bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Trend toward multiple authors in research publications: Mutual funding of scientists
Authors: Fraser‐Smith A. C.
Published: October 2011

In a recent editorial, Leopold [1979] drew attention to the large amount of time now being spent by the U.S. research community on the preparation and review of research proposals submitted to the principal federal granting agencies. More to the point of this letter, he quoted a ‘fanciful story’ by Szilard [1961] in which it was suggested that if some person or some group should ever want to bring research progress to a standstill, they could do so by establishing a competitive grants system under which all researchers would be required to prepare written proposals describing what they wished to work on. Leopold ended by suggesting that ‘perhaps it is now appropriate to ask whether Szilard's fanciful story is turning into a serious matter.’

If there is any substance to Szilard's story and Leopold's concern, there should be evidence now available for a slowing down in the progress of U.S. science, since federal grants for research started to become a substantial factor in university budgets in the late fifties [Abelson, 1975]. Unfortunately, lacking a means of quantifying progress in science, it is difficult to argue objectively either for or against this slowing down. However, as I will now show, there has been a marked change in the way science is reported since the fifties.
From the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Senator Howard W. Cannon (D‐Nevada), chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, has announced that the Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space will hold hearings on legislation to establish a national weather modification policy and an associated research and development program. The hearings will be held on October 24 and 26, 1979, at 9:30 A.M. in Room 235 of the Russell Senate Office Building. Senator Adlai E. Stevenson (Dlllinois), chairman of the subcommittee, will preside.

The hearings will consider S. 829, the Weather Resources Management Act of 1979, introduced by Senator Henry Bellmon (R‐Oklahoma), and S. 1644, the Weather Modification Management Act of 1979, introduced by Senator Stevenson.
Impact of technology on geophysics
Authors: Newell Homer E.
Published: October 2011

Geophysics involves the application of the principles of physics to the study of the earth as a planet. As a result of the complexities and the variations in time and position, geophysical research places demands on a wide range of technological capabilities, including instrumentation, transportation, communications and computation. This paper discusses the impact of these four aspects of technology on geophysics. It is based on a report of the Geophysics Study Committee of the National Academy of Science. The chapters in that report examine the technologies of greatest importance within the individual disciplines of geophysics; they include a brief review and 11 essays that provide examples of the ways in which technology has directly influenced geophysical research and corresponding practical applications. They also draw attention to major areas of technology that are likely to have a significant impact on the future of geophysics.
Solar dimensions
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Fluctuations of the processes within the sun that affect its dimensions could be of great concern to astronomers who are interested in the sun's geometric position relative to the stars. Fluctuations that involve correlative changes, such as solar brightness and emissions, could have a range of implications including geological effects and effects on all life at the earth's surface. The sun's dimensions, spin rate, magnetic activity, and brightness may be fluctuating over short periods from days to years, according to a number of studies described in recent issues of Science, Smithsonian Institution Research Reports, and Physics Today. Of course the surface features and magnetic activity of the sun are known to fluctuate and have changes that follow oscillatory patterns, but these changes are background noise to solarwide effects.
Global weather experiment fills in world gaps
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Gaps in the vast panorama of world weather are being filled in as the Global Weather Experiment, a unique year‐long scientific effort to monitor the earth's oceans and atmosphere, enters its final phase. During a recently ended 2‐month ‘special observing period,’ an array of ships, aircraft, satellites, buoys, and balloons supplied massive amounts of new information from the water‐covered expanses of the tropics and southern hemisphere. Conditions in these regions, largely unobserved until now, have a profound impact on weather elsewhere in the world.

By the time the experiment winds up this year, meteorologists will have the most complete global weather record ever assembled. Using this day‐by‐day account, they will try to calculate the practical limits of forecasting and design a world weather observing system to achieve these limits.
NOAA deploys two new buoys
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

A deep ocean data buoy has been deployed recently in the Gulf of Mexico, by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) with the assistance of the U.S. Coast Guard, to provide additional meteorological data for forecasting the drift of oil from the Campeche oil spill.

The NOAA buoy will be anchored 65 miles off the Texas coast, in 4800 feet of water at 26.5°N, 96°W, in front of the expected drift of oil.
More on SI units
Authors: Merriam John L.
Published: October 2011

May I contribute some water to the ‘tempest in a teapot’ about SI units. In L K. Coachman in the September 4,1979, EOS, I found a kindred spirit. Other SI units, in addition to pascals, also lack the capability of being visualized and hence more comprehensible.

My work in irrigation is primarily at the application level on the farm. The units of depth are commonly used, e.g. 23 mm of rain, 8 mm per day evapotranspiration, irrigation application of 100 mm, etc. Similarly, it is very practical to use a volume unit that involves depth, so the hectare meter is very logical. It also has many of the advantages of the old acre foot unit. The SI unit for volume is the m3. However, to say to a farmer to apply 7.5 x 103 m3 is rather abstract. To tell him to apply 100 mm on his 7.5 hectare field conveys a visual concept and is very understandable.
Post‐IPOD science
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Recently, a 'blue ribbon' committee was appointed by Richard C. Atkinson, director of the National Science Foundation, to advise on the merits of a program of post‐IPOD (International Phase of Ocean Drilling) scientific exploration. The new program is outlined for the next 10 years, building upon the great successes of the DSDP (deep sea drilling project).

The proposed project is largely formulated on the basis of results of the DSDP that raised fundamental questions about the transition between ocean and continent, and thus the 10‐year program has been earmarked ‘OMD,’ for ocean margin drilling. The mission of the OMD is much broader than this name would imply, and it includes significantly different aims and targets than that of its predecessor, DSDP. For now and for the next decade, the emphasis will be on resource evaluation, although it should be clarified that the extent, and in most instances even the existence, of ocean margin resources remains to be proven, and it will not be evaluated in the near future unless a substantial program is initiated. For example, the potentially rich petroleum reserves thought to be trapped along sedimentary structures of the continental margins and slopes may not be explored actively by industry for a decade or two. Hydrocarbon sources that have a shorter‐term payoff will be the focus of investigations for the next few years.
The Southern California “bulge”
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The huge land uplift, or ‘bulge,’ astride a section of California's San Andreas fault—one of the most puzzling of geologic phenomena in recent years—continues to deflate or subside, according to a report from the U.S. Geological Survey.

The shrinkage in elevation of the bulge, however, has been accompanied by other changes—an increase of horizontal ‘strain’ and an increase in the emission of radon (a rare inert gas) in some wells in the region. These latest changes, revealed only recently by intensive monitoring, have only deepened the puzzle for scientists who are trying to determine the significance of the bulge as a possible precursor to a large earthquake.
Federal Policy for Support of Research: Real growth?
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

An interesting assessment of the so‐called real growth trend of support by the federal government for research and development has emerged from recent compilations of government research expenditures over the past decade. The National Science Foundation has released data on all types of research support, separated from what the government considers development. Within the scope of research is the division of effort and funding between applied and basic research, but the distinctions are not always clear.

Research, as viewed by the National Science Foundation, generally involves studies that are less structured or specific [than ‘development’] and are oriented toward obtaining a fuller knowledge of the properties, structures, and relationships of natural and social phenomena required for a deeper understanding of the world we live in and in particular applications of that knowledge and understanding (quoted from the July/August issue of the NSF magazine Mosaic).
Geophysical events
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

On‐Take Volcano, Central Honshu, Japan (35.90°N, 137.48°E). AH times are local (GMT + 9 hours). On‐Take's first eruption in historic time began early on October 27. Vapor emission apparently started at about 0500, then, at about 0800, activity strengthened to emission of a 100‐m high steam column accompanied by ground rumbling. Just before noon, a tephra column that included ash, lapilli, and bombs up to 1 macross was rising 1500 m, and ash was falling on the east flank. Tephra clouds were ejected about every 2 min during the afternoon.
U.S. energy production and geophysical exploration
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The development of alternatives for traditional fossil energy sources may have caught the public's eye at this moment, but for the short term (1980‐2000), oil, natural gas, and coal are the resources that will be the source of most of the world's energy. The well‐known problem is that only slightly more than half of the nation's fuel needs are supplied by U.S. production, and numerous diverse difficulties in increasing this production exist. For example, the production of more coal is hampered not by available reserves but by the lack of acceptable methods of mining and burning coal to avoid pollution. Facing a different set of problems are the efforts to extend petroleum exploration, which is moving into increasingly inaccessible regions offshore where the geological factors are unassessed and the existing technology for drilling is inadequate. Even the most aggressive efforts to develop new national reserves have been slowed by the unusually complex regulations that govern offshore exploration today.
Nominees for section presidents
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

(Statements from all candidates for the office of section president will be published this month. The Oceanography and Seismology sections appeared in the December 4 issue of EOS, and the statements for the Geodesy; Volcanology, Geochemistry and Petrology, and Solar‐Planetary Relations appear below.)

The Section of Geodesy has a prime responsibility to encourage and promote geodetic activities of its members. These activities become highly visible at the Spring and Fall meetings and in the publications of the AGU, primarily the red JGR, Geophysical Research Letters, and EOS. We need to continue to promote these meetings as a way in which current research activity can be rapidly conveyed to the interested audience. We should arrange special sessions in areas of topical interest, with plans to announce these sessions in sufficient time for meeting the abstract submission deadline. We should encourage persons to prepare written papers for such meetings so that the interested persons have descriptions of the speaker's research.
The Fram I expedition
Authors: Hunkins Kenneth , Kristoffersen Yngve , Johnson G. Leonard , Heiberg Andreas
Published: October 2011

Geophysical and oceanographical exploration of the Arctic Ocean has progressed largely with the aid of drifting research stations established on pack ice. The earliest drift expedition was carried out between 1893 and 1896 by the Norwegian scientist and explorer, Fridtjof Nansen, who allowed his especially constructed vessel, Fram, to freeze into the ice to be carried by winds and currents. During this time Nansen and his men conducted a remarkable and wide‐ranging program of scientific studies.

Over the past three decades, a number of manned scientific research stations have been established by the United States on arctic sea ice in the Amerasia Basin of the Arctic Ocean. These stations were supported by aircraft which w e r e based at the Naval Arctic Research Laboratory in Barrow, Alaska. Increasingly, however, scientific interest has grown in the Eurasia Basin of the Arctic Ocean, which is not readily accessible by air from Alaska. The Eurasia Basin contains the Arctic Midoceanic Ridge, which extends in a straight line for 2000 km between the Greenland‐Spits bergen Passage and the Laptev Shelf. The Eurasia Basin is also the region within w h i c h the waters of the Atlantic Ocean mix with those of the Arctic. A number of geophysical, oceanographic, and climatic questions center around these two features of the Eurasia Basin.
Proof in science
Authors: Davies Geoffrey F.
Published: October 2011

Tatsch's dissertation would have been slender indeed if he had abided strictly by his supervisor's admonition that he not use unproved hypotheses as the basis for deriving quantitative estimates (EOS), August 21,1979). No hypothesis is ever proven; only mathematicians prove things. In science we can only ask whether or not a hypothesis seems to correspond with the real world, as best we perceive it. Since observations always have limited accuracy, and since every hypothesis always leaves some loose ends (some observations which have not been shown either to be consistent or inconsistent with the hypothesis), we must always come back to a subjective judgment as to which hypothesis gives the more satisfactory description of the real world. The companion articles by Beloussov and by Sengor and Burke (EOS, April 24, 1979) are a good illustration of this process.
Ethics and science awards
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities have announced two programs to support projects that investigate ethics and values in science and technology.

The first category of awards, Interdisciplinary Incentive Awards, are intended to permit scholars and practitioners to pursue specific, problem‐oriented activities, in association with specialists in fields other than one's own. The yearly stipend is $20,000. Up to 20 such awards will be made.
First heat maps of Earth's surface available
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Data from NASA's Heat Capacity Mapping Mission (HCMM), an Explorer applications satellite used to acquire thermal imagery of the earth's surface, are now available to the public. The data consist of black‐and white imagery (prints and transparencies with a scale of 1:4,000,000) and computer compatible tapes of the United States, southern Canada, western Europe, and eastern Australia.
Shock wave experiments
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Each time in its short history (since World War II) that shock wave research of solids has been faced with the threat of obsolescence by other competitive techniques, new advances in method and interpretation have led to continuation of what many consider to be a fundamental field of intellectual pursuit in physics and geophysics. Right now, static pressure experiments are rapidly encroaching upon the PT (pressure‐temperature) range to which shock wave experiments previously had sole access. An example of development and counterdevelopment in this sense can be seen in Figure 1, the significantly out‐of‐date plot of experimentally accessible PT regimes of laboratory studies of the earth's mantle, which have recently been published by the National Research Council. At this time, the static range for both liquids and solids extends to about 1.7 Mbar and 4000 K. But, within the 2‐year or so time lag associated with preparation of the report, shock wave research of geological materials has also pushed ahead its practical experimental range to 2 Mbars at several thousand kelvins. Furthermore, shock wave research has extended its frontiers to outer space. It may be conceivable to impact projectiles in earth orbit with the aid of the shuttle, achieving the isentropic condition that has been so elusive and beyond reach in laboratory experiments.
Space dust analyzed
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Millions of tiny particles of ‘space dust,’ or interstellar debris, are known to be trapped in earth orbit. At altitudes above 60,000 ft. the dust is relatively free of contaminants from terrestrial sources (i.e., from volcanic eruptions, nuclear blasts, and ‘pollution’) and is accessible for sampling by high‐flying aircraft, such as the U‐2. The results of isotope analysis of grains obtained from just such a U‐2 mission indicate that these samples of space dust could have the same origin as meteorities. Another possibility is that the dust could be the residue of passing comets.
When(ce) shuttle?
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

It is known, although perhaps not widely appreciated, that U.S. space science investigators will be without new data for at least the next 4 years. The progress in exploration of the planets will suffer greatly during the next decade or two because of the huge costs—and the usual cost overruns—of the Space Shuttle program. The costs were originally estimated at $5 billion, and now they are expected to top $8.4 billion, the increase being supplied partially out of other budgets. What then are the chances of getting the Space Shuttle off the ground in the near future so that plans for exploring the solar system may be resumed? How well will the scientific community, the public, and business interests be served by the Shuttle program itself?
First heat maps of Earth's surface available
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Data from NASA's Heat Capacity Mapping Mission (HCMM), an Explorer applications satellite used to acquire thermal imagery of the earth's surface, are now available to the public. The data consist of black‐and‐white imagery (prints and transparencies with a scale of 1:4,000,000) and computer compatible tapes of the United States, southern Canada, western Europe, and eastern Australia.

This information, a user's guide, and data catalogs are available to U.S. concerns by writing National Space Science Data Center, Code 601, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771.
Space mission to Halley's comet?
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

If we filter through the mystique and folklore, the threats of destruction and distress, and, nowadays, the almost trivial description of a ‘dirty snowball’ traveling through space, what remains of the scientific interest in comets, such as the one Halley described, the one that is due to be visible from earth in 1986? A number of astronomers and space scientists, particularly those of perimental landing on the surface of Tempel 2. Original plans had called for a rendezvous with Halley's comet in 1986, but the political climate during the mid‐1970's was not favorable for obtaining the 10‐year advance support needed for this mission, in addition to other space missions, and now plans are going forward for the alternative flyby mission. What was lost, apart from the combined support of public viewing and interest during the mission, was only the opportunity to select a time when Halley's comet is in close range, and perhaps a time when it exhibits a variety of phenomena as it interacts with the solar wind plasma. Meanwhile, there will be a number of experiments conducted to obtain data on Halley's comet as it passes within view in 1986, data which will not be wasted in support of the flyby mission, when (and if) it occurs. The decade of the ′80's will begin with increasing activity of observation and measurement of the comet as it approaches.
Energetic particles and collisionless shocks
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The interplanetary medium provides three generic types of collisionless shocks, all of which play an important role in the acceleration and modulation of energetic electrons and ions found in the solar wind. These types are (1) standing bow shock waves found in front of some planetary objects (e.g., Earth and Jupiter); (2) shocks propagating outward from the sun in association with solar mass ejection events; and (3) shocks formed at heliocentric distances greater than ∼ 2.5 AU by the steepening of high‐speed solar wind streams.

Traditionally, the study of particle acceleration processes active within the solar system has focused on the more energetic particles (above ∼200 keV and extending well up into the MeV range). This is at least in part attributable to the fact that most of the observations were made at high energy. Recently, however, sensitive instruments have been exploring the region below 200 keV, where most of the accelerated particles are found. These new measurements are providing fresh insights into the acceleration processes involved and are reviving interest in the subject.
Deep Ocean Drilling Program
Authors: Heirtzler J. R.
Published: October 2011

The next few weeks and months should see the development of major new programs of drilling for scientific purposes in the deep oceans. The main thrust will be a new 10‐year program to use the Glomar Explorer to drill holes with up to 10 km of drill string. Budget constraints on this effort, entitled the Ocean Margin Drilling (OMD) Program, were reported in a recent issue of EOS (December 18, 1979).

Although details of the program and its funding have yet to be worked out, a few things are sure: it will be expensive, costing about $700 million, and it will include a comprehensive science program to support the drilling effort.
Continental margin drilling program
Authors: Bell Peter M.
Published: October 2011

The initial responses from OMB, Congress, and industry have been overwhelmingly positive in support of a proposed major drilling program along the U.S. offshore coastal areas in deep water.

The extensive sedimentary deposits located along the U.S. continental slopes are, as yet, unexplored. There have been numerous suggestions that there is a significant potential for extensive reserves of hydrocarbons, but these suggestions are largely speculative. At the same time, there is a great amount of scientific interest in the geology of the continental margins, so it has been logical in recent months to propose a combined scientific and commercial study offshore. Such a proposal is being made to Congress by the National Science Foundation for the purpose of obtaining funds to convert the government‐owned Glomar Explorer (the ship that was originally built for the use of the C.I.A.) into a vessel capable of performing deep drilling operations and for other costs of running the program over the next 10 years. Industry is being approached to contribute 50% of the costs.
U.S. scientists awarded grants to IUGG meeting
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The National Science Foundation awarded a block travel grant to AGU for provision of partial travel support to U.S. scientists who attended the XVII General Assembly of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics, which was held in Canberra, Australia, December 2–15, 1979. A total of 74 U.S. scientists were funded.
Summary of '79 Midwest regional AGU meeting
Authors: Noltimier Hal
Published: October 2011

The Midwestern Region of the American Geophysical Union met in Columbus, Ohio, for two full‐day sessions on September 13 and 14, 1979. Registrants totaled 111, including approximately 20 nonmembers of the AGU. There were eight sessions in which 64 papers were presented, and nine poster presentations provided interesting conversation foci throughout the meeting.

The session on Geology and Geophysics of the Central United States, chaired by Hal Noltimier of Ohio State, focused on the basement structure from western New York across the midcontinent to the Rio Grande Rift. The poster presentations which concluded the session were impressive magnetic and Bouguer anomaly maps of the greater New Madrid Seismic Zone. Except for the paper by Steele on anomalous levels of radon emission prior to recent earthquakes in Missouri, the papers were generally concerned with gravimetric and geomagnetic data that illuminated details of crustal structure on a local and regional basis. At least two papers were concerned with basement intrusives of late Phanerozoic and early Mesozoic origin.
Eruptions of Taal Volcano 1976–1977
Authors: Wolfe John A.
Published: October 2011

Sixty kilometers due south of Manila, Philippines, hidden behind an ignimbrite delta, which at its rim is nearly 700‐m high, is the active Taal Volcano. There is a lake of 267 km2 in the volcano‐tectonic depression and within it an island of 25 km2. The island has been constructed largely by phreatomagmatic activity, added to in historic times. The last major eruption occurred when a channel was opened to the lake by an explosion on September 28, 1965 (see Figure 1).
Geophysical events
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The following item is a reprint of the geophysical section of the SEAN Bulletin of the Smithsonian Institution.

Volcanic Activity

Krafla Caldera, Mývatn Area, Iceland (65.71°N, 16.75°W). The following is a report from Karl Grönvold.

The relatively slow but steady inflation of Krafla was interrupted by a minor deflation event 3–10 December. This deflation was very slow and no volcanic tremor was observed. Inflation resumed on 10 December, and on 15 December the previous ground level had been reached.

The number of earthquakes in the vicinity of the magma chambers had increased gradually in November, but during the mini‐deflation, earthquake activity decreased to background levels. When the previous ground level was exceeded in the second half of December, the number of recorded earthquakes started to increase again. The largest, of estimated magnitude 4, took place on 3 January and was widely felt in the area.
Protecting stratospheric ozone: The halocarbon problem persists
Authors: Greathouse Lee
Published: October 2011

Recent advances in computer‐processed models and in atmospheric chemistry and physics ‘have not altered the principal conclusion… that continued release of halocarbons into the atmosphere will result in a significant decrease in the amount of stratospheric ozone,’ a National Research Council panel report warns. Stratospheric ozone keeps excessive amounts of biologically harmful portions of solar ultraviolet radiation from reaching the earth's surface.

‘The best current data suggest that the potential effects’ of supersonic air transports on stratospheric ozone ‘are smaller than previously predicted but that those of halocarbon releases are greater,’ the report states. The report, Stratospheric Ozone Depletion by Halocarbons: Chemistry and Transport (Panel on Stratospheric Chemistry and Transport, Committee on Impacts of Stratospheric Change, Assembly of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, National Research Council, 249 pp., 1979), describes changes in the past 3 years in the understanding of the ozone problem.
NRC/NAS report: “Energy in Transition, 1985–2010”
Authors: Bell Peter M.
Published: October 2011

The National Academy of Sciences released a report, ‘Energy in Transition, 1985–2010,’ which sums up the findings of a 4‐year study that cost over $4 million. In a sense, the study was in response to the hue and cry of ‘What are we doing about the energy problem?’ Probably the events that have come to pass since the study began were not anticipated. Nonetheless, aside from political considerations, the report attempts to assess the exceedingly difficult energy problems of the future. There was a large commitment of effort in the study to intersperse problems of the environment with those of the energy needs. It is this commitment to maintain a clean environment that left the conclusions more or less undefined. The report seems to hold the view that not only will energy be in short supply, and that conservation alone will not suffice, but that most of the energy technologies envisioned to replace conventional energy sources will be hazardous. The ‘clean’ energy sources, such as solar, geothermal, and nuclear fusion, are either not well enough developed to make large contributions to the nation's energy needs or are too costly at this stage. In a discussion of the report in Chemical and Engineering News, the policy of the NRC/NAS committee is summarized as twofold: vigorous conservation, coupled with enhanced U.S. production of petroleum products. One of the NRC committee members is quoted as summarizing the conclusion, ‘Use less oil; get more oil.’ (Chem. Eng. News, 39–40, January 28, 1980). Nuclear fusion, particularly the liquid‐metal fast breeder reactor, is to be needed during the next 30 years and beyond (it states that breeder reactors can extend the supply of nuclear fuel for hundreds of thousands of years). Coal will also have to be used in great quantities, and in judging the combined effect on the environment, another committee member is quoted as writing ‘We do not really know whether carbon dioxide is worse than plutonium.’
Guidelines consolidated for developing nation grants
Authors: Greathouse Lee
Published: October 2011

Cooperative research projects between scientists from the United States and developing nations have been funded for more than a decade through a variety of programs of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Agency for International Development (AID). Uniform guidelines for such projects have now been established and are grouped under a new NSF program called Science in Developing Countries (SDC).

Under the program, grants will be made to U.S. institutions for science and engineering projects that are mutually beneficial to both the United States and the developing country. Activities that contribute to the capacity of the developing country to train and utilize scientists and engineers will be especially sought. Evidence of local support in the form of relevant correspondence must be incorporated into proposals.
1981 Budget
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The president's budget as originally proposed at the end of January would have placed research and development (R & D) in good, if not robust, health, for fiscal year (FY) 1981. There were even provisions for some major new science proposals. However, the recent recognition that inflation has soared has led to strong budget‐cutting moves from the White House. EOS will keep track of these moves as they affect government agencies of interest. The following story was prepared from information contained in the original budget. Congress may or may not make the cuts proposed by the administration.
Space shuttle main engine meets test objectives
Authors: Bell Peter M.
Published: October 2011

The second, full‐duration test of the space shuttle's main propulsion system was conducted successfully on February 28, at the NASA test site in Mississippi. Officials responsible for shuttle propulsion system development said afterwards that all test objectives had been met during the 555‐second firing.

Cited as noteworthy was the fact that the three main engines used in the test were successfully gimballed (steered) while they were being throttled back from 100% to 70% thrust, the first time that maneuver had been attempted.
Surface mining control
Authors: Bell Peter M.
Published: October 2011

The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (Public Law 95‐87,91 Statute, pp. 445–523) sets forth stringent rules for environmental protection and surface restoration of surface mining areas. However, a recent National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report (Surface mining of non‐coal minerals: A study of mineral mining from the perspective of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977) indicates the only coal and a few other special types of surface mine are amenable to the act's provisions. In many instances existing technology is inadequate, and efforts to develop appropriate technology would be ‘extremely difficult and not…beneficial.’
Temporary assignments with NOAA
Authors: Greathouse Lee
Published: October 2011

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is seeking applicants for a sabbatical leave or Intergovermental Personnel Act appointment from among researchers in meteorology, engineering, computer science, or sociology. This appointment is for NOAA's Prototype Regional Observing and Forecasting Service (PROFS), a program designed to bring the latest technology, including remote sensing and computer communications, to bear on local weather forecasting.
Geophysical events
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Bulusan Volcano, Luzon Island, Philippines (12.77°N, 124.05°E). Bulusan began to erupt at 1301 local time (GMT + 8 hours) on December 27, ejecting significant amounts of ash to about 1 km above the summit. Ash was blown to the WSW by the prevailing wind. The eruption lasted for 1 hour 13 minutes and was accompanied by hissing and rumbling. As of early January, some activity was continuing.

Bulusan's last eruption, in July and August 1978, produced voluminous ash‐laden clouds 2.5–3 km high (see Sean Bulletins, 3, 7–8).
Earthquake hazards reduction
Authors: Greathouse Lee
Published: October 2011

Only minor changes were made in the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program at a recent markup of reauthorizing legislation by the House Science, Research, and Technology subcommittee. The subcommittee's action would increase funding slightly above the FY 1980 level, expedite planning for earthquake preparedness, and eliminate some fuzzy areas in administration of the program.

Extra money would be provided for a number of areas, including public education, disaster planning and preparedness, and studies to improve the resistance of buildings to earthquakes. The bill gives special attention to ‘policy research,’ a part of the NSF Problem‐Focused Research Division's effort to assess the social consequences of predicting, and preparing for, earthquakes—an area formerly given short shrift by a practical‐minded Congress.
The kilogram, resurrected
Authors: Bell Peter M.
Published: October 2011

Probably few scientists realize that in 1975 the National Bureau of Standards found significant inconsistencies in a series of mass measurements which included the standard kilogram {Science, 90,379, 1975). The ‘anomalous’ results, now attributed to a miscalculation of Archimedes' principle, were major. The magnitude of the error amounted to 1 milligram (in 1 kilogram). A subsequent study of the results now seems to resolve most of the differences (Science, 207, 1347, 1980). There are no further reasons to believe that anomalous behavior or violations of Archimedes' principle were observed, and yet significant differences (on the order of 40 µg uncertainty in 1 kg, compared to the precision of the best kilogram comparators of 1 µg) still remain between masses of different materials, such as platinum and stainless steel.
Report from the IUGG Assembly: IAGA session on planetary dynamo theory
Authors: Busse F. H.
Published: October 2011

Four invited and seven contributed papers were presented in this full‐day session. The proceedings of the session can be conveniently divided into two parts: a first part dealing with the observational constraints and the physical environment in which planetary dynamos operate and a second part addressed to the theory of the dynamo process of the generation of magnetic fields by fluid motions.

The geophysical and astronomical evidence for the dynamical properties of the earth's core and for the coupling between core and mantle was reviewed by M. G. Rochester. The observed correlation between changes of the length of the day and the westward drift of the nondipole geomagnetic field indicate the importance of the core‐mantle coupling process. But because of the uncertainty of the electrical conductivity in the lowermost mantle, it has not yet been possible to decide whether electromagnetic coupling is sufficiently strong to explain the observations or whether the inertial coupling mechanism, by bumps on the core‐mantle boundary, is required, as proposed by Hide. The increasing accuracy of seismic and other geophysical measurements suggests that detailed information about the bumps and about other dynamically important properties of the core will become available in the near future. The discovery of the Slichter mode of the inner core and perhaps even the measurement of subseismic internal modes of the outer core would greatly improve our knowledge of the physical conditions in this part of the earth. The interpretation of the more accurate measurements will required improved earth's models and intimate cooperation between astronomers and geophysicists. Rochester expressed regret that the astronomical community has adopted the old model of Molodenskii instead of the recently improved models by Wahr and others, which are preferred by geophysicists. New results were also presented concerning the possible implications, both for antidynamo theorems and for the Proudman‐Taylor theorem, of the finite compressibility of planetary liquid cores.
Response to budget action
Authors: Drake Michael J. , Wilkening Laurel L. , Chapman Clark R.
Published: October 2011

As we are all aware, the President has announced his intention to balance the federal budget for FY ′81 in order to help control inflation. To accomplish this goal, essentially all agencies except the Department of Defense will sustain budget reductions. All of us concur in the need to reduce inflation. However, many of us are concerned with the impact of the proposed cuts on the nation's scientific programs. For example, the National Science Foundation may suffer a $74 million reduction in budget, affecting all areas of basic science. The proposed cut in the NASA budget has been reported to be approximately $219 million. Because the space shuttle is sacrosanct, a large fraction of these cuts, approximately $107 million, will be borne by the Office of Space Science, the office primarily responsible for space missions and related science support in astronomy, planetary science, and solar‐terrestrial relationships. Proposed high‐quality missions and, if Congress increases the depth of the cut, basic science support may be seriously affected, possibly permanently impairing our nation's ability to remain preeminent in the exploration of space.
NSF budget revisions
Authors: Greathouse Lee
Published: October 2011

The revised FY 1981 budget for the National Science Foundation (NSF) reduces the agency's request by 6.9%. According to the first detailed information on cuts that has been released by the agency, the original budget of $1.148 billion will be reduced to $1.074 billion.

An additional $18 million, for applied research, is to be deferred from the FY 1980 request until a later time. As a result, Engineering and Applied Sciences will be shorn of $9.5 million; the remaining $8.5 million is spread over most other programs.
FY 81 R & D: Atmospheric and oceanic sciences
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Frequently, one can assess the level and growth of activity in a field of science by means of fiscal figures which reflect the financial support of the federal government. Assessment of the levels of activity of the atmospheric and oceanic sciences for the 1981 fiscal year should be possible because most projects are funded by the government; the problem is that research in the atmospheric and oceanic sciences is closely interrelated, parts of one being supported by the others. Furthermore, at least nine federal agencies support atmospheric and oceanic research, including the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Energy, Interior, and Transportation, and the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Aeronautic and Space Administration, and the National Science Foundation.

Total federal expenditures in FY 1981 for research and development in both sciences will be about $575 million. A few of the federal agencies' or departments' programs are included as follows, in millions of dollars (from F. D. White, Intersociety Preliminary Analyses of R & D in the FY 1981 Budget, report, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1980).
Effects of budget cuts on R & D
Authors: Greathouse Lee
Published: October 2011

President Carter's proposed budget cuts would reduce total obligations for federal research and development (R & D) by $355 million in FY 1980 and $1.054 billion in FY 1981, according to figures released by the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). That is a 1.1% reduction from the $31.96 billion originally scheduled for FY 1980 and a 2.9% reduction from the $36.14 billion set for FY 1981.

Support for basic research will drop $16 million in FY 1980 (down 0.3% from the $4.531 billion in the January budget) and $194 million in FY 1981 (down 3.8% from the January figure of $5,074 billion).
Comets: Gases, ices, grains, and plasma
Authors: Bell Peter M.
Published: October 2011

A book and a colloquium (March 11–14, 1981, Tucson, Arizona) on comets has been announced by the Organizing Committee, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona. Little is known about comets, and thus books at almost any level on the subject are rare. Perhaps the most complete at this time is Comets, Asteroids, and Meteorites (A. H. Delsemme (Ed.), University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio 1977), the published proceedings of the International Astronomical Union Colloquium in Grenoble, 1976. In light of the coming of Halley's comet in 1985 and the planned space missions to study comets in this decade, there is a great need for a more extensive source book on the subject, where none exists.
Report from IUGG Assembly: IAGA session on electromagnetic coupling within the atmosphere
Authors: Volland H.
Published: October 2011

Electromagnetic fields of low frequencies with periods smaller than about 1 hour can easily penetrate from the lower into the upper atmosphere, and vice versa, with very short time constants. Therefore, they can serve as a coupling link to transfer energy from one region into another. One prominent example is the transfer of kinetic energy of the solar wind into thermal energy of the upper atmosphere via a magnetohydrodynamic generator process in which the electric convection field of the magnetosphere is the link between magnetosphere and ionosphere by the driving of high‐latitude electric currents within the dynamo region.

Another example is the electric coupling between the ionospheric E and F layer via the electric polarization field of the Sq current. Here, the surf's thermal energy input into the lower and the middle atmosphere is redistributed via the generation of tidal waves, associated electric fields and Sq currents at E layer heights, and the driving of F layer winds by the polarization field mapped upward into the F layer. Finally, the thunderstorm electric fields within the troposphere can map into the magnetosphere, and they may be responsible for field‐aligned irregularities in that region, or electric fields of magnetospheric origin may map downward into the lower atmosphere.
Geophysical events
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Krafla Caldera, Mývatn Area, Iceland (65.71°N, 16.75°W). The following is a report from Karl Gronvold and Páll Einarsson.

The gradual inflation after the minor December event (see SEAN Bulletin, 4 (12)) was reversed about 1 February when very slow deflation began and the earthquake activity associated with inflation stopped. As measured at the Krafla power house, the initial deflation rate of about 0.5 microradians/day increased on 7 February to about 1.3 microradians/day. In the evening of 10 February, a dense microearthquake swarm began near the S rim of the Krafla caldera and started to propagate southward. At about the same time the deflation rate increased at Krafla, reaching a maximum of 7 microradians/day on 12 February. The rate of deflation decreased gradually thereafter; on 17 February it stopped, and on 21 February inflation started again. The deflation of 40 microradians is somewhat larger than the December deflation but still only about ⅙ of the last major deflation‐rifting event in May 1979 (see SEAN Bulletin, 4 (5)).
X‐15 marks 20th anniversary
Authors: Bell Peter M.
Published: October 2011

Occupying a place of honor in the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., is a black, dartlike, stubby‐winged craft that resembles a cross between a rocket and an airplane. The X‐15 is, in fact, just that. Tuesday, March 25, marked the 20th anniversary of the first research flight of the X‐15 rocket plane, which advanced knowledge of how man and machine function in the realm of hypersonic flight and made significant contributions to the nation's space program.

The X‐15 was conceived some 25 years ago and went on to fly 199 flights in a combined NASA‐Air Force‐Navy research program. The craft's first research flight took place March 25, 1960; its last, October 24, 1968.
Illinois borehole update
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

At a recent meeting, the Continental Scientific Drilling Committee (CSDC) approved a plan for a broad program of geophysical tests to be conducted on a deep borehole now being drilled in northern Illinois. (The CSDC is organized under the Geophysics Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences and is charged with seeking ways to conduct add‐on experiments in holes drilled by government agencies or private industry.) They also decided to make efforts to assist in obtaining sources of support for the experiments.

The plan was the result of a hurried effort to organize a campaign of investigations. Researchers first learned of the existence of the hole, being drilled by a power company, in January (EOS, April 22). Drilling was expected to be finished in May or June, when the borehole would reach a depth of about 1650 m. Now, investigators must move more quickly than previously thought, reported Bezalel Haimson of the University of Wisconsin, chairman of the steering group that prepared the plan. Spring drilling has gone faster than expected, he said. The borehole could be finished as early as May 10. After completion of drilling, the power company will remove its drill rig, then downhole experiments requiring a rig will cost researchers more.
Survey of geology student placement
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

In an effort to find out where geology students go and how much they make when they graduate, the American Geological Institute (AGI) will add several questions on the subject of graduate placement to its annual survey of student enrollment.

What happens to graduates after they leave school has been an uncertain matter since the AGI stopped collecting and disseminating information about manpower, early in the 1970's. At the request of several AGI member societies, an ad hoc committee was set up to study ways to make employment information available.