Volume III Issue 6
June 2007 |
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 Research
on AP and College Success
 Almost
15% of public school graduates from the class of 2006 achieved during
their high school years an AP Exam grade of 3 or better -- the score
that has been predictive of college success. The achievement represents
a significant improvement since the class of 2000, when just 10% of
public school graduates were achieving this result. The College Board,
which administers the AP Program, released the third annual Advanced
Placement Report to the Nation. The Report also highlights new
independent research, which bolsters previous research findings that
students who participate in AP have significantly better college grades
and college graduation rates than academically and economically similar
students who did not take the demanding courses and exams.
"After comparing students
with similar academic and economic profiles, these new studies show that
the students who also succeed on an AP Exam are better prepared for the
rigors of college, and more likely to obtain a bachelor's degree," said
College Board President Gaston Caperton. AP achievements for each
state's class of 2000 and 2006 are detailed in the report, which is
online.
Find out more...
Skin
is Home to Bacterial Zoo
 It
appears that the skin, the largest organ in our body, is a kind of zoo
and some of the inhabitants are quite novel, according to a new study.
Researchers found evidence for 182 species of bacteria in skin samples.
Eight percent were unknown species that had never before been described.
It is the first study to identify the composition of bacterial
populations on the skin using a powerful molecular method. Not only were
the bacteria more diverse than previously estimated, but some of them
had not been found before, says Martin J. Blaser, M.D., Frederick King
Professor and Chair of the Department of Medicine and Professor of
Microbiology at NYU School of Medicine, one of the authors of the study.
The skin has been, he says, terra incognita, an unknown world that he
and his colleagues have set out to understand much like explorers, he
says.
Find out more about career paths in
medicine and
biology...
Scientists
and Engineers Get the Oscar
 Each
year the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awards its
Scientific and Technical Achievement awards to the scientists and
engineers who have designed and developed technologies that contribute
to the progress of the film industry. These technical innovations have
been successfully used in movies and have become the gold standard by
which new technologies are judged.
One of this year's winners
is Steve Sullivan, Director of Research and Development at Industrial
Light and Magic (ILM). Steve worked with a team of electrical and
computer engineers to design and develop the ILM Image-based Model
System. This system starts with one or more images of an object or
scene, such as a landscape, prop, or humane face. Then, a combination
of computer algorithms and artist tools are applied to create a 3D
model.
"The resulting model is
often comparable to a laser scan of the object," says Sullivan. "The
system can help visual effects artists create detailed models directly
from a few photographs, even for subjects such as babies or large-scale
landscapes which are impossible to scan using traditional techniques."
Find out more at www.ilm.com.
Degree
Profile: Dentistry
 Dentists
diagnose, prevent, and treat problems with teeth or mouth tissue. They
remove decay, fill cavities, examine x-rays, place protective plastic
sealants on children's teeth, straighten teeth, and repair fractured
teeth. They also perform corrective surgery on gums and supporting bones
to treat gum diseases. Dentists extract teeth and make models and
measurements for dentures to replace missing teeth. They provide
instruction on diet, brushing, flossing, the use of fluorides, and other
aspects of dental care. They also administer anesthetics and write
prescriptions for antibiotics and other medications.
Most dentists are general
practitioners, handling a variety of dental needs. Other dentists
practice in any of nine specialty areas. Orthodontists, the largest
group of specialists, straighten teeth by applying pressure to the teeth
with braces or retainers. The next largest group, oral and maxillofacial
surgeons, operates on the mouth and jaws. 
 The
remainder may specialize as pediatric dentists (focusing on dentistry
for children); periodontists (treating gums and bone supporting the
teeth); prosthodontists (replacing missing teeth with permanent
fixtures, such as crowns and bridges, or with removable fixtures such as
dentures); endodontists (performing root canal therapy); public health
dentists (promoting good dental health and preventing dental diseases
within the community); oral pathologists (studying oral diseases); or
oral and maxillofacial radiologists (diagnosing diseases in the head and
neck through the use of imaging technologies).
Find out more about careers in
dentistry.
Cyber-enabled
Discovery and Innovation
 The
infusion of computation into science and engineering has revolutionized
how research is carried out and applied. Once used by only a handful of
elite researchers on select problems, advanced computing has now become
essential to future progress and exploration. Coupled with continuing
improvements in microprocessor speeds, converging advances in
networking, software, visualization, data systems and collaboration
platforms are changing the way research and education are accomplished.
Still, the broad and
complex questions posed by 21st Century inquiry require access to new
information technology capabilities, such as distributed wired and
wireless observing network complexes, and sophisticated simulation tools
that permit exploration of phenomena that can never be observed or
replicated by experiment. New concepts and tools are needed to address
the challenges posed by a world of petascale computers grinding away at
1 quadrillion operations per second, massive data flows and databases,
and an economy dependent on digitally enabled activity.
In fiscal year (FY) 2008,
the National Science Foundation (NSF) will begin the Cyber-enabled
Discovery and Innovation (CDI) initiative to explore radically new
concepts, approaches and tools at the intersection of computational and
physical or biological worlds. CDI includes five themes:
- Knowledge
extraction (including data mining, visualization and using basic
concepts from computation, geometry and topology)
Interacting elements (such as analyzing the flow of electricity or
information across the power grid or Internet, describing protein
folding and unfolding, and finding principles for scaling from the
quantum to the nano to the macro scales)
- Computational
experimentation (allowing insight into complex, real-world systems
such as hurricanes, nerve synapse activity, or the Big Bang)
- Virtual
environments (to enhance discovery, learning and innovation)
- Educating
researchers and students in computational discovery (special focus
will be placed on using virtual environments and cyberinfrastructure
at all education levels)
Find out more at
http://engineering.princeton.edu.
Science
and Engineering Doctorate Degrees Continue to Rise
 A
recent report reveals that the total number of doctorate degrees awarded
in science and engineering increased for the third year in a row in 2005
(27,974), surpassing the previous record set in 1998 (27,273). "The
numbers are skyrocketing," said Susan T. Hill, director of the Doctorate
Data Project in the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Division of
Science Resources Statistics and co- author of the report titled U.S.
Doctorates in the 20th Century. Released by NSF, this report documents
trends and patterns that reveal the rapid growth and changing
demographics of doctoral education during the 20th century.
Hill explained that the increase in science and engineering degrees
could be attributed to the number of foreign citizens who have come to
the United States to pursue a doctoral education. For instance, from
2001 to 2005, science and engineering doctorates awarded to noncitizens
increased by 25% and accounted for virtually all of the overall growth
in science and engineering doctorate awards during that period. Hill
added that 90% of these citizens decided to stay in the United States
after they finished their education.
The report also found that
several other demographic groups received record numbers of science and
engineering doctorate degrees in 2005. These groups included women, U.S.
Asian citizens, and underrepresented minorities. Science and engineering
fields reaching new highs in the number of doctorates in 2005 included:
biological sciences (6,368), engineering (6,404), mathematics (1,203),
and computer sciences (1,136). The number of degrees in psychology and
social sciences, on the other hand, remained unchanged from 2004. The
report's major findings include the following:
- Two-year colleges
increased their role in educating those who go on to pursue a
doctorate education.
- From 1995 to
1999, almost a third of African American doctorate-degree recipients
reported receiving an undergraduate degree from a historically black
college or university.
- Men received 73%
of all doctorates awarded in the 20th century. But in the 1990s,
women made significant gains, earning more than 40% of all doctorate
degrees.
- Foreign nationals
held less than 10% of all doctorates before 1960. However, they
received more than a third of all science and engineering doctorates
by 1999.
Find out more at
www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf06319.
From
Farm Waste to Fuel Tanks
 Researchers
at the University of Missouri-Columbia and the Midwest Research
Institute in Kansas City have developed a method to convert corncob
waste into a carbon "sponge" with nanoscale pores. The new material can
store large quantities of natural gas and can be formed into a variety
of shapes, ideal characteristics for next-generation gas storage tanks
on methane-powered automobiles.
Using corncob waste as a
starting material, the researchers created carbon briquettes with
complex nanopores capable of storing natural gas at an unprecedented
density of 180 times their own volume and at one seventh the pressure of
conventional natural gas tanks. The breakthrough is a significant step
forward in the nationwide effort to fit more automobiles to run on
methane, an abundant fuel that is domestically produced and cleaner
burning than gasoline.
In addition to efforts to commercialize the technology, the researchers
are now focusing on the next generation briquette, one that will store
more natural gas and cost less to produce.
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