March 20, 2000
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Editor: Peter
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Contents of this News Tip:
More than three-quarters of the estimated federal dollars designated
for research and development (R&D;) in fiscal year 2000 will go to industry,
academic and other non-federal sectors, according to a 1999 National Science
Foundation (NSF) survey of federal agencies.
Industry will receive almost 42 percent ($32.2 billion) of federal R&D;
funds, while nearly 20 percent ($15.3 billion) will go to universities
and colleges, according to the survey from NSF’s Division of Science Resources
Studies.
Of the federal R&D; dollars going to industry in FY 2000, the survey
showed that 75 percent ($24.3 billion) comes from the Department of Defense
(DoD).
The Department of Health and Human Services is the largest single source
of federal funds going to university and college R&D;, providing 60 percent
($9.2 billion) of the total. NSF provides 15 percent ($2.3 billion) of
federal R&D; to universities and colleges, and DoD provides 9 percent ($1.4
billion). [Charles S. Drum]
For more information, see: http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/databrf/db00309.htm
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Archeons, newly discovered microbes that eat iron and thrive in acid-drenched
conditions, are the chief suspects in the environmental damage caused
by metal-ore mining, according to a team of NSF-funded scientists affiliated
with the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
They report the discovery in an old mine of an archaeon that thrives
when metal sulfide ores are exposed to air and water, conditions that
mimic hot battery acid.
The field work was conducted at the Iron Mountain Mine in Redding, Calif.
The research was supported by NSF's cross-disciplinary Life in Extreme
Environments (LExEn) program.
The microbe, say the scientists, is present in such abundance that it
is believed to be a mediator of the process of acidic mine drainage, the
primary environmental problem associated with the extraction of metal
ores. The microbe transforms the sulfide found in metal ores into sulfuric
acid, the chemical that contaminates mining sites and often drains into
nearby rivers, streams and groundwater.
"We think this new archaeon might be one of the more important players
in catalyzing these reactions," says Katrina Edwards, a geomicrobiologist
at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Woods Hole, Mass. Edwards
and Jillian Banfield, a geologist at the University of Wisconsin, say
the discovery of the new microbe is important because it explains how
the conversion of sulfide to sulfuric acid near mines is greatly accelerated. [Cheryl
Dybas]
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As the cost of fossil fuels rises steadily, new types of computer-operated
robotics, such as intelligent learning robots, and robots making robots,
could potentially reduce the cost of manufacturing solar power systems
dramatically. Solar systems provide clean, renewable energy but are currently
too expensive to be widely used as an alternative fuel.
University and private-sector researchers will meet to explore whether
radical breakthroughs in robotic labor would bring down the cost of producing
solar energy systems. A workshop will take place April 5-7 at NSF headquarters
in Arlington, Va. where scientists will consider high-risk, exploratory
research that could yield enormous economic returns in terms of long-range
energy supplies and solutions to global warming.
The workshop, co-sponsored by NASA, will examine the use of robotics
in both earth- and space-based applications of solar energy. [Amber
Jones]
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