Maintaining the Infrastructure

NSF Selects New York University to
Operate Institute for Civil Infrastructure Systems
New York University (NYU) will establish and operate an Institute for Civil Infrastructure Systems (ICIS) through a five-million-dollar cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation (NSF). The ICIS will form an alliance with partner institutions Cornell University, Polytechnic University of New York and the University of Southern California to consider solutions to challenges posed by the need to rebuild and maintain the nation's physical infrastructure - its roads and bridges, water systems, sewage pipes, power distribution systems, and telecommunication connections. A Cornell University study has valued the U.S. civil infrastructure at more than $20 trillion.    More...

President Clinton Honors Nation's Outstanding Mathematics and Science Teachers
President Clinton has named 214 teachers to receive the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST), the nation's highest honor for mathematics and science teaching in elementary and secondary schools. "The degree to which our nation prospers in the 21st century will depend on our abilities to develop scientific and technical talent in our youth," President Clinton said. "These outstanding math and science teachers serve as role models for their colleagues, and help to shape our society, strengthen our educational system and advance our national interests. More...

Finding the Cell Doors
NSF-funded research, conducted by biochemist Phillip Klebba and his colleagues at the University of Oklahoma at Norman, has revealed that living cells are even more proactive than many scientists previously believed. "The question of how nutrients and vitamins enter living cells has been answered by these experiments," states Marcia Steinberg, NSF's Director of Biomolecular Structure.    More...

Ocean pH May Be
Unsung Player in Climate Change
New research funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF)'s division of ocean sciences suggests that assumptions used for 50 years in reconstructing some aspects of earth's climate history have lacked a critical variable: fluctuations in the acid-base balance of the ocean. The discovery could help explain why atmospheric carbon dioxide has increased since the last ice age, and improve understanding of the ocean's role in global climate change.    More...