Volume IV Issue 10
October 2008 |
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 Talking
Fish?
 Talking fish are no strangers to Americans. From the comedic portrayal
of "Mr. Limpet" by Don Knotts, to the Disney favorite, "Nemo," fish can
talk, laugh and tell jokes. But can real fish verbally communicate?
Resarchers say, "Yes." Further, the findings put human speech -- and
social communications of all vertebrates -- in evolutionary context.
By mapping the developing brain cells in newly hatched midshipman fish
larvae and comparing them to those of other species, Andrew Bass and his
colleagues, Edwin Gilland of Howard University and Robert Baker of New
York University, found that the neural network behind sound production
in vertebrates can be traced back through evolutionary time to an era
long before the first animals ventured onto dry land.
The neural circuitry that enables human beings to verbally
communicate--not to mention birds to sing, and frogs to "ribbit"--was
likely laid down hundreds of millions of years ago with the hums and
grunts of fish. According to Bass, the research "sends a message to
scientists and non-scientists about the importance of this group of
animals to understanding behavior; to understanding the nervous system;
and to understanding just how important social communication is--among
them, as it is among ourselves."
 Find
out more about careers in biology...
Engineering
New Uses for Gold
 The
glitter of gold may hold more than just beauty, or so says a team of MIT
researchers that is working on ways to use tiny gold rods to fight
cancer, deliver drugs and more. But before gold nanorods can live up to
their potential, scientists must figure out how to overcome one major
difficulty: The surfaces of the tiny particles are coated with an
uncooperative molecule (a byproduct of the synthesis process) that
prevents researchers from creating nanorods with the features they want.
"The surface chemistry is really key to everything," said Kimberly
Hamad-Schifferli, assistant professor of biological and mechanical
engineering at MIT. "For all of these nifty applications to work,
someone's got to sit down and do the dirty work of understanding the
surface."
As their name implies, gold nanorods
are tiny cylinders of gold, about 10 billionths of a meter wide and 40
billionths of a meter long. They differ from traditional, spherical gold
nanoparticles in one very important respect -- they can absorb infrared
light. That means they can theoretically be activated by infrared laser
without damaging surrounding cells, which do not absorb infrared light.
That information could help scientists design nanorods that fight cancer
agents by burning away tumor cells when activated with infrared light.
Find
out more about career paths in
biological engineering and
mechanical engineering...
Materials
Science Innovations at the Olympics
 At
the Beijing Olympics, innovations in materials science played a critical
role in delivering maximum performance. The quest for lighter, stronger
and safer sports equipment has provided added benefits to world-class
and recreational athletes. DuPont is one of the companies finding
solutions for these challenges. For example, tennis and badminton
racquets constructed with the DuPont material Kevlar® can help resist
cracking and shattering. Racquet strings made with Kevlar® don't stretch
as much as conventional strings to deliver control and power, and break
less frequently. New materials can also be found in many cycling
accessories. And, Olympic and recreational swimmers are cutting their
swim times by wearing a swimsuit made of fabric tested at NASA.
The swimsuit fabrics were
tested at NASA Langley's wind tunnel. The Speedo fabric, LZR PULSE™, is
lightweight, water repellent, and fast-drying. The resulting swimsuit,
the LZR RACER, is ultrasonically welded suit, which gives the effect of
no seams at all. Ultra low drag LZR panels are laminated onto the base
fabric to help compress the entire swimmer's body into a more
streamlined shape and enabling them to cut through the water with more
power and agility.
Find
out more about career paths in
materials science and
engineering....
Degree
Profile: Physician Assistant
 Physician
assistants (PAs) practice medicine under the supervision of physicians
and surgeons. They should not be confused with medical assistants, who
perform routine clinical and clerical tasks. PAs are formally trained to
provide diagnostic, therapeutic, and preventive health care services, as
delegated by a physician. Working as members of the health care team,
they take medical histories, examine and treat patients, order and
interpret laboratory tests and x-rays, and make diagnoses. They also
treat minor injuries, by suturing, splinting, and casting.
 Physician
assistants work under the supervision of a physician. However, PAs may
be the principal care providers in rural or inner city clinics, where a
physician is present for only 1 or 2 days each week. In such cases, the
PA confers with the supervising physician and other medical
professionals as needed and as required by law. PAs also may make house
calls or go to hospitals and nursing care facilities to check on
patients, after which they report back to the physician. About 136
education programs for physician assistants are accredited or
provisionally accredited by the American Academy of Physician
Assistants. More than 90 of these programs offered the option of a
master's degree, and the rest offered either a bachelor's degree or an
associate's degree. Median annual earnings of physician assistants is
about $74,980.
Find
out more about a career as a
physician assistant...
7.1%
Increase in Average Starting Salaries
 Despite
a less-than-robust economy, the overall average starting salary offer to
new college graduates, regardless of major, increased by 7.1 percent
over last year, according to a new report from the National Association
of Colleges and Employers (NACE). The Summer 2008 issue of NACE's Salary
Survey showed that, in general, average starting salary offers to
2007-2008 bachelor's degree graduates are on the rise. "The continued
economic downturn and results from the Spring 2008 issue of Salary
Survey suggested salary increases to new college graduates might be
leveling off," says Marilyn Mackes, NACE executive director. "However,
the current report shows that salaries continue to rise in many
disciplines -- including some that appeared flat in the spring."
In terms of specific majors, accounting graduates received a 2.9 percent
increase to their average offer, raising it to $48,085 -- a significant
change from the Spring report when no increase was reported for these
grads. Salary offers to computer science graduates rocketed up 13.1
percent over last year to an average of $60,416. Conversely, information
sciences and systems graduates saw a modest 3.1 percent increase,
bringing their average offer to $52,418. The average offer to chemical
engineering graduates rose 6.4 percent to $63,165. Many offers to these
grads came from petroleum and coal products manufacturers, which offered
an average salary of $71,976. Civil engineering graduates also posted a
6.4 percent increase, bringing their average offer to $51,632.
Mechanical engineering grads received a healthy 5.3 percent increase,
boosting their average offer to $57,009. The offer to electrical
engineering graduates rose a modest 2.9 percent, bringing their offer to
$56,910.
Find
out more about salary levels for those
with associate,
bachelor's, and
master's degrees...
College
Students Design Future Aircraft
Sixty-one students from 14 colleges and universities around the globe
have imagined what the next generation of airliners and cargo planes may
look like. Fourteen teams and two individual students submitted their
designs in the annual competition sponsored by NASA's Fundamental
Aeronautics Program, part of the agency's Aeronautics Research Mission
Directorate. The highest scoring graduate team was from Georgia Tech in
Atlanta, GA. Undergraduate team honors went to Virginia Tech in
Blacksburg, VA. The contest asked students to create a future subsonic
transport aircraft that could carry up to 50,000 pounds, operate on
runways between 1,500 and 3,000 feet long, and cruise at speeds between
595 and 625 mph - about the average speed of airliners today. The
competition also stressed that concept planes should use alternative
fuels and be quieter and more environmentally friendly than today's
commercial fleet. The judges graded the designs on criteria including
creativity and imagination, feasibility and cost analysis, and
comprehensive discussion of design concept. As part of the competition,
six U.S. students received a 10-week paid summer internship at one of
four NASA research centers around the country. Non-U.S. student winners
received an engraved trophy and certificate. Sponsors are already
planning next year's competition.
Find
out more...
Math
is #1 at MATHCOUNTS and AMC!
 MATHCOUNTS®
is a national math enrichment, coaching and competition program that
promotes middle school mathematics achievement in every U.S. state and
territory, and involves volunteers, educators, industry sponsors, and
students in America. Over the last 25 years, more than 7 million
students have used MATHCOUNTS materials. For its 25th anniversary year,
MATHCOUNTS introduced a new Club Program to create non-competitive math
clubs by providing free materials and guidance to any middle school in
the U.S. Materials and information are available free-of-charge at
www.mathcounts.org.
For middle and high school
students, the American Mathematics Competitions sponsors the AMC 8, 10,
and 12. The AMC 8 is for students in the sixth, seventh or eighth grade;
accelerated fourth and fifth grade students also take part. The AMC 10
and 12 are 25 question, 75 minute multiple choice examinations in
secondary school mathematics. The AMC tests are available worldwide and
are a big part of shared experience of young math-interested people
around the world. More details are at
www.unl.edu/amc. The Sloan Career Cornerstone Center provides links
to hundreds of precollege
STEM programs and projects.
Find
out more about careers in mathematics...
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