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A.
A New Study Investigates Gulf War Syndrome
Narrator:
This is Science Today. After the Gulf War, most
American servicemen and women returned home safely.
But since then, thousands have complained of symptoms
ranging from memory loss to fatigue. So far, scientists
have been unable to figure out what causes the so-called
Gulf War Illness-or whether it even exists. Now,
Dr. Michael Weiner of the University of California,
San Francisco is looking to answer some of the big
questions about Gulf War Illness.
Weiner:
The study I'm doing is based on a previous work that
was done by Robert Haley in Texas. Dr. Haley studied
a group who had all been posted over to the Gulf and
found that many of them had symptoms related to brain
function.
Narrator:
The previous
study focused on a very small sample of veterans.
In the new study, 400 Gulf War vets will undergo a
wide battery of testing, from brain scans to memory
tests.
Weiner:
We'll be comparing those people who have a lot of
symptoms of Gulf War Illness with those who don't
have symptoms, and we'll see if Dr. Haley's findings
show up or if we find something else.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
B.
'Strange Quark Matter' Discovered at Core of Star
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Astronomers monitoring data
gathered by NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory have
discovered what may be a new type of star - one that
is possibly made up of particles known as quarks,
the basic building blocks of matter. For years now,
physicists - including Daniel Cebra, of the University
of California, Davis - have been studying quarks to
gain better insight into how the universe was created.
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:
Cebra says normal matter consists of protons
and neutrons, but going back in time, when conditions
were hotter and denser, protons and neutrons were
broken apart into quarks. NASA's discovery that a
star may be composed of quarks is significant because
these particles were thought to have just a fleeting
existence after a high-energy collision.
Cebra:
To
understand the overall behavior of nuclear matter,
even at the cores of massive objects, allows us a
better understanding of the universe as a whole.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
C.
The Advent of Disposable Hearing Aids
Narrator:
First, disposable contact lenses, now disposable hearing
aids. This is Science Today. Dr. Robert Sweetow, director
of the University of California, San Francisco Audiology
Clinic, says these hearing aids, which will cost about
forty dollars each, will soon hit the market. Sweetow
has been comparing disposable hearing aids to conventional
ones and says one of the advantages of disposable
units is it ensures against becoming technologically
obsolete.
Sweetow:
With something like a disposable product where you're
paying for what you're getting that month and that's
it - then if next month a better disposable product
comes out - hey, good - go to that.
Narrator:
The disposable hearing aids will have seven different
prescriptions and can be replaced when the battery
dies - about forty days later. But Sweetow says some
adjustments had to be made to this formerly one-size-fits
all device.
Sweetow:
Because we were getting so few people that it properly
fit, it's now two sizes fits all. They've come out
with an additional tip for it.
Narrator:
Sweetow is currently conducting comparative studies
of sound quality. For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
D.
OceanStore: A Vast Storage System on the Internet
Narrator:
This is Science Today. One of the buzz phrases going
around today is ubiquitous computing. John Kubiatowicz,
a researcher at the University of California, Berkeley,
says this phrase refers to the trend of putting computers
into everything - from cars to walls to shoes … that's
right, shoes.
Kubiatowicz:
I saw a commercial for a tennis shoe the other
day that had a microprocessor in it that was figuring
out about high you jump. Lots of things have computers
in them. The question that immediately comes to mind
is where is the persistent information there? If you
have gigabytes or terabytes of information in a little
tiny pen and you drop it in front of your SUV and
run over it, you've just lost all of that information.
Narrator:
In
this context, Kubiatowicz invented OceanStore, a huge,
super-secure utility that would house such data on
the Internet.
Kubiatowicz:
Clearly it's got to be out on the Net somewhere. Then
you've got to worry about security, is somebody going
to be able to compromise your data, are they going
to be able to destroy and so the research goals of
OceanStore really target that.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
E.
Lifestyle Choices that Dramatically Reduce Heart Disease
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Over the last few decades,
more women than men have died from heart disease each
year and the gap continues to rise. Deborah Lindes,
a professor of medicine at the University of California,
San Francisco says there are many factors for this,
including not being aware of lifestyle choices that
may greatly affect risk. For example, within the first
year of quitting smoking, heart disease risk is cut
down by half and after five years a former smoker's
risk of heart disease is equivalent to a person who
has never smoked.
Lindes:
And this is independent of how many cigarettes you
smoked, how long you smoked, how old you are. So at
any age, or at any amount of smoking, it's really
worth working on quitting.
Narrator:
Obesity and a lack of exercise are other risk factors
for heart disease. But physical activity is not just
beneficial for those at risk who are overweight.
Lindes:
Even for people who have normal weight, normal blood
pressure, normal cholesterol - physical inactivity
increases your risk for heart disease just as much
as having high blood pressure, high cholesterol. So,
if you think you're sitting pretty because all your
numbers look good - if you're a couch potato, you're
a couch potato and you're at increased risk.
Narrator:
For
Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
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