That's Life...On Mars?

New Studies of Martian Meteorite Launched
The National Science Foundation has awarded grants for seven new projects to study Martian meteorite ALH84001 in greater depth. The grants are part of a coordinated program with NASA to further investigate possible traces of ancient life in the Martian rock. NSF's new grants, totaling nearly $800,000 for projects over two or three years, will use advanced instrumentation to further analyze the provocative rock.    More...

Conducting Research in the
Coldest Place on Earth
Antarctica is a place where scientists dive below the ice sheet to follow penguins and seals. Researchers set up tents on ice floes that can break apart with little notice. They deal with problems of recording data when their pens freeze at -4 ^o F. They adjust telescopes when the O-rings shatter in the cold. And they gain the muscles needed to drill tens of feet into the ice for samples. Antarctica is not a place for the faint of heart. And yet, numbers of researchers leave their warm homes to go to NSF-funded research stations in Antarctica, not just willingly, but eagerly. They say the science explored on "the Ice," as the researchers refer to it, is like no other.    More...

Very Large Array Detects
Radio Emission from Gamma-Ray Burst
Astronomers have used the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope to make the first detection of radio emission from a cosmic gamma-ray burst. This sheds the first light on long-standing questions about the actual physics of these mysterious, tremendously energetic events.    More...

Japan is on Target to Double R&D; Budget
In 1992, Japan adopted a goal of doubling its government research and development (R&D;) budget by the year 2000. It appears Japan is well on its way to accomplishing the goal, according to a new Issue Brief produced by NSF's division of science resources studies. The Japanese science and technology plan of 1996 suggested a massive accelerated investment of 17 trillion yen over five years, or about $74 billion. The plan remained intact despite a prolonged economic recession.    More...