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For more information on these science news and feature story tips, please contact the public information officer at the end of each item at (703) 292-8070. Editor: Amber Jones Contents of this News Tip:
Cost-Effective Chip Prototypes Available for Students, Researchers and IndustryWhen universities and small businesses need a prototype microchip, they often turn to MOSIS (Metal-Oxide Semiconductor Implementation System) at the University of Southern California. With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), MOSIS helped fabricate over 40,000 chips between 1981 and 1999. MOSIS fills a need among chip designers who lack direct access to a billion-dollar fabrication plant. Larger companies like American Microsystems, Inc., and Hewlett Packard help MOSIS operate by making the chips as part of their own production runs. The service doesn't charge universities for chips used in education. For use in research, universities and small businesses can order prototypes through MOSIS for far less than a full production run would cost. The fabricating companies benefit when students graduate with practical experience in chip design. NSF supported MOSIS financially until 1999, when the service's popularity made it self-sustaining. [Tom Garritano] For more information, see: http://www.mosis.org/ Group Battles Light Pollution to Preserve the Skies for Astronomy ResearchWhen we search the skies for stars, we're often hindered by light from the nearest office building or streetlamp. The International Dark Sky Association seeks to preserve dark skies for the benefit of both professional and amateur astronomers by promoting outdoor lighting that focuses light only where it's needed -- downward. The organization works with communities, businesses and professional lighting experts to develop strategies that both reduce the light pollution that hinders observations from optical telescopes and save energy for businesses and communities. With NSF support, the organization is launching an expansion of its membership, its efforts to develop public awareness and its search for practical solutions. [Amber Jones] For more information, see: http://www.darksky.org/~ida/ NSF-Funded Software Helps Kids Find Their Way in the Third GradeA virtual walk in the park is helping students in second through fourth grade learn how to read maps, figure out how to get from one point to another and determine what to do when they get lost. The software package Where Are We? is designed to enhance the basic map-reading and navigational skills grade-schoolers need before they advance from fourth grade, as determined by Geography for Life, the national geography standards established by the National Council for Geographic Education. Researchers at Columbia University who developed the software with NSF support say that they have seen significant improvement in map skills among children using it. "The ability to visualize reality from maps and vice versa is a necessary life skill," said Joyce Evans, program director in NSF’s teacher enhancement program. "Where Are We? was designed to help students develop that ability." Using a computer video of a virtual landscape and a map of the same location, children learn to use the map to get from one point to another, to organize landmark information along the route, to find their way when they get lost and to use a compass. Where Are We? is marketed by Tom Snyder Productions. [Charlie Drum] For more information see http://www.tomsnyder.com
NSF is an independent federal agency which supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering, with an annual budget of about $4 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states, through grants to about 1,600 universities and institutions nationwide. Each year, NSF receives about 30,000 competitive requests for funding, and makes about 10,000 new funding awards. For instant information about NSF, sign up for the Custom News Service. From the toolbar on NSF’s home page, (http://www.nsf.gov), sign up to receive electronic versions of NSF news, studies, publications and reports. Follow the simple sign-on procedures that guide you to your choices. Also see NSF news products at: http://www.nsf.gov:80/od/lpa/news/media/start.htm, http://www.eurekalert.org/, and http://www.newswise.com
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