NSM Momentum Newsletter

	Noelle Heinze, Managing Editor
	Contact editor via e-mail at:
momentum@nsm.uh.edu


Newsletter Archive

The state of our planet and atmosphere is of great concern to scientists and is becoming an increasingly popular issue of debate worldwide. As some areas of the country continue to recover from last year’s hurricanes, others are dealing with devastating heat and severe drains on the nation’s energy supply. It is the urgency of such issues and the general field of earth and atmospheric sciences to which this issue of Momentum is dedicated.

	Expanding Horizons Earth science is not just about geology and geophysics anymore, and the Department of Geosciences at the University of Houston is broadening the field. More
	Heating Up According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): “Scientists have identified that our health, agriculture, water resources, forests, wildlife, and coastal areas are vulnerable to the changes that global warming may bring. More
	Shifting Ground In the last 100 years, earthquakes and volcanoes have caused over a million deaths in Tethys, a region extending from Gibraltar to Southeast Asia. A better understanding of the processes that cause these natural disasters is vital for developing an early warning system in densely populated areas. More
	Storm Chaser How do tropical storms form and intensify into hurricanes, such as last year’s devastating Katrina? One of the key elements powering a hurricane is the transfer of heat from the ocean’s surface into the air. More
	Boundary Issues Ozone. It can harm lung function and irritate the respiratory system, convert cholesterol in the bloodstream into artery hardening plaque, damage car tires, and stunt the growth of some plant species. It’s pale blue, and for as many as 35 days a year, high levels of ozone can be found for several hours in the air Houstonians breathe. More

	Joining past U.S. presidents and Pulitzer Prize winners, Martin Golubitsky, a University of Houston mathematician, has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Golubitsky, Cullen Distinguished Professor of Mathematics at UH, is among 175 new Fellows and 20 new Foreign Honorary Members.
	Two recent University of Houston graduates have been pursuing the American dream after leaving their native countries with their parents. As recipients of a pair of prestigious national fellowships, two graduating seniors – Azim Karim, a double major in biology and history, and Hassan A. Khalil, a biomedical engineering major and mathematics minor – are getting closer to making that dream a reality.
	Next-generation memory technology and superconductivity were among cutting-edge research presentations that recently earned top honors for three NSM students at the Texas Center for Superconductivity at the University of Houston (TcSUH) 31st Semiannual Student Symposium.
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