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According to UC Berkeley mathematicians and their Russian colleague, turbulence at the boundary between wind and ocean should keep hurricane winds to a gentle breeze. Mathematical models of this interface, however, show that large drops of water thrown up by waves suppress the turbulence, allowing winds to build to tremendous speeds. Perhaps, they speculate, a fast decaying detergent poured on roiling seas could tame a hurricane.

Seeking a silver lining in the destruction wrought by last December's tsunami, a team of UC Berkeley students and professors spent a month in Thailand this summer working with local counterparts to design a strategic plan for developing sustainable tourism in southern Thailand's Krabi province.

A Berkeley seismologist, Richard Allen, has discovered a way to provide advance warning — anywhere from a few seconds to tens of seconds — about impending ground shaking from an earthquake. While a few seconds may not sound like much, it's enough time for schoolchildren to dive under their desks; for gas and electric companies to shut down or isolate their systems; for phone companies to reroute traffic, airports to halt takeoffs and landings, and emergency providers to pinpoint probable trouble areas. Such actions can save lives and money.