Headline News, Science Views (1991) / Chapter Skim
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6 Scientific Horizons
6 Scientific Horizons
Pages 125-154
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From page 127... ...
That is because trees remove carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, from the air through photosynthesis. Globally, trees remove massive amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
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From page 128... ...
They could not respond with much precision if a political leader asked how much, say, a billion new trees would relieve global warming. Their uncertainty might cause the leader to think twice about acting at all.
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From page 129... ...
The worldwide demand for paper, lumber and other forest products has been growing steadily, but timber companies need improved methods to overcome insect, disease and pollution threats. In urban forests, meanwhile, only one in eight trees is being replaced; new techniques could help preserve these groves that so enrich city life.
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From page 130... ...
Levy The United States and the Soviet Union are both planning missions to Mars, and a joint project has been suggested as a way to share costs and promote goodwill between the two superpowers. Even before the recent summit conference, Soviet President Gorbachev suggested the possibility of cooperative Mars exploration.
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From page 131... ...
For these and other reasons, Mars exploration is a natural candidate for ambitious international cooperation. In such an effort, the United States and the Soviet Union would occupy unique positions.
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From page 132... ...
loins missions, in which each nation is greatly dependent on the other, could become hostage to unexpected political events. Given these problems, it makes sense for the two countries to develop cooperation gradually, although steadily, beginning with robotic missions that use artificial intelligence to explore Mars and return samples to Earth.
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From page 133... ...
This approach, increasing cooperation substantially but stopping short of fully joint missions for now, would allow the two superpowers to begin immediately a project of historic importance on behalf of the whole human race. Both nations would achieve economies and would accomplish scientific objectives of global importance.
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From page 134... ...
A complete understanding of living systems at the molecular level now seems to be at hand. As a team of more than 100 scientists that ~ led for the National Research Council coneluded recently, modern biology is poised to make fundamental discoveries critical to understanding how humans resist infection, how a fertilized egg develops, and how humans dream, imagine and reason.
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From page 135... ...
In agriculture, farmers will control pests increasingly through biological techniques rather than with chemicals, increasing their profits while providing healthier food and a safer environment. At such a historic juncture, it is ironic that the United States faces a projected shortage of biology researchers and trained technical experts and that many U.S.
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From page 136... ...
No single federal body coordinates the often conflicting interests of private companies, universities, the military, states, cities, federal agencies and others who have an interest in this natural underwater treasure chest. As an expert committee of the National Research Council urged in a report recently, the federal government needs to develop a coherent national policy to analyze the seabed more thoroughly as a first step to putting it to better use.
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From page 137... ...
Energy innovators are studying ways of harnessing the heat differential between land and sea to generate electricity or of using cold seawater to produce air conditioning for seaside buildings. Still another possibility is to use the seabed as a site for unwanted urban wastes.
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From page 138... ...
Morrison Fifty years from now, when Saddam Hussein is just a bad memory, Americans could face an even worse predicament. This potential danger will be affected directly by actions we take in response to the Persian Gulf crisis.
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From page 139... ...
civilian research and development program on solar and renewable resources plunged by nearly 90 percent. DOE research on energy conservation declined by 61 percent, and research by private companies also fell.
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From page 140... ...
If budget constraints prevent increased funding for this kind of research, DOE should consider scaling back some magnetic fusion research. Commercially viable fusion reactors are highly unlikely to make any significant additions to the U.S.
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From page 141... ...
Other animals also think, of course, but we are seemingly the only ones who can think complex thoughts, abstract thoughts, thoughts involving the use of language. Developments in artificial intelligence, the study of computers doing intelligent things, are now challenging this aspect of uniqueness.
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From page 142... ...
What are the likely implications for human society of these developments in artificial intelligence? One of the most encouraging possibilities concerns education.
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From page 143... ...
fune 23, 1985 Herbert A Simon' winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science, is a professor of computer science and psychology at Carnegie MeBon University.
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From page 144... ...
Researchers must spend vast amounts of their time and resources searching again and again for genetic needles in the haystack of the human chromosomes; a typical set of chromosomes holds about 100,000 genes, of which fewer than 1,500 have been charted. Like the ambulance driver searching blindly along city streets, these researchers could do their work far more effectively —and save many more lives if they had a decent road map.
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From page 145... ...
The goal of mapping the human genome is to identify the location of all the genes on each chromosome, which is to say on the DNA molecules. A genetic map would not cure genetic diseases by itself; it would only be a too!
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From page 146... ...
Birth control pills, condoms, intrauterine devices (lUDs) , diaphragms, contraceptive sponges, foams and other vaginal contraceptives, and natural birth control methods are the options available to couples in the United States who wish to practice contraception.
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From page 147... ...
For example, an implant placed under a woman's skin that releases progestin has been available in Europe, Asia and Latin America for the past decade but only recently has received serious consideration in the United States. An expert committee of the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine reported this past week that U.S.
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From page 148... ...
Methods such as spermicidal jellies and foams are not necessarily safer if they have higher failure rates, especially given the potentially serious health consequences of unwanted pregnancies in some circumstances. Modifying the approval process could make more products available while maintaining rigorous safety standards.
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From page 149... ...
Crawford A priceless part of our human heritage is fading into the night sky. Most Americans are growing up unable to see the stars their grandparents knew so well.
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From page 150... ...
For science, the impact has been even more tangible and adverse. Astronomers require observations of extremely faint objects that can be made only with large telescopes located at sites free of air pollution and urban sky glow.
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From page 151... ...
On an individual level, people can help reduce sky glow by using night lighting only when necessary, choosing wellshielded light fixtures, and turning off lights when they are not needed. Curing light pollution saves money while reducing glare.
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From page 152... ...
Although effective in the past at helping the United States assume world leadership in these fields, the system is unable to provide us with clear national priorities in the face of these historic opportunities and constraints. The system does do a good job of setting priorities within specific agencies involved in science, but not when it comes to looking across agency lines and establishing priorities overall.
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From page 153... ...
These goals should be set not only along traditional agency lines, but also in terms of how they will contribute to the nation's underlying science and technology base its work force and research facilities or to broad national objectives, such as industrial competitiveness and environmental protection. Major initiatives such as the space station may need to be considered as a separate category.
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From page 154... ...
134 ~~D[~ OWE SCHEME AWE agriculture. They will become better able to put science and technology to work to solve the problems that be ahead for our nation not only over the next four yearn but in the decades to come.
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