2001

Earthquake Research Speeded by Networking
National Network to Change the Shape of Earthquake Engineering Research
February 5, 2001

Researchers and engineers from New York to California are forming a collaborative network via the Internet to speed the design of structures that minimize earthquake damage and loss of life. The National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced 11 awards totaling $45 million to fund shake tables, centrifuges and other experimental equipment that can be shared across the nation to study earthquake effects. ... more . . .

New Predatory Dog-Sized Dinosaur Unearthed on Madagascar
January 24, 2001

Fossilized remains of a bizarre, dog-sized predatory dinosaur were recently recovered on the island of Madagascar. The discovery, funded in part by the National Science Foundation (NSF), was announced this week in the journal Nature by a team of researchers led by paleontologist Scott Sampson of the University of Utah. Matthew Carrano and Catherine Forster from the State University of New York at Stony Brook co-authored the paper.

These fossils, which date to the Late Cretaceous period (about 65-70 million years ago), represent a dinosaur new to science, dubbed Masiakasaurus knopfleri. Masiakasaurus was relatively small, as dinosaurs go, with a total body length of 1.6-2.0 meters, much of which consisted of its long neck and tail. The total mass of this small carnivore would have been approximately 35 kilograms (80 lbs.), roughly that of a German Shepherd dog....more...

Earlier Water on Earth? Oldest Rock Suggests Hospitable Young Planet
January 10, 2001

Geological evidence suggests that Earth may have had surface water --and thus conditions to support life -- millions of years earlier than previously thought. Scientists reconstructed the portrait of early Earth by reading the telltale chemical composition of the oldest known terrestrial rock. The 4.4-billion-year-old mineral sample suggests that early Earth was not a roiling ocean of magma, but instead was cool enough for water, continents, and conditions that could have supported life. The age of the sample may also undermine accepted current views on how and when the moon was formed. The research was supported in part by the National Science Foundation (NSF), and is published in this week's issue of the journal Nature.

"This appears to be evidence of the earliest existence of liquid water on our planet," says Margaret Leinen, assistant director of NSF for geosciences. "If water occurred this early in the evolution of earth, it is possible that primitive life, too, occurred at this time."...more...

  2000

NSF-Funded Scientists Discover Bizarre, 70-Million-Year-Old Crocodile Fossil
July 28, 2000

A unique fossil discovered in Madagascar, off the east coast of Africa, calls into question the commonly held belief most people have about crocodiles -- that they are ferocious kings of the swamps. The fossil reveals that seventy million years ago a species of crocodile existed that lived primarily on land, survived mainly on plants and dug holes for burrowing.

"This creature is not something that, if it were alive today, people would be running from," said crocodile expert Gregory Buckley of Roosevelt University, Illinois. "It's something very different from the crocodiles we see now."

Simosuchus clarki had a short, blunt snout and clove-shaped teeth with multiple points that are usually associated with plant eating animals like iguanas and herbivorous dinosaurs. Such teeth have never before been seen in a fossil crocodile or living crocodile, which have teeth with a single point used to impale animal prey.

"The discovery of this amazing fossil points out the incredible ability of life to fill available environmental niches," said Rich Lane, director of NSF's geology and paleontology program, which funded the research. "Humans have only begun to document and understand the biological complexity that existed in ancient geological times."

Buckley's team included David Krause of the State University of New York at Stony Brook, Christopher Brochu of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago and Diego Pol of the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

Global Seismographic Network Establishes Internet Connection to Remote Africa
March 13, 2000

In remote equatorial Africa, university students arenow able to access high-speed Internet service for the first time, thanks to a collaboration between an African university and the Global Seismographic Network (GSN), funded by NSF and run by the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS). IRIS scientists worked with officials in Gabon, Africa, to gain access to seismic data from a newly installed GSN station near Franceville, Gabon. With the help of the President of Gabon, the Universite des Sciences et Techniques de Masuku cost-shared a satellite link for telemetering seismic data. Seismic data from this remote region is now flowing to U.S. scientists, and the first Internet access is available to the university and its medical research center. More...

Earthquake Network Intended to Help Save Lives and Money
January 14, 2000

A computer network linking experimentation facilities at universities across the country promises to change the face of earthquake research. The National Science Foundation (NSF) will make available to the entire earthquake engineering community monitoring and testing equipment, modeling capabilities and an integrated data repository by bringing multiple facilities under one "virtual roof." The Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation will help meet the national need of reducing and mitigating the effects of earthquakes and make more efficient use of the government's investment in earthquake science and engineering. More...

Past Research highlights from Division of Earth Sciences.