UNDERWATER VOLCANOES: A new research project using robotic technology to create a seafloor observatory was reported on by Newsday, which quoted Oceanography Professor John Delaney on the advantages of the constant surveillance the observatory will permit: "We haven't looked at this carefully through time," he told the paper, "so there is no deep understanding of how the ridge system works. A few sites get visited occasionally by research submarines, providing momentary snapshots, but it's hard to tell what's been happening, or how fast it's been happening, between visits. Now, however, with support from the National Science Foundation and other agencies, we're about to launch a new era of inquiry into the behavior of submarine volcanoes."

CLIMATE CHANGE: What is certain is that the climate is warming; what isn't known is whether it's a natural process or human-caused. In a widely circulated AP story on the subject, Forestry Professor David Peterson was quoted: "What the parks are going to be faced with is, do we take this change and consider it to be a natural process or do we mitigate it? Change is natural and normal. The question at this point is, are the changes that we're seeing really natural or are they human-caused? And that poses some tough questions."

WOMEN'S HEALTH: Women visit doctors and hospitals more often than men, but that doesn't necessarily mean they are less healthy, experts say. That's the substance of an article in the New York Times spotlighting new health studies of women. Asked to comment, epidemiologist Maureen Henderson told the Times that women go to doctors on a more routine basis for birth control and pregnancy care and fill out questionnaires about their health. "If someone asked me every year to fill in whether or not I have pain in my neck, then I am going to think about pain in my neck, whereas somebody who has never been asked about pain the neck is not going to think about it unless it is really bothering him."

FORECASTS OFF: Those forecasting fish runs in Alaska have been badly mistaken this year, according to a report in the Anchorage Daily News. Quoted was Fisheries Professor Don Rogers, who said he had been forecasting fish runs in Bristol Bay for 39 years and has never been as far off as he was this year. But he noted something is different this year—temperatures of the water are running 10 degrees higher than normal. "The crew out there thought they were in Southern California, not the Bering Sea," he said. "This year is so abnormal, it's so much warmer than a warm year that I don't know what to expect."

WOMEN AND MARRIAGE: Women can remain single longer than in the past, an article in the Los Angeles Times reports, but they still must marry or face questions from parents and society. Asked to comment, Sociology Professor Pepper Schwartz gave single women this advice, "They have to set some boundaries and give some decent emotional feedback. Be pleasant and open. Understand it's mother behavior and she can't help it. You can be good-humored about it and tease back, or if some people don't lay off, you have to be angry. You'd think parents would be nervous about pushing the marriage agenda given the divorce rate, but everyone thinks it won't be their kid." ¶