Science News

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Tip Sheet from New Scientist for 3-18-98

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Events begun 150 million years ago -- resulting in the formation of the Diamond Crystal salt dome under Lake Peigneur, Louisiana-- still affect us today. When an oil drill punctured the dome in 1980, it ruptured, flooding the mining tunnels, dissolving the salt and forcing a hasty evacuation of the miners working there. Within seven hours the entire lake was empty. The dome has been partially opened again, but not for the mining of salt--it is now used to store 60-million-year-old oil.

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National Science Foundation Tips: 1) Study of Microbes May Hone Predictions of Mining Impacts, 2) Studies Find Successful Nsf Engineering Programs, 3) Lichen Growth Reveals Unknown Earthquakes

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A liquid-manure applicator under development at Purdue University can be incorporated into a precision farming setup that uses computer-directed equipment and satellite-oriented GPS (geopositioning) technology. The hi-tech manure applicator is the first of its kind in the nation. This isn't a load of you-know-what.

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Dotting the shoreline near Delaware's Cape Henlopen, seashells evoke Native Americans boiling oysters, clams and conchs 1,000 years ago, says a University of Delaware geologist whose work should help archaeologists "see through" salt marshes--without digging them up.

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A new raven-sized fossil bird, showing clear evidence of the close relationship between theropod dinosaurs and birds, has been discovered on the island of Madagascar by scientists working under a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant. This discovery was announced by a team of researchers -- led by paleontologist/anatomist Catherine Forster of the State University of New York (SUNY) at Stony Brook -- in this week's issue of the journal Science.

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Scientists have demonstrated another essential step toward building a computer based on the quantum mechanical behavior of elementary particles and say they may be able to perform simple calculations in a couple of years.

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The Northeast enjoyed its third warmest winter (December through February) and its third warmest February since official record-keeping began in 1895, according to Keith Eggleston, a climatologist with the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University.

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A new agreement extends some protection to astronomers who use the Arecibo Radio Telescope in Puerto Rico and have been concerned about potential interference from the commercial satellite system IRIDIUM. The memorandum of understanding signed between the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center, which operates Arecibo, and Motorola, Inc., which operates IRIDIUM, guarantees eight hours of observing time each day "unpolluted" by interference.

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New insights into ancient North America will result from the discovery of 165 million year-old dinosaur footprints near Shell, Wyo., according to a University of Wyoming researcher.

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Feeling more confused than enlightened after reading or hearing about the latest dietary study du jour? Newly-released guidelines, based on an advisory group convened by the Harvard School of Public Health and the International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation, aim to help the public have a better understanding of emerging nutrition, food safety and health science.

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Dimples and bluff bodies may sound like they belong in the world of high fashion models, but they are actually part of the world of Bob Thurman, an aerospace engineer whose designs would not be at home on the fashion runway or airport runway.

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A researcher at The New York Botanical Garden is investigating the potential use of a commonly found species of microscopic fungus as a biological control of the northeastern tick Ixodes scapularis, the key to the spread of both Lyme disease and Human Granulocytic Ehrlichiosis (HGE).

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Creating Effective Technical Documents, a comprehensive guide to technical writing covering every aspect from research to distribution, is available from ASME International (American Society of Mechanical Engineers).

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The revised ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code will be issued on July 1. ASME International (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) updates the code every three years to reflect advancements in boiler and pressure vessel design, materials and applications.

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The first Asian-North American Solid Waste Management Conference, ANACON 98, will be held Dec. 6-9, at the Los Angeles Airport Marriott Hotel in Los Angeles, Calif. ANACON is presented by the Solid Waste Processing Division of ASME International (American Society of Mechanical Engineers).

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ASME International (The American Society of Mechanical Engineers) recently published a standard to be used in the biopharmaceutical industry.

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Scientists at Cornell University are starting to unravel the chemical mysteries that produce the curious aroma found in fermented beverages like wine and beer.

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Scientists have linked a powerful magnet to the neutron scattering facility at Los Alamos for a new tool for investigating material properties.

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Cornell chemist Melissa Hines is seeking to make a mirror surface on which not even a single atom is protruding above the surface. Within the next five years she expects researchers to be able to produce silicon surfaces that "are essentially totally flat."

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Amherst, Mass. -- Two University of Massachusetts researchers have received a grant from the National Science Foundation to create a software program aimed at easing math anxiety in girls.

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On Saturday, April 18, 1998, The New York Botanical Garden will hold a symposium on the Vascular Plants of the Northeastern United States to celebrate the February 1998 publication of the long-awaited Illustrated Companion to Gleason & Cronquist's Manual: Illustrations of the Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada.

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The New York Botanical Garden is celebrating the publication of the Illustrated Companion to Gleason & Cronquist's Manual: Illustrations of the Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada, a collection of http://www.nybg.org/bsci/acer.html 827 meticulously-rendered botanical illustrations designed as a cross-reference to the non-illustrated Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada, Second Edition, by Henry A. Gleason and Arthur Cronquist, published in 1991.

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China's future energy import needs will dramatically affect the global environment and energy security, says Jon Erickson, assistant professor of economics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

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Love eggs, but your doc says cut down on cholesterol? A new egg might be what you're looking for.

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The National Science Foundation (NSF) and Network Solutions, Inc. (NSI) today announced the end of the Internet Intellectual Infrastructure Fund portion of domain name registration charges. As a result, the annual fee for domain name registration, which has been $50 since fees were imposed in 1995, will decline to $35, reducing the cost of domain name registration by 30 percent. The change will be effective April 1, 1998.

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New Scientist Tip Sheet for 3-11-98

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Astronomers have set a new record for most distant observed object in the universe, finding a galaxy nearly 90 million light years farther from Earth than any previously discovered.

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1)Steady Growth Continues in Academic R&D 2)Early Returns in from Ice Station Sheba 3)Helping Kids become Young Scientists

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Researchers at Forsyth Dental Center and the Harvard School of Dental Medicine are tracing the identity of unknown and emerging microbes, some of which have foiled the efforts of investigators around the country. Using the newest molecular methods, they are identifying mysterious bacterial species that may be the cause of dental caries and periodontitis. But the search is not limited to the oral cavity.

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Purdue University researchers have developed a new class of materials that has a wide variety of potential applications, from a coating to repel liquids to a membrane that could be used in wastewater treatment and drug delivery.

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El Nino, the weather pheonomenon blamed for killer tornadoes in Florida, may actually benefit the Lower Plains and the Midsouth during the coming spring tornado season.

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The Global Positioning System (GPS) is allowing geologists to measure the positions of markers thousands of miles apart to a precision of less than an inch and has suddenly become a powerful tool for earthquake studies around the world.

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Understanding proteins is essential to understanding cellular biology, but difficult. Scientists often turn to analogy, and talk of the "building blocks" or the "alphabet of life," but biologist Mary Anne Clark at Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth says she hears the proteins singing.

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In an effort to help design and build future generations of powerful integrated circuits, scientists at Bell Laboratories, the research and development arm of Lucent Technologies, have created new materials that show exceptional promise as insulators for semiconductor components.

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The fungus responsible for the Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s is back, and could be more threatening than ever. More than 150 years after the famine that took an estimated 1 million lives, a newer, more exotic strain of the fungus is causing widespread crop devastation in the United States.

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Hundreds of millions throughout the world suffer from arsenic poisoning by drinking their own water, but a new device invented by engineers at the University of Connecticut through the Critical Technologies Program may help end the problem.

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Bird watchers are teaming up with scientists at Cornell University's Laboratory of Ornithology to learn more about kestrels, swallows, bluebirds, chickadees, wood ducks and other birds that nest in tree cavities and nest boxes through the Cornell Nest Box Network (CNBN).

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Observations that Mars has scattered crustal magnetic fields will be published in the March 13 issue of Science. Paul Cloutier, professor of space physics and astronomy, is a co-investigator on the Mars Global Surveyor team that obtained the findings and is available for comment.

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Cornell University researchers have built and tested an array of microscopic scanning tunneling microscopes on the surface of an ordinary silicon chip. Such arrays could vastly speed the scanning of surfaces down to the atomic level, and could be used for very high-density data storage.

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The jet engine of the future could be made of materials that are more like plastics than steel, if studies at the University of Missouri-Rolla find that these new materials can hold up under extreme changes in temperatures and other conditions.

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Did it melt or not? Antarctic scientists, including a team in UMaine's Institute for Quaternary Studies and Dept. of Geological Sciences, have been debating that question for more than a decade when they look at the history of the south pole ice sheet as far back as three to four million years ago. The answer is important for predicting how Antarctica and the world's ocean levels might behave in a warmer global climate.

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Scientists using computers to simulate the general circulation of the earth's climate have predicted that rising global temperatures will increase the potential transmission of the dengue fever virus. Dengue fever is now considered the most widespread viral infection transmitted in man by insects, whether measured in terms of the number of human infections or the number of deaths.

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The possibility of human cloning and other advancements in assisted reporductive technology have made headlines and introduce new medical ethics issues. In an effort to better organize expertise in this arena, Virginia Tech has established Center for Reproductive Excellence Using Advanced TEchnology and Endocrinology (CREATE).

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Sea Grant Research Story Ideas: 1) Hybridization Studies May Help Conserve Salmon Biodiversity; 2) Researchers Identify New Methods to Eliminate Zebra Mussels; 3) Silver May Be Answer To Tracking Nutrient Sources

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Northwestern University students have helped design a handy device to help surgeons keep their surgical sites neat and tidy -- a cordless medical vacuum that runs on batteries and can hold a pint of fluid.

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AMHERST, Mass. -- Larry Williams helps make modern, high-tech research possible at the University of Massachusetts by practicing a centuries-old craft: glassblowing. He and an assistant custom-craft one-of-a-kind glassware needed by scientists and engineers at the University.

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By tracing the abundance and distribution of bacteria in an abandoned California mine, scientists may have found a better way to predict the potential environmental consequences of mining metal ores.

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Those of us who are jolted awake by the sound of an alarm clock will appreciate the efforts of the college students from around the country competing in the 10th annual National Rube Goldberg Machine Contest on April 4 at Purdue University. This year's everyday task is to turn off the alarm ã while leaving the clock intact ã in 20 or more steps.

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Daybook listing for Congressional event marking the 30th anniversary of the National Sea Grant College Program.