Stanford Report, January 14, 2004

BY BARBARA PALMER

WHEN DISCOVER MAGAZINE LISTED THE top 100 science stories from around the world for 2003 in its January 2004 issue, it included three Stanford-related “Eureka!” moments, two based on research by faculty from the Department of Biological Sciences. Ranked Number 53 was the detection of a new subatomic particle, Ds (2317), last April at SLAC. (More than 500 scientists from around the world are collaborating on the project that yielded the discovery, the BaBar Experiment.) At Number 34 was biological sciences Professor STEVE PALUMBI’s analysis of whale DNA – conducted with Harvard graduate student Joe Roman – which indicated that historical records hugely underestimated the number of whales that once lived in the North Atlantic Ocean. DNA analysis also was the underpinning of the story Discover ranked Number 7: the study of short, repetitive fragments of DNA called “microsatellites,” which led researchers including biological sciences Professor marc feldman to conclude that the entire population of ancestral humans once consisted of only 2,000 individuals. (The top story? The Columbia shuttle disaster.)

A grace period that allows employees to use 2003 transit passes provided through a Parking & Transportation Services (P&TS) pilot program ends tomorrow, Jan. 15. Campus employees who work at least half time, are eligible for benefits and come to campus primarily for work can pick up 2004 passes for travel on Caltrain and VTA buses and light rail trains at the P&TS office at 340 Bonair Siding from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. (The passes are stickers that affix to employee ID cards.) Employees who’d like to try the program but wonder how to make it work for them can call robin rolls, P&TS transportation demand management coordinator, for ideas at 724-2396 or e-mail commuteclub@bonair.stanford.edu.

The new “MONDAY LUNCH SHORTS” program at the Bechtel International Center will combine lunch ($4) and the showing of an approximately 30-minute documentary film on alternate Mondays for the next two months. First up on Jan. 26 is A Bailar! The Journey of a Latin Dance Company; other film topics include the lives of women artists, street children living in Peru and the cultural and political history of plena, a genre of Puerto Rican music. To attend, RSVP to bechtelevents@hotmail.com by 2 p.m. on the Sunday preceding the film. Lunch begins at 11:45 a.m.; additional film dates are Feb. 9, Feb. 23 and March 8.

Write to Barbara Palmer at barbara.palmer@stanford.edu or mail code 2245 or call her at 724--6184.

Barbara Palmer