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Bill Nye  
NSF 50th Anniversary
Radio Public Service Announcements

Photo of Bill Nye


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ANTIFREEZE PROTEINS

"Hey, Bill Nye The Science Guy here. Since it's the 50th anniversary of the National Science Foundation how about we celebrate with a fish story that's actually true.
In the early 70s when a lot of people were doing the hustle, others, namely scientists in Antarctica were identifying a protein in Antarctic fish that protected their fish tissues from freezing. Then the scientists found similar proteins in other cold water fish, even in some insects and plants. This led to exploring possible uses of these proteins like increasing the freeze tolerance in plants, improving farm fish production in cold climates, even extending the shelf-life of frozen pizza. Um-umph. Don't you just love science. Well, that's the end of my fish story. Take my word for it, it's true.
Bill Nye The Science Guy, inviting you to join me and the National Science Foundation in celebrating fifty years of science and engineering discoveries."


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INTERNET

"Hey, Bill Nye The Science Guy here logging on to the Internet to check my e-mail. Ah. Here's one announcing the National Science Foundation's 50th anniversary. As if we didn't know. Here's another from an interested listener. 'Dear Bill, love your show. Could you explain how the Internet got started? Ha. Great question.'
Believe it or not the original Internet started a couple of decades ago with a Department of Defense project that allowed them to send information from one lab to another. The information could be shared. At this point the NSF not only funded an expanded Internet so researchers and educators could exchange information, but by the mid- 80s the NSF also assumed primary support of computer networking. You know the rest. Today the Internet is a big commercial enterprise, and it's a great way to stay in touch.
I'm Bill Nye The Science Guy inviting you to join me and the National Science Foundation in celebrating fifty years of science and engineering discoveries."


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MICROBURSTS

(AIRPLANE NOISE)
"Hey, Bill Nye The Science Guy here celebrating the National Science Foundation's 50th anniversary from the airport runway.
Oh, that was close. Anyway, we all know that scientists and engineers helped us get off the ground. And now they're looking at ways to make flying safe from microbursts. These are quick bursts of intense wind.
When they occur either at takeoff or landing the effect can throw a plane off course and spell danger for the passengers and crew.
With NSF support scientists are discovering how microbursts occur, and they've developed techniques to identify these winds. This helps pilots safely takeoff and land in microburst conditions, and the research has led to a required training program for all pilots worldwide.
I'm Bill Nye The Science Guy inviting you to join me and the National Science Foundation in celebrating fifty years of science and engineering discoveries. (AIRPLANE NOISE)
Whoa."


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OVERCOMING HEAVY METALS 

"Hey, Bill Nye The Science Guy celebrating the National Science Foundation's 50th anniversary, and what better place than in my garden. I'm talking to my plants about heavy metals.
No, not that kind of heavy metal.
I'm talking about the metals that are in about 12% of the world's soils. I'm telling my vegetables to watch out because metals in the soil will stunt their growth. To overcome this problem plant biologists supported by the NSF are working to develop plants that thrive in heavy metal soils. So hang in there garden and listen to this.
Other scientists are developing plants with higher nutritional value so your spinach will really pack a punch. In the future crops could be developed to withstand cold climates, drought and even be pest-resistant.
This is Bill Nye The Science Guy inviting you to join me and the National Science Foundation in celebrating fifty years of science and engineering discoveries."


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BODY'S 24-HOUR CLOCK 

(TICKING SOUND)
"Don't be nervous. It's not a bomb. It's me, Bill Nye The Science Guy here to celebrate the National Science Foundation's 50th anniversary. The ticking you hear represents my body's 24-hour clock. 
You see we all have body clocks. In fact there's a cluster of cells In your brain that regulates stuff like your breathing, your heart rate, your digestion and your sleep/wake cycle. Your body clock also helps tell you when you're hungry, and scientists now believe that learning about our body clocks may help us lower blood pressure without drugs and even overcome jet lag. It's all part of new research funded by NSF focused on gaining control of our body clocks. I wonder if this means we can turn our clocks back? Hmmm.
But for now, this is Bill Nye The Science Guy inviting you to join me and the National Science Foundation in celebrating fifty years of science and engineering discoveries."


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DATA COMPRESSION TECHNOLOGY 

"Hey, Bill Nye The Science Guy here to celebrate the National Science Foundation 50th anniversary. Hey, we got to turn that down.
While some of us may not understand or enjoy this music I do appreciate the sound because thanks to science and engineering the sound of music is better than ever.
An important part of developing this super sound included research funded by the NSF about forty years ago that focused on data compression algorithms, codes that centered on error correction and high-speed, high-density information processing. Sounds esoteric. At the time no one really knew where the research would lead. But look where it's taken us-to digital tv, computer drives and compact disk players that we're all enjoying today. Well, some of us are.
Hey, turn that down. 
I'm Bill Nye The Science Guy inviting you to join me and the National Science Foundation in celebrating fifty years of science and engineering discoveries. Wow."


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HANTAVIRUS

"Hey, Bill Nye The Science Guy here to celebrate the National Science Foundation's 50th anniversary with a real mystery story.
It all started a couple of years ago with a serious hantavirus epidemic in the southwest. It was spreading fast. People were dying, and no one knew what caused it or how to stop it.
Meanwhile, scientists funded by the NSF doing a long-term ecology study in New Mexico, found a clue to the cause--a population explosion of rodents carrying the virus. Information collected over many years on changing rodent populations provided proof. They also found that these populations went up when the rainfall was above average.
That led to the end of the mystery but not the end of my story because continuing research will help prevent future outbreaks of the hantavirus.
I'm Bill Nye The Science Guy inviting you to join me and the National Science Foundation in celebrating fifty years of science and engineering discoveries."


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EXPANDING UNIVERSE 

"Hey, Bill Nye the science guy here. Tonight I'm celebrating the National Science Foundation's 50th anniversary in my back yard, and the sky is full of stars. We've always had a fascination with stars, and you probably knew that our universe has been expanding since the big bang. But here's something you might not know. The expansion of our universe is speeding up due to some unknown force.
I know it sounds weird, but it's true. Astronomers supported by the NSF have discovered that our universe is getting bigger faster than anyone thought. Picture a baking loaf of raisin bread. Our galaxy is just one little raisin in the middle of a loaf which represents the universe. As the bread rises the universe gets bigger giving all the little raisins like us more space. Get it, space? Agh.
I'm Bill Nye The Science Guy inviting you to join me and the National Science Foundation in celebrating fifty years of science and engineering discoveries."


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BARCODES

(President Truman): "Government has a responsibility to see that our country maintains its position in the advance of science. As a step towards this end the congress should complete action on the measure to create a National Science Foundation."

Bill Nye: "Fifty years ago President Truman urged congress to establish a Federal agency to promote the progress of science. Since then the work of American scientists and engineers has shaped every aspect of our lives.
For example NSF support played a crucial role in the development of Barcodes. Today those dizzy combinations of black and white lines that are found on everything from chewing gum to airline tickets help make our transactions more accurate and efficient. They help industries keep track of products and what people buy. It's science and engineering. 
This is Bill Nye The Science Guy inviting you to join me and the national Science Foundation in celebrating fifty years of science and engineering Discoveries."


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NANOTECHNOLOGY

"Hey Bill Nye The Science Guy here, and today I'm celebrating the National Science Foundation's 50th anniversary from inside a doll house. I'm scrunched up in here to focus on the importance of small things which leads to the topic of nanoscience and nanotechnology.
The word nano is used to mean one billionth. Building structures and machines a billionth of a meter in size by manipulating individual atoms and molecules is what nanoscale science and engineering is all about. The NSF is a pioneer in funding this nano research on tiny things. But the benefit's promised to be huge. Like finding cancerous tumors when they're only a few cells in size or creating building materials with ten times the strength of steel at a fraction of the weight. Look it. Can someone get me out of here? Oh, look. The back door is open or it's a whole wall really.
Anyway, I'm Bill Nye The Science Guy inviting you to join me and the National Science Foundation in celebrating 50 years of science and engineering discoveries."

 

 

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Last Modified: Mar 28, '03