High school students to build catapult-like weapons on Mall

Several area high school students will be on the UA Mall this weekend polishing their weaponry skills with assault weapons.

No, it's not a UA-sponsored junior militia, but an engineering competition for members of Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA).

The design competition will focus on the building of trebuchets, medieval siege weapons similar to catapults, and will judge students on the distance and accuracy of softballs launched. The students, representing 11 area high schools, have created and built each trebuchet independently.

The event was planned by the UA Office of Early Academic Outreach and Alfonso Ortega, UA associate professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering.

The event will take place Saturday between 9:00 and noon.

Medical Center buys two new MRI magnets to research brain

Two new magnets recently purchased by University Medical Center and UA will help researchers study functions of the brain.

The magnets, which cost $7 million and weigh 11 and 12 tons, respectively, are designed for the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) laboratory at UMC.

UMC closed off a section of North Warren Avenue on Friday so that a crane could unload the magnets onto a platform. The magnets were then moved by hand on rollers to the laboratory.

UMC currently has two MRIs. The smallest is being replaced with a more powerful 1.5 ton magnet. UMC also is adding a three-ton, high field strength, research-grade magnet, a first in Southern Arizona.

Physicians at UMC use magnetic resonance imaging to view soft tissues in the brain, spinal cord, chest, abdomen and joints of patients.

Researchers from the UA's departments of psychology and neurology have been using MRI to measure the functioning of precise brain locations related to reasoning, memory and emotion.

Arizona Cancer Center researchers are experimenting with MRI as a method to monitor early response to chemotherapy, and UA radiologists are conducting tests to further the technology of magnetic resonance imaging.

Flandrau to offer expert advice and information on telescopes

The Flandrau Science Center will offer expert advice on the confusing world of telescope purchasing next month in a one-night class on "How to Buy a Telescope."

The class is designed for beginners and will include information on how to use telescopes, how telescopes work, how much to spend and what kind to get.

Pre-registration for this class is requested: Please call 621-7828 and choose option 8 to pre-register.

Flandrau Science Center is located at the corner of East University Boulevard and North Cherry Avenue. Free parking is available after 5 p.m. in the Cherry Parking Garage south of Flandrau and at all surface lots.

Additional parking information and maps are available on the Internet at http://www.arizona.edu.