NSF News

Even in Winter, Life Persists in Arctic Seas

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 10:43:00 EST

Despite brutal cold and lingering darkness, life in the frigid waters off Alaska does not grind to a halt in the winter as scientists previously suspected. According to preliminary results from a National Science Foundation- (NSF) funded research cruise, microscopic creatures at the base of the Arctic food chain are not dormant as expected.

After working aboard the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Healy for six weeks in waters where winds sometimes topped 70 knots, wind chills fell ...

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This is an NSF News item.

New Pilot Survey Reveals Importance of Intellectual Property

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:00:00 EST

New survey results indicate that trademarks and trade secrets are the most important forms of intellectual property (IP) protection according to most businesses, followed by copyrights and patents.

The findings shed light on the importance businesses place on various types of IP protection for their companies. Specifically, during 2008, they reported whether utility patents, design patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets and mask works--copyright protection for semiconductor ...

More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=123254&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click

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International Radio Conference Approves Bandwidth to Track Ocean Currents for Science and Disasters

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:33:00 EST

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), charged by the United Nations with coordinating global radio spectrum use, recently came to an agreement that will foster improvements in ocean radar technology, which may eventually allow near real-time detection and tracking of tsunamis and prediction of the likely paths of oil spills, ocean debris and persons lost at sea.

Global interest in ocean radars increased dramatically in recent years due to events such as the Gulf oil spill ...

More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=123202&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click

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In Honor of Engineering

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 17:25:00 EST

Engineers design and implement novel ways to apply natural laws to serve the common good.

From creating the safe infrastructure of our built environment to the efficient processes of our daily lives to the cutting-edge technology we carry in our pockets, engineers design our modern world, and National Engineers Week (February 19-25, 2012) honors their contributions and aims to recruit a diverse community to join their ...

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Experts Come Together at Pacific Science Center to Transform Mathematics and Science Education

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 11:37:00 EST

At the National Science Fair earlier this month, President Obama invited winners of student science fairs to the White House to recognize the importance of their work.

"When you work and study and excel at what you're doing in math and science," he told the honorees, "when you compete in something like this, you're not just trying to win a prize today. You're getting America in shape to win the future. You're making sure we have the best, smartest, most skilled workers ...

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Scientists Unlock Record of Ecosystem Changes Frozen in World's Glaciers

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 13:00:00 EST

New clues about how Earth's remote ecosystems have been influenced by the industrial revolution have been uncovered. Until now they were locked away, frozen in the ice of glaciers.

So say scientist Aron Stubbins of the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography and colleagues.

They published results of their study in the March, 2012, issue of the journal Nature Geoscience. It shows that everything flows downhill, eventually.

The research was funded by the ...

More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=123154&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click

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Solved! Mystery That Stumped Ecosystem Modelers

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:31:00 EST

As scientists warn that the Earth is on the brink of a period of mass extinctions, they are struggling to identify ecosystem responses to environmental change. But to truly understand these responses, more information is needed about how the Earth's staggering diversity of species originated.

Curiously, a vexing modeling mystery has stymied research on this topic: mathematical models have told us that complex ecosystems, such as jungles, deserts and coral reefs, in which species ...

More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=123191&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click

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Puzzle Play Improves Math Skills

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 13:22:00 EST

An important context for figuring out problems through reasoning is puzzle play, say researchers at University of Chicago.

Psychologist Susan Levine and colleagues recently conducted a study that found 2-4 year-old children, who play with puzzles, have better spatial skills when assessed at 4 1/2 years of age.

After controlling for differences in parents' income, education and overall amount of parent language input, researchers say puzzle play proved to be a significant ...

More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=123203&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click

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First EarthScope 'Transportable Array' Seismic Station Reaches U.S. East Coast

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 22:08:00 EST

Yulee, Florida. Not a place one usually thinks of as an Earthquake Epicenter.

But this swampland not far from the Georgia state line is now home to a state-of-the-art seismic station known as 457A.

Here, within a few miles of the Atlantic Ocean, 457A has been installed to record ground motion from earthquakes. Earthquakes do happen on the East Coast of the United States, as the Virginia quake of August, 2011 attests.

The new seismic station is part of EarthScope, a project ...

More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=123192&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click

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The Depths of Winter: How Much Snow Is In Fact On the Ground?

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 13:15:00 EST

Equipped with specialized lasers and GPS technology, scientists are working to address a critical wintertime weather challenge: how to accurately measure the amount of snow on the ground.

Transportation crews, water managers and others who make vital safety decisions need precise measurements of how snow depth varies across wide areas.

But traditional measuring devices such as snow gauges and yardsticks are often inadequate for capturing snow totals that may vary even within a ...

More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=123106&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click

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National Science Foundation Budget Positions U.S. to Maintain Competitive Edge

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 18:00:00 EST

National Science Foundation (NSF) Director Subra Suresh today detailed the president's $7.373 billion fiscal year 2013 budget request for the agency, emphasizing that new knowledge resulting from federal investments in science and technology is needed to ensure the nation's future prosperity and global competitiveness.

As part of the President's Plan for Science and Innovation, his budget sustains the commitment to double funding for three key science agencies: NSF, the Department of ...

More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=123111&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click

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Join NITRD in Marking Two Decades of Game-Changing Breakthroughs in Networking and Information Technology

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 16:58:00 EST

Just two decades ago ...

Only 30 percent of Americans used computers and only 15 percent of households owned personal computers.
Computing power was conglomerated in a few select supercomputing centers at major research institutions and national labs.
The fastest supercomputer in the world, a CM-3, could perform 14 billion floating-point operations per second (flops) or 14 gigaflops.
The world was only able to store 16 million terabytes or 16 exabytes of ...

More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=123129&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click

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Time of Year Important in Projections of Climate Change Effects on Ecosystems

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 15:42:00 EST

Does it matter whether long periods of hot weather, such as last year's heat wave that gripped the U.S. Midwest, happen in June or July, August or September?

Scientists studying the subtle effects of heat waves and droughts say that when such events happen makes a big difference.

Based on more than 25 years of data from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Konza Prairie Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site in Kansas--one of 26 such NSF LTER sites across the ...

More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=123134&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click

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Developing Hardier, Weather-resistant Crops

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

Botanist searches for genes that would make a better root

Full story at http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/science_nation/howgardengrows.jsp?WT.mc_id=USNSF_51

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3-D Laser Map Shows Earthquake Zone Before and After

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 15:25:00 EST

Geologists have a new tool to study how earthquakes change the landscape--down to a few inches. It's giving scientists insights into how earthquake faults behave.

In this week's issue of the journal Science, a team of scientists from the United States, Mexico and China reports the most comprehensive before-and-after picture yet of an earthquake zone, using data from the magnitude 7.2 event that struck near Mexicali, Mexico, in April 2010.

"We can learn so much about ...

More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=123073&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click

This is an NSF News item.