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This Just In ...
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See the Medals of Science Live
President Clinton
will bestow the twelve 1999 National Medals of Science
and five National Medals of Technology, the nation's
highest science and technology honors, on Tuesday,
March 14 in a White House ceremony. Live video satellite
feeds will begin at 2:00 p.m. EST, and the ceremony
is scheduled to begin at approximately 2:30 p.m. EST.
A live web cast of the ceremony will also be available.
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Newfound
Quasar Wins Title: "Most Distant in the Universe"
If Guinness had a Book
of Cosmic Records, a newly discovered quasar in the
constellation Cetus would make the front page. This
distant quasar easily skates past the previous record
holder, placing it among the earliest known structures
ever to form in the Universe. A team of astronomers
identified the candidate after nights of deep (long-exposure)
imaging at the California Institute of Technology's
200-inch (5-meter) Hale Telescope at Palomar Observatory,
Calif., and at the National Science Foundation's 157
inch (4-meter) Mayall Telescope at Kitt Peak, Ariz.
A spectral analysis of the quasar’s light was then
completed at the Keck Observatory in Hawaii. "As soon
as we saw the spectrum, we knew we had something special,"
said Dr. Daniel Stern of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
Pasadena, Calif., who played a key role in the discovery.
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Report Shows Students Improving in Math and Science
Preparation
High school students
nationwide are graduating with more courses in science
and math, according to a recent report from the Council
of Chief State School Officers, but teacher preparation
and supply varies widely by state. The report, which
covers 1990 to 1998, was developed with the support
of the National Science Foundation (NSF) in cooperation
with state departments of education. It examined state-by-state
trends in student achievement, content and instruction,
teacher preparation and supply, and context and conditions
of teaching. The report is valuable, says Larry Suter,
deputy director for research, evaluation and communication
at NSF, because "it shows that students are taking
more courses in math and science and performing better."
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Global Seismographic Network Establishes Internet
Connection to Remote Africa
In remote equatorial
Africa, university students are now 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.
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Marine Biology
Course Uses Antarctica as its Classroom
Commuting
to class on the world's southernmost continent isn't
easy. But the campus, located a few hundred miles
from the South Pole and on the edge of a unique marine
ecosystem, offers unparalleled opportunities to explore
biology's frigid frontiers. The National Science Foundation
(NSF), which manages the U.S. Antarctic Program (USAP),
annually opens its facilities at McMurdo Station on
Ross Island to host an unusual graduate-level course
in marine biology. This year, 24 students -- the majority
from the United States but also others from the United
Kingdom, Spain, Germany, Canada, and the Netherlands
-- traveled to Antarctica to study creatures unique
to the Southern Ocean and their strategies for surviving
at the extreme limits of life on earth.
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