A.
Indian Ocean Earthquake Undermines Conventional Wisdom
Narrator: This is Science Today. Research data from the undersea fault rupture that caused the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake in 2004, which led to the devastating tsunami, suggests that previous ideas about where large earthquakes are likely to occur need to be revised. Research geodesist Yehuda Bock of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography was part of a scientific team studying that fault rupture.
Bock: The 2004 earthquake was in a location that had not previously ruptured – has not been known to produce great earthquakes. So, the conventional wisdom is that because the plate motion is rather small compared to other subduction zones, it's thought that regions that have moderate plate velocity are not prone to great earthquakes. And so this event basically undermined that whole conventional wisdom. I think the main results from our research is that any subduction zone is a candidate for a great earthquake.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
B.
New Insight into Melanoma
Narrator: This is Science Today. Melanomas are the deadliest form of skin cancer. Now, researchers at the University of California , San Francisco have discovered that you may be vulnerable to different types of melanoma, depending on your skin color. Dr. Boris Bastian, who led the study, explains.
Bastian: It's clear that light-skinned individuals 801 are particularly prone to develop melanomas on the sun-exposed skin. This isn't true for people from African descent, Asian decent. They tend not to get these UV related melanomas.
Narrator: Skin color also plays a large part in determining where a melanoma will appear. The study found that certain types of melanoma can develop on areas not exposed to the sun.
Bastian: That already implies that there are some differences in these melanomas that develop in the sun-protected sites and those that develop in sun-exposed sites. And that is something that we confirmed with our molecular studies.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
C.
Understanding the Difference Between Two Aneurysm Treatments
Narrator: This is Science Today. A team of University of California , San Francisco researchers has discovered that a certain aneurysm treatment is just as effective, and much safer, than the more common procedure. Neurologist Claiborne Johnston, who led the study, says coiling an aneurysm will have the same long-term effect as the much riskier clipping treatment.
Johnston : Aneurysms are from very deep in the brain, so you have to lift the brain up in order to reach in and put a clip over the aneurysm. Whereas the coiling procedure, is basically just have a small catheter that's inserted in their groin. They don't have to move the brain at all.
Narrator: Johnston says that it's important for this treatment to become more available, and for patients to be aware of the difference.
Johnston: I think we need to have more people doing the procedure so that it becomes available to more patients in the community, and have people more educated about asking for it, specifically if they have an aneurysm, if it's unruptured, and, or ruptured, having their family members ask for it.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
D.
Creating a National Park Underwater?
Narrator: This is Science Today. Coral reefs provide several benefits to their surrounding area, but can suffer because of overfishing. Fish are important because they eat the algae which can overgrow on a coral and eventually kill it. Marine ecologist Stuart Sandin of the University of California , San Diego 's Scripps Institution of Oceanography, says that creating underwater protected areas could benefit both the fish and the corals.
Sandin: You can put in a park in certain regions and the fish stocks will grow up in some marine protected areas. A national park underwater and you just don't allow fishing in that area. If you don't allow fishing, then the fish will start to grow back. You have the fish doing their service eating the algae, protecting the algae from overgrowing the corals or fertilizing the bacteria on the corals.
Narrator: Sandin says this type of protection is necessary in allowing coral reefs to recover.
Sandin: Coral reefs have been around for millions of years, they've done very well through huge sea level changes, temperature changes and if there's one thing they have, it's a capacity to recover. One thing we have to give it is the time to recover at this point.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
E. Some Health Advice for Occupational Housecleaners
Narrator: This is Science Today. People who clean houses for a living may be at higher risk for chronic breathing problems. Environmental engineering professor William Nazaroff of the University of California , Berkeley found that chemicals called terpenes, which are found in common, scented cleaning products could
take a toll if used too often.
Nazaroff: There is evidence that's emerging in the literature that shows that people who are occupationally employed as house cleaners have a higher incidence of occupational asthma than many other professions.
Narrator: To cut this risk, Nazaroff offers advice to anyone who uses these products everyday on the job.
Nazaroff: Don't use more of the product than necessary to complete the job. Use it in dilute form wherever that's possible. Don't store the cleaning products, the rags and the towels and so forth that have been used in spaces where people will be breathing those fumes again. Take the used products and throw them away once they've been used.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
