December 29, 1999
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:
A computer network linking experimentation facilities at universities
across the country promises to change the face of earthquake research.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) will make available to the entire
earthquake engineering community monitoring and testing equipment, modeling
capabilities and an integrated data repository by bringing multiple facilities
under one "virtual roof." The Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation
will help meet the national need of reducing and mitigating the effects
of earthquakes and make more efficient use of the government's investment
in earthquake science and engineering.
More than 30 U.S. institutions now have some kind of experimentation
facilities, including shake tables that simulate earthquake motions, frames
for testing structures and geotechnical instruments for testing soils.
Starting in 2000, the five-year NSF program will provide funds to develop
the network, develop and upgrade equipment, provide real-time teleobservations
and create mobile and field test facilities. [Amber Jones]
For more information, see: http://www.eng.nsf.gov/nees/About_NEES/about_nees.htm
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The number of graduate students enrolled in science and engineering
(S&E;) programs at U.S. institutions declined for the fifth straight year
in 1998, according to a data brief published by NSF's Division of Science
Resources Studies.
S&E; graduate enrollments dropped to an eight-year low of 405,280 in
1998 after peaking at nearly 436,000 in 1993.
The trend was different among minority groups, however. African-American
enrollments in S&E; graduate programs continued on a decade-long increase,
reaching more than 19,600 in 1998, up from the approximately 12,770 counted
in 1990. Hispanic enrollments in graduate S&E; programs also continued
to rise, from just over 10,000 in 1990 to almost 15,600 in 1998. Hispanic
graduate S&E; enrollments have declined only once during the decade, in
1993.
Among science fields, the social sciences had the biggest percentage
decline (2.6 percent) in graduate enrollments in 1998. In engineering,
there were sharp declines in graduate enrollments for industrial/manufacturing
engineering (5.8 percent) and civil engineering (4.0 percent). Overall,
graduate enrollments in engineering hit a peak in 1992 (over 118,000)
and by 1998 were down to almost 100,000. The data are from NSF's 1998
Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering. [Bill
Noxon]
For more information see: http://nsf.gov/sbe/srs/databrf/sdb00307.htm
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NSF-supported researchers at the University of Kentucky have created
tiny, thin-film sensors that can help measure conditions such as pressure,
temperature and viscosity inside the human body, holding promise for
minimally invasive medical diagnostic techniques. The sensors can even
analyze chemical information such as pH and carbon dioxide concentrations
in the stomach.
The sensors consist of tiny pieces of magnetic tape coated with polymers
that are swallowed by a patient. When exposed to a magnetic field, the
sensors emit magnetic signals whose frequencies change with differing
conditions in the body. The frequencies can be measured from outside the
body, requiring no physical connection to the sensors.
The price is right, too: materials for one sensor are expected to cost
about one-tenth of a cent. [Amber Jones] Top of Page
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