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A. Past Volcano Eruptions Slowed Down Ocean Warming
Narrator: This is Science Today. By analyzing climate model simulations spanning over a hundred years, researchers have found that volcanoes have helped slow down ocean warming trends. Atmospheric scientist Peter Gleckler of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory explains.
Gleckler: After an eruption, the earth can be blanketed with a dust cloud from the ash and other particles resulting from the eruption. And that blocks the sunlight that reaches the ocean surface and as a result, the ocean surface cools. It's not just the surface, but it's some depth.
Narrator: Gleckler and his colleagues studied sophisticated climate models that included two volcanic eruptions – one in Indonesia in 1883 and another in the Philippines in 1991.
Narrator: It's quite an interesting science in that we have these tools, which we are forced to rely upon because we don't have a separate planet that we can go on and do different experiments with. It's not like medicine, where we've got all kinds of diagnostics and we really have to rely on these models.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
B. A Center Advances Research & Treatment for Burn Victims
Narrator: This is Science Today. The University of California at Irvine's Regional Burn Center is at the cutting edge of burn care and is making research and treatment advances that are providing burn victims a greater chance for recovery. Dr. Marianne Cinat, an associate professor of clinical medicine and the medical director of the center, helps advance treatments for people who suffer burns.
Cinat: I would say over the last 10 to 20 years, survival for many large or significant burn injuries has probably doubled. There's been improvements in critical care, ways that we can support the patient's lungs, should there be lung injury, the cardiovascular system. And because of the development of new biotechnology, we're able to allow larger burn patients to get through quicker with a better cosmetic and functional outcome.
Narrator: The UCI Regional Burn Center was one of the first burn care facilities in the nation and is among the most active, treating more than 200 inpatients and 300 outpatients each year. For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
C.
New Fingerprint Detection Technique May Help Cold Cases
Narrator: This is Science Today. Current fingerprint detection technology depends on treating fingerprints with different chemicals that help bring out prints against the color of the surface it's located on. But this method can sometimes be problematic.
Worley: Certain surfaces are known to be more difficult to detect fingerprints with the current methods. For example, prints left on homicide victim's skin are hard to detect with current methods. Prints present on dark, multi-colored type surface are another example.
Narrator: Chemist Chris Worley of the Los Alamos National Laboratory has been working on a new, x-ray-based fingerprint detection technique that reveals the chemical residue of the print itself. This method may someday offer an alternative to current technologies.
Worley: In cold cases, for example, I could see where this would be an advantage to detecting fingerprints that might have degraded over time using the current methods where they rely on looking at the organic components – oils and such that might evaporate or volatilize over time.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
D.
A Push to Take Integrative Medicine Mainstream
Narrator: This is Science Today. Integrative medicine is a combination of conventional medicine and alternative treatments, such acupuncture or herbal supplements. Over the years, there's been a push to take integrative medicine mainstream. Dr. John Longhurst of the University of California at Irvine, who studies how acupuncture can help lower blood pressure rates, is director of the university's Susan Samueli Center for Integrative Medicine.
Longhurst: Integrative medicine is important because basically, our patients are demanding it. They're coming to us and telling us that they're taking herbals that they're experiencing a variety of different kinds of therapy such as acupuncture and we need to know any problems that might be associated with it, we need to know its rightful place in our total medical armatarium.
Narrator: The UC Irvine Center for Integrative Medicine is helping to bring scientific validity and greater acceptance to complementary healing practices. For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
E. A Rapid Diagnostic Test for Several Livestock Diseases
Narrator: This is Science Today. Foot and mouth disease, or FMD, is a highly infectious and contagious viral disease of cloven-hoofed animals. The U.S. has not had an outbreak since 1924, but the devastating outbreak among cattle in England five years ago led scientists to develop a rapid diagnostic test for FMD and six other livestock diseases. Pam Hullinger, a veterinarian at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, says they collaborated with federal Homeland Security and Agriculture agencies and the University of California, Davis to come up with the new test.
Hullinger: So, what this assay allows for is the simultaneous detection of seven different diseases all in one test. Instead of taking seven different samples and testing for seven different things, you can take one sample and then basically, in a five hour time frame, you can get yes or not results for the seven different diseases in this first version of the panel.
Narrator: The cost and time savings are significant. One estimate is that the U.S. would lose $3 million dollars for every hour's delay in diagnosing FMD. For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
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