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President George W. Bush meets with Arden L. Bement, Jr.
President George W. Bush meets with Arden L. Bement, Jr., in the Oval Office of the White House on Sept. 15, 2004.
Image credit: Paul Morse, White House

September 15, 2004 Highlights
President Bush Announces His Intention to Nominate Arden L.
    Bement, Jr. for NSF Director
Astronomers Find New Class of Planets Outside the Solar
    System—Two new "Neptunes" are the smallest extra-solar
    planets yet—but could be the first of many
MIT Fab Labs Bring "Personal Fabrication" to People Around the World
NSF Funds First U.S-based 4Pi-Confocal Laser Scanning
    Microscope—New technology will open doors in biophysical
    research and education
Complex Cells Likely Arose from Combination of Bacterial and
    Extreme-Microbe Genomes—New “ring of life” points to mergers
    and acquisitions between cells


Detail of a landing snowflake
Detail of a landing snowflake
Credit: Getty Images/PhotoDisc

September 1, 2004 Highlights
Falloff in Freezes: Study Projects Decrease in Frost Days
Periodic Dimming of Bright Starlight Reveals Distant Planet
Viruses on the Attack—Revealing visuals show details of a
    common mechanism for infection
The Power Of One: Unicellular Organisms Contribute More Nitrogen To
    Ocean Than Reported Earlier, Affect Global Atmosphere


report cover
The University of Pennsylvania group has discovered a variety of small, protein-like molecules (left) that will assemble themselves into molecular-scale channels, or "pores" (right). In the process, the molecules form a helical pattern much like that found in natural pores.
Credit: Virgil Percec laboratory, University of Pennsylvania

August 19, 2004 Highlights
The Hole Story—University of Pennsylvania chemists create
    artificial Molecular "Pores"
Geologists Host Tour Of San Andreas Fault On Sept. 2nd
    EarthScope Project Scientists Lead Modern-Day
    'Journey to the Center of the Earth' for U.S. Scientists
Frontiers Spotlights NSF-Supported Discoveries, Research Results
Evolution of Whale Hearing Unfolds in Fossil Record


report cover
Artist's rendition of the replacement human-occupied vehicle (HOV) for Alvin.
Credit: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

August 6, 2004 Highlights
Deeper-Diving Human-Occupied Submersible to Replace
    Alvin—New 6500-Meter Vehicle Will Provide Expanded Capabilities
    for U.S. Scientists
NSF Names 34 International Research Fellows—Awards honor
    promising early career U.S. scientists and engineers
NSF Awards $10 Million in Grants to Ocean Sites for Long-Term
    Ecological Research
Geologists Discover Water Cuts Through Rock at Surprising Speed


report cover
Image Credit: ANSMET / Case Western University

July 19, 2004 Highlights
New Martian Meteorite Found in Antarctica
New Map Reveals Hidden Features of Ice-Buried Antarctic Lake—
    Measurement Shows that Two Distinct Ecosystems May Exist
Impact of Earth’s Rising Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Found in
    World Oceans
Colored Filtered Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (from the New
    Additions Section in the NSF Image Library)


report cover

July 2, 2004 Highlights
NSF'S North Pole Researchers Study Climate Change in the Arctic
A New Twist on Fiber Optics—Spiraling Glass Fibers Provide New
    Way to Control Behavior of Light
Searing Heat, Little Package—High-Temperature Lab-On-a-Chip Can
    Get Hotter than Surface of Venus
Inaugural Voyage of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Now Under Way


report cover

June 21, 2004 Highlights
National Science Foundation Releases "Women, Minorities, and Persons
    with Disabilities in Science and Engineering 2004"—New Online
    Report Provides Easy Access, Timely Updates
Pepper Prodigies Pursue Plants Like Those Picked by Parents—Migrant
    farmworkers' children, grandchildren research at NMSU's Chile Pepper
    Institute

Digital Preservation Program Launches Research Grants Initiative—Library of Congress partners with
    National Science Foundation to fund advanced research into preservation of digital materials
Orbiting Black Holes (from the New Additions Section in the NSF Image Library)


 

artist's depiction of the track of the camera array as it is towed over the volcanic cone
Credit: Dana Hubes/National Science Foundation

June 4, 2004 Highlights
The United States flag flies at half-staff over the NSF's
    Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station
Brain Disease Research, Particle Physics Meet in the
    Middle(Ware)—NSF Middleware Initiative Proves Key for
    Grid-Based Collaborations in Diverse Disciplines
"Heads-Up" Display Lives Up to Its Name—
    Student-Designed Device Helps the Visually Impaired
    Avoid Hazards, Day and Night
Staying on the Path, One Atom at a Time—New Percolation
    Model May Allow Researchers to Study Biochemistry at
    the Atomic Level
Instrument Gets Breakthrough Image of Sun's Magnetic Halo


 

artist's depiction of the track of the camera array as it is towed over the volcanic cone
An artist's depiction of the track of the camera array as it is towed over the volcanic cone.
Credit: Trent Schindler/NSF

May 21, 2004 Highlights
Scientists Discover Undersea Volcano Off Antarctica
Television That's Good for You—Targeted Content and
    Celebrity Voices Draw Millions to New Season of
    Educational Children's Television
United States Still Leads in Science and Engineering, But
    Uncertainties Complicate Outlook—National Science Board
    Highlights Workforce Issues in its Release of S&E;
    Indicators 2004

Researchers to Help Exterminate Bugs in Spreadsheets,
    Web Applications
Distant Mountains Influence River Levels 50 Years Later


 

A close-up of the machine in action
Pictures depict how cells within the heart valve can be regulated through a delivery of biologically active molecules. The scaffold can be used to present these molecules to the cells and influence how the cells express different proteins, which is very important in the regeneration of healthy tissue structures. Engineers carefully manage this process to prevent the over-production of proteins, which could lead to an unhealthy imbalance and tissues that won't function properly.
Credit: Gennye Walker of the Leslie Leinwand Lab, collaborator with the Anseth Lab at the University of Colorado at Boulder

May 6, 2004 Highlights
University of Colorado Tissue Engineer to Receive NSF's Coveted
    Waterman Award—Kristi Anseth Builds onto her Fast Track Career with
    $500,000 Award
United States Still Leads in Science and Engineering, But Uncertainties
    Complicate Outlook—National Science Board Highlights Workforce
    Issues in its Release of S&E; Indicators 2004
Oldest Hemoglobin Ancestors Offer Clues to Earliest Oxygen-Based
    Life—Close Look at Structure of Transport Proteins Could Aid Search
    for Future Blood Substitutes
President Bush Honors Excellence in Science, Mathematics and
    Engineering Mentoring
Enzyme "Ink" Shows Potential for Nanomanufacturing-
    Experiment Uses Biomolecules to Write on a Gold Substrate


 

A close-up of the machine in action
A close-up of the machine in action. The dark brown rings on the rotating abrasive wheel are from the "lapping swarf." The swarf is a mixture of the Ventana fluid and ceramic debris particles from the read-write head specimen. During the process, the researchers add the Ventana fluid drop by drop onto the rotating wheel. Centripetal acceleration causes the swarf to move to the outer edge of the rotating wheel.
Credit: Erica von Koerber, Evon Photography

April 23, 2004 Highlights
Yet Another Benefit of Green Tea—New, Biodegradable Machining
    Compound is More Effective than Industry Standards
Shell Beads from South African Cave Show Modern Human
    Behavior 75,000 Years Ago
Nano-Engineered Product Neutralizes Chemical Hazards
eBird Lists "Most Wanted" for the Spring Migration Miniature


 

sketch depicting limb bones
Sketch depicts limb bone, which bridges the evolutionary gap between fishes and amphibians.
Credit: Neil Shubin, University of Chicago

April 12, 2004 Highlights
New Fossil Links Four-legged Land Animals to Ancient Fish
Tiny Wind to Cool the Tiniest Circuits—Researchers Develop
    Miniature Cooling System that Generates Nanoscale Breezes
Ferns Diversified in Shadow of Flowering Plants
Here There Be Data: Mapping the Landscape of Science


 

Image showing artist's concept of Tumbleweed
President George W. Bush, NSF Acting Director Arden Bement, Jr., and John H. Marburger III, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, stand with 102 recipients of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Teaching in the East Room of the White House on Tuesday, March 16, 2004. The award is America's highest honor that is presented to kindergarten to twelfth-grade mathematics or science teachers.
Credit: White House photo by Tina Hager

March 25, 2004 Highlights
Nation's Best Mathematics and Science Teachers Visit
    Washington to Receive Presidential Award
Virtual Screening Lab Zeroes in on New Drugs
International Access to Research Data Critical to Advancing
    Science for the Public Good, Report Says
Liquid Cell with Immersed Electrodes (from the New Additions
    Section in the NSF Image Library)


 

Image showing artist's concept of Tumbleweed
Image showing artist's concept of Tumbleweed, courtesy: NASA/JPL-Caltech

March 12, 2004 Highlights
Rare "Tumbleweed" Survives Antarctic Conditions: Rover
    Designed to Seek Water in Ice Caps on Other Worlds
Evidence of a "Lost World": Antarctica Yields Two Unknown
    Dinosaur Species
New Radar System May Help Airplanes Avoid In-Flight Icing
Understanding Ground Zero—Beyond September 11th
    Researcher Presentations Now Available on the Web


 

NSF Acting Director Arden L. Bement, Jr.
Arden L. Bement, Jr., Acting Director of the National Science Foundation

March 1, 2004 Highlights
Arden L. Bement, Jr., Acting Director of the National Science Foundation
A Lost World: Two Previously Unknown Dinosaurs Discovered in Antarctica
Large Diamonds Made From Gas Are Hardest Yet
Fuel-Cell Microbes' Double Duty: Treat Water, Make Energy-NSF 'Sugar'
    Grant Supports Single—Chamber Prototype Fed by Wastewater


 

NSF Acting Director Arden L. Bement, Jr.
Arden L. Bement, Jr., Acting Director of the National Science Foundation

February 24, 2004 Highlights
Arden L. Bement, Jr., Acting Director of the National Science Foundation
Rita Colwell to Leave National Science Foundation
Microbial Biofilm Yields Community Genomes, Metabolic Clues—Research
    from Iron Mountain Mine Sheds Light on Acid Drainage
During Earthquakes, Mineral Gel May Reduce Rock Friction to Zero
Beyond Feng Shui: Designing for Innovation—Layouts that Increase the
    Rate of Chance Encounters are Critical


 

Macrophages on NSF FY 2005 Budget Request to Congress
Macrophages circulate through the blood, searching for bacterial infection. When bacteria are found, macrophages engulf and digest them. This series of three paintings shows a macrophage engulfing a bacterium. Only a portion of the two cells, where a pseudopod of the macrophage is extending over the bacterium, is shown. The original paintings are 1 meter tall--at this magnification, the macrophage would fill most of a building. Credit: © 2002 David S. Goodsell, Scripps Research Institute

February 3, 2004 Highlights
NSF Fiscal 2005 Budget Request Is $5.745 Billion
Nanoscale Building Blocks Form Spheres, Tubes and
    Curves—Self-Assembling Structures Could Find Wide Use in
    Nanoelectronics and Drug Delivery
Protein Data Bank Opens New Era With Broader
    Support—Nearly 24,000 Molecules and Growing, Accessible
    Collection Advances Biology
Study Pinpointing Origins of Siberian Peat Bogs Raises
    Concerns that Arctic Thaw May Release Greenhouse Gases
Researchers Coax Bacteria to Produce Powerful, Elusive Catalyst


 

Common blue mussel (<em>Mytilus edulis</em>)
Common blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) hangs tough after a night adhering to otherwise "non-stick" Teflon®.
Credit: Jonathan Wilker of Purdue University, NSF

January 16, 2004 Highlights
Chemists Crack Secrets of Nature's Super Glue—Mussel-
    Powered Proteins Stick to Teflon, Even Under Water
RNA Lariat May Tie Up Loose Ends to Decades-Old Mystery
    of Retrovirus Life Cycle—Studies of Baker's Yeast May Lead
    to New Drugs to Fight HIV
If We Are What We Eat, Some Lake Fish Are Made of Maple
    Leaves—Study Shows Fallen Leaves Play a Role in the
    Food Web
Landscapes on Buried Glaciers in Antarctica's Dry Valleys
    Help Decipher Recent Ice Ages on Mars


 

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