2004

2003

2002

Researchers Find Trigger for Devastating Digestive Disease, Propose Treatment

 
Researchers have found a peptide molecule that triggers celiac sprue -- a severe inflammation of the intestine that results from eating wheat and related grains -- and propose a treatment strategy that relies on bacterial enzymes to break down the offending molecule in the digestive tract. As many as 1 in every 200 Americans suffers from the condition. In the September 27 issue of Science, Chaitan Khosla and his coworkers at Stanford University and the University of Norway in Oslo, report disassembling the large, complex mixture of gluten proteins and identifying a single component that triggers the autoimmune response characteristic of celiac sprue.
Read the full story . ... posted 9/26/02

 

Awards Will Advance the State of Information Technology's Art

 
The National Science Foundation (NSF) will support new approaches to software development and computer networking and communications that will in turn provide scientists with entirely new ways of working with large data sets, visualizing what the data represent and sharing knowledge around the globe. The grants were made under NSF's Information Technology Research (ITR) program. From the study of biological phenomena at the cellular level to enhancing earthquake prediction to efforts to advance the design and development of "embedded" software systems that help to run automobiles and aircraft, the third year of ITR grants will provide scientists with powerful new analytical and communications tools. They will also simultaneously advance the state of the art in computer science.
Read the full story . ... posted 9/26/02

 

NSF Funds $10.2 Million Maize Gene Sequencing Push

 
The National Science Foundation (NSF) announced on Sept. 20, 2002, the award of $10.2 million over two years to two projects for initial sequencing of the Zea mays (maize or corn) genome. The maize genome offers a new sequencing challenge because its size and structure preclude use of the standard whole-genome methods currently used. At about 2 billion base pairs, the maize genome is estimated to be 20 times larger than Arabidopsis, the first complete plant genome to be sequenced. However, maize probably has only twice as many genes as Arabidopsis.
Read the full story . ... posted 9/26/02

 

"Winfly" Opens 2002-2003 Antarctic Research Season

 
The 2002-2003 Antarctic research season officially got underway in late August as U.S. Air Force transport planes bested snowstorms and high winds to bring in cargo and personnel to McMurdo Station, the National Science Foundation's logistical and scientific hub on the continent. Dubbed "Winfly," the flights were the first to land at McMurdo since the station closed for the austral winter in February. The annual Winfly missions allow the Antarctic program to bring scientists into McMurdo at the beginning of the austral spring to conduct time-sensitive research, such as monitoring ozone depletion.
Photo: Mike Hush / Raytheon Polar Services Co.
Read the full story . ... posted 9/17/02

 

Interactive Robot Motivates Children with Physical Disabilities

 
An interactive robot named CosmoBot^TM is teaching children with speech, language and other developmental disabilities how to express themselves. Built to withstand active play, CosmoBot^TM looks like a spunky sidekick from a science fiction movie, with fully mobile appendages, motorized wheels beneath its feet, and a mouth that moves. The robot captures attention by mimicking a child's movements and voice, and can guide the child through educational and therapeutic activities under the direction of a therapist.The robot was developed by Corinna Lathan of AnthroTronix, Inc., in College Park, Maryland, with support from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program and the Department of Education's Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) on Telerehabilitation.
Read full story. ... posted 9/17/02
 

September 11, 2002 — Patriot Day

 
The U.S. flag at half-staff at Amundsen-Scott, the U.S. research station at the South Pole, following the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon one year ago.
Photo: Jerry Macala/National Science Foundation ... posted 9/11/02

 

A 9/11 Message to the NSF Family

 
"On this one-year anniversary of September 11, we all know that the events of that day have changed America and Americans forever. They have opened the box of the unimaginable and released the unthinkable. For the nation, its institutions, and its citizens, there is a loss of innocence about the security of our land and of our lives. In its place, we find a new vigilance for the unexpected," noted agency Director Rita Colwell and Deputy Director Joseph Bordogna in a message to NSF staff.
Photo: Peter West, National Science Foundation
Read full message. ... posted 9/11/02
 

People Who "Gave Up" After 9/11 More Likely to Remain Distressed

 
The Sept. 11 attacks of 2001 left a lingering psychological impact on the nation according to new research published in the Sept. 11 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). While 17 percent of the U.S. population living outside New York City reported symptoms of posttraumatic stress two months following the attacks, 6 percent continued to report symptoms six months afterward. An NSF-funded study led by Roxane Cohen Silver, professor of psychology and social behavior at the University of California, Irvine, was unusual because it followed people who were already taking part in an Internet survey panel when the Sept. 11 attacks occurred. Therefore, their mental and physical health histories were known prior to the tragedy. The study, Silver explains, provides new insights into how mental health workers can help people who have experienced trauma, and dispels a number of myths about who might be most affected by such an event.
Read full story. ... posted 9/11/02
 

Model of Plane Impact at WTC Provides Clues to Structural Issues

 
Abolhassan Astaneh-Asl, a civil engineering professor at the University of California, Berkeley, has constructed a realistic computer simulation of the World Trade Center North Tower being hit by a jet airplane. Astaneh's model has simulated the first few seconds of the plane's impact and entry into the building, and he is refining the model to include damage to the plane, the building floors and the internal core columns. The next step will be to include the effect of fire heating the damaged structure and initiating its final collapse.The simulation will help researchers analyze the potential effects that different structural designs, such as more robust core walls or more fireproofing, might have had and the implications for the design of future buildings.
Image courtesy: Abolhassan Astaneh-Asl, Univ. of Calif., Berkeley
Read full story. ... posted 9/11/02
 

NSF, Intelligence Community to Cooperate On "Data Mining" Research 

 
The intelligence community will provide as much as $8 million to supplement existing NSF research into methods of extracting underlying patterns -- and even developing predictive abilities -- from enormous sets of data such as television broadcasts and Web pages. The researchers who will receive the funding already were tackling aspects of those problems. But last September's terrorist attacks have lent their work much greater immediacy, noted Peter Freeman, assistant director for NSF's Directorate for Computer & Information Sciences and Engineering (CISE).
Read full story.... posted 9/11/02
 
Read more about NSF and Homeland Security