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News Tip

 


September 24, 1998

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: Cheryl Dybas

STATE GOVERNMENTS ARE MAJOR PLAYERS IN RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

A report funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) highlights the major role that states play in research and development (R&D). The Survey of State Research and Development Expenditures: Fiscal Year 1995 was conducted by Battelle and the State Science and Technology Institute (SSTI).

Researchers found that in fiscal year 1995, states spent $3 billion on R&D. "That is greater than the amount the NSF spent on R&D and more than the Departments of Agriculture and Commerce spent combined," said Richard Thornburgh, former governor of Pennsylvania and chairman of the SSTI Board of Trustees.

The five most populous states - Texas, California, New York, Florida and Pennsylvania - reported the greatest investments in research and facilities. Most state spending - 88 percent - came from state funds, including general revenue, lottery proceeds, revenue bonds and specially designated tax funds. Of the total, 92 percent was spent on research R&D and eight percent was invested in facilities.

Michael S. Dukakis, former governor of Massachusetts and new vice chairman of the SSTI Board of Trustees, said, "The broad range of research the states sponsored was impressive and includes health, agriculture, and technological innovations related to economic development, advanced transportation, and environment, among a total 13 areas identified in the study."

For more on the report or its methodology, contact Christopher Coburn at Battelle (440-734-0094); Dan Berglund at SSTI (614-421-7784); or John Jankowski, director of the NSF R&D Statistics Program (703-306-1772). [Joel Blumenthal]

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GRAND CANYON ROCKS REVEAL CONTINENT'S DISTANT PAST

One of the most beautiful and pristine sites in America -- the Grand Canyon -- is challenging a team of NSF-supported researchers eager to decipher its mysterious clues to the continent's past. The scientists hope to learn about the formation and break-up of the theorized supercontinent Rodinia, which existed hundreds of millions of years ago.

Through a series of expeditions to the famed canyon, Karl Karlstrom, a geologist at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, and the Grand Canyon Project team are collecting and studying the canyon's rocks and sediments. What the team is finding, they say, will provide a greater understanding of how all the continents evolved, and why certain land masses formed, broke apart and reformed in today's configuration.

"For geologists, Grand Canyon represents an open book with a two billion year history," says Karlstrom. "It's a spectacularly exposed geologic story, one we are only beginning to read." By studying the Grand Canyon's multiple layers of rock, the researchers hope to learn how and when Rodinia was assembled and broken apart, and discover a correlation of the break-up to the first life forms. Next year, results from the Grand Canyon Project will be on display for park visitors through the "Trail of Time" exhibit, a walking trail along the south rim of the canyon. [Cheryl Dybas]

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FARMERS MANAGE CROPS WITH HIGH-TECH PRECISION

At community colleges in the Midwest, future farmers are being taught how to manage crops...with a high-tech twist. By learning to master sophisticated gadgetry and apply it to the business of farm management, students and their instructors plan to take traditional farming from the days of tractors to the days of satellites. They expect that this transformation will have an impact equal to tractors replacing horses in the early 1900s they say.

The innovation at work is called precision agriculture technology, and it involves the use of Global Positioning System (GPS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) technology to maximize crop management efficiency. The GPS receiver calculates location using GPS satellites, while the farmer collects and records data on the field. The GIS software manages, analyzes and manipulates these data. Farmers can also get additional data from imaging satellites.

Applying this system to farm management allows farmers to better assess situations before making decisions that affect their crops. It also allows farmers to tailor their methods to specific field segments, rather than using the same techniques for their entire acreage.

The curriculum, being taught most extensively at Hawkeye Community College in Waterloo, Iowa, was originated by instructor Terry Brase with funding from NSF. "Within 15 years," believes Brase, "the use of precision farming technology will be commonplace among U.S. farmers." [Cheryl Dybas]

-NSF-

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