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A.
Discovering a New State of Matter
Narrator:
This is Science Today. A team of researchers discovered
a new state of matter, which can improve our understanding
about how the universe was created. Daniel Cebra,
a University of California, Davis physics professor,
was one of the collaborators in the experiments
that produced this discovery.
Cebra: To put this whole thing in a framework,
we're trying to understand big bang cosmology and
matter at the very beginning of time.
Narrator: Normal matter consists of protons
and neutrons that make up the normal muclei at the
core of atoms. But going back in time, when conditions
were hotter and denser, these protons and neutrons
were broken apart into what are called quarks. What
this group discovered using a heavy ion collider,
was an even earlier stage known as the quark-gluon
plasma state.
Cebra: For a brief moment, we had created
this quark-gluon plasma in the laboratory - an area
where we can control it and we can study it's properties.
So that was really exciting - is to be able to say
that we've created something that's only existed
originally a few microseconds after the big bang.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa
Branin.
B.
Some Tips about Internet Security
Narrator:
This is Science Today. An expert on Internet security
says recent hacker attacks to various sites are a
passing phenomenon that will come and go over time
- just like a credit card fraud. Eric Brewer, a professor
of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at
the University of California, Berkeley, says that
doesn't mean these attacks will be ignored.
Brewer: We should still be vigilant about detecting,
preventing these attacks and closing the kinds of
loopholes that are currently exploited and that's
going to happen. But in the big picture, I think we
should remind ourselves how fortunate we are that
the Internet is what it is.
Narrator: Brewer has done lots of research
on Internet security, including flaws in on-line credit
card transactions and advises users to do what the
does - only use one dedicated credit card on the Internet.
Brewer:
There's
two reasons I'm quite happy to do that. One is it's
only one card of several I have and the more important
reason is the group that's at risk here is the credit
card company, not the individual. In general, you
can't lose more than fifty dollars on your credit
card if you're using it sincerely. They'll take the
risk that it'll be safe 'cause in general, it is safe.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa
Branin.
C.
Do Babies have Long-term
Memory?
Narrator: This is Science Today. Over the years,
it's been discovered babies are more perceptive about
the world than previously thought. Since 1982, psychologist
Linda Acredolo of the University of California, Davis,
has been studying how baby signs - or gesturing -
affect cognitive development.
Acredolo: Over the course of these many, many,
many years we have gathered data that very clearly
demonstrate that baby signs promote learning to talk.
Actually make it easier and promote good cognitive
skills - actually affect I.Q. and most importantly
to us and to the families, make the parent-child interaction
much smoother and more positive.
Narrator: Using baby signs, Acredolo also discovered
babies are capable of having a long-term memory.
Acredolo: So, the baby signs really is a window
- not only for parents into the baby's mind, but also
for researchers to find out more about what the developing
mind is like than we were ever able to before.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
.
D.
A New Way to Test for STDs
Narrator:This
is Science Today. A new screening test for sexually
transmitted diseases may reach more teenagers than
the traditional pelvic exam. Mary-Ann Shafer, an adolescent
health specialist at the University of California,
San Francisco, says this new procedure, called an
amplified nucleic acid test, is a simple urine test,
which detects STDs just as well as pelvic exams.
Shafer: I think that the appeal of the urine
test is that in all my years of working with teenagers,
you never have any trouble getting urine from them
because it doesn't hurt. And they're used to it -
it's a familiar thing that happens in an office setting.
Narrator: By eliminating the fear factor, Shafer
hopes more teens will be tested for bacterial STDs
such as chlamydia, which is most common in teenaged
girls.
Shafer: We're not saying that young women shouldn't
have pelvic exams for their health. We're saying that
perhaps by using a urine test it's one less barrier
for them coming in - especially in the beginning.
Narrator: The main goal, Shafer says, is to
prevent the serious complications which may occur
if these STDs go untreated. For Science Today, I'm
Larissa Branin.
E.
The Symptoms of Work-Related Hand Pain
Narrator:
This is Science Today. About one out of five people
who spend lots of time on computers will develop hand
or arm pain which will at some point affect their
work or home life. David Rempel, director of the University
of California's Ergonomics Program, says brief episodes
of pain can usually be relieved by taking breaks and
adjusting workstations.
Rempel:
But we want the person to pay attention to those
aches and pains that last for longer time periods
- especially if they last into the night and are with
the person the next morning when they go back to work.
Or if they recur, they keep occurring every week -
especially at the end of the week, Thursdays and Fridays.
Narrator: Over the years Rempel says hand pain,
including carpal tunnel syndrome, have been on the
rise.
Rempel: It's clearly tied to the issue of more
and more people using computers more and more hours
of the day - both at work and at home. And once the
pain begins to develop, if it's not immediately attended
to, it can get worse and worse.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
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