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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: Peter West Contents of this News Tip:
Health Issues Dominate "Wish List" of Science DiscoveriesHealth concerns and medical problems dominate a "wish list" of challenges that two-thirds of Americans would like science to solve in the next 25 years, according to a poll conducted for the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Bayer Corp. The Gallup Organization polled 1,003 Americans over the age of 18 about their views on science, technology, education and the future. The sixth annual Bayer Facts of Science Education survey was conducted by telephone in July of 2000. Finding a cure for cancer was the number one problem that three in ten adults surveyed said science should address. Disease prevention, AIDS/HIV and medical breakthroughs also were considered important health concerns. Environmental issues and energy round out the top ten list of problems science should address. The survey also found Americans strongly support investments in science. Nine out of ten believe that science and technology has changed life for the better over the past 100 years and contributed to America's economic success. But many of those surveyed also cautioned that the U.S needs to improve its education system for this success to continue. A vast majority (91 percent) believe that science education should have the same or a higher priority in school curriculum as reading, writing and mathematics do. Eight of ten respondents said they feel that governors should strengthen science education in the states by emphasizing inquiry-based, hands-on learning, over strict reliance on textbooks and rote memorization. [David Vannier] Nation's R&D Continues Unprecedented GrowthThe U.S. is expecting its sixth year of unprecedented growth in research and development (R&D) in calendar year 2000, a rapid expansion that continued to be fueled by industry funding, according to a new Data Brief from NSF's Division of Science Resources Studies. In 2000, U.S. spending on R&D will hit a projected $264.2 billion, $95 billion more than in 1994, when the latest upward trend in national R&D; began. During the most recent six-year period, industrial R&D;, adjusting for inflation, has increased an average of six percent annually -- and is projected to be 6.2 percent for the year just completed. While most of industry's share of national R&D is focused on applied research and development, its share of the nation's basic research is expected to account for as much as 31 percent ($14.1 billion) in 2000. Meanwhile, the NSF figures show that the federal share of support for the nation's R&D in 2000 is expected to drop to as low as 26.9 percent, its lowest point since these analyses began in 1953, and the 12th continuous year of decline in the overall R&D share since 1988, when it was just above 45 percent. While R&D expenditures have never been more than three percent of the U.S. economy, the data brief says that scientific and government communities continue to study these R&D expenditures to better understand the patterns of technological change that occur in the economy and society. [Bill Noxon] For more information, see: http://nsf.gov/sbe/srs/databrf/nsf01310/sdb01310.htm Underwater Volcanic Activity Near Samoa a Potential Navigational HazardNational Science Foundation-funded scientists affiliated with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California have discovered strong evidence for current volcanic activity at the underwater Vailulu'u volcano east of Samoa. Researchers Stan Hart, of Woods Hole, and Hubert Staudigel, of Scripps, report that the volcano's crater is filled with smoggy waters, more turbid than any other underwater volcano studied. Vailulu'u rises from a depth of 5,000 meters (16,000 feet) to within about 600 meters (1900 feet) of the sea surface, and is similar in size to Mount Rainier in Washington State. "The discovery of a 'smoking' active underwater volcano at the eastern end of the Samoan Island chain is significant because it supports the interpretation of the Samoan Islands as a hot spot chain, similar to Hawaii," says Hart. "It also provides a unique natural laboratory where submarine volcanism and its physical, biological, and chemical effects can be studied in close proximity to an island." The scientists add that the volcanoes need continuous monitoring because vaporization of seawater may cause tidal waves. [Cheryl Dybas]
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