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A.
A Productive Supernova Facility
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Astronomers working at the
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Nearby Supernova
Facility discovered 34 supernovae last year, the
best performance ever for a 'rookie' supernova search.
Greg Aldering, a principle researcher, says that
by studying the brightness of stars as they die,
we can understand the expansion history of the universe.
Aldering:
And the thing that is interesting about these particular
kind of supernovae, they basically convert similar
amounts of mass into energy and therefore, in the
end, they end up having similar brightnesses.
Narrator:
By finding an average brightness, Aldering and
his team can estimate the distance of supernovae
within 5% accuracy, which is amazing by astronomical
standards.
Aldering:
What we do is exploit that to look at supernovae
that are halfway across the universe. And we can
measure how much the universe has expanded between
the time that that supernova blew up and the time
that we see the light.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
B.
Understanding Common Vision Problems
Narrator:
This is Science Today. About half of the world population
is either nearsighted or farsighted. Another great
percentage has astigmatism and everyone past the age
of 45 will develop age-related loss of vision. Ophthalmologists
at the University of California, Irvine are striving
to get to the root of why these vision problems occur.
Dr. Peter McDonnell says this includes trying to understand
what it is about aging that causes a loss in the ability
to read.
McDonnell: And our belief is
by understanding actually why these happen, we can
best target and create treatment to prevent them or
to treat these problems. With patients who have trouble
reading, we'll often to a procedure called monovision,
where we correct one eye for distance vision and leave
the other eye purposely somewhat nearsighted to allow
the patient to read with that eye.
Narrator:
This
has proven very successful …
McDonnel:
Eighty percent of people tolerate monovision very
successfully and find that it most improves their
lives in terms of minimizing their dependence on any
corrective lenses.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
C.
Social Disparities Arise in Access to Healthcare
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Researchers at the University
of California, San Francisco have found that although
physicians are in the business of caring for people,
many admit that social disparities are negatively
affecting access to healthcare. Catherine Dower was
a co-author of the recent California Physicians Survey.
Dower:
I would say that we are also intrigued by the
finding that many physicians do feel that people are
receiving different types of care and different quality
of care based on their gender or race/ethnicity, or
their insurance coverage. And that's very disconcerting
to us.
Narrator:
Dower says that sensitivity awareness needs to begin
in medical school and be reinforced throughout continuing
education.
Dower:
It should be a warning bell to all of us that we need
to do more cultural competence training for our physicians
and so that they have a better understanding of cultural
differences and they are able to care for people with
different backgrounds.
Narrator:
California led the nation's charge into managed
health care, so this study of the state's physicians
may indicate sounding a retreat. For Science Today,
I'm Larissa Branin.
D.
Powerful Drug Resources Found in Ocean Sediments
Narrator:
This is Science Today. An important discovery about
the ocean was made by scientists at the University
of California, San Diego's Scripp's Institution of
Oceanography. William Fenical, who led the research,
says they found that ocean sediments - even those
found at the deepest parts at the bottom of the sea
- contain microorganisms that when cultured in the
lab, produce drugs.
Fenical:
These are unique organisms found in deep ocean
sediments, they have unique genes and we've shown
just how prolific the world's oceans can be in this
regard.
Narrator:The
discovery is a significant biomedical resource for
microbes that can produce antibiotic molecules.
Fenical:
They have the ability to produce molecules that
are completely new and therefore contribute to the
treatment of infectious diseases and cancer and a
variety of other areas.
Narrator:
In fact, of the 100 strains of these organisms tested,
80 percent produced molecules that inhibited cancer
cell growth. For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
E.
Do Happy Marriages Lead to Better Health?
Narrator:
This is Science Today. It's been known for years that
married people tend to live longer than those who
stay unmarried. Now a study from the University of
California, Berkeley shows that a happy marriage makes
for a healthier old age. Cenita Kupperbusch, a doctoral
candidate in psychology, says a long-term study of
aging couples proves that a good marriage can be the
best medicine-at least for men.
Kupperbush:
Husbands who had increases in marital satisfaction
also had increases in their health. On the other hand,
this was a positive relationship. So husbands who
had decreases in marital satisfaction also showed
decreases in health.
Narrator:
The study followed 78 elderly couples over a period
of 13 years. Using surveys and observation, the researchers
found a clear link between marital satisfaction and
health. But Kupperbusch says that the reason for that
link is not yet known.
Kupperbush:
We don't know that changes in marital satisfaction
are necessarily causing changes in health but we know
there is some relationship between those two. It could
be that changes in health are causing changes in marital
satisfaction.
Narrator:
For
Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
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