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October 20, 1995

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: Beth Gaston

MULTIMEDIA ENCYCLOPEDIA ATTRACTS KIDS

Why is it cold at the poles? Why are there four seasons? How long would a person have to pedal a bicycle to produce enough energy to run a TV for three hours? When two middle school students skipped lunch because they were fixated on searching for answers on the Earth Explorer CD-ROM, Jerry Bell, project codirector, knew his demo was going well. "When they get that involved, that's the proof of the pudding," he notes. "That's when you know you're on the right track, and that's the kind of excitement we have captured in this disc."

Developed with funding from the NSF, Earth Explorer provides easy-to-understand interactive datasets and stimulating "hot topics" games that let users sort through arguments and make up their own minds on environmental controversies of the day. The disc includes almost 500 in- depth articles, 1,000 photos, 400 pieces of original graphic art, 75 slide shows, and movies -all interactively available on a single compact disc.

"Earth Explorer gives an up-to-date reference, all in one place, that explains what is happening in the environment and why," says Margaret Cozzens, director of the NSF's division of Elementary, Secondary and Informal Education. "It would take a whole shelf of books, videotapes, reports, data and other references to equal the content of this encyclopedia."

Earth Explorer was created by Sonic Images Interactive, in collaboration with American Association for the Advancement of Science. It is available for Macintosh and Windows on Apple Computer's Starcore label. [Njuguna Kabugi]

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U.S. R&D SPENDING CONTINUES DOWNWARD SLOPE

Total spending for U.S. research and development (R&D) is expected to reach $171 billion by the end of 1995. The total is one percent more than the $169 billion spent in 1994 but, after adjusting for expected inflation, the 1995 figure represents a two percent decrease in the nation's R&D investment.

The figures come from "National Patterns of R&D Resources," a series of surveys sponsored by the NSF and analyzed in a forthcoming report, "Science & Engineering Indicators -- 1995."

"The estimated reductions in 1995 R&D expenditures in the United States represent a continuation in the patterns of R&D leveling and decline that have developed during the past decade," says John E. Jankowski Jr., director of research and development statistics in NSF's Division of Science Resources Studies (SRS). "In the early 1980s, R&D spending grew by almost seven percent per year after adjusting for inflation, but these increases tapered off substantially in the mid-to-late 1980s before turning negative in the early 1990s."

R&D growth, a measure of national economic health, has stagnated worldwide during the 1990s, Jankowski says. The dual effects of recession and government budgetary constraint have likewise thrown a wrench into R&D growth in the U.S.'s two chief industrial rivals, Japan and Germany. However, the drop is most pronounced for the United States, which is spending less each year for both defense and non- defense R&D.

The full set of R&D statistics is available electronically and is analyzed in a National Science Board report scheduled for release in February. Highlights are available in the Oct. 18 issue of "SRS Data Brief."

For a free copy of the data brief, call (703) 306-1773 or send a request by e-mail to databrief@nsf.gov. [George Chartier]

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DATING IN THE DARK

For decades, scientists have relied on radiocarbon dating techniques to study ancient natural events and to determine ages of geological specimens. But radiocarbon dating has limitations: only organic matter can be studied, and the process can't analyze anything older than about 55,000 years.

Now, luminescence-sediment dating, which measures how many years have elapsed since mineral grains were last exposed to sunlight, is allowing earth scientists and paleontologists funded by the NSF to reach farther back in geologic time. For the first time, inorganic materials can also be dated because the technique is effective on mineral grains once exposed to light. At the E.L. Cord Laboratory of the Desert Research Institute in Reno, Nevada, scientists are examining grains of sand up to 800,000 years old to help determine past climates.

Darkness is crucial to the luminescence dating technique. For researchers to analyze the 800,000-year-old grains of sand, they had to first insert a sample into a light-proof container. Then particular grains of sand were taken from the sample and deposited onto a tiny metal disc, which was placed inside the luminescence-measuring device. Finally, data were sent to a computer, which calculated the age of the sand grains. The technique is expected to be particularly useful to scientists studying past climate change. [Cheryl Dybas]

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