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
Contents of this News Tip:
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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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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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]
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