This Just In....

Poll Shows Continuing Decline in "Y2K" Concern
With only nine days until the New Year, Americans report a continued downward trend in their concern and worry levels regarding Year 2000-related computer problems, according to the fifth in a year-long series of Gallup polls.    More...

Astronomers Find Evidence for the First Planet Seen Orbiting a Pair of Stars
Astronomers recently announced they have found evidence of the first known planet orbiting a pair of stars. Previously, planets have been found circling only single stars. The Microlensing Planet Search (MPS) project, led by David Bennett and Sun Hong Rhie of the University of Notre Dame, used a technique called gravitational microlensing that may have revealed a planet about three times the mass of Jupiter orbiting a binary star system. The researchers, who are supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), NASA and the Research Corporation, reported their result in the November 4 issue of Nature. "Between half and two-thirds of the stars in our solar neighborhood are known to be members of binary or multiple star systems," said Morris Aizenman of NSF's Astronomical Sciences Division. "To find evidence of a planet orbiting a pair of stars means there could be more planetary systems than we previously thought."    More...

New Awards Connect Higher Education and K-12 Classrooms
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has made a first round of grants to researchers at 31 institutions nationwide under an innovative educational program enabling talented graduate students and advanced undergraduates in science, mathematics, engineering and technology to serve as teaching fellows in K-12 schools. The grants, made under the NSF Graduate Teaching Fellows in K-12 Education (GK-12) program, will go to institutions in 24 states from New York to Hawaii, as well as Puerto Rico. "The GK-12 program will boost the content of elementary and secondary education and the quality of graduate and undergraduate education at the same time," NSF Director Rita Colwell said recently.    More...

NSF Awards $6 Million to Help Minority Schools Prepare for Advanced Computer Networks
The National Science Foundation (NSF) announced on Oct. 28 it has awarded almost $6 million over four years to help institutions of higher learning that traditionally serve minority communities prepare for the next generation of information technology and computer networks. The grant will be administered by EDUCAUSE, a non-profit association whose mission is to transform education through information technologies. "I am delighted that the National Science Foundation is reaching out to minority-serving institutions in support of the Administration's Next Generation Internet initiative," said Vice President Al Gore.    More...

Bayer/NSF Award Addresses Critical Need to Link Youth and Community
Finding more and better ways to involve students in their communities is a critical challenge for the nation. To help bridge the gap, Bayer Corporation, National Science Foundation and Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation are offering an exceptional opportunity to all U.S. middle school students, challenging them to experience real-world community problem-solving by entering the Bayer/NSF Award for Community Innovation. Now accepting entries for the 1999-2000 school year, the Bayer/NSF Award takes students in grades 6-8 through a rewarding process, teaching them how to use science and technology to identify a community problem and develop a solution.    More...