Deep Processes

New, Surprising Picture Emerges
of Sub-Seafloor Magma Formation
For the first time, seismologists have captured detailed images of the deep underground processes that give birth to most of the planet's new surface, along mid-ocean ridges where the seafloor pulls apart. Some of the underground patterns confirm predictions. Others are a surprise. The new data represent a major step forward in understanding the formation of the crust, convection in the planet's interior, and the source of the most abundant volcanic activity on Earth. Funded by the National Science Foundation, the $7 million project is called the Mantle Electromagnetic and Tomography Experiment, also known as MELT. One of the largest marine geophysical experiments ever conducted, its main goal is to find where melted rock, also known as magma or "melt," is formed and how it moves to the ridge crest to form new oceanic crust.    More...

Illustration courtesy of Dan Scheirer / Brown University

National Science Board to Solicit
Public Input on Science Education
The National Science Board (NSB) will hold a public hearing in Los Angeles on May 29 to investigate the value of informal science education activities (such as zoos, science museums, television programs, community organizations, and interactive Internet sites). The NSB has selected California for this field hearing, given California's sizable NSF portfolio. Of NSF's 166 current informal science education projects, 21 (or 12.6 percent) are in California, totaling more than $18 million. The NSB will hear from the general public and educators, who teach in either formal (school-based) or informal (non-school) settings, to assess the level of success and range of informal science education.    More...

Sleepy Adolescents?
Students Learn About Biological Clocks
A unique program at the University of Virginia-based Center for Biological Timing (CBT), an NSF-funded Science and Technology Center, is providing students with remote access to real-time experiments on biological clocks with the launching of an innovative web site designed especially for students in middle school science classes. Using the theme "The Mystery of Sleepy Adolescents," the project has elements that attract young students: the Internet, and relevance of science to the students' lives. The web site explores the daily rhythms of animal behaviors, the human sleep/wake cycle and the struggle of young adolescents to get up in the morning.    More...

Panel Reports on
State of U.S. Mathematics
A panel commissioned by the National Science Foundation's Division of Mathematical Sciences reports that several adverse trends threaten to undermine the United States' dominant position in world mathematics. The panel also notes that NSF policies significantly affect the strength of U.S. mathematics and hence the health of other sciences. The "Report of the Senior Assessment Panel for the International Assessment of the U.S. Mathematical Sciences" is NSF's first such international "benchmarking" or evaluation of any scientific field.    More...