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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: Tom Garritano Contents of this News Tip:
Seeing and Sharing Data: Materials Researchers Get Virtual LabVirtual reality has moved out of science fiction into real labs. Scientists developing new materials will collaborate long-distance via a virtual network that allows labs to see and use each other's data and equipment. The Keck Foundation has provided $1.3 million to two NSF Engineering Research Centers to create the virtual visualization and design studio. The tools will include a graphics supercomputer, panoramic and 3-D displays and high-speed network connections. The players will contribute their respective specialties: the Center for Advanced Engineering Fibers and Films at Clemson University will develop visual models that demonstrate the behavior of new classes of polymers. The University of Southern California's Integrated Media Systems Center will develop the protocol needed for off-site researchers to participate in virtual experiments. Together, the centers will simulate the development
of new polymer fibers and films and explore their
potential uses. The imaging techniques are the first
step for the two centers in developing immersive environments
for research and education in the field of materials
science. Graduate Enrollments in Science and Engineering Reverse Five-Year DownturnIn 1999, the U.S. experienced its first growth in graduate enrollments in science and engineering (S&E;) programs since 1993, according to a new Data Brief from NSF's Division of Science Resources Studies. The increase in S&E; graduate enrollments for the Fall 1999 class ended a five-year downturn. "The increase for 1999 was about two percent," Joan Burrelli, who authored the data brief, said. "In 1998, just under 405,000 students enrolled in S&E; programs at the graduate level, but in the Fall of 1999, it went up to more than 411,300." Graduate enrollments in S&E; fields hit an all-time high in 1993 at more than 430,000 before the five-year period of decline began. A possible signal that the new upward trend may continue is that in 1999, the number of first-time enrollments in graduate S&E; programs among full-time students increased for the third consecutive year. By field, the largest gain in 1999's graduate enrollments was in computer science (12 percent). By racial and ethnic background, there were encouraging
increases in S&E; graduate enrollments for African
Americans and Asians (three percent) and Hispanics
(seven percent). Foreign enrollments (among those
students with temporary visas) increased by eight
percent. For more information, see: http://nsf.gov/sbe/srs/databrf/nsf01310/sdb01310.htm NSF Funds an Expanding Catalog of Bryophytes, Early Indicator of Environmental DegradationNSF has awarded the New York Botanical Garden a grant for the electronic cataloging of its herbarium's bryophyte species, the largest such collection in the Western Hemisphere. Called the American Bryophyte Collection, it serves as an important research tool for scientists monitoring the health of ecosystems in the Americas, ecologists say. Bryophytes (liverworts, hornworts, and mosses) are found in almost every part of the world. Changes in water, soil, or air quality caused by pollution or other factors impact their growth. Because they are less complicated in structure than most plants, they are usually the first plants to show signs of environmental degradation. With this NSF funding, approximately 120,000 herbarium specimens of bryophytes from Central America, Mexico and the West Indies will be added to the American Bryophyte Catalog by 2004, completing phase II of the project. The catalog is currently available on the web, with some 200,000 specimens from Canada, Greenland, and the United States. [Cheryl Dybas] For more information, see: http://www.nybg.org/bsci/hcol/bryo/
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