2004

2003

2002

"Moon Illusion" Still Confounds Scientists

 
Walking along an open road on a clear, cool, windy Halloween evening, you notice the sun as it sets and the sky turning dark. Suddenly, you feel a presence. You turn sharply. Over the horizon, a large yellowish ball appears. Has Halloween come a-haunting? No, it's only the moon. But, why does it look so huge? We know the moon disc is the same size whether on the horizon or high in the sky. The larger horizon moon is an illusion. The phenomenon has been known to astronomers since before the second century A.D., yet scientists still debate the possible reasons for this "moon illusion." Lloyd Kaufman, a Long Island University research scientist and retired New York University professor of psychology and neuroscience, has teamed up with his son, physicist James Kaufman of IBM, in new research for the National Science Foundation (NSF). The pair will test the "apparent distance" theory, determining whether or not perceived distance is linked with physical distance.
Read the full story. ... posted 10/30/02

 

Tiger Moths Use Sonic Defense to Trick Bats

 
As a bat zips through the night sky, it sends out high-pitched squeaks, bouncing sound waves off of objects and unsuspecting prey. While most insect victims would have trouble fighting back, many dive and loop to avoid enemies, and some have the added advantage of being poisonous. Yet, in the dark, the bright warning colors of most toxic insects are lost on predators. Now, some researchers suspect one type of moth may have a way of effectively broadcasting its toxicity -- the insect produces high-pitched sounds of its own. Tiger moths have a special clicker called a tymbal built into their thorax. When they fly, the moths click their tymbal to produce a distinct sound that seems to keep bats at bay.
Image courtesy: William Conner and Nickolay Hristov, Wake Forest University
Read the full story . ... posted 10/30/02

 

Researchers Get First Look into Antimatter Atoms

 
It seems like the stuff of science fiction, but NSF-sponsored researchers working at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, have probed the properties of whole atoms of antimatter, the "mirror image" of matter, for the first time. Their results provide the first look into the inside of an antimatter atom and are a big step on the way to testing standard theories of how the universe operates. Fast-moving or "hot" antimatter has been created for years, but previous hot anti-atoms were annihilated by collisions with matter before they could be studied. Last year the ATRAP (for Antihydrogen Trap) team led by Gerald Gabrielse of Harvard University announced they'd pioneered methods of slowing down negatively charged antiprotons and combining them with slow positrons, the positively charged antimatter equivalent of electrons, to create an environment for forming the simplest possible anti-atom: antihydrogen. Now the team has made the first measurements of a complete antihydrogen atom.
Read the full story . ... posted 10/30/02

 

Augmented Reality Brings Dinosaurs into the 21st Century

 
Paleontologists and computer scientists have joined forces to paint fossils with digital flesh and create dynamic models that reveal how dinosaurs may have looked, walked and attacked prey. Called "augmented reality" (AR), researchers have used the new techniques to fit muscles onto a predator's jawbone and to interpret a mysterious feature in dinosaur footprints. National Science Foundation (NSF)-supported paleontologists Stephen Gatesy of Brown University and Lawrence Witmer of Ohio University collaborated with Oliver Bimber of Bauhaus University in Germany and colleagues at the Mitsubishi Electronic Research Laboratory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the Fraunhofer Center for Research in Computer Graphics in Providence, Rhode Island, to develop augmented reality's paleontology applications.
Image courtesy: Oliver Bimber, Bauhaus University, Germany (formerly of Fraunhofer Center for Research in Computer Graphics in Rhode Island), Stephen M. Gatesy, Brown University, Lawrence M. Witmer, Ohio University, Ramesh Raskar, Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Massachusetts, and L. Miguel Encarnação, Fraunhofer CRCG.
Read the full story . ... posted 10/30/02

 

Envision This: Science Photographer Felice Frankel to Present a Lecture; NSF Will Web Cast Live

 
NSF will host and web cast a lecture on "Envisioning Science: The Design and Craft of the Science Image" by science photographer Felice Frankel on Oct. 28. Frankel is a research scientist in the School of Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Director of the Envisioning Science Project, and the author of two books about communicating science through imagery. The lecture coincides with an exhibit of her work at NSF. The live web cast will bring the event to anyone with Internet access. Web viewers will need a RealPlayer Plug-in that can be downloaded for free. The lecture and web cast will begin at 1:30 pm.
Image © Felice Frankel
Read more. ... posted 10/25/02

 

The Solution to Dissolution

 
How many water molecules does it take to dissolve an acid? Although this may sound like a joke from a Mensa meeting, it's a fundamental problem for chemists. Now with the help of a powerful laser, NSF-sponsored researcher A. Welford Castleman, Jr. of Penn State University and colleagues have found the answer: Five. Knowing how substances dissolve is a basic chemistry problem that's key to processes ranging from chemical reactions in the body to depletion of the ozone layer. Scientists have puzzled over the process for over one hundred years and theorists had recently predicted that about four molecules of water were necessary to break an acid molecule into two charged pieces. Until now, though, there was no experimental evidence to compare with theory.
Read the full story . ... posted 10/25/02

 

Hurricane Isidore Proves Perfect Subject for Study of Rapidly Intensifying Storms

 
The season's second tropical whirlwind to reach hurricane strength gave hurricane hunters the opportunity to monitor and measure a tropical storm as it rapidly intensifies. Supported by NSF, scientist Nick Shay of the University of Miami, along with atmospheric researcher Peter Black of NOAA's hurricane research division, are studying how deep layers of warm surface water in the ocean help hurricanes to rapidly intensify - one of the most difficult situations to forecast and one of the most dangerous for coastal residents.
Image courtesy: NOAA
Read the full story . ... posted 10/18/02

 

Find Out Why: Timon and Pumbaa with a Fun Way to Learn About Science, Engineering, and Technology in Everyday Life

 
Hey kids ...! Have you ever wondered why it's cold at the North and South Poles? Or why a CD can play music? Or why the Moon has different phases? Or why airplane wings are shaped the way they are? Now you can Find Out Why with Timon and Pumbaa, two of the characters from Disney's The Lion King. Walt Disney Television Animation created these short clips for a public awareness partnership formed by NSF and Disney, as part of NSF's 50th anniversary celebration two years ago. The learning (and fun) continue today.
Pick a topic and then find out why! . ... posted 10/17/02

 

NSF Grantees Awarded 2002 Nobel Prizes for Economics, Chemistry, and Physics

 
Daniel Kahneman of Princeton University and Vernon L. Smith of George Mason University were awarded the Nobel Prize for Economics, and John B. Fenn shares the Nobel Prize for Chemistry with Japan's Koichi Tanaka and Kurt Wütrich of Switzerland, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced on Oct. 9th. Previously, on Oct. 8, the academy awarded Raymond Davis, Jr., of the University of Pennsylvania and Riccardo Giacconi of Associated Universities, Inc., the 2002 Nobel Prize in Physics, along with Masatoshi Koshiba of Japan. NSF has supported Kahneman, Smith, Fenn, Davis, and Giacconi.
Read the full story . ... posted 10/15/02

 

Math and Science Partnership Awards Announced; K-12, Higher Education Institutions Unite in Effort to Boost Learning

 
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced 24 awards under the new Math and Science Partnership (MSP) program -- an anticipated investment of $240 million over five years in projects to improve the achievement of K-12 students in science and mathematics. The Department of Education (ED), an NSF partner in this effort, is co-funding two projects involving state education agencies. "These partnerships will become part of a broad national network of interconnected sites that will share successful instructional strategies, entice and train competent science and math teachers and improve learning for millions of students," said NSF Director Rita Colwell. "One of the key outcomes of these grants will be the improved content knowledge of teachers of mathematics and science in districts across America," said U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige.
Read the full story . ... posted 10/3/02