University announces budget cuts.
In a June 26 letter to Stanford faculty and staff, university president Jonathan Levin, ’94, and provost Jenny Martinez announced a $140 million reduction in the allocation of university general funds to support operations for the coming academic year. Levin and Martinez cited significant budget consequences from federal policy changes, including reductions in federal research support and an increase in endowment tax. The $140 million budget reduction does not include cuts to Stanford’s School of Medicine, which will identify its reductions in the coming weeks. The rest of the university’s schools and units have been asked to formulate their reduction plans according to a set of four principles, including prioritizing Stanford’s core mission of research and education, and preserving need-based financial aid and five-year PhD student funding. The cuts made for “difficult news to share,” Levin and Martinez wrote. “We believe deeply in the value of universities, in federal support for basic research, and in the endowment model that underpins financial aid and graduate fellowships. We will continue to advocate for these things. At the same time, we need to be realistic about the current landscape and its consequences. There is significant uncertainty about how federal support for universities will evolve, but it is clear that the status quo has changed.”
Deadly floods.
As recovery continues following the July 4 floods in Texas, climate scientist Daniel Swain, PhD ’16, helps explain what research shows—that on our warming planet, extreme precipitation events are becoming more frequent and more powerful. The laws of thermodynamics predict that for every degree Celsius that the atmosphere’s temperature increases, its capacity to hold water vapor increases by 7 percent. But “when you talk about the very most extreme rain events,” Swain said, “they increase at an even faster rate that is close to double that.” He adds that it’s currently not possible to forecast extreme precipitation with pinpoint accuracy. “This is one of the hardest things to predict that’s becoming worse faster than almost anything else in a warming climate, and it’s at a moment where we’re defunding the ability of meteorologists and emergency managers to coordinate,” he told the Los Angeles Times. “That trifecta seems like a recipe for disaster.”
Starstruck.
Photo: NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin ObservatoryIn June, the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory released the first images made by the LSST camera, built by the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. The observatory is expected to capture more information about our universe than all optical telescopes throughout history combined. Among the first releases: Two nebulae thousands of light years from Earth, combined from nearly 700 separate images in just over seven hours of observing time.
Meet the puzzlers.
We live in a golden age of puzzles, says Nick Baxter, ’79, MS ’80. He would know: He’s helped lead Team USA, as either captain or contestant, to 16 titles at the World Puzzle Championship. For its latest cover story, Stanford magazine found Nerd Nation jigsaw makers, crossword constructors, escape room designers, and speed puzzlers. So whether you’re looking for speed-training tips, want to assemble the perfect escape room team, or dream of co-creating a crossword (so far, 303 of you have entered our drawing for that chance), some piece of the package will fit you.
Age isn’t just a number.
You may still feel 22 at heart, but what about in your pancreas? Each of our organs ages at a different rate (one person’s liver might be younger than her chronological age while her lungs are older), influencing our odds of a disease associated with it. By measuring blood-borne proteins traced to specific organs, Stanford researchers were able to predict risk for 15 disorders, as well as the likelihood of death, associated with one or more of 11 organ systems. Having a biologically “extremely aged” organ was strongly associated with developing a disease associated with that organ in the future. And one stood out above the rest: the brain. A person with an extremely aged brain was about 12 times as likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease over the next decade as someone with a biologically young brain. “The brain is the gatekeeper of longevity,” said Tony Wyss-Coray, a professor of neurology and neurological sciences and the senior author of the study. “If you’ve got an old brain, you have an increased likelihood of mortality. If you’ve got a young brain, you’re probably going to live longer.”
The team’s analytical tool, which may be commercially available in two to three years, could help assess lifestyle effects on the aging of specific organs and shed light on whether existing drugs might restore organ youth before people develop a disease. “Today, you go to the doctor because something aches, and they take a look to see what’s broken,” Wyss-Coray said. “We’re trying to shift from sick care to health care and intervene before people get organ-specific disease.”
But wait, there’s more.
Misinformation in recent years has resulted in a lot of confusion about which sunscreen is best. Professor of dermatology Joyce Teng’s take: “The best sunscreen is the one you’ll use regularly.” Aim for broad-spectrum coverage (UVA and UVB) and then slather it on. Teng says a six-ounce bottle should only last an active adult about two weeks.
Great Britain’s Arthur Fery, ’24, made it to Wimbledon on a wild card and then had arguably the wildest moment of his career. The No. 461 seed knocked out No. 22, Australian Alexei Popyrin, in the first round. Fery fell in the second round to Italy’s Luciano Darderi.
Taxol, a widely used chemotherapy drug, is produced by extracting the chemical baccatin III from yew trees. But the conifer is slow to grow, limiting production of the in-demand med. Now, research efforts have revealed key enzymes for creating Taxol, bringing scientists much closer to their goal of producing the drug using industrial microbes.
So, you want to work at a nonprofit? Jonathan Donis, ’24, shares what it’s like to be a development analyst for an affordable housing organization.
So many reading lists, so little time. Law School faculty, Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability faculty, and Stanford magazine story subjects all offer their recs. Need more? Book Nook has a few fresh titles for you.
Antero Garcia, an associate professor of education, investigated the toll of the January Eaton Fire on moms in Pasadena and Altadena, Calif., and found everything from survivor’s guilt to decision fatigue. “The majority of the burden of caregiving and parenting in America right now is usually shouldered by women,” he said. “I wanted to focus on who’s carrying the most of this invisible labor right now.”
A Belgian chocolate wrapper. Letters from friends. A 3D-printed “Taiko dude.” Here’s some of what the undergraduate Class of 2025 put in its time capsule.
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