UAF in the news: week of July 9, 2007

Submitted by Marmian Grimes
Phone: (907) 474-7902
07/13/07

Unmanned aircraft collects images for wildfire planning
Anchorage Daily News, Juneau Empire
FAIRBANKS -- An unmanned aircraft, launched by researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, spent more than 18 hours over several days in late June taking aerial photographs of the Interior to help the Army prepare for wildfires. Read more ...

The challenge of fabricating nanocomposite thin films
Nanowerk
An incredible amount of research has gone, and still goes, into the understanding of the properties of nanoscale particles. In order to capitalize on that research, scientists and engineers have to take the next step, which is to turn nanoparticle laboratory results into usable materials and devices. Read more ...

Course introduces students to construction trades
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
The whine of drill bits boring through sheet metal, the rhythmic pounding of hammers and the rasp of hacksaws filled the Hutchison High School construction trades shop Tuesday morning as 16 Fairbanks students, most of them middle schoolers, learned how to handle the tools. Read more ...

Candidate for director of fish center says he would promote center, industry cooperation
Kodiak Daily Mirror
Kodiak canneries should consider increasing their secondary processing, said Dr. Chong Lee, currently a professor of food technology at the University of Rhode Island, at a public presentation Tuesday at the Fishery Industrial Technology Center. Read more ...

’Marijuana map’ possible with chemistry
Discovery News and Australian Broadcasting Corporation
July 12, 2007 — Marijuana seized in a drug bust is evidence against the possessor, but where it came from often remains a mystery. Now scientists have a way to pinpoint whether the drug came from Mexico or Canada, or even if it was grown inside or out. Read more ...

Even with lag, Alaska passing peak warmth
SITNews
"¨You may not have noticed it as you were scooping fish out of the Copper River, or riding your bike through the tawny light of 10 p.m., but Alaska just made a left turn toward winter. Read more ...

Rio’s Albanese says competition for metals drove Alcan purchase
Bloomberg
Tinto Group Chief Executive Officer Thomas Albanese says he’s buying Alcan Inc. for $38.1 billion before the competition beats him to it. Read more ...

Fairbanksan applies to be commissioner of education
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
One Fairbanksan has applied for the job as the state’s commissioner of education. Patty Meritt, a professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Tanana Valley Campus, was one of the seven people who applied for the job and is the only applicant from Fairbanks, according to Eric Fry, a spokesman for the state Department of Education. Read more ...

Life at 65 degrees north and 40 below
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
Chris and Dawn LaFontaine from Boston were disappointed to discover that the near-constant sunlight punctuating summer in Fairbanks washes out the northern lights. Read more ...

Clarifying the rules about Alaska’s mineral rights
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
The writer of a recent letter to the editor accused the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner of not understanding the differences between the contiguous states and Alaska. He then goes on to give his version of those differences. Read more ...

Study shows Kivalina’s relocation choice safe
"¨Alaska Journal of Commerce
A coastal study conducted by the nation’s premier agency on oceans and atmosphere confirms what the people of Kivalina have been saying all along: Their relocation site is a safe one. Read more ...

Fuel cuts will mean return to old ways in Bush
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
While there is debate over the extent to which humans are driving climate change, scientists agree that consumption of fossil fuels contributes to the changes. Read more ...

Research vessels continue Gulf of Alaska biennial bottom trawl survey
SITNews
"¨Three vessels chartered by NOAA’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center are engaged in more than two months of scientific bottom trawl surveys in the Gulf of Alaska, continuing data-gathering that has gone on every two or three years since 1984. Read more ...