Three of the nine students suspected to have swine flu at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine have tested positive for the virus, The Harvard Crimson reported on Tuesday. All activity has been suspended at the Harvard Dental Center, The Crimson reported. Harvard Medical School, which shares its campus with the dental school, is operating normally because no additional suspected cases have been reported since last Friday. The three patients with swine flu are expected to make full recoveries, David Rosenthal, director of Harvard University Health Services, told The Crimson. Those in contact with the infected students have been advised to seek treatment if they develop flu-like symptoms. Massachusetts had reported a total of 34 confirmed cases of swine flu in the state as of Wednesday evening.
The U.S. Department of Energy will provide $777 million over the next five years to create 46 Energy Frontier Research Centers through the department's Office of Science, the magazine Campus Technology reported on Tuesday. "As global energy demand grows over this century, there is an urgent need to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and imported oil and curtail greenhouse gas emissions," Energy Secretary Steven Chu told Campus Technology. Several of the research centers will be based in universities including Columbia University, Princeton University, Cornell University, Northwestern University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Amazon.com will work with universities to provide electronic versions of textbooks on the Kindle e-book reader, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. Experts say that an iTunes-like store is needed to advance the electronic textbook business. The company CourseSmart already offers 6,300 digital textbooks designed for use on laptops and desktops. Students and professors are mostly unaware of the company, a factor which has limited its success, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. Textbook publishers are hoping to switch to the electronic medium in an attempt to end the used-book market, The Journal reported.