Starting this year, two agricultural engineers at the USDA-Agricultural Research Service Conservation and Production Agricultural Research Laboratory are gathering data to compare the efficiency of low-energy precision (LEPA) and low-elevation spray (LESA) application devices with the more common overhead spray heads.
Agricultural scientists here are having some major successes in developing wheat that is resistant to greenbugs, the single most damaging insect pest for small grains in the southern Great Plains.
Tanks may be destructive by nature, but with the help of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, the U.S. Department of Defense is trying to make them more environmentally benign. A water-quality monitoring project at Fort Hood, Texas is helping determine how soil erosion may be impacted by military training exercises. The information will be used to reduce environmental impacts.
Researchers already know ryegrass can save water and provide good forage for South Texas ranchers, but using it to best advantage with cattle can be a tricky business. Researchers have found that cattle with some fiber in their diet before they are turned onto the grass have good weight gains and fewer digestive problems, but the facts on exactly how and when to balance cattle diets are still somewhat elusive.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) awards Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants to stimulate technological innovation that meets federal research and development needs. NSFÃs SBIR budget for 1997 is $50 million. The program makes it financially possible for small firms to undertake high risk, cutting-edge research with strong potential for commercial results. The following are a few of the many SBIR success stories.
Technology being developed at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory to save lives on the battlefield and in hospitals closer to home could one day be used in baby cribs to help prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
Researchers at Northwestern University have constructed a tiny nanoscale phototonic resonator that is a hundred times smaller than the cross-section of a human hair--so small that it can only be seen with an electron microscope. When combined with an equally tiny semiconductor laser, these components can form nanoscale photonic integrated circuits that are a thousant times smaller than those currently in use, and which should be cheaper to fabricated and more efficient to use.
Nature's tiniest ice cubes are providing new information about the unique properties of water. A Purdue University study shows that when water molecules are cooled to very low temperatures, naturally arrange themselves into small cubic structures that come in two forms.
The classroom practices and professional development of teachers who earn a Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST) -- the nationÃs highest honor for K-12 educators -- more resemble their peers in nations that score high on international comparisons than those of many of their U.S. colleagues.
Scientists are celebrating the 100th anniversary of the discovery of the electron this year. Detection of this enigmatic particle -- which still has not surrendered all its secrets to modern researchers -- helped lift society up from its agrarian roots and permitted the development of such modern-day devices as microwave ovens, semiconductors, television and lasers, according to an article in the June 16 issue of Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), the American Chemical Society's weekly news magazine.
The heady odor of jasmine flowers is enough to give some people headaches and nausea. But there is a way to tame the aggressive perfume of jasmine and other blooms, according to research described in the June 16 issue of the American Chemical Society's Journal of Agricultural & Food Chemistry.
Statement by Dr. Joseph Bordogna, Acting Deputy Director, National Science Foundation On Release of Third International Mathematics and Science Study 4th Grade Scores
Clouds of primordial gas located near the outer reaches of the Universe appear to be infant galaxies whose behaviors are surprisingly similar to their grown-up counterparts, including our own Milky Way. According to new studies by astrophysicists at University of California, San Diego, the fact that these protogalaxies form relatively thick disks that rotate as rapidly as the mature gallaxies we see today contradicts accepted theory.
U.S. fourth-gradersà performance on the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) proves that students can overcome factors that traditionally are blamed for poor learning, if challenged by a solid curriculum based on national education standards coupled with competent teaching, according to officials of the National Science Foundation (NSF).
1) Cheating Budgies Do It Out Of Sight; 2) The Real Reason To Fear Flying; 3) Food Bug Detectives Look Beyond The Usual Suspects; 4) Born-Again Superstar Breaks Record; 5) Can Gene Drugs Help You Dry Out?; 6) Miscarriage Danger; 7) Cold Comfort For Coral As Oil Wells Advance; 8) Cellphone Tests Aim To Bridge The Atlantic; 9) Will Phone Calls Travel By Balloon?; 10) The Box That Banished Office Wiring; 11) A Stretch Of The Imagination; 12) Slaughter On Seventh Avenue; 13) What Is This Octopus Thinking?; 14) Son Of Concorde
Cornell University's Integrated Pest Management program has started a new pest-forecasting service. Growers and farmers can now belong to the Northeast Weather Association and get the latest in bacterial, fungal and pest forecasts.
Astronomers using an advanced Defense Department satellite also available for non-Defense research have snapped an unusual ultraviolet image of the constellation Orion, hoping to find new insight into a bright region of new star formation.
The Hubble Space Telescope has located a cosmic train wreck, the collision of the remnants of two neighboring stars that both exploded in a galaxy 17 million light years from Earth. Such interactions between supernovas, producing a tremendous amount of energy, had been predicted but never before witnessed.
The picture of a pocket-protector-equipped computer nerd toiling quietly in a cubicle may someday become obsolete, according to research conducted by Temple University computer and information sciences professor John T. Nosek.
No ice is on the moon, according to a radar survey done at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico by Cornell and other researchers. This contradicts data from the military's Clementine mission last year, in which researchers suggested a small lake of ice might be around the South Pole. Not so, according to the Arecibo data.
It's the environmental equivalent of turning a sow's ear into a silk purse ã Purdue University researchers have developed a process for making topsoil from coal ash, yard waste and industrial byproducts. "The potential benefits include the economical and environmental management of two waste products ã coal ash and industrial byproducts.".
A biochemical technique being refined at Sandia National Laboratories may soon enable sensors that can in seconds detect the equivalent of one contaminant particle among a billion other molecules in waste streams.
While climate change may have a wide range of adverse impacts on global water resources, a bigger threat to the future availability and use of water may come from other factors, such as population growth, technology, and economic, social and political conditions, according to a new issues brief published by Resources for the Future.
A poultry vaccine that could reduce the incidence of salmonella-tainted eggs has been developed by an Iowa State University researcher. Veterinary microbiologist Theodore Kramer said the vaccine could improve food safety.
Two Savannah River Ecology Laboratory researchers are among four scientists who have been awarded a $115,000 grant to study how the nation's paper industry can save money by reducing its need for water and chemicals.
Typical news reports, documentaries or movies about the aftermath of disasters, such as the recent tornadoes in Texas and floods in North Dakota, portray survivors progressing through predictable stages of emotions. These start with distress, then, ultimately, acceptance and recovery.
A new study coauthored by a North Carolina State University botanist shows for the first time that electrical signals can trigger rapid gene expression in plants. The study, published this month (June 1997) in the European science journal Planta, shows when an electric stimulus is used to wound a tomato leaf, bioelectrical signals are rapidly transmitted from the injured cells to other cells throughout the plant.
Trying to figure out what kind of career you want to pursue is hard enough. But it can also be expensive to get help. That's why Dr. Lawrence K. Jones at North Carolina State University has placed on the Internet a career interest evaluation and other helpful materials that people can use for free. The site, called The Career Key, allows anyone from middle school students to adults to get help identifying their career interests. The service is usually only available through a school or a professional career counselor.
Cornell University researchers report in the journal Science the isolation of a bacterium, coccoid Strain 195, that turns toxic tetrachloroethene and other chlorinated ethylene pollutants into nontoxic ethene gas. The discovery could lead to better bioremediation strategies for the nation's number-two ground water pollutant.
Members of the national Vaccine-Associated Feline Sarcoma Task Force, including the Cornell University Feline Health Center, recommend that cat owners and veterinarians reconsider the risk of exposure to certain infections before vaccinating cats. According to some estimates, as many as four out of every 10,000 vaccinations result in cancerous tumors at the vaccination site where certain vaccines are administered.
1- Heat Wave Forecasts Could Help Save Cattle; 2- Fungus Is a Crop-Friendly Weed Whacker 3- Potato Late Blight May Be Arrested Earlier; 4- Trickle-L Group Offers Online Expertise to Growers, Gardeners.
Imagine getting your clothes dry-cleaned using carbon dioxide and detergents. There are no toxic dry-cleaning solvents involved, no toxic fumes, and your clothes are as clean as if they'd been cleaned using the traditional process. You can see it in Las Vegas -- and at North Carolina State University's Centennial Campus.
Some 1,000 scientists and engineering working in the fields of control, automation and relted areas will be on hand for the 1997 American Control Conference June 4-6 in Albuquerque. Conference host is the University of New Mexico.
A study of the federal Conservation Reserve Program, an agricultural program aimed at reducing erosion, finds that the program also provides suitable bird habitat for many declining species of grassland birds.
Press release of issue dated May 31 for New Scientist
Murray Hill, N.J. -- Bell Labs scientists, working with colleagues at Opto Power Corp. in Tucson, Ariz., have demonstrated record-setting output powers from optical-fiber lasers.
Solar wind--those hot, charged-up particles linked to power outages on Earth and lost satellites in space--may be even rowdier than some researchers have previously reported, University of Delaware scientists said today during the American Geophysical Union's Spring Meeting.
Starting this week the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) is sponsoring a series of regional workshops in the Great Plains region, to improve understanding of the implications of global climate change for the United States.
Two new joint degree programs, one designed to strengthen the science and technology backround of science writers, and a second to train students in designing computer-based educational materials
1) "Sea Sawdust" Enriches Tropical Oceans; 2) Increased Ultraviolet Light Harms Antarctic Algae; 3) Ocean Drilling Expedition Hopes To Shed Light On Sea Level Changes
It's a tale of Down Under, set against a backdrop of international terrorism. On a dark night in May, 1993, somewhere in the empty miles of dry-as-dust Australian outback, a streak blazed through the sky and the ground shook, according to eyewitnesses, aborigines prospecting for gold.
In a major technological breakthrough, Bell Labs researchers have demonstrated continuously tunable, single-mode, high-power room-temperature QC distributed-feedback lasers operating at mid-infrared wavelengths (5 and 8.5 micron) in pulsed mode. The single-mode tuning range is typically 50 nanometers in wavelength, and the peak powers are 60 milliwatts, one and two orders of magnitude better, respectively, than commercially available mid-infrared lead-salt lasers.
In a major breakthrough, Bell Labs scientists have demonstrated the world's first laser-based semiconductor sensor that operates at room temperature and at high power to detect minute amounts -- potentially parts per billion -- of trace gases or pollutants by scanning for their optical-absorption "fingerprints."
Texas A&M University and its Institute of Biosciences and Technology join 34 other institutions receiving grants from the National Science Foundation for high speed computer network connections, part of the foundation for the Next Generation Internet (NGI) initiative.
Tips from Agricultural Research Service: 1) Getting honeybees to build smaller cells may help bees survive mite attack; 2) Heterophils to the Rescue! 3) A Close-Up Look at Cotton Fibers; 4) Process May Enhance Rice Cake Flavor; 5) Prodigal Wasp Gets Second Chance Against the Gypsy Moth
Unconscious fear of intimacy linked to early parental loss, U-M study shows, using subliminal perception.
U-M study probes the unconscious using subliminal perception; shows unconscious defenses really do exist.
Waves might be great for surfers and sports fans, but if you're trying to find a safe harbor to dock your boat, they can be a disaster. Vijay Panchang, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Maine, and his students have developed a computer model now being used to predict wave heights in harbors around the world.
Contrary to popular beliefs, female chimpanzees routinely sneak away for what could be dangerous liaisons with males from neighboring communities. If their secret activities are discovered by the males of her community, they could be beaten, and any offspring sired outside the community killed.
A quarterly roundup of NC State University research, teaching and outreach activities. For use by the media as briefs or as background for stories. 1) Life and Death Among the Headhunters of Borneo; 2) A Caution Flag for Transgenic Cotton; 3) Detox' Treatment for Harmful Fumes; 4) A New Slant on Static Cling; 5) When Homework's Online, the Dog Can't Eat it; 6) Shedding New Light on a Supernova; 7) Early Detection for Late Blight; 8) Smog Alert; 9) Designing Students; more.
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