Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 13 October 2000:
Vol. 290. no. 5490, p. 245
DOI: 10.1126/science.290.5490.245b
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

ScienceScope

Earth science chiefs at the National Science Foundation will need to think harder about how to take advantage of new technologies and findings. That's the conclusion of a National Research Council panel that is urging a two-thirds boost in the program's $100 million annual budget.

The committee's report (www.nap.edu/books/030907133X/html), released last week, points to research on the "Critical Zone"--where water, air, rock, soil, and life come together--and in the emerging field of geobiology, among others, as worthy of investment. The panel suggests cooperative planetary efforts with NASA and natural laboratories, such as turning deep-drilling sites into long-term observatories.

The committee, chaired by geophysicist Thomas Jordan of the University of California, Los Angeles, says that increased spending must not ignore "the single most important mechanism" for keeping earth science strong--research by individuals and small groups of investigators. It also "strongly endorses" the proposed EarthScope (Science, 26 November 1999, p. 1655).

To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)