Category Archives: Science

MIT’s Energy ‘Manhattan Project’

MIT’s Energy ‘Manhattan Project’ by Mark Anderson:

David Jhirad, a former deputy assistant secretary of energy and current VP for science and research at the World Resources Institute, said no other institution or government anywhere has taken on such an intensive, creative, broad-based, and wide-ranging energy research initiative.
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Many of these projects are ongoing and will continue under the Energy Research Council banner. Others, such as a new effort to make cheap ethanol using a biochemical technique called metabolic engineering, apply the expertise of faculty and staff who had never worked on energy problems before.

The council will also hire faculty in fields, such as optimizing energy distribution and transmission, if it finds MIT hasn’t devoted enough resources to them.

Susan Hockfield, Inaugural Address, 16th President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology:
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R&D Spending in USA Universities

National Science Foundation, Division of Science Resources Statistics, Academic Research and Development Expenditures: Fiscal Year 2004, NSF 06-323 provides a view of R&D spending at universities in the USA.

Spending over the last 5 years in billions: $30.7 in 2000; 32.8; 36.4; 40.1 and $42.9 in 2004. For 2004 the funding source for the spending was:

Federal Government: $27.4
State and Local: 2.8
Industry: 2.1
Institutional: 7.8
All other: 2.8

Also for 2004 of the total $32.3 billion was for basic research and $10.6 billion for applied research and development.

The schools spending the largest amounts on R&D in 2004 and the spending in millions:

Johns Hopkins $1,375
UCLA 773
Univ of Michigan (all) 769
UW – Madison 764
UC – San Francisco 728
Univ Washington 714
UC – San Diego 709
Stanford 671

The publication includes a huge amount of data on current spending and historical spending.

Ginko Cells Host Alga

Ghost in the (Plant) Machine (science magazine broke link *sigh* so I removed it) by Elizabeth Pennisi:

A common ornamental tree planted along sidewalks and in gardens throughout the world, Ginkgo biloba–also called the maidenhair tree–has been considered a source of herbal medicine for millennia. During the 1990s, several studies showed the extracts helped improve memory in patients with dementia (ScienceNOW, 30 May). And today, ginkgo is a popular remedy sold not just for memory loss but also for ailments ranging from depression to hemorrhoids.
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further investigation indicated that live ginkgo cells were harboring algal “ghosts”: nondescript cell bodies that lacked a nucleus or chloroplast. When ginkgo cells died, these ghosts came back to life, transforming themselves into free-living, photosynthesizing algae.
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In living cells, the algae depend on the ginkgo for food. In return, it’s possible that the algae somehow help produce the ginkgo’s medicinal compounds, he suggests. Not much is known about the synthesis of these unique compounds except that making them requires two compartments–the cytosol–and “some unknown organelle,” says Huss. That organelle might be the algae.

Whatever the nature of the partnership, it could be more than a hundred million years old. Ginkgos date back to the dinosaurs, and researchers know already that the two other plants dating back that far back depend on symbiosis to survive. “That makes me think that symbiosis is part of an ancient story,”

Girls in Science and Engineering

Best of Our Knowledge podcast from December 2005, Queens University in Ontario, Canada.

In this podcast they explore the Smith College summer science program for high school girls.

According to Smith College, 75% of the program’s graduates say it increased their interest in science and their confidence. Each summer girls spend a full month in research courses as varied as: Designing Intelligent Robots; Telescopes and Astronomical Imaging; and, Genetics and Ecology.

In my opinion this is exactly the type of program we should encourage. I think given the data on diversity in science and engineering we need to make some efforts to encourage under-represented groups. And programs such as this can help increase the diversity in the pipeline.

Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics on the air offers related podcasts online, including:
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$40 Million for Engineering Education in Boston

Bernard M. Gordon, is giving away $20 million each, for the engineering education and research at two major Boston institutions: the Museum of Science and Northeastern University. Science museum, NU to widen paths:

At the museum, the gift will expand the engineering focus in exhibits and educational programs aimed at motivating a new crop of American engineers and inventors. The money will be used to remodel a wing of the museum to house its two-year-old National Center for Technological Literacy, which seeks to boost engineering curricula in schools.

We previously have posted on the work of the museum and its president, Ioannis Miaoulis: k-12 Engineering Education and k-12 Science Education Podcast:

Gordon, an MIT graduate and a Tufts University trustee, had no previous connection to Northeastern, Freeland said. He said the philanthropist was attracted by the university’s emphasis on marrying research with practical applications.

Economic Benefits and Science Higher Education

University Tries to Make Texas a Science Force:

In an effort to make Texas a magnet for scientific and medical research, the University of Texas is planning a $2.5 billion program to expand research and teaching in the sciences, including medicine and technology.

The initiative would be one of the largest investments in expansion by a public university, university officials said.

Related: How to cultivate Your Own Silicon Valley – Universities Focus on Economic Benefits – Economic Benefits of Engineering – Singapore Supporting Science Researchers – $1 Billion for Indian Research University

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship

The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRF) is now accepting applications (through early November). The NSF GRF is the largest and most prestigious graduate fellowship program for the sciences in the USA. Approximately 1,000 fellowships, which cover tuition and pay a $30,500 stipend for 3 years, will be awarded again this year. Previous winners include Sergey Brin, Google co-founder (he list winning in his 3 paragraph bio on Google’s site).

The main site for the NSF GRFP includes the solicitation with details on applying and eligibility etc.. I can’t figure out how you find the application from the main site but here is the link to apply for the fellowship.

Advice is available online for applying for the fellowship: How to Win a Graduate Fellowship, Advice for Applicants to the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and the University of Missouri provides a guide for completing an NSF FRF application.
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Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers

PECASE recipient Eugene Billiot and two students work on molecular structures.

Twenty recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers have been announced for this year. The photo, shows of one those awardees, Eugene Billiot, with two students, working on molecular structures.

Awardees are chosen from 350 to 400 assistant professors who have received grants from NSF’s Faculty Early Career Program (CAREER) in the same year of their nomination for the president’s award. CAREER awards range from $400,000 to nearly $1 million over five years to support career research and education.
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Air Force Summer Faculty Fellowships

The Air Force Summer Faculty Fellowship Program offers hands-on exposure to Air Force research challenges through eight to twelve week research residencies at participating Air Force Research Facilities for full-time science and engineering faculty at USA colleges and universities.

Participants are expected to conduct research at an Air Force Research Laboratory Directorate, U.S. Air Force Academy, or the Air Force Institute of Technology, not at their home institution or any other site. List of 2005 fellows.

The application is now open and the deadline is November 1st.

Diversity Focus

White men, white coats, little change by Nancy Forbes. Commentary stating that NAS’s Rising Above the Gathering Storm report (unfortunately NAS doesn’t seem to understand web usability but if you fill out this form they will allow you to get a pdf – hopefully they will learn to apply better web usability soon) does not address the lack of women in the science and engineering workforce and doctorate graduates.

as a scientist and longtime advocate of women and minorities in the field, I was surprised – and dismayed – to find diversity issues missing from the four key challenge areas.
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I would like to add a fifth recommendation to the four already put forth in the academies’ report: that all members of our science and engineering community, particularly those nonfemale and nonminority members, make a personal effort to increase diversity in science, technology, engineering and math. Suggestions include:

• Mentoring female or minority students through encouragement, guidance or emotional support. Studies show that those with mentors have higher salaries, more advanced positions and greater confidence in their ability to succeed.

Yes, there have been gains. Women now hold more than a quarter of all science and engineering jobs, compared with 13 percent in 1980. They now earn roughly half the doctorates in biology and degrees in medicine. Numbers are also up in physics, computer science and engineering, traditionally male domains.