventors_become_entrepreneurs.html#72351 Thu, 19 Jan 2012 07:56:36 -0800 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. The eye’s photoreceptors - the cells that detect light - are clustered at the center of the]]> http://uscnews.usc.edu/science_technology/usc_scientists_keep_their_eyes_on_peripheral_vision.html http://uscnews.usc.edu/science_technology/usc_scientists_keep_their_eyes_on_peripheral_vision.html#72338 Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:08:13 -0800 A team of USC scientists has developed an easy-to-make material that can scrub large amounts of carbon dioxide from the air. One day in the future, large artificial trees made from the material could be used to lower the concentrations of the greenhouse gas in the Earth’s atmosphere. Until then,]]> http://uscnews.usc.edu/science_technology/material_that_cleans_carbon_dioxide_from_air.html http://uscnews.usc.edu/science_technology/material_that_cleans_carbon_dioxide_from_air.html#72315 Fri, 13 Jan 2012 08:05:00 -0800 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. John Lipham, associate professor of surgery at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, led clinical investigation of the device as]]> http://uscnews.usc.edu/science_technology/fda_panel_recommends_approval_of_device_used_at_usc_to_treat_heartburn.html http://uscnews.usc.edu/science_technology/fda_panel_recommends_approval_of_device_used_at_usc_to_treat_heartburn.html#72288 Fri, 06 Jan 2012 09:05:46 -0800 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. A few decades later, researchers at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and the USC Viterbi School]]> http://uscnews.usc.edu/science_technology/a_quantum_leap_in_computing.html http://uscnews.usc.edu/science_technology/a_quantum_leap_in_computing.html#72169 Thu, 05 Jan 2012 14:46:58 -0800 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.” The November forum focused on California's increasing energy needs, the viability of various sources to meet those demands and the impact of energy development on]]> http://uscnews.usc.edu/science_technology/usc_forum_examines_californias_energy_future.html http://uscnews.usc.edu/science_technology/usc_forum_examines_californias_energy_future.html#72161