The discovery, published online this week in the scientific journal Geophysical Research Letters, offers an explanation as to why the decade from 1810 to 1819 is regarded by scientists as the coldest on record for the past 500 years.

The day’s events started with a well-attended lecture by Prince Albert at UCSD’s Price Center Ballroom and continued with cocktails and conversation at the Robert Paine Scripps Forum.

Talk revolved around very relevant topics presented by Prince Albert, raising awareness for the planet’s greatest environmental challenges. In particular Prince Albert and the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation have focused on promoting scientific research and protection of the planet’s polar regions.

After spotting what seemed to be a clue to Leonardo's painting left by another 16th-century artist, Seracini led an international team of scientists in mapping every millimeter of the wall and surrounding room with lasers, radar, ultraviolet light and infrared cameras. Once they identified the likely hiding place, they developed devices to detect the painting by firing neutrons into the wall.

Representatives from North Korea and the United States held talks last week at an unofficial forum sponsored by the UC Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation at UC San Diego. The meetings were attended by military and diplomatic officials from four other countries.

From August 2-21, 2009, a group of doctoral students and research volunteers from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego embarked on an expedition aboard the Scripps research vessel New Horizon exploring the problem of plastic in the North Pacific Gyre. The Scripps Environmental Accumulation of Plastic Expedition (SEAPLEX) focused on a suite of critical scientific questions. How much plastic is accumulating, how is it distributed, and how is it affecting ocean life? With their new results the researchers hope to provide critical, timely data to policy makers and combine Scripps' long tradition of Pacific exploration with focus on a new and pressing environmental problem.

The University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC) will lead a three-year project on Asian regional security and on economics and security as part of a new Asia Security Initiative being undertaken by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The Foundation has committed $68 million over seven years to increase the effectiveness of international cooperation in fostering peace and security in Asia.

Daniel Wulbert, mathematics professor at the University of California, San Diego has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to conduct research and lecture in southwest India during the 2009-2010 academic year. He will assist in developing a research and doctoral program in Analysis at Mangalore University.

Daniel Wulbert, mathematics professor at the University of California, San Diego has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to conduct research and lecture in southwest India during the 2009-2010 academic year, the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board has announced. He will assist in developing a research and doctoral program in Analysis at Mangalore University.