Cheaper fusion machine sought
The international thermonuclear experimental reactor (ITER) was intended to demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion energy by producing an ignited, energy-yielding plasma fo...
NASA looks to next Mars mission
The Surveyor 98 mission consists of a satellite called Mars Climate Orbiter, and a ground probe, Mars Polar Lander. Both craft will arrive at Mars during 1999. The orbiter will spend two years measuri...
Newsbytes: Voyager, NASA and Edinburgh
NASA Safety Advisory Panel presents report The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) has presented its 1997 report. The panel provides a independent assessment of the safety features in NASA’s ...
Parallel processing on a chip
Many businesses are now using desktop computers linked together to replace their old mainframe systems. These machines divide up complex problems into smaller ‘chunks’ which are then fed t...
Ministers cut Framework budget
The European Commission had proposed a budget of ECU 16.3 billion for the framework, which will run from 1998 to 2002, while the European Parliament had voted for ECU 16.7 billion. The figure agreed b...
Shake-up in American science
Lane has been director of the NSF since October 1993. Prior to that he was a professor of physics at Rice University in Houston, Texas. He received his BS, MS, and PhD degrees in physics from the Univ...
Science fiction to the rescue of teaching?
At the annual American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) meeting in Philadelphia today, Leroy Dubeck from Temple University presented a lecture on teaching science with the help of sci...
Magnetic heat engines
Magnetic heat engines have been known about since 1889, but the success of gas engines has largely prevented research into this technology. Magnetic engines work by converting heat directly into elect...
Amplification of matter waves
Bose-Einstein condensation itself was only observed for the first time in 1995. There has been intense interest in the process ever since because of the unique quantum behaviour displayed by matter in...
Missiles by day, planets at night
The $40 million Magdalena Ridge Observatory will use optical interferometry to merge light signals from three new telescopes into a single image. Researchers also hope to test new adaptive optics tech...
