Science Board to Host Research Priority Setting Symposium
The National Science Board (NSB) will host a two-day public symposium May 21-22 to discuss priority-setting and coordination in the development of federal budgets for research. NSB’s Committee on Strategic Science and Engineering Policy Issues has undertaken a two-year study on the topic and recently distributed a draft discussion document titled The Scientific Allocation of Scientific Resources, summarizing the committee's preliminary findings and recommendations
(see: http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/documents/2001/nsb0139 ). The symposium will focus on this document, and will also hear from top policy analysts and political leaders.
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Symposium Information
Media Advisory
(posted May 16, 2001)

Global Science and Technology Week, May 6-12, 2001
The National Science Foundation is proud to participate in Global Science and Technology Week. GSTW celebrates the expanding opportunity for the world's best scientific minds to transcend national boundaries and collaborate on new discoveries and shared global problems.
More... (posted May 7, 2001)

Scientists Release Images of Hydrothermal Vents Found in the Indian Ocean
Scientists exploring a remote area of the central Indian Ocean seafloor two-and-one-half miles deep have found animals that look like fuzzy snowballs, and chimney-like structures two stories tall spewing super-heated water full of toxic metals. The findings, released on the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) 's Dive and Discover Web site were made at the start of a month-long National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded expedition. "This expedition has been four years in-the-making: we needed to get a remotely-operated vehicle (ROV), a large research vessel, and a multi-disciplinary group of scientists to a location distant from the U.S.," said Phil Taylor, director of NSF's biological oceanography program. "After the Japanese discovery of some hydrothermal vent activity in the region, excitement grew about what might be found, and how resident ecosystems in and around these vents might differ from those studied in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans."
More... (posted May 1, 2001)

NSF Award Recognizes Wireless Pioneer
Vahid Tarokh, a 34-year-old associate professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a recognized leader in the research field of wireless communications, will receive the National Science Foundation's (NSF) highest honor for young scientists and engineers. The Alan T. Waterman Award, named after NSF's first director, will be presented at the National Science Board (NSB) dinner on May 23. Tarokh is the primary inventor of "space time coding," a new technique that significantly improves the speed and reliability of wireless data transmission. More... (posted May 1, 2001)

Tracking the Night Sky: Cameras Make it Easy
Anyone with web access can view the night sky live through a wide-angle lens, thanks to rooftop cameras being installed at astronomical observatories in the United States and overseas. The cameras, dubbed CONCAMs, will create a continuous record of the sky -- contributing scientific data and allowing students, teachers and astronomers to track changes over time. "The pictures are a valuable tool for anyone studying bright stars and bright transient phenomena such as meteors," said Robert Nemiroff, a National Science Foundation (NSF)-supported astronomer at Michigan Technological University who led the camera development. Nemiroff is known as one of the creators of the popular NSF-supported website, "Astronomy Picture of the Day." More... (posted May 1, 2001)

Scientists Suggest New Index to Capture "Flavors" of El Niño
Just as the Federal Reserve uses more than one index to measure the health and state of the economy, scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) believe it is essential to have at least two climate measures to capture all "flavors" of El Niño. Climate scientists have long used changes in sea surface temperatures in specific regions of the Pacific Ocean to characterize El Niño events. But using just that one temperature index does not give a complete picture of the climate phenomenon, according to scientist Kevin Trenberth of NCAR. "El Niño comes in many different flavors, "said Trenberth. "Each has a different and distinct character."
More... (posted May 1, 2001)