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On Friday, May 16, the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia will unveil for the first time ever the skull of the largest carnivorous dinosaur ever discovered--Giganotosaurus. Dr. Rodolfo Coria, the paleontologist credited with its discovery will lead a panel discussion that will reveal the paleontological implications of the discovery of this South American giant and present new data refining the continental drift theory and knowledge about the evolution of dinosaurs.

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ARS News Service Tip Sheet 5-10-97: 1- New Test Speeds Search for Aflatoxin Biocontrol; 2- Scientists Identify Chemical That Triggers Plant "SOS" Call; 3- Cloudy is Good--When It Pertains to Citrus Juices; 4- Extra Vitamin E May Thwart Infections in the Elderly; 5- Extra Vitamin E May Thwart Infections in the Elderly.

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May 9, 1997 -- Tipsheet for NSF: 1-National Science Board (NSB) confirmed by the Senate; 2- A key piece of infrastructure for high performance connections among high performance networks; 3- whales are just like amoebas.

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Within a very few years, the results of hundreds of thousands of current research projects and scholarly studies may become available on the Internet. This year's master's and doctoral degree recipients at Virginia Tech were members of the university's first graduate student class required to submit their final research electronically

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Lucent Technologies announced the industry's first all-optical cross connect -- another step toward an all-optical network.

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Nonwhites and New Yorkers fare worst in a Cornell University housing study of structural adequacy and crowding in seven cities.

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Fragrances are a part of spring. Newly sprouted vegetation. Rain-soaked soil. Perfumed blossoms. Why not plan aromatic gardens you can enjoy even if you're not looking at them?

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With the May 15 launch of the space shuttle Atlantis goes a second round of seeds sent by John Kiss, Miami University assistant professor of botany. A crew of international astronauts will water the seeds (of a common weed), expose them to light and artificial gravity, record their growth and chemically preserve the seedlings so Kiss and his research crew can analyze them here at Miami.

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The 274-foot-long research vessel Atlantis, the nationís newest vessel and new support ship for the deep-diving three-person submersible Alvin, will visit Alexandria, Virginia, May 19-21 before it begins extensive research activities in the Pacific Ocean. Atlantis is the first ship in the U.S. academic research fleet built to conduct both manned and unmanned deep-sea exploration.

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Highlights of May 10 New Scientist

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During the Blizzard of '96, news reports of roof failures throughout the Northeast corridor prompted Northeast Regional Climate Center, Cornell University and Kent State University researchers to prepare an "Evaluation of East Coast Snow Loads Following the January 1996 Storms." They found that had it not been for structures built "better-than-code," more roofs could have collapsed under the snow's heavy weight.

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Like a video played in reverse, nuclear weapons are streaming back to their place of origin at the Pantex plant in Amarillo, Texas, there to be dismantled by very very sensitive robots designed and assembled at Sandia National Laboratories.

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Just as wintergreen candy sparkles when crunched in a darkened room, many different crystalline materials can change shape and flash under pressure--if they lack symmetry or contain structural anomalies, researchers from Towson State University and the University of Delaware report in this month's Chemistry of Materials, scheduled for release May 15.

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One day soon, scientists will be able to ship a threatening virus or potential miracle drug found in a remote jungle to an automated laboratory, then use global computer networks to design and run experiments that will yield analytical results within days.

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Bell Labs has built a better X-ray microprobe, one that measures strain in smaller volumes f material and detects trace elements better than any other non-destrutive deep probe in the world.

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News tips from Sandia: 1- Patching old (but still flying) commercial jet fuselages, 2- supercomputer simulations of a comet striking Earth with disastrous effects, 3- a chip that relies on protons rather than electons to store information when the power unexpectedly goes off; and more.

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A patch developed at Sandia National Laboratories to prolong the lives of airplane fuselages passed muster with the Federal Aviation Adminis- tration, which inspected and returned a patched plane to service.

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Tip sheet from ARS for May 2: 1- Sap Beetle Has a Nematode Nemesis; 2- Computer Monitors Changing Rust Risk in Wheat; 3- Model Provides Major Advance in Controlling Water Erosion; 4- Keeping Fuji Apples Fresh; 5- New Clues on Salmonella

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A group of researchers at Bell Laboratories has developed a new instrument so sensitive it can take pictures of individual electric charges on and below the surface of semiconductor devices.

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It's probably the single most important chemical reaction in the biological world. Indeed, all life derives its energy from photosynthesis.

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The Wildlife Conservation Society will host its semi-annual "Meet the Experts" on Wed., May 7, from 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Central Park Zoo's board room. This briefing is for jornalists only, and offers a rare opportunity to meet some of the Society's field conservationists in an informal question & answer format. Research topics include:

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The rematch between IBM's "Deep Blue" and chess champ Garry Kasparov inspired UC Santa Cruz Robert Levinson to ponder whether Deep Blue represents an advance toward artificial intelligence. Not even close, he concludes.

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Louisiana State University's Center for Advanced Microstructures and Devices will soon host the world's first mass-manufactured product using an x-ray light source. **PHOTOS AVAILABLE

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A kilometer-sized comet that plummeted into one of Earth's oceans would impact with 10 times the explosive power of all the nuclear wepons on Earth causing water to completely cover low-lying areas like the state of Florida, according to a new simulation on the world's faster supercomputer at Sandia National Laboratories

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The National Science Foundation today welcomed the announcement by President Clinton of the nine 1997 winners of the National Medal of Science, recognizing exemplary work in such diverse fields as human genetics, mathematics, physical science, and cognition and learning.

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The National Science Foundation (NSF) expresses heartfelt sympathy to the family and to the many friends and colleagues of Charles (Chuck) Gallagher, an employee of the Antarctic Support Associates (ASA), who died of heart failure at McMurdo Station, Antarctica on May 1, 1997 2:01 PM McMurdo Time (April 30, 1997 10:01 PM EST). An airplane was en route to Antarctica for medical evacuation at that time.

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Highlight for May 3 New Scientist,

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Research by a Michigan State University paleontologist has shed new light on why the trilobite, a prehistoric arthropod that inhabited the Earth for nearly twice as long as the dinosaurs, met the same fate as the dinosaur nearly 250 million years ago.

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Across a range of media, women and girls are more likely to be depicted as concerned with romance and dating than work or school, and their appearance is frequently a focus of attention. Yet, females in the media also often are shown using intelligence and exerting independence, a UD researcher reported.

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Cornell environmental psychologists compared children in a school in an airport flight path with similar children in a quiet school. They showed that chronic noise impairs reading scores of children through speech perception problems.

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The Climate System Model created by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado, has been selected as one of six finalists in the Environment, Energy, and Agriculture category for the 1997 Computerworld Smithsonian Awards. The CSM also becomes part of the Smithsonian's Permanent Research Collection.

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Three tips from Los Alamos: 1. Acoustic octane ratings 2. Carbon monoxide sensors 3. Plutonium coatings

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Consider the escape mechanism of the lowly tadpole. Sensing drought or a shrinking food supply in its home pond, the tadpole produces a hormone that accelerates its transformation into a toad or frog.

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A scientific breakthrough that could eventually become as important as X-ray and radar technologies may soon make it possible to see images of diseased tissue, electric fields, plastic explosives hidden in a suitcase, and much more that is undetected by other imaging systems. Called real-time electro-optic terahertz sensing, the technology was invented under the leadership of Xi-Cheng Zhang, associate professor of physics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

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The idea that problem drinkers can simply cut back instead of cutting themselves off is the premise behind, the Guided Self-Change Clinic at Nova Southeastern University.

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Organizations use hazing because "induction-begets devotion." Research by Caroline Keating, professor of psychology at Colgate University in Hamilton, NY, shows that severe treatment of initiates seems to enhance their commitment to the group. Her research shows that the harsher the hazing, the more attractive and competent group members seem to the initiates and the more initiates conform to the group.

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ARS Tip sheet for 4-28-97: 1- Intercepting exotic pests; 2- Irrigating on computer schedule; 3- Killing whiteflies with fungi; 4- Pond meltwater and spring; 5- Hard white wheats.

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A retiree who scavenged a radiation-proof door has cheapened the price for the U.S. to visualize world peace.

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Forty engineers from Sandia National Laboratories are directing security activities in laboratories and power plants of the former Soviet Union to protect nuclear materials that have interested terrorists, thieves and extortionists.

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NSF Tipsheet for April 25: 1- cloning a mature sheep demands extensive public discussion and debate; 2- site of intense, continuing earthquake activity, and home to 15 million people, needs scientific assistance; 3- lip seals.

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A new device may help researchers better understand environmental events such as global warming by measuring individual aerosol particles as small as 10 nanometers--roughly one order of magnitude smaller than existing transportable instruments, say University of Delaware researchers who recently filed a patent disclosure. The instrument analyzes particles "at the critical early stages of their growth," before they accumulate in clouds, says Anthony S. Wexler, associate professor of mechanical engineering.

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Because virtually all of today's information technology is computer-driven, there is a huge demand for computer software engineers in just about any field a college-bound high school student can name.

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Purdue University researcher Samuel Wagstaff is using powerful computers to divide and conquer numbers that have more than 100 digits. Results from the latest round, factoring a record-setting 167-digit number, may help scientists develop secret codes for computer security.

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A team of University of Minnesota researchers has regenerated functioning nerve cells from cervical (neck) nerve tissue taken from young rats, whose spinal cords were once thought unable to grow new nerve cells.

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Hormones are being found to have impacts beyond the individual animal that produces them. They reach from one generation to effect the very survival of the next. In addition, they communicate messages about the environmental conditions affecting the parent generation to the offspring -- which may help the new generation adapt to their environment.

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A pending patent, filed for by two researchers at the University of Georgiaπs Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, could reduce cleanup costs by millions of dollars at U.S. Department of Energy facilities across the country and make the most commonly used groundwater remediation technology process much more effective.

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Highlights of News Scientist for 4-26-97

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Nova Southeastern University and the town of Davie have turned an abandoned sewer plant in Florida into the largest fish-breeding facility in the country, and one of only a few in the nation built from an old utility plant. They're breeding thousands of tilapia--a light, white fish that tastes similar to trout--at the Davie Aquaculture Research Center plant.

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Researchers are developing techniques for using an ionized gas to remove uranium, plutonium and related radioactive isotopes from contaminated tools, gloveboxes, pipes and other materials.

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ASME International (The American Society of Mechanical Engineers) is a sponsor of the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC), to be held May 5 to May 8, at the Houston Astrodome. The following sessions are sponsored by ASME International: