Stolen UC Nobel Prize Recovered
A Nobel Prize medal that was stolen from a museum at UC Berkeley was recovered, and a suspect arrested, police said March 7.
According to campus police, an anonymous tip led them to a UC Berkeley student who worked at the building where the medal was stolen from a locked case.
Ian Michel Sanchez, a 22-year-old senior, was arrested and sentenced to jail on allegations of felony and grand theft.
The 1939 Nobel Prize was awarded to Ernest O. Lawrence for inventing the cyclotron.
Twins May Hold Secret to Delaying Aging
Twins worldwide are coming to UCSD to help scientists find the secret to successful aging.
Researchers believe that by analyzing genetically similar minds, mysteries behind the aging process could be uncovered. They posit that half of our memory is genetically controlled – the other half may be shaped by our environment and behavior.
“”I think genetics is really what controls because I have a lot of the same faults and do the same things [as my twin],”” study participant Ron Rowe said.
By comparing twins who share 100 percent of their genes, UCSD scientists can figure out how many different traits are genetically influenced, and how many traits are environmentally influenced.
“”It’s a way to answer the age-old question, ‘Is it nature, or is it nurture?'”” psychiatry professor Bill Kremen said in a press release.
Researchers put the twins through a series of tests to challenge their minds. In one, the subject must distinguish the color of ink, even though the typed word says a different color.
“”What we are doing is comparing how much … they slow down when they are having to say the colors because it requires them to inhibit this automatic tendency to say the word,”” Kremen said.
So far, around 500 twins have been tested in the areas of cognition, personality and health.
California Families Don’t Use Backyards
Despite the fact that Americans own the largest amount of private space per person worldwide, they have a problem with storing unwanted goods. In addition, American children rarely use their backyards, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Family and Economic Issues.
Southern California homeowners do not use residential outdoor spaces for their intended purposes, UCLA anthropologist and study co-author Jeanne Arnold said.
For four days, Arnold and her colleagues studied 32 dual-income families with young children.
“”From construction materials to excess furniture and toys, storage of material goods has become an overwhelming burden for most middle-class families,”” Arnold said in a press release. “”Rarely do cars see the inside of the garage.””
While a little over half of the families did not spend any leisure time at all in their backyards over the course of four days, 25 percent of the children observed spent an hour or more in the backyard.
The priciest features of the yards, including pools, play sets and formal decks, saw the least amount of use.
In contrast, most children played in the front yard on asphalt driveways, concrete or in the streets.
