DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 296 906 SE 049 445

TITLE National Science Foundation Annual Report 1987. INSTITUTION Natioral Science Foundation, Washington, D.C. REPORT NO NSF-88-1 PUB DATE 88 NOTE 116p.; Photographs may not reproduce well. See ED 284 736 for 1986 Annual Report. AVAILABLE FROMSuperintendent of Documents, U.S. Governmment Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402. PUB TYPE Reports - Descriptive (141)

EDRS PRICE MF01/PC05 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *College Science; Computer Science; *Engineering; Engineers; Financial Support; Grants; Higher Education; *Industry; Mathematics; Research Opportunities; Science Education; *Sciences; *Scientists; Secondary Educ :ion; Secondary School Science; *Technological Advancement IDENTIFIERS *National Science Foundation

ABSTRACT The imbalance between the supply and demand for new knowledge is a very important feature with regard to science and engineering. Whereas the supply of new knowledge appears unlimited, the demand for new knowledge is much greater. In the years to come, more knowledge will be needed to cope with world problems. Knowledge is a most important resource along with the scientists and engineers who produce it. Many believe that increasing the supply of knowledge requires solving the problems of education and devoting the necessary resources to basic research. This publication contains seven chapters, a director's statement, highlights, awards, operational and organizational news, and a conclusion. The first chapter gives perspectives for the 1990s. Chapter 2, on human resources and education, outlines precollege education, undergraduate and graduate education, other activities, and public outreach. Chapter 3 explains disciplinary research in fields including the sciences, mathematics, and small businesses. Chapter 4 deals with basic research of centers and groups, and instrumentation. Included are three appendices including: (1) a list of National Science Foundation and National Science Board Members; (2) the patents and financial report; and (3) a list of advisory committees and chairpersons. (RT)

*********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ********************************************.a************************** .....2eams- .11BIL

u.s.derAirrmettr OF EDUCATION "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS Office of Educational Research and Improvement MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY EDLA11ONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as F received from the person or organization originating it Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality

Points of view or op.mons stated in this docu- TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES ment do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)... About the National Science Foundation

The National Science Foundation is an is helped by advisers, primarily from independent federal agency created by the scientific community, who serve on the National Science Foundation Act of formal committees or as ad hoc review- 1950 (P1.81 -507). Its aim is to promote ers of proposals. This advisory system, and advance scientific progress in the which focuses on both program direc- United States. The idea of such a founda- tion and specific proposals, involves tion was an outgrowth of the important more than 59,000 scientists and en- contributions made by science and gineers a year. NSF staff members who technology during World War II. From are experts in a certain field or area those first days, NSF has had a unique make final award decisions; applicants place in the federal government: it is get verbatim unsigned copies of peer responsible for the overall health of reviews and can appeal those decisions. science and engineering across all Awardees are wholly responsible for disciplines. In contrast, other federal doing their research and preparing the agencies support research focused on results for publication. Thus the Found- specific missions, such as health or ation does not assume responsiblity for defense. The Foundation is also commit- such findings or their interpretation. ted to expanding the nation's supply of scientists, engineers, and science educators. NSF funds research in all fields of NSF welcomes proposals on behalf of science and engineering. It does this all qualified scientists and engineers through grants ilnd contracts to more and strongly encourages women, mi- than 2000 colleges, universities, and norities, and persons with disabilities other research institutions in all parts to compete fully in its programs. of the United States. The Foundation In accordance with federal statutes accounts for about 25 percent of federal and regulations and NSF policies, no support to academic institutions for person on grounds of race, color, age, basic research. sex, national origin, or disability shall NSF receives more than 32,000 pro- be excluded from participation in, de- posals each year for research, graduate nied the benefits of, or be subject to fellowships, and math/science/engi- discrimination under any program or neering education; it makes more than activity receiving financial assistance 15,000 awards. These go to universities, from the National Science Foundation. colleges, academic consortia, nonprofit Facilitation Awards for Handi- institutions, and small businesses. The cappedScientistsandEngineers (FAH) agency operates no laboratories itself provides funding for special assistance but does support National Resea.ch or equipment to enable persons with Centers, certain oceanographic vessels, disabilities (investigators and other and antarctic research stations. The staff, including student research assis- Foundation also aids cooperative tants) to work on an NSF project. See research between universities and the FAH announcement or contact the industry and U.S. participation in inter- FAH Coordinator at (202) 357-7456. national scientific efforts. The National Science Foundation has The Foundation is run by a presiden- TDD (Telephonic Device for the Deaf) tially appointed Director and Board of capability, which enables individuals 24 scientists and engineers, as well as with hearing impairment to communi- top university and industry officials. cate with the Division of Personnel and NSF is structured much like a univer- Management about NSF programs, em- sity, with grant-making divisions for the ployment, or general information. This various disciplines and fields of science number is (202) 357-7492. and engineering. The Foundation's staff 3 National Science Foundation. Annual Report 1987

Annual Report for Fiscal Year 1987

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402 Letter of Transmittal

Washington, D.C.

DEAR MR. PRESIDENT:

I have the honor to transmit herewith the Annual Report for Fiscal Year 1987 of the National Science Foundation, for submis- sion to the Congress as required by the National Science Foundation Act of 1950.

Respectfully,

4,0i)...... :

Erich Bloch Director, National Science Foundation

The Honorable The President of the United States

5

II NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION CONTENTS

Director's Statement iv

Highlights 2 Chapter 1: Into the 1990's 22 Chapter 2: Human Resources and Education 28 Precollege Education 28 Undergraduate and Graduate Education 33 Other Activities 33 Outreach to the Public 37 Chapter 3: Disciplinary Research 44 Physical Sciences/Mathematics 44 Biological Sciences 47 Geosciences 52 Computer Science 58 Engineering 60 International Activities 64 Small Business Grants 65 Chapter 4: Basic Research: Centers, Groups, and Instrumentation 66 New Efforts 66 Other Activities 72 Instrumentation News 78 Chapter 5: Awards 82 Chapter 6: Operations, Organization, NSF People 88 Chapter 7: Conclusion 96 Appendixes Appendix A. NSF Staff and National Science Board Members (FY1987) 98 Appendix B. Patents and Financial Report for FY 1987 102 Appendix C. Advisory Committees and Chairpersons for FY1987 106

U NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION III DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT

As we look back on 1987 and ahead to the last years of the twentieth century, the most striking feature on the land- scape of science and engineering is imbalance between the supply and demand for new knowledge. On the one hand, the supply of new knowledge seems unlimited. Super- conductivity has captured our imagina- tion with the possibility of much more efficient transportation and electrical power systems. Supercomputers and "chaos theory" in mathematics prom- ise to help us understand such com- plex phenomena as weather patterns, turbulence in fluid systems, and the distribution of biological resources. Biotechnology is already a growing industry driven by basic research in biology and especially in genetics. It is already clear that these sciences will science can help us understand this create continuing revolutions in agri- problem in time to solve it before culture and health care. permanent damage is done to the American mannfacturing, which is environment. essential . a our economic well-being, is beginning to make a comeback as "Increasing the supply of knowledge new materials, robotics, computer- requires solving two serious prob- aided engineering design, and other lems. First among them is educa technologies emerge from basic tion.. . The second problem is to research and find application. devote the necessary resources to Is this "supply" of new knowledge basic research." enough? Is it even too much? Some critics argue that knowledge is devel- Economic competitiveness is oping too rapidly; that we should slow another example. New knowledge down and give our social systems time created through basic research is the to ada Yet the demand for new source of new products and manufac- knowledge is much greater than the turing processes for the international supply marketplaceand thus the key to Our rapidly developing knowledge maintaining American prosperity and of the effect of chlorofluorocarbons our standard of living. on the ozone layer is a good example Ozone and economic competitive- only intensive use of the most advanced ness are only two current examples of the problems our civilization will face

.A. i

IV NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION in coming decades. We have no way of knowing what new problems will appear tomorrow; or next year. But we can be certain that we will need still more knowledge to cope with these problems. In an uncertain world, knowledgealong with the scientists and engineers who produce it is our most important resource. Increasing the supply of knowledge requires solving two serious prob- lems. First among them is education: we must find the ways and the i neans for our schools to teach all our young people basic concepts in science and mathematics. And many more stu- dents especially women and minoritiesmust be encouraged to go beyond the basics into preparation for careers in science or engineering. In an increasingly technological world, many more of our leaders in industry; in government, and in academia must have technical training if we are to control events. The second problem is to devote the necessary resources to basic research. We spend about two-tenths of one percent of our GNP on such researchnot much, when we con- sider its importance. And the fraction has not changed significantly in 20 years, although science and engi- neering have become vastly more important. There are no easy solutions to these problems. But the search for solutions deserves our best efforts, and it defines the mission of the National Science Foundation as we move toward the 21st century.

Erich Moth NSF Director r V

ANNUAL REPORT. FISCAL YEAR 1987 1 Then ye who now on heavenly nectar fare, Come celebrate with me in song the name Of Newton, to the Muses dear; for he Unlocked the hidden treasures of Truth: So richly through his mind had Phoebus cast The radiance of his divinity, Nearer the god no mortal may approach Edmund Halley in his preface to Isaac Newton's Principia

In 1687, Isaac Newton revolutionized the natural sciences with the publication of his land- mark book, Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, more commonly known as the Principia. Among Newton's achievements in his Principia, written in only 18 months, were mathematical expressions for the laws of motion and gravitational attraction. A new universe of information opened up to scientists: Newton explained the orbits of the planets around the sun, irregularities in the moon's orbit, and the cause of ocean tides. In 1987, the 300th anniversary of Newton's Principia, new discos ries once again made news in the natural sciences, especially in as- tronomy and materials science. Astronomers detected supernova 1987A, the brightest explod- ing star visible from earth since 1604. And the discovery of materials that conduct electricity without resistance or energy loss at higher tem- peratures than few dreamed possible has been called the most important scientific finding of the latter half of the twentieth century

li Superconductors

The year 1987 could be dubbed "the 2 year of the st pers" a time of super- computer applications, supernova sightings, superconducting materials discovered. But among all the scientific stories of the year, the discovery of new types of superconductors led the way. Ever since a Dutch scientist in High Temperature 1911 found that a pure crystal of mer- Superconductor. This solid model of a crystal cury lost all resistance to electric cur- structure was produced rent when cooled to ultracold temper- using software developed atures 4 degrees above absolute by IBM. As modeled here, zero or -460 Fahrenheit scientists the ingredients of this compound are barium have searched for materials that are (green), yttrium (silver), superconducting at higher tempera- copper atoms (blue), and tures. For 75 years that search turned oxygen atoms (red). The up materials that required only slightly compound generated less cooling to become superconduct- great interest because of ing. A steady and costly supply of the obserntion of superconductivity with a liquid helium was needed for super- ti critical temperature above conducting magnets and circuits to the boiling point of liquid operate. nitrogen. Magnetic levitation. A modern permanent magnet floats above a yttriumbariumcopper oxide superconductor at liquid nitrogen tempera- ture (- 321F). In tAsier to expel the permanent magnetic field from the superconductor, a current flows near the surface of the superconductor to produce the opposing field.

10 Then, in 1986, IBM researchers in the tracks, could :glide effortlessly at Zurich reported the onset of supercon-hundreds of miles per hour without ductivity in a ceramic compound at aencountering friction , rom the metal temperature a few degrees higher rails. Brookhaven National Laboratory than previously observed.* The reporton Long Island, NY, has demonstrated sparked the interest of a number of that a cable made of one of the older, research teams, including one headed low-temperature superconductors, by solid-state physicists Paul Chu at although only 16 inches thick, could the University of Houston and MK Wu carry one-eighth of the electricity at the University of Alabama at needed by NewYork City on the hottest Huntsville. The team reproduced theday of the year. Zurich results and in early 1987 took Paul Chu was serving as a year-long a giant leap forward: using a new director in tht. NSF solid-state physics ceramic compound of their own con- program when his discovery was an- coction, Chu and Wu achieved the nounced, and he is a long-time reci- superconducting state at temperatures pient of NSF research funds. M.K. Wu's more than a hundred degrees higherlaboratory in Huntsville is supported (in Fahrenheit) than ever before. by an NSF activity called Experimental The finding sent puzzled theorists Program to Stimulate Competitive back to the blackboard and experimen-Research (EPSCoR). talists rushing to their laboratories. The discovery also meant that an im- portant economic barrier had been crossed. Since ceramic superconduc- tors become superconducting using only liquid nitrogen (at about 40 cents a gallon a cheap and plentiful coolant), potential applications to daily life may be enormous. For example, if the new materials can be fashioned into circuits or wires that can carry large currents without losing their superconducting properties, they may result in such applications as power generators and transmission lines that do not experi- ence power loss, or large magnets that could be used for more precise medi- cal imaging. Creating powerful magnetic fields and electric currents, high-tempera- ture superconductors would provide energy at a fraction of the cost needed to operate older superconducting circuits. Levitating trains, floating in a superconducting magnetic field abo _!

'The Zurich team was among the 1987 Nobel Prize winners, based on this superconduc- tivity work. Research on superconductivity. M.K. Wu (University of Alabama at Huntsville) studied superconductivity through an NSF gram designed to stimulate competitive research in certain states. Super researchers. Paul Chu (center) and his research team at the University of Houston have made important breakthroughs in discovering new high temperature superconductors.

Other research teams, including ing at high temperatures are not wellmakes superconductivity possible at those at AT&T Bell Labs, IBM, and in understood. That certai' materials those temperatures.* Japan, Switzerland, and China have lose all resistance to electric current At a government-sponsored confer- also reported superconductivity at at any temperature is a startling con- ence on superconductivity held during record high temperatures. cept: even good "normal" conductors, the summer of 1987, President Reagan The almost weekly announcementssuch as copper wire, usually require a announced an 11-point plan to pro- on superconducting materials created battery or other source of energy to mote further work in superconductiv- a flurry of new activity in the scientific keep current moving. ity and ensure U.S. readiness to take community worldwide. An evening At the submicroscopic level, the the lead in commercial applications of session devoted to superconductivity electrons that make up current nor- the new research. NSF support in this at the March 1987 meeting of the Amer- mally collide with atoms and im- area has approximately doubled, to ican Physical Society turned into an purities in the conducting material. about $10 million. Included in this all-nighter with standing room only; These collisions waste energy and the amount is $1 million that NSF added scientists still talk about the session as electric current is slowed. But in the to its support of materials research at "the Woodstock of Physics." And at a old, low-temperature superconduc- three of the Materials Research Spring 1987 meeting of the National tors, according to an accepted theoryLaboratories it funds. NSF also set Science Board, 15-year-old Heidi electrons pair off at lower tempera- aside $600,000 for rapid start-up grants Grant, the daughter of IBM supercon- tures and shield one another from for engineers working on processing ductor researcher Paul Grant, de- these energy-depleting collisions. At the new superconducting materials. monstrated one of the ceramic mate-higher temperatures, however, the rials she had made for just a few dollarselectron pairs break and superconduc *In January 1988, Paul Chu announced the in her father's laboratory. tivity is lost. Theoreticians, aware of discovery of yet another compound that became superconducting at about 254 de- For all the excitement, the reasons the existence of high-temperature grees below zero Fahrenheit. This compound why materials become superconduct-superconductors, are now puzzling is made of bismuth, aluminum, strontium, over the physical mechanism that calcium, and copper oxide.

12 Super Year in Astronomy

stronomy also had a remarkable yearsive as the sun collapse under their in 1987a year of both illuminating own gravitational pull. Such explo- discoveries and puzzling results. From sions are not rare, but because most A,the sighting of the brilliant supernova are tot, far and too faint to be observed expla ..-:- known as 1987A to surpris- in detail, the quest to understand how ing eviut.tce for the existence of seven they happen has largely been limited new galaxies in a region thought to be to theoretical analysis and computer empty space, astronomers were del- modeling. But supernova 1987A, a uged with new information about the living model burning with the light of universe. 100 million suns in a neighboring "Super" Star Draws Worldwide galaxy, put many existing theories to Research Effort the test. And since the explosion was visible only from the Southern Hei Astronomers will long remember sphere, observatories in the clear the night of February 23, 1987. On a mountain air of Chile, including the .esolate mountaintop in northern NSF-funded Cerro Tololo Inter-Amer- Chile, a Caladian astronomer ican Observatory, became the focus of glimpsed an 'infamiliar bright spot on worldwide research efforts. a freshly exposed photographic plate Only hours after announcement of of the Magellanic Cloud, a galaxy a the discovery, Cerro Tololo telescopes billion billion miles from earth. The captured some of the first detailed spot was no chemical aberration: an images of the new supernova. Analysis object so brilliant it could be seen with of these images and the light produced the naked eye had suddenly appeared by the February explosion revealed in the galaxy. Scientists glimpsed na- that the supernova was caused by the ture at its most explosive: supernova collapse of a star known as a super- 1937A, the first of its kind sighted in giant. FuiLher studies found that the 1987 and the brightest visible from supergiant was of a type commonly earth since 1604, had been born. believed to be too but to give rise to Supernovas are the glowing cloudsa supernova, forcing scientists to revise of gas and dust particles hurled into their theories somewhat. space when stars several times as mas- 0 Observing the supernova. z8/ Astronomers used the CurtisSchmidt telescope at Cerro Tololo to photograph and observe supernova 1987A. Supernova 1987A. Located in the Large Magellanic Cloud near the Tarantula nebula, the brilliant supernova 1987A burns with the light of 100 million suns and is the closest supernova seen since the invention of the telescope. This widefield photograph was taken by the CurtisSchmidt telescope at the Cerro lblolo Inter-American Observatory in Chile.

it 4

/

,., .

r AO 4. Supporting evidence that a super- The supernova attracted both as- ,, giant had given rise to the supernovatronomers who study the large scale came from photographic plates of the and scientists who search for sub- Large Magellanic Cloud taken two atomic relics of the stellar explosion. decades ago at Cerro To lolo. Nicholas In a salt mine far below ground in Lake Sanduleak, then a staff astronomer, Erie, in the Kamioka lead and zinc had analyzed the light and catalogued mine in Japan, in the Mont Blanc Tun- the position of a number of stars from nel linking France and Italy; and in the galaxy; including a supergiant now another tunnel under Mount Elorus in known as Sanduleak -69 degrees/202.the Soviet Union, physicists monitored Twenty years later, the location of thedetectors for the elusive subatomic supernova closely matched the posi- particles called neutrinos They are tion of the Sanduleak star. And ul- predicted to be produced during a traviolet studies revealed that the starsupernova, preceding the emission of had disappeared after the supernova visible light. Neutrinos were detected, explosion. The close connection be- affirming our understanding of how tween the two was unmistakable. supernovas occur. Other unusual features of supernova 1987A were also uncovered at Cerro Largest Galaxy Discovered To lolo. Using a special rapid exposure Astronomers discovered in 1987 the photographic technique, astronomerslargest galaxy yet known in the uni- discovered an unexpected, glowing verse, a giant spiral 13 times as big as companion near the supernova. And our own Milky Way galaxy while light from most supernovas Known as Markarian 348, the galaxy reaches a peak intensity quickly, super- had first been observed by optical nova 1987A increased its brilliancy for telescope more than 20 rears ago, but three months, equalling the brightnesswas thought to be the size of the Milky of a star in the Big Dipper before Way More recently; Markarian 348 slowly fading from view drew the attention of Susan Simkin, Scientists have since turned their an astronomer at Michigan Stare Uni- attention to exploring the dense, col-versity. Simkin was making a study of lapsed star that is the burned out rem- very bright galaxies, including Marka- nant of the explosion, along with therian 348. gases still racing outward into space there to mingle with gases left over c- from the time when the star was , formed. In fact. NASA's Solar Maximum Satellite and two Australian balloon experiments have already provided additional evidence that exploding stars such as the supernova create key heavy elements, including metals, from lighter elements. The balloon-lofted instruments in- volved were highly sensitive detectors of gamma radiation; they made the first clear detection of gamma-ray emissions from a stellar explosion and helped scientists deduce the elements Image of MKn 348. Ast.comer Susan Simian examines a computer-enhanced it....ge of Markarian 348. that produced the radiation. 15 Simkin and her collaborators Other Astronomy Findings In a separate research effort, a team studied the radiation from the galaxy astronomers from set end institu- of British and American ast:onomers using both the optical telescope at tionsusing a variety of optical tele- has found that our own galaxy., the Mount Palomar Observatory in Califor- scopeshave discovered seven rare Milky Way, and thousands of its neigh- nia and the Very Large Array (VIA) galaxies in a portion of the universe bors are speeding across space at the radio telescope, an NSF-supported that was presumed to 1,c.. empty space. rate of -400 miles per second. The facility in New Mexico. The data from Their work was clone at Kitt Peak Na- finding intrigued and baffled the scien- the radio telescope surprised the re- tional Observatory, an NSF-supported tific community, since none of the search team Markarian 348 had a facil:ty in Arizona. The galaxies. un- theories that explain the formation diameter of 1.3 million light y ears. the usual because they include energetic and structure of the universe can ac- largest single galaxy yet observed.A gases that indicate they may be giving count for the observed motion One light year is the distance light travels birth to new stars. are located in the of many conjectures about the un- in a year, about six trillion miles direction of the constellation 13ootes. explained motion, known as large- According to Simkin, the high reso- The "empty' region where the galaxies scale streaming, is that the galaxies are lution of the \1A telescopeactually w ere found is so vast that 2.000 galaxies being 1 ulled by the gravitational force an assemblage of 2 radio antennas the size of the Milky Way would be of some huge, as yet undiscovered that move on railroad trackswas expected in that space. object. Research that led to the discov- crucial to accurate measurement of Discovery of the galaxies has impor- ery was conducted at observatories the distant galaxy's size tant repercussions for theories on the worldwide, including the Kitt Peak Simkin's collaborauws were Jac formation and clustering of galaxies National Observatory queline ran Gorkom. a staff as- and on the way matter is distributed tronomer at the National Radio As- in the universe. tronomy Observatory:Joh/I Hibbard. a former summer student at the VIA, and Su Hong-jun from the Purple Mountain Observatory in the People's Republic of China.

Largest galaxy. Astronomers in 198- found that Markarian 3 -i8. a giant spiral galaxy first sighted more than 20 years ago. is the largest galaxy yet known in the universe. It is 13 times as large as the Milky Way. (In this composite optical image. cold, neutral hydro- gen is shown in blue; gars in the galaxy and surrounding field are red.)

Collaborative effort. Su Hong-jun, at the Purple Mountain Observatory in the People's Republic of China, was a collaborator in Markarian 348 research. Pulsed Magnetic Field

Researchers at the Francis Bitter Na- MIT laboratory developed a copper- tional Magnet Laboratory at MIT haveniobium wire whose mechanical built a magnet that produces pulses of strength and high electric and thermr magnetic field twice as strong as the conductivity were used to create a largest steady-state device. Previous magnetic field of 68.4 tesla, more tha: research at the laboratory led to crea- a million times as large as the earth's tion of the world's largest steady-state field. The high intensity and relatively magnetic field (described in NSF's FY long duration of the magnetic pulse 1986 annual report). about five-thousandths of a second This new tool, which generates a allow researchers to extend the mea- magnetic field that peaks in strength surements with a weaker steady-state every few minutes, gives scientists a magnet. One important application is highly accurate and inexpensive probein measuring the "critical field" of a for studying the magnetic and elec- superconductor, the magnetic field tronic properties of metals, semicon-beyond which the material no longer ductors, and superconductorsin- allows no-resistance flow of electric cluding the new superconducting current. Measuring the critical field of materials only recently discovered. each of the new superconductors aids Working in collaboration with scientists in understanding these excit- Supercon, Inc., a small company in ing and sometimes puzzling materials. Massachusetts, Simon Foner of the

Pulsed magnetic field. This MIT magnet produces a pulsed magnetic field twiceas strong as the largest steady-state device. It gives scientists a highly accurate and inexpensive tool for probing the properties of many materials, including thenew superconductors. Hardened steel shell contains the highly stressed magnet. Antiparricles are the mirror images of subatomic particles such as the proton or electron, possessing nearly identical properties, but with the opposite elec- tric charge. An antiproton, for exam- ple, is the equivalent of a proton with a negative charge. Although the study of antiparticles is crucial for testing fundamental theories about how the universe was formed, antiparticles can be created in large quantities only at high energies and high velocities. Scientists have been unable to slow down these particles long .mough to analyze them precisely. The antiproton has proved particu- larly elusive. But a collaboration of U.S. and West German researchers led by experimental physicist Gerald Gabrielse at Harvard University found Antiparticle research. Shown a method for trapping these particlesplaced at the front and back of the here are electrodes for the ion for periods up to 10 minutes in a chamber kept the antiparticles bounc- trap used by U.S. and West container the size of a matchbox. The ing back and forth, while a strategically German researchers to capture researchers began with a beam of placed magnetic field prevented tilt- and hold antiprotons. energetic antiprotons produced by the antiparticles from slipping out from large accelerator at the European the chamber sides. Center for Nuclear Research (CERN) Succeeding in only a day, the inves- in Switzerland. A CERN apparatus tigators for the first time confined called the Low Energy Electron Ring thousands of antiprotons in the removed large amounts of energy chamber for tenths of seconds. Five from the beam, but the researchers antiprotons were trapped for as long were still faced with capturing antipro- as 10 minutes. As of this writing, the tons possessing millions of electron- scientists expect to trap antiprotons volts of energy. And due to tight for more than a day, enabling them to scheduling, they had only 24 hours to measure the mass of the antiparticles perform the experiment. at least 100 times as precisely as ever First the scientists passed the anti- before. Physical theories about ele- proton beam through a thick metal mentary particles the basis of our disc, causing the beam to lose energy understanding about how matter is put by collision with electrons inside thetogetherpredict that the mass of the metal. Next, the researchers used pow- antiproton must be exactly the same erful electric and magnetic fields to as its mirror twin, the proton. But confine the energetic antiparticles experiments have not ruled out a tiny inside a vacuum chamber only a few deviation. If the mass of an antiproton inches long. A large negative voltage is found to be more or less than that applied alternately to electrodes of a proton, it could be one of the most significant dis "overies in physics in quite a few years.

18 Antarctic Ozone Layer: Research Continues

cientists investigating the ozone "hole" the continent), the National Oceanic that occurs over Antarctica between and Atmospheric Administration September and November (see NSF (NOAA), the National Aeronautics and SAnnual Report for FY 1986) found in Space Administration (NASA), and the 1987 that the depletion of the ozone Chemical Manufacturers' Association. layer there was more pronounced than The scientific lea& c of the expedition, in previous years. Preliminary results atmospheric chemist Susan Solomon suggest that both chemical and mete- of NOAA, and her colleagues used orological factors may produce the molecular properties of light absorp- Jack Raw* phenomenon. Moreover, the ozone tion to measure concentrations of hole was evident over the tip of South ozone and chemicals suspected of America as well. playing a role in ozone depletion. The chemical products suspected of Other scientists included the father- depleting ozone, known as chloroflu- son team ofDavid and Frank Murcray orocarbons, are widely used in refrig- from the University of Denver. The eration, foam insulation, and some Murcrays analyzed the absorption of aerosol sprays. the sun's infrared radiation by a Researchers at McMurdo Station, number of gases in the antarctic atmo- the U.S. Antarctic Program's station sphere. Bruce Morley and Edward about 840 miles from the South Pole, Lithe of SRI International used an in- found in 1987 that the ozone hole strument (called a lidar) specially contained well over 100 times the designed for the expedition to shoot usual concentration of the compound a fine beam of light at the antarctic chlorine monoxide, which is pro- stratosphere. Information on the time duced by chlorofluorocarbons and it took for the beam to return to earth depletes ozone through a complex helped the researchers determine the chain of chemical reactions. Prelimi- location of polar clouds and layers of nary data analysis also suggests that aerosols. Antarctica's extremely cold strato- In September 1987 two NASA air- sphere and circulation patterns may planes fitted with special instruments contribute significantly to the ozone to collect atmospheric data flew into problem. and around the ozone hole. The data During the annual depletion or they collected complemented results hole, about 35 to 50 percent of the from ground-based investigations at ozone disappears. Recovery usually McMurdo Station. Then at the end of occurs around late November or early 1987 scientists reported that the winter December. The hole, first reported by mass of extremely cold air over the British scientists in 1985, is about five White Continent had stayed about miles thick and covers an area more three weeks longer than it did the year Balloon Launch. Scientists launch an than twice the size of the United States. beforean event that may be directly instrumented balloon at AmundsenScott Understanding the depletion process related to the ozone hole. (The antarc- South Pole Station in November 1987. Measurements showed ozone to be is important, because atmospheric tic air may have warmed more slowly returning to the stratosphere above the ozone shields the earth from most of because there was less ozone to absorb South Pole after a depletion over the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays, the sun's heat.) Antarctica of several months during the which can cause skin cancer in human At this writing, the 1987 data are still springtime "ozone hole." The ozone beings and can harm both animals and being analyzed, and planning for a dramatically increased by 25 percent in 24 hours and returned to normal over a plants. third NOZE expedition is under way. period of several days. Scientists relate In August 1987 seven teams of U.S. the hole to chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) scientists participated in the second used throughout the world in industrial National Ozone Expedition (NOZE). applications and to atmt,plieric NOZE is a cooperative effort spon- conditions unique to Antarctica. sored by NSF (the lead U.S. agency on19 New Technique Finds Earth's Core Hotter than Expected

Using a powerful gun that accelerates projectiles to enormous speeds, researchers have determined that the earth's center is thousands of degrees hotter than previously thought. Geophysicists nave long known that the earth's outer core is made of mol- ten iron under high pressure. Since the core must be at least as hot as the temperature to melt iron, discovering iron's melting point at hign pressure gives the minimum possible (enirera- cure of the core. But previous efforts to determine the melting point relied on extrapolations from measurements of iron melted at much lower pres- sures. Scientists had estimated that the earth's core was about 7100 degrees Fahrenheit. But using specially designed guns, the largest 106 feet long and weighing 35 tons, California Institute ofTechnol- ogy researchers, collaborating with the University of California at Berkeley, found a better way to simulate condi- tions at the earth's center. The guns enabled geophysicist Thomas. i Ahrens and his collaborators to fire plastic and tantalum bullets speeding at 16,000 miles per hour at crystals coated with a thin layer of iron. For less than a millionth of a second, the bullets' impact nearly recreated the enormous pressure of molten iron at the center of the earth. With these measurements, the research team estimated that the temperature of the earth's inner coreCore of the matter. Thomas]. Ahrens was about 12,000 degrees Fahrenheit checks procedures for firing Caltech's hotter than the surface of the sun. light gas gun, which simulates the high pressures at the earth's core. In past years, Ahrens and his group have used the guns to compress the gemstone garnet into a crystal struc- ture never before seen; fired bullets at hydrogen targets to simulate the envi- ronment deep inside Jupiter and Saturn; and found evidence for the hypothesis that a gigantic meteor hit the earth millions of years ago, perhaps leading to the extinction of dinosaurs. 2 0 Bacterium Is Link to Past

Researchers have discovered in Thai In addition to its evolutionary signifi- rice paddies a bacterium whose an- cance, the bacterium may also be cient ancestors may have created the useful as an efficient nitrogen fertilizer. oxygen-rich atmosphere that sustains Unlike other types of bacteria that life on earth. The microbe, known asconvert nitrogen into a form useful for Heliobacillus mobilis, belongs to a plants, heliobacteria live indepen- recently discovered group of bacteriadently and do not attach themselves to called Heliobacteria. a host plant for survival (as do the Heliobacteria respond to light and more common Rbizobium, now under contain a form of chlorophyll which is intense study in genetic engineering intermediate to that found in green labs). And the particular heliobacteria plants and cyanobacteriathe first found in the Thai rice paddies "fix" or bacteria to release oxygen on earth. convert nitrogen to a useful form 10 Current theory holds that early formstimes faster than do any other heliobac- of cyanobacteria used energy from teria known. sunlight to transform the earth's atmo-

sphere into an oxygen-rich blanket FR Turner, Indiana University. Bloomington suitable for animal life. Structural similarities between cyanobacteria and Heliobacillus mobilis were only one clue that led an Indiana University research team to suggest that the newly discovered microbe could be the direct descen- dant of the ancient bacterium that produced cyanobacteria. Further evidence, according to 4. biologist and research team leader Howard Gest, came from the compari- son of molecules called ribosomal Soil research. Scanning RNA that are found in heliobacteria electron micrograph shows Heliobacterium and other microbes. Ribosomal RNA, 44 Ale cblontm cells. This is a which plays a crucial role in making slowmoving oacterium proteins, has evolved slowly over the isolated from the soil at years. The type found in Heliobacillus Bloomington, Indiana. mobilis closely matched the ribosomal (Bar equals 5 micro- meters.) RNA found in some older bacteria that 0 do not respond to light, the team .15 noted, yet the RNA was strikingly differ- 8 ent from that residing in other, more common light-sensitive bacteria. The new bacterium, related to both cyano- bacteria and older, more primitive microbes, seemed clearly marked as an evolutionary link.

Evolutionary link. Electron micrograph depicts a single cell of Heliobacillus mobilis, a bacterium isolated from Thai rice paddy soil. It swims fast by means of hair-like flagella and may be closely linked to the ancient organisms that provided the oxygen -rich atmosphere for life on earth. Marine Life Research May Yield Insight into Brain Function

Researchers Daniel and Aileen Morse at These biochemical findings are the University of California at Santa being used by hatchery owners to Barbara have discovered that some increase the supply of abalone by red algae produce chemical signals enhancing the conversion of larvae to that regulate metamorphosis of the edible adult animals. The information marine mollusk, the abalone, from its will also lead to a better understanding larval stage to its mature form (well of the role of chemical signals in reef known as a seafood delicacy). The formation and how the hulls of ships chemicals produced by red algae are become coated by marine organisms. short chains of amino acids known as Such findings also have potential for peptides. These algal peptides have creating new probes to study the cen- also been shown to function in the tral nervous system. Researchers study- mammalian brain by binding to recep- ing the binding ability of the algal tor sites that normally respond to peptides to GABA receptors in the GABA (gamma amino butyric acid), a mouse brain hope to learn about the hormone-like chemical involved in interaction of the peptides and the transmission of signals between nerve receptors. In the future such peptides cells. The red algal peptides actually may be used to develop new, more bind to brain receptors for GABA 100 specific drugs for treating GABA- times more tightly than does GABA related brain disorders. itself. Conversely, GABA functions simi- larly to the algal peptides in stimulat- Receptor recognition of an environmental signal. In this lab experiment, abalone larvae capable of undergoing developmental ing the metamorphosis of the abalone metamorphosis have recently settled, and are browsing upon, a red larvae. algal surface. The larval surface receptors controlling the events of metamorphosis have been activated by contact with unique peptid.m at the alga's surface. Insects, Leg Design, Walking Robots

research team at Oregon State Univer- This research effort. which also sity has studied the leg motion of included Oregon State mechanical insects to help lay the foundation forengineer Stephen Albright, is funded Adeveloping the next generation of by an experimental program within walking robots and remote-control NSF's engineering division that seeks moving equipment. According to engi-out creative and novel engineering neerEugeneFichter, who collaboratedideas not being exploited (see chapter on the study with his wife, entomolo- 2 for more description). gistBecky Fichter, "Insects are magnifi- At Oregon's University of Portland, cent models for walking machines" scientists have taken a different ap- because of their variety of walking proach to understanding the chal- styles and the types of surfaces they lenges of controlling complex machin- travel on. Surfaces insects walk on ery The Portland team, headed by range from smooth to bumpy, vertical Michael C. Mulder and senior re- to horizontal, and solids to webs. Somesearcher Nekton Wagner, used a two- insects walk slowly, while others run legged walker that can balance only rapidly and jump many times their while moving. The walker relied on body length. an innovative gyroscope-like device to This type of versatility must become keep its balance, as well as a multiple part of the design of walking robots if computer system and sensors to mea- machines are to achiew the capabili-sure its position and adjust for varying ties of animals. Studying spiders or terrain. A special hydraulic engine other web-walking insects, for exam-shifted weight from one leg to the ple, could teach important lessons on other as needed, according to com- how inspection machines might crawl puter instructions. between the walls inside a nuclear The multiple computers, known as reactor building or how robots could a parallel processing system, allow the climb the steel frame of a building walker to make several decisions under construction. Present walking about moving swiftly and simultane- machines have had some success as ously, more akin to the action of the engineering models, but their move- human brain than computers which ments are limited. process information step by Step. While other researchers have ana- In practice, a sensor similar in func- lyzed the gait of insects to investigatetion to a gyroscope detects how far the how their feet may be used as sensors, walker is leaning over, other sensors there have been no previous detailed in the legs and "feet" monitor the studies of the way insect legs move or angle of joints and the hardness of the how their leg structure limits possible ground. The information is fed back Robotics. Michael Mulder (right) and movement. The insect study, an on- 500 times a second to a computer, Neldon Wagner are seen with the going project, is conducted by record- which compares the actual position of two-legged robot they designed at ing movement on film, video recorder,the robot to a computer model and Oregon's University of Portland. and computer vision systems. A com-makes adjustments for the difference puter compares the movements actu-by regulating balancing fluid in the ally taken by the animal with theoreti- legs of the walker. Rather than aiming cal limits assumed by engineering to create the perfect walking robot, the mechanics. The researchers have mea-research team views the walker as a sured leg segments, identified types of means to learn more about sensor- joints, and studied the way adjacent based control of complex machines. joints are arranged.

2',, Infants Imitate Adults from Day 1

Infant imitation of adult behavior has According to Meltzoff, the findings long been recognized as playing a demonstrate that "from the earliest crucial role in the social and cognitive stages, even before they acquire lan- development of children. But until guage, infants are exquisitely sensitive recently, scicatists believed that infants to adult actions, and (this] indicates the could not imitate facial gestures untilprofound influence that these observa- they reached about one year of age. tions can have on the infant's sub- Developmental psychologistAndrew sequent behavior." N Meltzoff and his colleagues at the University of Washington demonstra- ted, however, that babies who were only 12 to 21 days old mimicked such gestures in adults as sticking out a tongue or protruding the mouth or lips. The youngest baby to mimic the gestures was only 42 minutes old. The research team also found that infants ranging from 14 to 24 months could recall and imitate an adult activ- ity an entire day after observing the action. Infants who watched adults dismantle and reassmble a dumbbell- shaped toy mimicked the action a day Infant imitation. Photographs from videotape recordings later, even though they had never show that infants only two to before touched the toy. three weeks old imitate the mouth movements of adults.

24' National Science and technology Week

Across the country during early April Commented Safrit, "Complex scien- 1987, thousands of schools, commu- tific equipment combined with mod- nity groups, science organizations, ern photographic and silkscreening museums, and government agenciesprocesses have given artists the ability devised creative ways to focus atten- to capture nature's inherent beauty tion on the role that science and and creatively display the 'art of sci- technology play in daily life. Begun in ence. The exhibition of winning 1985 by NSF, National Science and artwork, co-sponsored by NSF and the Technology Week seeks to increase theNew York Academy of Sciences, has public's awareness about science, en-travelled throughout the United States. gineering, and mathematics and to encourage young peop!e to consider Art exhibitor. Seong Kim at the Bronx High School of Science careers in these areas. in New York turned the bone structure of the human hand A special feature in 1987 was "The into a work of art with "Hand: The Ultimate Tool." Art of Science" competition, in which high school seniors nationwide contri- buted paintings, photographs, and other artwork dealing with some as- pect of science or technology Among the winners was SeongKim, from the Bronx (NY) High School of Science. His ink drawing depicted the outline of a hand, showing every bone, in the process of sketching the outline of another skeleton-like hand. Wendy Brill at Westlake School in Los Angeles contributed a hand-tinted photograph of open-heart surgery; Ellen Dare Safrit at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics in Durham won for her silkscreen printing that depicted the cell structure of plant stems. The silkscreens were based on Art of science. Ellen Dire Safrit at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics used microscope cell photographs that Safrit had taken photographs of plant stems to create "Botanist's through a light microscope. Cathedral," a photographic silicscreen print. She was an exhibitor in the Art of Science competition.

25 FirstVolume of Einstein Papers Published

ore than 30 years after his death, Princeton University Press has pub- Please forgive a father who is so lished the first volume of Albert bold as to turn to you, esteemed Einstein's papers. The papers track the Herr Professor, in the interest of M his son. thoughts of Einstein as i young man I shall start by telling you that through 1902, and include letters de- my son i lbert is 22 years old, that tailing his early views about physics he studied at the Zurich Poly- and the beginnings of his thoughts technikum for 4 years, and that about relativity theory. Other letters he passed his diploma examina- are an account of Einstein's fruitless tions in mathematics and physics search for a university positiona with flying colors last summer. search that finally led him to accept a Since then, he has been trying job at the Swiss patent office, where unsuccessfully to obtain a posi- in his spare time he was to develop tion as Assistant, which would his Special Theory of Relativity. enable him to continue his edu- cation in theoretical and experi- The documents, commented sci- mental physics ... ence historian Gerald Holton, portray My son therefore feels pro- "a mind sharpening its tools, a young foundly unhappy with his pre- man of 22 beginning to ask fundamen- sent lack of position, and his idea tal questions, an intellectual giant." that he has gone off the tracks Publication of the volume was made with his career and is now out of possible in part by a $750,000 grant touch gets more and more en- from NSF. A projected 40 volumes of trencned each day . . . it is you to Einstein's papers will be published whom I have taken the liberty of over the next few decades. turning with the humble request to read his paper . . . and to write him, if possible, a few words of encouragement, so that he might recover his joy in living and 11^ working. If, in addition, you could se- cure him an Assistant's position for now or the next autumn, my gratitude would know no bounds. Hermann Einstein to Prof. Wilhelm Ostwald, 1901

Einstein statue at the National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC

26 "3-2-1 Contact" Goes to Antarctica

n the fall of 1987, crew members from a major science show on tele- vision visited the coldest continent 1and filmed major program L,eg- ments. The show was "3-2-1 Contact," seen on public TV and produced by the Children's Television Workshop in New York City. "Contact" is aimed at young people (ages 8 to 12) and par- tially funded by NSF During the show's visit to Antarctica, the four crew mem- bers stayed at NSF's McMurdo Station, with a further trip to the geographic South Pole. They filmed segments on such topics as the antifree-Le properties of antarctic fish; ongoing studies of the local seal population; the geology and glaciology of the extraordinary antarc- tic landscape; and the monitoring of ozone levels in the upper atmosphere. 3.2-1 Contact in Antarctica. The TV crew poses in front of Shackleton's Hut, where explorers rested during their investigations The visit will result in a week's worth of Antarctica in the early 1900's. 3-2-1 is supported in part by NSF. of antarctic stories scheduled to air on PBS in the fall of 1988. In addition to the "3-2-1" visit, Cable Network News (CNN) also filmed major program segments in Ant2rctica in late 1987. 111111111 WHIP": 111111111 11111!

Ifira4W. Penguin research. Debra Shapiro, cast member of 3.2-1 Contact, feeds penguins in preparation for a diving study. At right is Scripps institution zoologist Gerald Kooyman.

0 ' Life Saver

An NSF Small Business Innovation Re- The special drill was supplied by search (SBIR) grant was instrumental in ADMAC, a spinoff of Flow Technology developing a high-pressure water drill Company of Kent, Washington. Flow that helped save a life in October 1987. Technology, a minority-owned firm, World attention was focused on received an NSF grant in 1980 for 18-month-old Jessica McClure, trapped research on the high-pressure water inside a well in Midland, Texas. When drill, a tool with a novel design that other oil-drilling equipmentinclud-had at first been greeted with skepti- ing a diamond drillfailed to rescuecism. While further development and her, a special water-powered drill was financing were required to commer- rushed to the scene. The drill, which cialize the drill, the NSF-funded re- sprays a fine, high-pressure jet of water search initiated the innovative technol- at 2,900 feet per second (two to three ogy and encouraged the company to times the speed of a bullet), slices continue its efforts. through rock quickly by eroding the Flow Technology has received other surface. In just two hours, the drill had SBIR grants in the field of abrasive cut a hole two feet in diameter through metal cutting, surface materials, and three feet of extremely hard caliche robotics. The company has leveraged limestone rock, where the baby was this research support to market com- trapped in the well shaft. An hour later, mercial products. the child was free. For more on SIPS grants, see chapter 3.

.

4

Life-saving equipment. An ultrahigh- vessure pump and jet lance, similar to what is shown here, powered the water jet rock-cutting system used to free Jessica McClure from a well in Midland, Texas. NSF was instrumental in early funding of the research that produced the ultrahigh-pressure nozzles and related technology used in the rescue. Second photo shows pump that is inside large box.

26 CHAPTER1

INTO THE 1990's

Natural curiositythe unwavering In the U.S. Congress, the Senate and instinct to know how and why is the House of Representatives estab- often the driving force behind basic lished a joint, bi-partisan Caucus on research in science and engineering. Competitiveness to formulate new But from Isaac Newton's discovery of legislation. Among two new private the universal law of gravitation to the groups, the Council on Competitive- wonder of the Wright brothers' trium- ness examined issues ranging from phant liftoff at Kitty Hawk, the study of ways to decrease the trade deficit to science and engineering has done increased support for NSF; the Council more than merely satisfy the intellect. on Research and Technology, a group Efforts in science and engineering whose members include universities improve our economic competitive- and private research firms, began to ness with other countries, provide study national R&D policy. better health care for the nation, and For its part, NSFembarked on a joint form the basis of our national defense. effort with the National Governors' Against this backdrop, the mission Association and the Conference Board, of the National Science Foundation is a national organization of business indeed a challenge. For among all groups. Together they examined the federal agencies, it is the Foundation's way economic competitiveness is charge tc promote science and engi- perceived at the state level by industry, neering in general and support basic universities, and state officials. This research across all fields and disci- activity had two components: a na- plines. tional survey, followed by regional In 1987, NSF focused on several discussion forums. new issues and continuing concerns: The survey identified several areas Economic Competitiveness. in which the United States must in- In 1987, the need for the United States crease its investment in order to to compete in the world marketplaceremain competitive. These include received new recognition. Revolution- science and mathematics education, ary findings in superconductivity university/industry cooperative ven- research highlighted the vital link tures, and greater commercialization between science and technology in of research findings. Moreover, these creating new and competitive prod- investments should be long-term, the ucts. Moreover, mounting trade defi- survey report said. cits with foreign nations, concern over inroads made by Japan and other countries in producing new technol- ogies, and a shrinking supply of Amer- ican college students pursuing science careers spurred action by the Presi- Present and future tools. dent, private groups, and Congress. Supercomputers will continue to be valuable scientific tools. This Cray supercomputer is at the University of Illinois.

4, Li

22 NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

Along with these efforts, NSF also 3 launched a pilot project to strengthen in communication links with states. Initial efforts focused on four states in particular: Michigan, New Jersey, Arkansas, and Utah. Focusing on the state level has SY provided better understanding of state policies and activities supportive of science and engineering research and education, and identified points of common interest with NSF. The states initiative also gave NSF a first-hand look at how the states are working with State partner. In April 1987 New jersey GovernorThomas H. Kean universities and industry to link re- spoke at a regional conference at the AT&T Bell Laboratory in search and education with their plans Holmdel, NJ., on the role of science and technology in economic for economic development. This initi- competitiveness. ative is described further in chapter 2. Also at the state level, NSF continued I its Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), begun in 1979 to aid states that lack large resource bases for research. A recent EPSCoR grant to the University of Alabama at Huntsville supported breakthrough research in supercon- ductivity (see "Highlights" section). Growing Emphasis on Inter. disciplinary Research. Some of the most significant problems in basic research are at the boundary between established disciplines. For example, advances in biotechnology, materials research, and information science depend on scientists and engineers with a variety of disciplinary skills, and Presidential visit. President Reagan watches robotics demonstra- research environments that encourage doh at the NSF-supported Engineering Research Center at Purdue new types of collaborations. Recogniz- University. ing this, NSF extended the number of its Engineering Research Centers, Purdue welcome. At Purdue University's Engineering Research which stress an interdisciplinary ap- Center, the President shakes hands with Henry Yang, Dean of proach, to 14 as of late 1987 (See Engineering. chapter on centers and groups). In addition, NSF initiated a new centers program in biology; awards totalling $10 million for laboratory equipment resulted in "mini-centers" for biology at 20 campuses. And the Foundation began a program called Opportunities for Research in Computational Science and Engineering. This effort encour- ages the use of advanced computing techniques in collaborative research

24 3i among mathematicians, engineers, physicists, chemists, and other scientists. Evan ling Human Re- sources. Important parts of NSF's mission are to encourage young people in science education and to help ensure that talented women and members of minority groups are exposed to science and engineering careers and attain positions commen- surate with their abilities. Faced with current faculty retirement rates* and the continuing decline of 22-year- oldsthe main group from which future scientists emergeincreased participation by women and minori- ties may be a key way to avoid a future shortfall of scientists and engineers. To assess the current status of women, minorities, and disabled persons in the sciences and develop long-range plans to advance their opportunities, the federal Office of Science and Technology Policy** ap- pointed a new interagency task force in FY1987. Members of the Task Force on Wonien, Minorities, and the Hand- icapped in Science and Technology are from NSF and other federal agen- cies concerned with R&D issues, private business, academia, prof,2s- sional associations, and nonprofit groups. They will report on their findings on or before December 31, 1989.

'A large segment of faculty wal reach retire- ment age during the next fre years, espe- daily in civil and electrical engineering. physics, mathematics, and economics, See NSF Highlights No. 87-310, Recent Doctorate Faculty Increase in Engineering and Some Science Fields available from NSF. Division of Science Resources Studies, 1800G St NW Washington, DC 20550. "OSTP is headed by the President's Science Adviser.

Source: Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering Jan. 1988, NSF 88301 32 ANNUAL REPORT. FISCAL YEAR 1987 25 Another group, the Congressionally appointed Committee on Equal Oppor- tunities in Science and Engineering (CEOSE), currently advises NSF on ways to boost the participation of minorities, women, and disabled people in scientific and technical careers. In a 1986 report, CEOSE praised many ongoing and new NSF efforts to promote equal opponunity,- including awards in engineering for disabled, minority, and women re- searchers; Visiting Professorships for Women; and grants for minority re- searchers and minority institutions. At the same time, CEOSE recommended that Congress reevaluate the need for a number of programs that NSF discon- tinued in the early 1980's, including Working woman. in- Student Science Training programs. creased participation by women and minorities in basic research may be We must significantly increase crucial to avoiding a minority participation in sci- future shortfall of ence and engineering. And we scientists and engineers. must do so not just for reasons Future scientist of equity, although equity is at work clearly a fundamental concern. The reasons are just as much related to national need and the challenge to our economic competitiveness. John H. Moore, NSF Deputy Director (speech to White House Conference on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Sept. 1987)

During 1987, NSF also bolstered its longterm commitment to science education. For example, the Founda- tion launched a major new effort to upgrade the science curriculum from kindergarten through grade 12. At the college level, NSF began a program to

33 26 NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION give students, while still under- veloping biotechnology industry and graduates, the opportunity to conduct taught us how to design high-speed research in science and engineering supercomputers. And research dating Projects involving women, minority back to 1911 paved the way for the students or persons with disabilities recent technological breakthrough in are given high priority for support. superconductivity. And another NSF initiative in 1987, The challenge for NSF is twofold. At "Awards for Creative Engineering," a time when the need for basic re- gives research grants to engineering search is greater than ever, funding for undergraduates and recent graduates academic R&D may have to double based on creative ideas submitted in over the next decade just to maintain a research plan, rather than judging activities at current levels. Increased them solely on their academic record. funding, ongoing NSF support of See chapter 2 for more on these and collaborations between universities other human resources efforts. and industry, continuing international Biotechnologyanother face of science Continuing Issues. Boosting in the 1990's. Here a tobacco plant's cooperation and exchange of ideas, genetic makeup was altered by introduc support for basic research remains the and the sharing of expensive equip- ing a firefly gene into the plant's DNA. Foundation's key priority. In the 1970's ment at universities may help smooth basic research gave us a rapidly de- the road ahead for campus research.

ti4 1 Science as funearly exposure in the classroom

3 4

ANNUAL REPORT. FISCAL YEAR 1987 27 CHAPTER2

HUMAN RESOURCES AND EDUCATION

Education is the great Amer-efforts in this area may never have Jam adventure, the largest pub-been more urgent: the American lic enterprise in the UnitedCouncil on Education has termed States, the country's most im-declining college enrollments among portant business. Blacks a "national crisis," and the gains Mary McLeod Bethuneof women in science and engineering over the past 15 years now appear to oosting the scientific and technical be slowing, according to a special education of our nation's young issue of NSF's Mosaic magazine, "Edu- people is one of the National Science cation and the Professional Work- Foundation's major responsibilities. force."* B Some NSF responses to the nation's Although NSF funds graduate-level education, supporting students who human resource and educational will become PhD. scientists and needs include these activities: engineers, the Foundation also has programs at the elementary, secondary, and undergraduate levels. These PRECOLLEGE EDUCATION efforts help to strengthen the quality of instruction in the sciences and There once was a time when the absence of a high school diploma and mathematics. In addition, NSF is committed to basic skills was not an obstacle to increasing the number of women and employment in certain occupations. Now those occupations are disappear- minorities in science and engineering careers, a goal that may be crucial toing. Employment in the modern world increasingly demands basic literacy in bolstering our economic competitive- ness with other countries. NSF data science and mathematics. Yet nearly 30 show that employment of scientists percent of the nation's high schools offer no courses in physics, 17 percent and engineers grew three times as fast none in chemistry, and 70 percent as total U.S. employment over the past none in earth or space science. decade, yet proportion of college seniors who majored in the sciences The vast numbers of high school stu- is sdialler today than it was in the dents take few mathematics or science courses. In comparative tests in sub- 1970's. Efforts to attract a larger share of women and minorities in science jects such as geometry, U.S. students classes and careers may help to com-were outscored by those of other pensate for a projected shortfall of *Mosaic, Spring 1987, Vol 18, No 1 (See scientists and engineers. article on "Women's Progress," by Betty M. As part of a federal interagency task Vetter, p. 2) force set up in n87, NSF has studied the role in science of women, Early Learning Co minorities, and people with dis- abilities, considering new ways to advance their opportunities. NSF

35 28 NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

nations and often placed last. One recent international study* found that U.S. elementary and high school students, especially girls, know less about science than their counterparts did in 1970. Moreover, they lag behind British and Japanese pupils in physics, chemistry, and biology. On display. Seventh- and In short, too much of the population eighth-grade students from is unprepared to function productively Lincoln Park Community in our increasingly complex and tech- School in Somerville, Mas- nological world. A survey conducted sachusetts show off their for the NSF in 1986** found that large science project at Lesley College. Lesley is one of several numbers of Americans do not under- colleges and universities that stand basic scientific terms such as have received NSF grants to "molecule" and "radiation." As NSF improve middle school science Director Erich Bloch has commented, and mathematics teaching. "What is at issue here is not lack of interest; it's lack of opportunity. More explicitly, it is a lack of quality in the institutions on which we depend." Curriculum Grants In its continuing effort to improve The shape of things. Portland schools nationwide as they collect and State University's Marjorie that quality, NSF's Directorate for enter information on a central com- Enneking (center) discusses Science and Engineering Education puter, which enables them to compare ways :o teach geometry with announced in 1987 a new program to and compile within days data from prospective middle school greatly expand and upgrade science across the country. math teachers Sandra Sump education in grades kindergarten to 12 A novel feature of the program is (left) and Anne Ryan (right). over the next four years. The new NSF that each of the four-year curricula program, which began with three cur- grants is matched by publishers who ricula grants totalling $6.6 million, work with the schools to develop and emphasizes student participation in test new teaching materials, then train s science experiments and seeks to teachers to use them. The early involve- relate lessons from other subjects ment and commitment by publishers language, arts, and mathematicsto help to ensure that the course plan science. designed by researchers will actually nr For example, instead of demanding be adapted for everyday use in the that young children memorize facts classroom. Publishers, which include about acids, one of the NSF curriculathe National Geographic Society and grants encourages students to learn the Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company the concepts by studying acid rain, of Dubuque, Iowa, will devote 5 collecting rain in their backyards andpercent of their revenues from sales measuring its acidity. In conjunction of the printed curriculum to teacher with the National Geographic Society, training and support. this grant supports children at 4000 Improving Middle School Hands-on experience. Amy Barber, a The International Association for the middle school math and science teacher, Evaluation of Educational Achievement, Teaching discusses a science project with a student. They are attending a special located at Columbia Tearhers College in New NSF also awarded grants to nine evening program at Lesley College in York City, based these findings on research universities and colleges to improve Cambridge, Massachusetts. done in 1983 and 1986. programs to prepare middle school **SeeScience and Engineering Indicators teachers in science and mathematics. 1987(National Science Board, 1988). The goal of this NSF program is to foster a close collaboration among

30 NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION 1.3 d science professionals, university facul- ty, and school personnel in developing model courses for training elementary, middle, and secondary school science and mathematics teachers. Each of the nine projects includes special features. For example, the NSF grant to Lesley College, a college for women, focused on attracting women to teaching careers in mathematics and science. And a grant to Oregon's Portland State University developed a model to prepare math and science teachers in urban schools.

Private Sector Partnerships Private sector partnerships. A high school teacher and an To improve science and mathem:-..- industry scientist explore polymer chemistry at an NSF- tics education in grades kindergarten sponsored summer workshop at the DuPont Company to 12, this program encourages partner- Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware. ships between business/industry, The program has three main ac- school systems, and other educational tivities: a six-week course upgrades institutions. The overall aim here is to the skills of high school science demonstrate ways in which commu- teachers assigned to teach chemistry nity concerns can be translated into but lacking a strong background in the positive action to improve the quality field. Another summer course pre- of science and math education in pares middle and senior high school American elementary and secondary teachers to use demonstrations and schools. This program seeks to gener- laboratory equipment in chemistry ate novel approaches and models in courses, helping to enliven and under- such areas as teacher enhancement, score the lessons students learn in teacher preparation, education net- lectures. A third course updates the works, research in teaching and learn- knowledge of experienced high ing, instructional materials develop- school chemistry teachers in selected ment, informal science education, and Math teacher. New Hampshire's Timothy topics. Howell won a Presidential Teaching applications of advanced technologies. Award in 1984. Summer Programs for Chemistry Teachers Updating the skills of experienced teachers and strengthening the science background of new faculty can spark new enthusiasm for science teaching. Through special summer programs at five sites,* the NSF-initiated and sup- ported Institute for Chemical Educa- tion (ICE) seeks to improve chemistry teaching at the middle and high school levels. 4

The University of Arizona at Tucson, the University of Northern Colorado at Greeley, the University of Wisconsin at Madison, the University of Maryland at College Park, and the University of California at Berkeley.

F ANNUAL REPORT, F:SCAL YEAR 1987 31 Support for Mathematics Presidential Awards for Science Education and Mathematics Teachers As part of its commitment to excel- (See later chapter on awards ) lence in mathematics education and Minority High School Students: curriculum development, NSF sup- Research Assistantships ports efforts of the National Research Exposing minority students early on Council in these areas. In October to the challenges and rewards of 1987, the Council's Board on Mathe- research may encourage them to matical Sciences and the Mathematical choose science careers, strengthening Sciences Education Board, both the nation's human resource base. In funded by NSF, held a highly pub- 1987, the Foundation began providing licized symposium on methods to supplemental funding to NSF principal improve the teaching of calculus. investigators who wish to include Although current methods of teaching minority high school students as calculus have been criticized, this assistants in their research projects branch of mathematics remains indis- Each student research assistant then pensable for physics, engineering, andsubmits a one-page report summariz- many other sciences. ing the nature and results of his or her The symposium, sponsored by theparticipation in the research project. Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, helped to focus public attention on the impor- Special Partnerships tance of integrating new approaches In addition to its support of educa- in teaching mathematics. Through its tion programs across the nation, NSF continued support of the Council's has had special partnerships with mathematics boards, NSF hopes to certain schools in the nation's capital. play a significant role in upgrading In 1982, for example, parents of stu- mathematics teaching and encourag- dents at Anne Beers Elementary School ing younger students to take mathema-in southeast Washington, D.C. were tics courses. alarmed that declining enrollments

NSF partnersstudents at Anne Beers Elementary School in Washington, D.C.

39

32 might fcrce the school to close They 1987 award winners was ihxy Rubin, asked local education officials to UNDERGRADUATE AND a Tufts University senior who was develop a new program to attract GRADUATE EDUCATION accepted for graduate study at Tufts in stud(as and keep the school up to With the baby boom over, the num- bioengineering/chemical engineer- date. The result was NSF support for a ber of 22-year-oldsthe main sourceing. Rubin's grant enabled her to modern science laboratory where of new scientists and engineers conduct research on the development students could investigate such ques- continues to decline. Several recent of vaccines that could be produced at tions as how plants grow; measure the NSF initiatives complement older small factories. length of shadows to calculate solar efforts to encourage college studentsFellowships time, compute the slope on the play- in research careers, helning to ensure ground, and understand how magnets an adequate supply of engineers and Through two long-standing NSF attract. The Neighborh ,od Advisory scientists for the future. programsGraduate Fellowships Commission donated money and and Minority Graduate Fellowships* office equipment, the local Parent- Research Experiences for outstanding students are awarded Teachers Association painted walls aid Undergraduates annual stipends to pursue graduate helped to install floor coverings for This program gave some 2000 study in science and engineering. A the science laboratory students in 1987 the chance to partici- new feature was added to the minority Recent test scores at the school have pate in science and engineering re- fellowship program in 1987. For the shown improvement in science as well search projects on campus, in indus- first time, the undergraduate depart- as other subjects since the NSF-spon- trial or government laboratories, or at ments of colleges where award win- sored project began. Science is now other nonacademic institutions. Proj- ners studied were honored with $1000 taught at the school for a full hour each ects that include female, minority, or Incentives for Excellence Prizes, in day, rather than the usual 45 minutes disabled students as researchers are recognition of faculty efforts to identify every other day. given high priority. and support the work of students. NSF also has a special partnership Among the activities that received with another school in Washington, funding was a joint venture b, tween OTHER ACTIVITIES D.C. Banneker High School. Since three American universities al -I the 1982, NSF has worked with teachers to University of Tarapaca in Chile. Eight NSF also seeks to develop a cadre strengthen the math and science cur- US. students travelled to the Atacamaof talented scientists and engineers by riculum at the school. The Foundation Desert in southern Peru and northern selecting promising young faculty for provides speakers on science topics Chile to study paleonutrition, the diet its Presidential Young investigator covered in the classroom and sponsors and well-being of past civilizations. (PYI) Awards, instituted in 1985 In an annual Math and Science Day. The students examined several hun- 198,, 200 young faculty members, the Student winners of an annual math/sci- dred mummies and skeletal remains majority of them in physical sciences ence exam sponsored by NSF (held in in an effort to reconstruct diets, dis- or engineering, received the awards, conjunction with National Science and eases, vitamin deficiencies, and gen- given by NSF to help universities Technology Week) visit a major NSF- eral living conditions in the area over attract and retain outstanding young supported facility; in 1987 the top the past 8000 years. Ph.D.'s for academic careers. Among students toured the Kitt Peak National In another project, East Carolina the 1987 recipients was Denise Observatory in Arizona. In addition, University devised a summer research Denton, an electricand computer the Foundation in 1987 gave Barneker program for students with hearing, engineering professor at the University a $2000 grant to upgrade as biology visual, and mobility disabilities. In of Wisconsin at Madison I ler research laboratories. addition, the university arranged a has focused on the electrical proper- series of lectures by successful scien-ties of polyamide, a material used in tists who have handicaps. making integrated circuits. Awards for Creative Engineering *Some 24,000 Fellows have participated in A new NSF program awards research these programs since 1952 Among them are grants to undergraduate engineering 10 Nobel Laureates, 6 Field Medalists in students and recent graduates based mathematics, and 6 Waterman Awardees on innovative ideas submitted hi a (described in a later chapter) research plan, rather than solely on their academic record. Among the zio ANNUAL REPORT. FISCAL YEAR 1987 33 NSF provides research support for PYI award winners at a minimum of $25,000 a year for five years. In addi- tion, the Foundation also matches, dollar for dollar, contributions from industry for up to $37,500 a year. A number of established NSF pro- grams focus on minority and female scientists and those who are disabled: The Minority Research Initiation program helps minority faculty mem- bers obtain their first research grants through special assistance and funding. Under the Research !mprove- ment in Minority Institutions program, FYI. Computer scientist Deborah Estrin, UCLA, is a 1987 Presidential Young Investigator. She comes from a family of engineers that includes her mother, NSF boosts the research capabilities of Thelma Estrin, a former NSF division head in the Engineering Directorate. minority colleges and universities. Facilitation Awards for the Hand- icapped provide extra funding for special equipment or assistance that disabled scientists, engineers, or student research assistants need to participate in specific NSF research projects. t (In FY 1987 seven FAH awards were made. Five of them provided personal assistance for disabled investigators, one provided personal assistance for Minority Graduate Fellows Louis a disabled student research assistant, Houston (left) and James Rice are and one provied special equipment to former NSF Fellows Both enable two disabled students to work physicists, they arc now research- as research assistants. Disabilities ers for the EXXON Corporation. included blindness, profound hearing Second photo shows Daphne Smith, a postdoctoral fellow in loss, spinal nerve damage, arthritis, statistics at the University of and multiple sclerosis.) California, Berkeley. She too is .. former NSF Minority Graduate The Research Opportunities for Fellow. Women program offers research planning and initiation grants to female scientists who have not previ- ously led research projects; the pro- gram also gives career advancement awards to more experienced female investigators. Visiting Professorships for Women provide grants for women scientists to spend from six months to Award winner. Gerasimos Lyberatos specializes in biochemical engineering two years at a host university of their at the University of Florida at Gainesville. choice. This NSF program has a two- He was one of '.. scientists and engineers who received NSFs Presiden- tial Young Investigator award in 1987. 34 NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION 41 fold aim: helping women to further recent award winners; with her grant, their science or engineering careers she opted to spend 1987 at Johns and encouraging other women to Hopkins University. Greenwood, pursue such careers Mathematician whose specialty is the study of random 4it Priscilla Greenwood, the only woman processes (a branch of probability and Florida State meets Harvard. A special in a department of 80 at the University statistics) gave lectures and collabo- NSF grant for women scientists of British Columbia, was one of the rated on research with Hopkins faculty. enabled Jill S. Quadagno, a sociology professor at Florida State University, to spend six months at Harvard Minority Research University Initiation. A graduate student in the solidst2 electronics laboratory at Howard University hold a high-speed optical shutter made from silicon carbide.

Visiting scientist. Juana V. Acrivos, a professor of chemistry at San Jose State University, was awarded an NSF Visiting Professorships for Women grant to spend a year in the chemical biodynamics laboratory at the Univer- sity of California, Berkeley. Her disciplinary area is solid-state chemistry.

Research opponunities. Student researchers conduct experiments in the laser spectroscopy laboratory at Howard University. They are funded under NSFs Minority Research Initiation program.

Astronomical visit. Alice L Newman, a member of the technical staff of the Aerospace Corporation in Los Angeles, has broadened her research experience during a one-year stay at Cornell University's Depretrnent of Astronomy. The visit was ma-le- Research Improvement in Minority Institutions. At the University of possible by an NSFVisiting Professor- Puerto RicoRio Piedras, NSIbzpported mathematic0aff. and hips for Women grant. researchers work on the Alliant computer. 35 CELEBRATE

P

8 2

Yi

Sea change. An NSF grant gave Ellen R. Druffel, a marine chemist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, the opportunity to spend a year at the University of California at Santa Cruz. V-- In1987 NSF announced the first Researchers at Howard University's two grants under its Minority Research MRCE in Washington, D.C. will investi- Centers of Excellence (MRCE) pro- gate materials important in telecom- gram, a new initiative to address the munications, defense, and industrial continuing shortage of minority scien- applications. At Meharry Medical tists and engineers in fundamental College, the MRCE will establish a research. In addition to supporting cellular and molecular biology re- NATIONAL qualified scientists, the MRCE's also search center focusing on three areas: seek to attract talented minority stu- studies of DNA reproduction critical to SCIENCE dents to careers in science and en- viral infection and mutations, enzyme gineering through scholarships and studies that may provide a better TECHNOLOGY new research opportunities. uncierstanding of fat metabolism, and upgrading of a neurobiology labora- WEEK '87 tory. The Meharry center will provide scholarships and research programs APRIL 5-11 for high school students as well as 4 rite to NSTW do National Alen«. undergraduates. Foundation. 4ashington. DC 20ii0

36 NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION 4:: In an effort to boost research at camiers in these areas A major compo- suggested teaching activities with schools that offer few advanced de- nent of NST\X' 198", held April 5-11, hands-onexperiments for students, grees, NSF funds several activities For w as the distribution of 130,000 educa- science and mathtmatics teachers example, the Predominantly Under- tion packets, one to every elementary were trained to use the packets effec- graduate Institutions Program sup- and middle/junior high school in the tively at pilot workshops across the ports research at institutions that country. The packets contained country. awarded no more than 20 science and 0 engineering doctorates in fields sup-

ported by NSF during the past two E years. The Research in Undergraduate Institutions initiative funds scientists at these institutions who work in depart- ments that do not offer the doctoral degree. And Research Opportunity Awards enable science and engineer- ing faculty to collaborate with NSF- funded investigators at better- equipped research universities. Finally, there is an experimental program called University/Industry/ Government Partnerships for Quality Engineering Personnel. The emphasis here is on incorporating major ele- ments of engineering practice into engineering curricula, enabling stu- dents to he taught by adjunct faculty "Today" applauds tomorrow's scientists. NBC "Today" weather reporter Willard Scott congratulates wianers of the New York science fair at the AT&T Infoquest with a practical engineering orienta- Center m 'IewYork City. The contest was one of many events linked to National tion. In many cases, the partnership Science and Technology Week 1987. provides university students with E industrial or other facilities and equip- 0 ment used by the practicing engineer. 2

OUTREACH TO THE PUBLIC National Science and Technology Week In parallel with NSF's array of awards and fellowships to upgrade science education and research in schools and universities, the Founda- tion also supports activities that boost the public's awareness of science. Among these activities is National Sci- ence and Technology Week (NSTW). The goals of NSTW are twofold: to raise public awareness of science, engineering, and mathematics, and to encourage young people to seek

Spreading the word. Some 130,000 teaching kits as well as posters and "how to participate" brochureshelped bring attention to National Science and Technology Week 1987. 4 4 ANNUAL REPORT. FISCAL YEAR 1987 37 Other NSTW activities: The New resources available to their leadership, York Academy of Sciences coordinated and their strong commitment to a national "Art of Science" competition pursuing excellence in research and for high school seniors (see "High- education lights"). In Texas, a science and This project enabled NSFto establish tecnnology festival highlighted the contact with key people and organiza- contributions of local research corpo- tions in each of these states, discuss rations and universities. And nation- mutual concerns, exchange Informa- wide, children in more than 600 tion and ideas, and focus attention on schools kicked off the week by releas- national needs in research and educa- ing 250,000 balloons with attached tion for science and engineering. The weather cards. Data from the nation- project also offered a first-hand look wide experiment indicated wind and at how the states are working with weather patterns and were sent in a universities and industry to link re- postlaunch packet to participating search and education with their plans schools. for economic development. The effort In addition, the beauty and variety is expanding to other states, and close of life on earth and the complex issues ties have developed between NSF and surrounding its survival were the the National Governors' Association. focus of a travelling exhibit first made available during NSTW The exhibit, Museum Programs entitled "Diversity Endangered," was It was in 1970 that NSF made the produced by the Smithsonian Travel- first grant for a different kind of ing Exhibition Service, with support museum, one where people would from NSF. learn by exploring, touching, ex- periencing, and trying to explain. National Selene.: 4- Technology Week Today, after years of NSF support, activities will increase awareness of the centers such as the San Francisco vital role science and science education Exploratorium have become the play in improving our economic com- standard for science museums petitiveness, and our quality of life. throughout the world. NSF-funded Todry science is not a part of the basicmuseums have even entered the curr,culum in many U.S. elementary formal teaching businessfor exam- schools. We're working to correct this. Erich Bloch, Director ple, the Lawrence Hall of Science in National science Foundation Berkeley, California developed mate- rials for Boy Scout and Girl Scout States Initiative leaders to teach outdoor biology. In view of the increasing importance NSF provides seed money for a of cooperation and cost sharingand variety of new science museum pro- recognizing the growing role of the grams. At the St. Louis Science Center, states in srlporting science/engineer- NSF funds have helped develop a ing research and educationthe science playground to teach children Foundation is working to strengthen about motion, energy, light, sound, communication with state govern- and the natural -;nvironment. The ments. A recent effort initiated by physics of motion can be explored NSF's Office of Legislative and Public through such devices as a friction Affairsbegan with a pilot project in slide, gravity hoop, and the familiar four states: Arkansas, Michigan, New roller coaster ride. Children learn Jersey, and Utah. These states were about energy by exploring watermills chosen for their geographic represen- and the subject of water power; playing tation, their diverse economies, the with kaleidoscopes teaches them range of research and educational about the nature of light. 45 38 NATIONAL SCIENt E FOUNDATION Erwin Gebhard. courtesy of Milwaukee Journal

The friction factor. In this exhibit, two balls race down a circular track;one is partially filled with sand and the other is solid. Because of internal friction, the sandfilled ball soon stops accelerating and the solid ball always wins the race.

,./111111'

Setting up exhibit materials at the Milwaukee Public Museum

Richard Hoyt

Gears and gizmos. At the St. Louis Science Center, visitors learn how gears drive six different assemblies, including a clock, giant puppet, and laser etched disk

A touching experience. Children pet a reptile a 'Animals in Action," an activity at the Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California at Berkeley.

Strings attached. Teachers use wife balls and string to demonstrate the gravitational force between the earth and moon. They are participating in the Franklin Institute's Teacher Overnight Science Program in Philadelphia, PA. C ANNLV.L REPORT. FISCAL YEAR 1987 39 In addition to providing monetary percent dropout rate, Mr Escalante support, NSF helped establish the first transformed his Hispani students association of these science centers pito some of the top calculus students (the Association of Science- in the country and helped turn Gar- Technology Centers), so that informal field High into a magnet school for educators could share their ideas and science and math The program stars learn from one another. As a result, Edward James Olmos, Emmy award- science museums today routinely winning star of the Miami Vice televi- collaborate on projects and ensure sion show -Stand and Deliver" is that travelling exhibits reach millions being aired in both English and across the United States Spanish as part of PBS's American Television Playhouseseries. (It was also released by Warner Brothers as a feature film NSF also provides key support for in the spring of 1988.) several television science series During 1987, NSF gave the award- winning science program NOVA a special grant for an hour-long show on Supernova 198'A, the most important stellar explosion of its kind since the ume of Galileo (see -Highlights' section). NSF also supported the filming of "Stand and Deliver," a Public Broad- casting System (PBS) drama that chronicles the real-life success of Jaime Escalante and hi., nationally acclaimed mathematics program at Math teacher recognized. NSF supported the filming of "Stand and Garfield High School in 1.os Angeles. Deliver," a drama that chronicles the real-life success of teacher Overcoming crime, poverty, and .e 50 Jaime Escalante (right), from Los Angeles' Garfield High School. Escalante, played by Miami Vice actor Edward James Olmos (left), helped his students become some of the top calculus students in the country, turning Garfield into a magnet school for science and mathematics.

xY

g' r:;-

; 1. '40

;

l e41 --.811111i- Edward James Olmos, portraying mathematics teacher Jaime Escalante, holds an award as 40 he Is surrounded by students. 4 7 4-

Dynamic duet. Mathwoman (Beverly Mickins) and Robert (Luisa Leschin) are two of the many characters who deliver messages about mathematics to children on Square One TV The daily series for 8 to 12yearolds began in 1987.

4)

ANNUAL REPORT, FISCAL YEAR 1987 41 NSF continues to fund Reading Rainbow, the PBS series that intro- duces children to books through book reviews that combine reading aloud and displaying illustrations from the text. NSF support helped to produce five programs devoted to science books and science topics. NSF also funds one of PBS's latest educational efforts, Square One TV, designed to promote a greater enthusiasm for mathematics among the nation's third to sixth graders. This group may be crucial to reach: studies indicate that while most children enjoy arithmetic through grade three, their interest wanes starting in the fourth grade as they are exposed to long division, compound fractions, and other more complicated functions. By middle school, students may already be turned off on mathematics. During a typical Square One epi- sode, a rock group weaves square 'lumbers into the lyrics of a zany song; a parody of a soft drink commercial delivers a lesson about subtraction; 3.2-1 Contact Co-host Debra Shapiro visits New York's Cathedral of St. John the Divine to learn how a building arch is designed and and the sign maker at Harry's Ham- constructed. This television show is supported in part by NSF and is burger Haven teaches the viewer aimed at 8 to 12-year-olds. about decimals. Each half-hour show ends with an episode of "Mathnet," in which lead characters use math and problem-solving techniques to solve mysteries such as "The Problem of the Trojan Hamburger." Preliminary com- ments from more than 3500 children around the country helped shape the format and content of this program. NSF also helped fund The Ring of 7kutb, a six-part series that gave a personal view of science through the eyes of noted physicist and science writer Phillip Morrison and his wife Phyllis Morrison, a distinguished science educator. The series first aired on PBS during the fall of 1987.

Contact visit. David Quinn and Kaori Tomita, from television's3.2.1 Contact, visit the Skiji Fish Market in Tokyo to learn about the different kinds of fish that make up a typical Japanese diet.

42 NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION Special Outreach Programs As part of its annual rational training In 1978, Joan Humphries, an Equal conference, WISE sponsors a day-long Opportunity Manager at NSF, and program for talented 9th- and 10th- Oceola Hall of NASA established an grade girls in the Washington, D.C. interagency committee for women area. The group also presents three scientists and engineers, known as national awards recognizing the out- WISE. The purposes of WISE are to standing accomplishments of fecerally encourage women scientists and employed women scientists and en- engineers to seek careers and advance gineers. in the Federal Government; to encour- NSF staff members also participate age young girls studying science and in the Washington, D.C. chapter of math to pursue scientific or engineer- Minority Women in Science (MWIS). ing careers; and to ensure that excel- The local chapter, part of a national lence in female scientists and en- network established in the 1970's, gineers is recognized. provides a communication and sup- it port system for minority women who are researchers, educators, or admin!,- trators in the fields of science and engineering. Since 1980, the D.C. chapter has sponsored "Science Dis- covery Day," in which junior high school students, their teachers, and parents meet and talk with MWIS Joan Humphries members. Other MWIS activities include: A workshop for precollege teachers, held annually since 1981; A speakers' bureau for local educational events and programs; A science fair and provisions for monetary awards and certificates for outstanding science projects. Finally, there is outreach to univer- sity faculties. Foundation staff mem- bers make a special effort to reach out to their clientele by making presenta- tions about NSF and its programs, and by conducting proposal development workshops. These may be visits to single institutions, often in conjunc- tion with other official travel, or more formal colloquia/workshops, spon- sored by a college or university acting Ring of Both. MIT physicist Philip Morrison and his wife Phylis, a science as host for regional institutions. In educator, host this series on science. They are shown here at Thomas Jefferson's 1987 formal regional colloquia were Monticello, during a segment on mapping. presented at institutions in 22 states, followed by informal one-to-one sessions as time permitted.

5u

ANNUAL REPORT. FISCAL YEAR 1987 43 CHAPTER3

SIP

hile emphasis and attention in disci- The arcs, some of which are three plinary research may shift from one times as large as our own galaxy; the area to another, the unpredictable Milky Way; are the longest continuous nature of scientific' investigation re- features ever detected by telescope. quires that support be maintained in Glimpses of the arcs were first sighted all disciplines. Whether it be research a decade ago, but their extraordinarily conducted at the chalkboard by a small uniform structure was observed only group of scientists or at a proton recently with the help of the 157-inch accelerator shared by large teams of (4-meter) reflector telescope at Kitt investigators, NSF-supported efforts Peak and special electronic sensors. At continue to respond to the challenge first scientists thought that the arcs of searching for new knowledge. consisted of newly formed stars ar- Hand-in-hand with the Foundation's ranged along a curved shock front. commitment to research is increased However, at this writing they think that emphasis on interdisciplinary studies the arcs are images formed by a grav- and on new forms of collaborations itational lens. In one case, the actual between government, universities, object is thought to be about twice as and industry. These themes are far away as the galaxies seen near the evident in NSF-funded research during arc. The lens is probably a cluster of 1987. as described in this chapter galaxies between us and the object. In other research, an astronomer has found evidence that the Milky Way PHYSICAL SCIENCES/ galaxy is part of a flat, oblong MATHEMATICS "supercluster complex" that encom- Astronomy: Arcs and Black passes millions of galaxies and stretches one-tenth the distance across Holes the observable universe. While the discovery of the most The supercluster complex is about brilliant stellar explosion since the 1 billion light years long and 150 time of Galileo dominated the year in million years across, according to its astronomy (see "Highlights"), the discoverer,Brent 7itlly,at the Univer- results of other NSF-supported re- sity of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy search efforts also made headlines. in Honolulu. Tully has named the For example, scientists using a tele- structure the Pisces-Cetus Supercluster scope at Kitt Peak National Observa- Complex, after the constellations in tory in Arizona reported the sighting whose direction it is found. of giant blue arcs, trillions of miles The evidence for the supercluster long, that encircle at least two distant complex, 100 times more massive than galaxies. any previously known structure, would suggest that, on this immense scale, galaxies are not randomly distributed throughout the cosmos, but are instead clustered in space in a way that is not anticipated by current conventional theories of galaxy formation.

5 44 NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION Black hole. In this supercomputer simulation, the round image represents a calculation of the accretion of rotating gas onto a black hole in space. (This supercomputer work was done at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at Champaign, IL)

ANNUAL REPORT, FISCAL YEAR 1987 45 Finally, astronomers found evi- dence in 1987 that massive black holesobjects whose gravitational force is so strong that not even light can escape their pullare at the hearts of the two galaxies closest to the Milky Way. (These galaxies are Andromeda, called M31, and its com- panion, called M32.) The new, indirect evidence suggests that black holes may be at the centers of other galaxies, including our own, and supports the theory that black holes are the power source in the centers of galaxies and brilliant quasars. This research was done at the University of Michigan and at Mt. Wilson and Las Campanas Observatories in Pasadena, California. The astronomers involved wereDoug- /as Richstone and Alan Dressler Chemistry: Research on Molecular Electronics A chemist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has discovered molecular substances that mimic properties of electronic circuits. Like wires mounted on a computer chip, sections of these substances fashioned into wire-like strands no more than 500 atoms wide emit tiny electrical I signals in response to stimuli. But unlike the typical electronic circuit, the molecular electronic circuits produce voltage changes only in response to the presence of nearby STM. Lev Ovtdia, a visiting chemicals, such as carbon monoxide.Previous research using an electron scientist at the University Mark Wrighton and his research team microscope (a device that uses elec- of Texas at Austin, is shown have found 10 such "chemical circuits,"tron beams, rather than light, to "see" with the scanning each responding to a different chemi- tiny structures) required that the tunneling microscope or cal stimulus. Mounted on plastic and compound under study be placed STM. as easily transported as a computer under high vacuum and isolated from chip, these circuits may have wide the chemicals with which it could application as highly accurate chemi- interact. cal sensors. Because the newer tool maps sur- In other research, a relatively new faces of chemicals in their natural microscopic technique has given state, chemistsincluding Allen Bard chemists the first close-up glimpse ofof the University of Texas at Austin the surfaces of compounds while they have been able to make nearly atom- are submerged in a liquid or a gas. by-atom pictures of the interface between liquids and metals. They also have observed surface changes in

5 46 NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION biological membranes during chemi-developed during the last century; this digestive enzymes, discouraging them cal reactions The revolutionary image procedure has become widely popularfrom eating more of the plants. The device, known as the scanning tunnel- over the last 20 years. Bayesian Analysis same protective chemical effect occurs ing microscope (STM), is opening newgives mathematical structure to prior in the laboratory if a tool is used to doors in understanding the chemistry information (e.g., personal judgments simulate an insect bite. In the tomato, of surfaces and chemical reactivity on and the validity of each piece of data) potato, and alfalfa plants under study an atomic scale. and greatly enhances decision making. by Clarence Ryan and his colleagues STM's map the microscopic hills The field of image processing has at Washington State University in and valleys of surfaces much the waybeen greatly improved using these Pullman, the protective chemicals a phonograph stylus senses the methods. According to De Groot, were produced both at the wound site grooves of a record. But the ultrafineBayesian Analysis has the potential to and in leaves, stems, and areas far.from tip of the STM never touches the aid in weather forecasting, economic the wound. The Washington State surface it maps. Instead, the needle- predictions, and risk assessment. researchers found that the chemicals like tip is kept about 10 atomic diame- Statistical techniques are also at persisted for weeks, and sometimes ters away, allowing a tiny current of work in research on the cellular months, in cells throughout the plants. elections to tunnel through the gap material DNA (deoxyribonucleic According to Ryan, the plants' pi otec- between the tip arid the surface The acid). DNA from seemingly unrelatedfive reaction is similar to that of an rate of electron absorption by the organisms has been found to possessimmune system. .n response to an compound's surface gives a detailed large regions that are closely related. attack, such as an insect bite, the plant map of its structure. At this writing, These similarities may holdiluable is stimulated to prevent further dam- Allen Bard has used the tunneling information. For example, an unex- age. But rather than producing anti- microscope to measure the topology pected similarity between human DNAbodies, as in an animal immune of platinum, iron compounds, and and DNA associated with viruses has system, the wounded plants produce nickel. suggested a possible genetic mech- chemical mediators from the break- anism for the cause of cancer. How- down of cell walls damaged at the Statistics: Some Modern ever, many small fragments of the long wound site. These mediators may be Applications DNA strands resemble one another the first step in creating chemical Statistics are increasingly invoked in only by chance. It is the task of modern signals that circulate throughout the critical decision making. For example, probability and statistics to screen out plant and stimulate production of the discrimination suits typically depend these chance matchings and recognize protective chemicals. Researchers on statistical arguments showing biastrue patterns that allow scientists to around the world have found evidence toward a particular subgroup to which focus on regions of DNA likely to have that chemicals created by cell wall a defendant belongs, since discrimina-biological importance. Samuel Karlin fragments in plants play a role in tion is hard to "prove" on a case-by- at Stanford University and Michael protective responses. case basis. Statistical methods are Waterman at the University of South- Ryan and his colleague have iden- essential in more complicated legal ern California are among the NSF-sup-tified and cloned from potato plants cases, where only limited information ported scientists who work in this two genes that code for proteins which is available, in deciding the guilt or field. interfere with insects' ability to digest innocence of an individual. Similar plant material. Through genetic ma- methods can be used in many other nipulations, researchers such as Ryaii situations, such as assessing environ- BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES hope to induce protective chemical mental risks. Wounded Plants Practice responses in many agricultural crops, To help answer such thorny ques- Self-Defense making them more resistant to insect tions, Carnegie Mellon University's and other damage. Scientists are studying the mech- Morris De Groot pursues a branch of anisms that cause wounded plants to study called 1i Analysis. First produce chemicals that protect the plants from further damage. Research- ers have found that certain plants, when attacked by insects, produce chemicals that inhibit the insects'

51

ANNUAL REPORT. FISCAL YEAR 1987 47 Genetics of the Mustard Plant A distant cousin to the common mustard plat-a, Arabidopsis tbaliarla is creating ex..:(ement in the community of scientists who want to understand how genes are regulated in plants and how, in turn, the genes regulate the Self-protection in plants. life processes necessary to the plant. When wounded by It has been difficult to study the insects, some plants molecular ge-etics of most plants protect themselves from because of the large amount of genetic further damage by material, the large number of DNA triggering a series of chemical events, as snows, sequences which are repeated many in this hypothetical model. times, and the long period of time needed to grow plants. Arabidopsis is changing that. First studied at the molecular level by Elliot Meyerowitz and his associates at the California Institute of Technology, Arabidopsis ha , been shown to have the smallest amount of genetic material of any Protective mechanism. A plant known. (For example, the Colorado potato bottle genome size or wheat is 5,900,000 triggers the tomato plant it is feeding upon to kilobases, compared to 70,000 release proteins that kilobases for Arabidupsis.) Further- inhibit the insect's mole it has very few repeated DNA digestive enzymes. As sequences, and, best of all, takes only a result, insects are five weeks to grow from a seed to an discodraged from eating more of the plant. adult plant. All of these facts, plus 40 ears of genetic information gathered in the pact, make it possible for scien- tists to ask very specific questions and, they hope, get very specific answers. Meyerowitz is continuing the molecular characterizat:in of this Laboratory predator. plant by making a complete restriction Crushing leaves with a map of the genome. The genome is hemostat in the lab the genetic material, and a map can be simulates the damage made by the use of enzymes (restric- caused by insect attacks. tion enzymes) that cut only in very specific areas of the DNA. If enough different restriction enzymes are used, cne has specific sign posts which can serve as markers to localize a gene

48 within the genome Such localizing is Moreover, in this experiment, the encoding try ptophan synthesis, often a first step to cloning a gene, and specific amino acid required, crvp- perhaps the same gene mutated in the cloning is often a first step to identify- tophan, is thought to be a precursor fluorescing plant. The way is on.-n for ing both what it does and how it does for auxin, a plant hormone essential studying a biosynthetic amino acid it. for normal plant growth. The mutant pathway in plants; understanding how As a larger project, Meyerowitz and plant shows all the expected charac- the gene encoding the mutated en- his associates are also studying flower teristics of a plant that lacks auxin, and zyme is regulated and how hormones development in this plant His as- it can be esserti ally rescued by the act in plants, and perhaps gaining sociate on the initial molecular charac- addition of try ptophan to the medium. insight into the isolation of other kinds terization was a graduate student, An interesting b: -product of this of nutritionally deficient plant mutants. Robert Pruitt After obtaining his mutation is the accumulation of a Arabidopsis is a weed No matter degree, Pruitt became an NSF Plant compound which cannot be convertedwhat we learn or how we engineer it, Postdoctoral Fellow At this writing, he into tryptophan because of the muta- we will probably never use Arabidop- is at the University of Minnesota and tion and which causes the whole plant sis as a crop plant or eat it. However, plans to study male sterility in to fluoresce in ultra-violet light. what we do learn about the basic Arabidopsis. In a parallel study in the same genetics and biology of this weed will Other scientists have begun to laboratory; Mary Berlyn, an NSF Visit- have a great impact on the potential identify and clone genes in Arabidop ing Professor, has cloned the gene- for bioengineering food plants. sis. Joseph Ecker at the University of Pennsylvania (also previously an NSF Plant Postdoctoral Fellow) is interested SS, in how plant hormones are synthe- sized and is using this weed to find t out. C. Sommerville of Michigan State has cloned a gene and shown that a one base change in the gene causes Arabidopsis to become herbicide resistant. David Meinke of the Univer- f sity of Oklahoma has created a mutant that can no longer mak: biotin, a vitamin; he will undoubtedly clone the mutated gene in the near future. One of the most exciting and poten- tially productive pieces of work being done with this organism is that of Gerald Fink at M.I.T.'s Whitehead Institute. An NSF Plant Postdoctoral Fellow in his lal-ioratory, Robert Last, has succeeded in creating an Arabidop- sis plant an auxotrophic or nutrient- requiring mutantthat will not grow unless a specific amino acid, tryp- tophan, is added to the medium in Genetics team. At the California Institute ofTechnology, Elliot Meyerowitz which it is growing. This is excite g (far right) and his research team study plant genetics. because it has been extremely difficult to produce auxotrophic plants. The reasons for this are not known, but many scientists have tried to surmount the difficulties because of the immense body of knowledge accumulated by studying bacterial auxotrophs.

ANNUAL REPORT, FISCAL YEAR 1987 49 Communication Between Cells For years, scientists have studied the flashes of light emitted by a variety of biological species. Some marine organisms may emit light to ward off fish; other animals may use light to attract a mate or in response to chem- ical stimulation. But the details of how bioluminescence is triggered have remained a mystery. Researchers Kathleen Dunlap and Paul Brehm at the Tufts University School of Medicine in Massachusetts have found new clues to understand- ing bioluminescence in studying a simple marine organism only two cell layers thickthe coelenterate. Certain cells of this organism emit short birsts of green light in response to increases in calcium intake. Using a video camera connected to a microscope to record the exact location of the tiny light bursts, the scientists found that the first regions of the cells to light up were those in direct contact with nonluminescent cells that produce a small electrical signal when stimulated. When direct contact between the nonluminescent cells and the light-emitting cells was blocked, no light was emitted. Accord- ing to the researchers, their work is supporting evidence that the connect- ing structure between the two types of

Plant watch. Researchers examine the Arabidopsis flower to understand gene tic behavior. First photo shows normal growth; the four white petals, six anthers, and central stigma are visible. ')econd photo is a mutant flowerAral* idopsis. Genetic manipulations in the laboratory caused the flowers of this plant to consist of many whorls of petals and sepals. without the usual stamens or ovary.

Mutation in plants. Arabidopsis thaliana, which arc mutant for tryptophan biosynthesis, fluoresce under ultraviolet light because of the accumu ation of an intermediate compound. The nonmutant plant in the background (large dark blue objects) does not fluoresce. The mutant plants (small, light blue objects) were isolated by Robert last, an NSF Plant Postdoctoral Fellow working in the laboratory of Gerald Fink, at MIT's Whitehead Institute.

50 NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION 5" frk

Luminescent animals. The coelenterate Obe lia is cells, known as a gap junction, plays a the organism in which Kathleen Dunlap and Paul crucial role in triggering the flashes of Brehm have been studying the control of light. bioluminescence. Because no electrical voltage change has been detected in the light-emitting cells, scientists believe that it is a chemical signal rather than an electrical one that flows through the gap junction to trigger the light flashes This research, which provides the first evidence that a chemical passes through gap junctions to stimulate bioluminescence, highlights the im- portance of chemical signals in com- munication between cells.

56

ANNUAL REPORT, FISCAL YEAR 1987 51 GEOSCIENCES Polar Programs NSF-supported basic research in the antarctic and arctic regions explores polar ecology and biology, meteoro- logical processes, climate history, glacial dynamics, regional geology and its global significance, the influence of polar oceans in global weather and climate, and sun-earth interactions. NSF funds and manages the United Shadow on i( e. An Em- States Antarctic Program, which peror penguin casts a stresses science as the principal ex- shadow on the ice edge of the Ross Sea in Antarctica. pression of U.S. interest in Antarctica, under an international treaty. The Foundation is also the lead U.S. agency on the Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee, discussed later in this section. A 1985 report by British scientists that the stratospheric ozone over Antarctica is depleted by as much as 50 percent during the austral spring has generated intense research in- terest, including two National Ozone Expeditions to McMurdo Station on the antarctic coast (see "Highlights"). In another NSF-backed antarctic project, atmospheric physicists have been investigating the earth's mag- netosphere. From a special transmitter at Siple Station, they send very-low- frequency electromagnetic waves into Expected company. A seal pops up in a hole drilled through the earth's upper atmosphere. These 12-footthick ice covering McMurdo Sound near Antarctica. waves follow the geomagnetic field lines that thread the magnetosphere and intercept the earth's surface and ionosphere in polar v...gions. By analyz- ing the changes in the waves, detected in 'tie northern hemisphere at Lake Mistissini, Canada, scientists have learned much about the composition of the magnetosphere, as well as the way electromagnetic disturbances may affect communications. In 1987 geologists and paleon- tologists from four U.S. universities discovered the fossil remains of a 6-foot-tall, flightless bird, the jaw of a large crocodile, and 50 fossil lobsters. JJr e

52 NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION st

The discoveries, made at Seymour Island (a rugged, barren area near the top of the Antarctic Peninsula), support theories that a land bridge connected Antarctica and South America between 40 and 140 million years ago and that contemporary marine organisms, ric,w living in temperate waters, originated in the high latitudes. Overall, field work in Antarctica consisted of 74 research projects at numerous summer-season camps, three year-round stations, and work on board research ships. In arctic research, a team of scien- tists travelled to Greenland in July 1987 to make some of the most sensi- tive geophysical measurements ever done of the Newtonian gravitational tl constant and to test a new hypothesis that a fifth, yet undiscovered, force may exist in the universe. The experi- ment was designed to verify earlier measurements that indicate a variation of the gravitational constant with distance. Laboratory measurements of gravity are generally limited to lengths of a few inches. The scientists used a gravity meter, which was lowered into an existing 6700-foot hole bored into the Green- land ice sheet to measure the gravita- tional constant, commonly called the "big G" by physicists. After lowering the meter to 5000 feet, the researchers Arctic research site measured, in 300-foot intervals, Finally, two major reports issued by changes in ti.:... force of gravity at NSF in 1987 underscored the impor- different depths. The discovery of tance of polar research: gravitational variations would have a The Role of the National Science significant impact on several branches Foundation in Polar Regions was of modern physics and would require prepared by a National Science Board the recalculation of the masses of committee chaired by Rita R. Colwell, planets and stars. Director of the Maryland Biotechnol- ogy Institute and Professor of Micro- biology at the University of Maryland, College Park. The report includes contributions from 47 experts in science, research policy, and logistics. The 1, .ecommendations highlighted in the report are intended to aid the Foundation in fulfilling its respon sibilities as lead agency for basic research in.,the polar regions.

60 ANNUAL REPORT, FISCAL YEAR 1987 53 The interagency Arctic Research (a) 4i.SB Policy Committee, composed of repre- a. ti sentatives from the National Science f allops Is. 64W Foundation and 11 other federal _ agencies, has laid out a plan (required PHF. R by the Arctic Research and Policy Act of 1984) for federal support in arctic research over the next five years. Implementation of the plan will pro- ATLANTIC OCEAN vide scientific and engineering knowl- edge required for national security, GSR rational resource development with R OA minimal adverse impacts, and im- proved understanding of regional and ,) 1 ILM global climate change. The Commit- 6 Wilmington tee's recommendations are outlined in 5 the United States Arctic Research Plan 4 published by NSF. GSR 3 2 Atmospheric Research 0 100 km .0.7*11 Since the early days of sailing, when it was called the "graveyard of ships," (b) the area off Cape Hatteras has been AkSW recognized as a region where wir tee storms often intensify very rapidly. A large field experiment called the Genesis of Atlantic Lows Experiment (GALE) was center(on the Atlantic Coast of North Carolina; one of its goals was to investigate the reasons why rapid storm intensification occurs at this location. During the experiment a recurrent region of banded clouds and precipitation was identified and found to be almost stationary over the Gulf Stream. This phenomenon is attributed to large heat and moisture fluxes from the warm water of the Gulf Stream to the colder, overlying air Indeed, the magnitude of these fluxt... .s compara- ble to what would be received from the sun on a cloudless day in summer. Storm intensity levels. These color-coded levels weremeasured The full implication of this redistribu- by National Weather Service radar at Cape Hatteras on 6 Marcn tion of heat and moisture is the subject 1986, at 10:21 E.S.T. (sec "a") and at 12:31 E.S.T. (see "b"). Color codes 1 and 6 indicate the lightest and the heaviest precipitation, of ongoing research. It is clear, how- respectively. The prefrontal and the Gulf Stream rainbands are ever, that the intensity of this persistent labelled R and GSR, respectively. The circles centered on Hatteras rainband, as revealed by radar, indi- are range markers at intervals at 50 nautical mks from the cape. cates rainbands could play an impor- tant role in the intensification of winter storms on the East Coast.

6

54 NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION In other atmospheric research, three complete ice core from a subtropical region, the Dunde Ice Cap in the northeastern section of the Quinghai-Tibetan Plateau, were re- trieved by a joint US-Peoples Republic of China expedition during the sum- mer of 1987. Water samples and frozen ice cores in pristine condition were returned to the Byrd Polar Research Center at the Ohio State University and to China's Lanzhou Institute of Glaciol- ogy and Geocryology. Preliminary micropartical, oxygen isotope, and conductivity analyses of the samples indicated a strong likelihood that each ice core contains the first glacial-stage ice to be recovered from a nonpo.ar location. The detailed high-resolution paleoclimate record contained in these cores could be significant in calibrating the rich and diverse written record of historical climate in the Chinese region. Finally, in the summer of 1987, scientists from the University of Il- linois, using modern Lidar equipment, were working near Spitsbergen, in the Arctic Ocean. There they discovered a "hole" in the sodium layer near an altitude of 145 miles. The hole could be caused by adsorption on the ice crystals of noctilucent clouds (those that shine at night). Similar reactions of chemicals with winter ice crystals in Antarctic stratospheric clouds are thought to be responsible for the ozone "hole" over that continent (see "Highlights"). Research on the arctic phenomenon continues at this writing. Earthquake Research Scientists from 11 U.S. universities have been conducting scientific exper- iments in a hole being drilled at Cajon e,S;c.Cr Pass near the San An irea.s fault in California. There they have been

Earthquake research. At Cajon Pass, in the earthquakeprone region of the San Andreas fault in California, scientists have drilled a hole deep enough to sample the earth's crust and monitor the forces that may give early warnings of an earthquake.

62 ANNUAL REPORT. FISCAL YEAR 1987 55 creating a deep-earth observatory to As part of NSF-funded research, shore of West Antarctica dated the monitor the earthquake-prone area teams of scientists were quickly dis- formation of ice sheets there to 8 over the next several decades. The patched to the California site. There million years ago, and showed that drilling project, funded principally by they assessed such influences as the contrary to some theories, the sheet NSF through an effort called Deep quake's effect on power and water has remained intact without melting Observation and Sampling of the lines, the occurrence of (and the for nearly 5 million years. Earth's Continental Crust (DOSEC), ability to extinguish) earthquake- In contrast, drilling off Queen Maud enables researchers to sample the related fires, and the stability of build- Land in East Antarctica, separated by a earth's crust near zones where forcesings. In addition, public briefings on mountain range from the west land crush and stretch rock. Deformation earthquake issues were co-sponsoredmass, revealed that ice formation there of that crust may be one early warning by NSF and held in San Francisco, began much earlier, about 37 million sign of an earthquake, and the drilling Washington DC, and Pasadena. years ago. And the discovery of diatom project could help to improve predic- NSF-supported research is also fossils, microscopic algae that can live tions of these natural disasters_ underway to learn from recent earth-only in sunny waters, indicates that the The State University of NewYork at quakes in Chile and New Mexico. eastern ice sheet did not cover the Buffalo is headquarters for a national More than 30 research projects seek entire ocean for more than 20 million center on earthquake engineering new knowledge and a basis for further years. research. This center was established mitigating the effects of earthquakes M icropaleontol ogist James R. by Cornell, Princeton, Columbia, and in the United States. And in a coopera- Kennett, then at the University of Lehigh Universities; the Rensselaer tive agreement with Japan, NSF is Rhode Island, led the expedition along Polytechnic Institute; the City Collegestudying design methods that will helpwith marine geologist and geophysi- of New York; and SUNY/Buffalo. Center create masonry structures that are cist Peter Barker of the University of researchers look into ways to mini- especially resistant to earthquakes and Birmingham in the United Kingdom. mize the loss of lives and property other seismic disturbances. They reported that climate changes in caused by earthquakes. Among the Antarctica can be inferred from de- problems they address are seismic riskOcean Drilling tailed studies of the ocean floor. For levels in the eastern United States and The Occan Drilling Program, an example, melting :ce sheets cause potential hazards caused by the fact internationally supported effort to rivers to form; the rivers in turn de- that many U.S. structures were not understand more about the earth's posit sand and gravel on the continen- built with earthquake risks in mind. history through study of the ocean tal shelf. Periodically, these deposits As part of its prevention studies, NSFfloor, has found surprising new details fall to the ocean floor, leaving a perma- also learns from earthquakes when about the geography and climate of nent record of events that occurred they occurincluding the one that hit Antarctica. Sea floor sediment accumu- millions of years ago. Whittier, California, in the fall of 1987_ lated over a period of 50 million years The Ocean Drilling Program is Although this earthquake was rela- at the bottom of the Weddell Sea near funded by NSF and several interna- tively small, it claimed six lives and the South Pole revealed striking differ- tional partners (Japan, France, United caused property damage estimated atences in ice formation between W..st Kingdom, West Germany, Canada, and $125 to $250 million. And researchers and East Antarctica. Two months of the European Science Foundation). detected aftershocks for several days drilling by the research vessel Joides Management is by contract to the Joint after the quake. Resolution also uncovered spores and Oceanographic Institutions 000 Inc. By studying such events, NSF hopes pollen grains, providing new evidence and subcontracts to Texas A&M Univer- to learn more about the problems that until about 39 million years ago sity and the Lamont-Doherty Geologi- caused by larger quakes and better beech trees and ferns flourished in cal Observatory. understand the vulnerability of com-Antarctica and the continent once had munities in future situations of this a much warmer climate. kind. The Weddell Sea drilling, made possible only after a companion ship towed away icebergs weighing mil- lions of tons, extracted sediment hid- den below three miles of icy ocean. Analysis of sediment layers off the

56 NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION 6 3 er"el e '17,:f4.,,,f."--!' ?Z`T -;-- ;:..-4,, -1 ---. i .71.-.t.k. ,, ' ...: :49", '*.*-047,- . ' ' ,7i5r; tiIMlial

Ice Work. Maersk Mask"; ice-support vessel for the ship Joides Resolution, tows an antatrtic iceberg weighing nearly 12 metric tons.

6

ANNUAL REPORT. FISC. >I. YEAR 1987 57 COMPUTER SCIENCE Cross-Disciplinary Research The use of computers in research has become ubiquitous. Computers allow scientists to simulate experi- ments impossible to perform in the laboratory, and they serve as cal- culators for data ''tat could not other- wise be analyzed. Recognizing these and other appli- cations, NSF has launched a new funding program that stretches across 4, all disciplines in encouraging inves- tigators to use computers in solving ) research problems. While many univer- sities already have strong programs in ( computer research, most do not foster interdisciplinary studies. In addition to emphasizing collaborations among scientists, engineers, mathematicians, and computer specialists, the NSF pro- gram (called Opportunities for Re- search in Computer Science) also sup- Gripper. A simulated ports training of advanced students in Hoperoft's research group has three-fingered robot state-of-the art computer techniques. developed a modeling system that hand holds an object in a Cornell Univer- Robot Language allows objects to be built and modified quickly and easily. The team has pro- sity robotics research effort. Robot programming languages duced an electronic model of a three- ways to describe and manipulate fingered gripper developed by Stan- complex spatial and temporal relation- ford University and the Jet Propulsion shipspresent both a major intellec-Laboratory. The group also has de- tual challenge and an opening to new veloped electronic models of vari- technical and economic frontiers. One ations on the gripper. of the most exciting pieces of research Through NSF-funded projects such in this area is that of John Hoperoft of as this one, the field of robotics has Cornell University. Through a simula-evolved from a strictly mechanically- tion environment, Hoperoft has de- based endeavor to a science of. epre- veloped a new system that would senting, manipulating, and reasoning allow a user to design, test, and alx)ut physical objects with a com- evaluate a robotic system before it is puter. The mechanical aspects of built. By reducing the amount of kinematics and dynamics are still prototyping time, a fully developed important, but other exciting areas of capability of this sort would signifi- research are now open. Robotic sys- cantly accelerate the transformation of tems can be seen as not just a replace- a robot from an idea into a functioning ment of labor, but as an intelligent production device. interface between perception and action, and as a new form of human/ machine partnership.

r

58 NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION Experiment hi Electronic Mail electronic dissemination of NSF poll() mechanics, including the stability of The primary form of communica- and program announcements and bridges and the safety of automobiles; tion among scientists and engineers is electronic receipt of proposal informa-and analysis of field theories that still paper documents. Although the tion and reviews. underlie the fundamental forces of use of electronic mailmessages, physics. Technology Transfer: From Another collaboration between reports, and graphics sent via com- Computer Lab to Industry puterspeeds communication and university and industry involves the In recent years a number of com- can enhance the work of researchers work of University of Utah computer puter programs developed through collaborating on written material, scientist Lee A. Hollaar, who de- NSF-supported research have made veloped a computerized text-search- scientists have sometimes faced obsta- their way from academia to the mar- cles in adopting the new methods. ing system. Hollaar's system improves ketplace. In some cases researchers One obstacle is that the incompatibility upon search programs already on the have set up companies that collaborate market because it can electronically of different electronic word processing with universities to improve upon and copy the text it locates into other and desktop publishing systems makesmarket software that might otherwisedocuments. This feature is particu- communication between people with never reach its intended audience. larly useful for lawyers, who often different machines or editing environ- At the University of Illinois, com- need to cite the wording of a prece- ments nearly impossible. puter scientist David Kuck and his dent-setting case in court documents. To help improve electronic com- associates formed Paracomp, a com- In addition, the system has a special munication among different computerpany that tailors software developed processor, tailored to the search task, systems, NSF launched EXPRES, Ex- on the campus supercomputer so that that significantly reduces search time. perimental Research in Electronic it can be easily used by businesses and It is also easily expandable, so that Submission. The project seeks to research institutions. The computer extra computing power is available as develop a system that would handle programs have application to weather the size of the text to be searched electronically all aspects of the NSF prediction; airplane design; structuralincreases. grant proposal process, including document submission and reviewer comments. Once such a model system is developed, researchers hope to extend its use to more general scien- tific communications. At this writing, NSF supports EXPRES projects at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Michigan. Internally, NSF has implemented a Foundation-wide electronic mail system known as NOTE. The NOTE system has direct connections to the major academic and research net- works and thus provides.tanced communication not only between employees at headquarters but be- tween them and grantees and review- ers in the research community. In addition 'n electronic mail, NOTE provides an electronic bulletin board and online access to NSF manuals and documentation. some of the present and planned uses of the system include

Technology transfet NSF supported Lee Hollaar, a computer scientist -vho developed the computerized text-searching system pictured here.

6 ANNUAL REPORr. riscAL YEAR 1987 59 In 1983, Hollaar set up Contexture fields. In order to address problems Processing generally involves the Inc , a company that handles the encol ntered in mass producing transformation of raw materials into commercial development, manufactur-these substances and to bolster univer- useful, finished objects. One example ing, and licensing of the search system, sity training of people involved in is the transformation of graphite which was developed with NSF funds large-scale production, NSF's engineer-compounds into composite, light- at both the University of Illinois and ing directorate has a program in weight materials needed for aircraft the University of Utah. According to biotechnology that ties together re- such as the Voyager spacecraft, which Hollaar, the company immediately search from several disciplines. Topics has circled the globe. And the proces- developed packaging and completed include, but are not limited to, im- sing of high-temperature supercon- tests required by the Federal Com- proved methods of culturing normal,ducting materials from ceramic com- munications Commission to take the exotic, and genetically altered cells, pounds (see "Highlights") has become system from the university workbench development of new uses of proteinsa major research endeavor. to a prototype that could attract poten- and other biological materials in the The NSF initiative encourages col- tial users. In addition, based on the design of large biological reactors, laborations with industry because of preliminary research funded by NSF, techniques to separate or purify large the concentration of expertise there, another government agency (the quantities of dilute and impure industry's economic stake in results, Central Intelligence Agency) spon- solutions of complex substances, andand its available facilities and research sored additional research to expand methods to monitor the metabolism instruments. Collaborations among the search system for its own use of cells immersed in culture. different disciplines are also important Engineering-Materials Researchbecause materials research spans the Link full breadth of science and engineer- ENGINEERING ing, including solid-state physics, fluid For the 20 years ending in 1985, NSF New demands for complex matcri-mechanics, and mechanical engineer- provided funding for 31 of 46 engineer-als with precisely controlled chemistry;ing. ing advances considered the most shapes, and properties have led to significant by representatives of six worldwide competition in manufactur-Tribology professional engineering societies. ing materials. To help meet this de- Tribology is the study of surfaces NSF was also cited more often than mand, NSF announced a joint effort by that move or slide against each other. any other funding source in research its Directorates for Engineering and Ball bearings and gears in an auto- papers associated with 10 specific for Mathematical and Physical Sci- mobile are examples of tribological advances. These advances were in ences; their goal is to strengthen U.S.components. Scientific research in the such fields as robotics, ceramics, research in materials processing andfield of tribology is generally aimed at composite materials, and solid-state related activities. providing a mechanistic understand- circuits.* Engineering research sup- ported by the Foundation in 1987 continued this distinguished trend, as 4 shown in the examples that follow Engineering and Biotechnology Monoclonal antibodies, the molecules that destroy specific types of cancer cells and other disease-caus- ing agents, are just one of the vital biological substances made possible by advances in molecular biology, genetics, biochemistry, and related

'SourceNanoh.it Science Enundation Support for Significant Advances in Fundamental Engineering Research, asShon in Pubhcation Achnuuledgnwnt. 1965-1985,NSI, Program Evaluation Staff. offer of Budget and Control

Tribology. This computer-generated model is used to study the contact dynamics and tribological performance 6" of a mechanical face seal. 60 NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION ing of the phenomena that occur at Involved in other types Jf nerve cell light beam shines a fragment of any of the moving contacts. operations in the brain, including the stored images into the circuit, this With new studies delving into the depth perception. In addition, their action triggers the circuit to search out chemical interactions at surfaces, the investigations, which suggest that each and retrieve the entire stored image. development of models to predict the nerve cell acts like a computer chip For example, if the crystal stored the behavior of these materials, and re- containing hundreds of transistors, images of a cat and a dog, shining the lated inquiries, NSF has increased has application to robot vision systems image of the cat's tail would trigger support for its tribology program. and the de.elopmem of automated the crystal to retrieve the full image of Included in 1987 was a summer in- television cameras. the cat. According to Anderson, this ternship designed to draw faculty to Other neuroengineering research type of pattern recognition suggests such research. The program gave has focused on neural networks, the some of the complex actions as- faculty members who had never complex circuits that scientists design sociated with the brain and human investigated tribology but were ex- to mimic the sophisticated decision memory. perts in related areas the opportunitymaking of the human brain. Computer to learn about the field. chips and electronic wire are the usual Neuroengineering components of these networks, but now researchers have devised an The brain is the oldest and most alternative model: circuits that replace powerful computing machine we wire with lasers and mirrors and use know, and its communication system light-sensitive crystals, rather than is far more puzzling than that of the computer chips, to convey information most advanced supercomputer. What and make decisions. fundamental processes underlie the Dana Anderson at the University of complexities of information proces- Colorado at Boulder and Jack Fein- sing in the brain? Researchers look for berg at the University of Southern biological analogues inside assem- California in Los Angeles collaborated blages of transistors and diodes, on an optical circuit that memorizes electronic components that are the the shape and position of an object. A basis for computer circuitry Converse-three-dimensional hologram of the ly, networks of electronic circuits thatobject forms inside a crystal in the mimic the pattern of nerve cells inside circuit, but the image quickly fades the brain are leading to experimental unless the object moves or changes components that may revolutionize position. For example, a Walt Disney computer science. These studies offer animated film run through the circuit, potential advances in computers that known as a Novelty Filter, is visible recognize and respond to human only when the characters move or the speech, in creating more autonomous scenery changes; if Mickey MOU5° robots, and in computer vision sys- temporarily stands still, he disappears tems. To help foster research in this rel- from the screen. Bacteria under a atively new branch of science, known microscope connected to the Novelty as neuroengineering, NSF began a Filter are seen only as they slither back new funding program in FY 1987. and forth across the slide. With the help of NSF funds, Christof The filter instantly tracks the new Koch and his colleagues at the Califor- position of objects as they move and nia Institute of Technology study the Novelty filter. Dana Anderson and Jack may have potential applications to Feinberg collaborated on an Ingenious new cat's eye to understand how nerve optical computing. optical circuit that memorizes the shape cells in the retina detect motion. Their Another experimental circuit built and position of an object. A three-dimen- research, in collaboration with 7bmaso by Anderson relies on laser light thatsional image of the object forms in the Poggio at the Massachusetts Institute travels through a loop containing optical circuitknown as a "Novelty of Technology, has uncovered an Filter" but the image quickly fades unless mirrors and two crystals. One crystal the object moves or the background underlying biophysical mechanism uses the light to optically store a scenery changes, as seer. in these two for motion detection that may be variety of simple images; the other photos. crystal acts as an amplifier. When a

ANNUAL REPORT, FISCAL YEAR 1987 61 Research in Engineering Design company to suggest design changes Thoughtful study of the design even if those employees work across process can sometimes correct prob-the country. Engineering students lem' la product before it is manufac- have tested their original designs for tures, suggest the most appropriate manufactured metal pans on the sys- materials for its manufacture, and tem, honing the design skills learned dramatically decrease production in class. According to Cutkosky, stu- costs. In addition, computer progr,ms dents have found that their design based on expertise gleaned from style is creatively altered by interaction successful design projects can aid thewith the computer. design of new products. NSF support Myron Fiering at Harvard University focuses on developing scientific has used computer techniques for methods for engineering design and another aspect of engineering design. establishing a formal discipline in this the analysis of classic design failures relatively new area of study. to understand how errors can be 13?ginning with a project for a anticipated and design made suffi- design class taught at Stanford Univer- ciently flexible to survive unexpected sity, engineer Mark Cutkosky and his flaws or stresses. collaboraturs have developed the Aided by a computer, Fiering and basics of an automated manufacturing his graduate student, Benito Villama- system. The aim of their computerized rin, grouped some 30 flawed designs, system is to keep the designer in daily as well as designs that withstood contact with staff involved in all partsunusual stresses, according to com- of the manufacturing process, allowingmon themes. The researchers then the manufacturing resources of a began to develop a computer program, specific company to be taken into designed to run op an ordinary per- account in planning a prod_ict. The sonal computer, that uses the analysis model system also enables others in a of flawed designs to indicate potential errors in new plans.

Ilk

4teiti Myron Fiering

Computerized manufacturing A machine part is drilled on a special platform that senses the forces and torques exerted on the part in all directions The goal is to gather information from the manufacturing process as it occurs, in order to update or fine-tune the manufacturing knowledge base and to suggest changes in design This work was done by Mark Cutkosky and his team at Stanford University. Mark Cutkosky. StantOrd Unrversity

62 NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION 69 .1111 46. Cona-ucti, al automation: Computerized model of a machine that moves earth. The machine is connected to a microprocessor that allows it to adjust automatically for the weight die load, type of material, and other day-to-day variations encountered at the construction site. This is an example of work dote by 13,d C. Pauls-m and Raymond Levitt at Stanford University

Automated Construction tive position of U.S. firms through Engineers under the direction of Robots digging tunnels, computers research in automated or computer- Irving J. Oppenheim at Carnegie that t st design pkms, artificial intelli-integrated construction. Mellon University have explored gence methods for tracking pi ogress In recent years, NSF has awarded methods to automate digging at con- at t1-2 job site: such developrrm. eight grants to investigate use of t!-e struction sites. appear to signal the construLion computer in planning, organizing, and At Stanford University; research industry's fun -e. If so, U.S. companies building skyscrapers and other large teams directed by Boyd C Paulson may be losing their competitive foot- structures. Some examples: and Raymond Levitt considered in- hold. Although the industry is an At the University of Texas at strumentation for monitoring equip- important and lucrative business Austin, engineers led by Alfred E ment safety and production. One of American construction companies Paver collaborated with Bechtel, Inc. the Stanford projects, known as "Sight earn more than $380 billion a year and to explore the way pipes could be Plan," sought artificial intelligence employ some 5.5 million workers selected and fit together at a construc- methods to design the layout of a productivity of U.S. companies has tion site with the aid of computers and model work site, coordinate workers remained flat and the industry ponds a specially designed robot. or robots on the job, keep track of less than 0.4 percent of sales on Researchers at the University of supplies, and record and make adjust- research and developmentjapan and Maryland, Virginia Polytechnic Insti- ments for the continually changing other countries are taking an increas-tute, and Pennsylvania State University nature of the construction project. ing share of the business. A new have studied various ways to (1) auto- program begun by NSF's engineeringmate activities on construction sites directorate seeks to boost the competi- and (2) provide an open, interactive data environment for engineering de- sign of buildings, construction pro- cesses, and facilities management after construction has been completed.

70 ANNUAL REPORT. FISCAL YEAR 1987 63 INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES and the Japanese Institute for New Generation Computer Technology China (ICOT) jointly developed a program In an effort to boost international that allows U.S. scientists and en- cooperation, NSF sponsors a number gineers to conduct research at ICOT. of research activities and agreements Under the joint agreement, which with other countries. In 1987, for began in 1987, ICOT opens its doors example, NSF sponsored a joint semi- each year to up to three U.S. scientists nar with China on the subject of selected and supported by NSF. advanced ceramic materials, anticipat- ing continued cooperative research in this area Such joint research allows U.S. scientists to forge ties with their Chinese counterparts in areas of mutual scientific interest. Yugoslavia An NSF-sponsored cooperative project in theoretical physics between the University of Zagreb and Purdue University has spurred development of a new theory about nature. The theory postulates a fifth force the hypercharged forcethat acts at short distances against the tug of gravity. The theory, with implications that would greatly alter our view of the universe and its origins, has stimulated wide- spread interest and experimentation in the United States and abroad. India Scientists from Purdue University and the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, have joined for'-°s to develop and study high-temperature superconductors (see "Highlights") made of metal oxides. The researchers designed new methods for synthesiz- ing the oxides; some 30 technical papers on their work have appeared Eylmple of international work: Researcher measures nutrient flow in major intern 'lona! journals. in a study of nutrient cycles in a t: opical rain forest system. This project took place rear the join. border between Brazil, Colombia, Japan and Venezuela. Through a new collaborative re- search program with Japan, NSF is helping to advance computer research and spur development of the next generation of computers in the inter- national community. The Foundation

7

64 NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION New International Information search. Private investors then take over Improved catalysts for continuous Office during the third and final stage, which flow fermentors, which use microbes In March 1987, NSF established a involves product development, man- for rapid production of genetically new information and analysis office to ufacturing, and marketing efforts. engineered protein, byVerax Corpora- monitor technical developments in Products resulting from SBIR- tion of Lebanon, New Hampshire. major areas of the world and to analyze funded research include: Since receiving awards in 1982 from their impact. Eventually this office Plant-derived insecticides, as the Foundation's SBIR program and plans to distributeboth in print and well as new plant gene-mapping tech- from the National Institutes of Health, electronically its information prod- niques, by Native Plants Inc (NPI) of the company has increased its size ucts to U.S. scientists and engineers. Salt Lake City. NPI raised $64 million from 12 to 87 employees. Examples include some 120 studies on in private investment and increased See also the "Highlights" section of technical advances and policy trends employment f---)m 40 to 450 since this report for another example of in Japan. receiving its fi.SBIR award in 1980. SBIR support. Also underway is a pilot program (developed with the U.S. Departments of State and Commerce) that involves selected academic, government, and industrial users nationwide. The aim of this study is to determine the most effective format, content, and public distribution method, as well as appro- priate user groups, for U.S. govern- ment reports on foreign science and technology developments. The new office is part of NSF's 10- .. 20- - Directorate for Scientific, Technologi- cal, and International Affairs.

SMALL BUSINESS GRANTS Small businesses involved in scien- tific and technological innovations often cannot support the research Small business innovation: an innoculation trial at Native Plants, Inc., Salt lake City, Utah. needed to develop the next generation In this trial of a mycorrhizal plant growth system a symbiotic association between a of state-of-the-art devices. NSF's Small nitrogen-fixing fungus and the root system enhances growth. Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program funds high-quality research at these compa.:ies In 1987, NSF awarded 151 "Rase I" grants that provide firms with up to $40,000 for six months to explore innovative research ideas The most promising projects to emerge from Phase I are awarded up to $200,000 for two addi- tional years of NSF-supported re-

Verax processor Another small business effort supported by NSF resulted in equipment such as this processor, which is based upon the development of microporous beads that serve as the growth surface for cells 7 Z 65