Science Research Groups

To address the potential for conflict and cooperation on water issues, Michigan Technological University has launched the Michigan Tech Water Initiative. The purpose of the Michigan Tech Water Initiative program is to provide the multidisciplinary perspectives and tools to manage water-related problems of local, regional, and international interest. The Michigan Tech Water Initiative has three primary foci: undergraduate and graduate education, technical and policy-related research, and community outreach. The Michigan Tech Water Initiative community consists of any faculty, students, and staff that have water-related interests.

We work on ultra-slow light, light storage, cold atomic beams, Bose-Einstein condensation, and superfluidity. We also have experiments on cold atom and carbon nanotube interactions and on surface-enhanced Raman scattering of biomolecules.

The Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences (PIMS) was founded and is maintained by the five main universities in Western Canada (Simon Fraser University, University of Alberta, University of British Columbia, University of Calgary, University of Victoria) with the objectives of: Promoting research in mathematics; Strengthening ties and collaboration between the mathematical scientists in the academic community, in the industrial and business sector, and in government; Enhancing education and training in mathematical sciences, and broadening communication of mathematical ideas; and Creating strong mathematical partnerships and links within Canada and with organizations in other countries, focusing on the nations of the Pacific Rim.

The PNSN operates seismograph stations and locates earthquakes in Washington and Oregon. Our web site provides information on Pacific Northwest earthquake activity and hazards. We are based at the University of Washington in the Department of Earth and Space Sciences.

The MIT Space Systems Laboratory is developing the SPHERES (Synchronized Position Hold Engage and Reorient Experimental Satellites) formation flight testbed to provide the Air Force and NASA with a long term, replenishable, and upgradable testbed for the validation of high risk metrology, control, and autonomy technologies. The technologies are critical to the operation of distributed satellite and docking missions such as Terrestrial Planet Finder and Orbital Express.

The Michelson Science Center (MSC) is a science operations and analysis service organization for selected NASA Origins Theme projects and the scientists and engineers that use them. The MSC facilitates the timely and successful execution of Origins theme science by providing software infrastructure, science operations, and consulting to Navigator Program projects and their user communities.

The Keck Interferometer is a powerful new instrument that is being developed to search for new planets and investigate our cosmic origins. Located 4,150 meters (13,600 feet) above the Pacific Ocean atop Hawaii's Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano, the W.M. Keck Observatory houses the world's two largest optical and infrared telescopes. By linking them together as an instrument called an interferometer, astronomers can obtain measurements that are not possible with a single telescope. Observations are carried out by pointing both telescopes at the same target and combining their light in an optical laboratory in the basement of the observatory.

The focal mechanism of the mainshock indicates low angle thrust faulting (dipping 8 degree NE) along a plane striking NNW (329 deg) at a depth of about 29 km. The largest aftershock (Mw 7.1) that occurred northwest of the mainshock in Nicobar Islands appears to be more northerly striking (352 deg), shallow (12 km) and steeply dipping (41 deg). The second largest aftershock also has similar focal mechanism to the largest aftershock. Eight (8) major earthquakes (Mw > 7) during 1976-2004 in the region indicates that low angle, thrust faulting is the predominant mechanisms in the region. Calculated by Won-Young Kim of Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory.

The National Severe Storms Laboratory is one of NOAA's internationally known research laboratories, leading the way in investigations of all aspects of severe weather. Headquartered in Norman OK with staff in Colorado, Nevada, Washington, Utah, and Wisconsin, the people of NSSL, in partnership with the National Weather Service, are dedicated to improving severe weather warnings and forecasts in order to save lives and reduce property damage.

The Michelson Science Center (MSC) is a science operations and analysis service organization for selected NASA Origins Theme projects and the scientists and engineers that use them. The MSC facilitates the timely and successful execution of Origins theme science by providing software infrastructure, science operations, and consulting to Navigator Program projects and their user communities.The MSC name is chosen to honor Albert A. Michelson, the first American to receive a Nobel Prize in Physics, and a pioneer in laboratory and astronomical interferometry.

The Spaceward Foundation is a public-funds non-profit organization dedicated to furthering space science and technology in the public mindshare and in educational curriculums. We believe that expanding mankind's habitat is essential to its survival, and that the most effective way to induce long-term change is through education. We intend to pursue our goal by creating inspiring engineering challenges, and engaging both educational and private industry groups in an effort to achieve them. Our first program, Elevator:2010, is a public challenge centered around the Space Elevator concept, offering a substantial prize for the first laser-powered tether climbing demonstration that can meet specific criteria.

The oceanographic and information technology communities are forging an entirely new capability for interacting with complex, nonlinear planetary-scale processes. Success in this arena will vastly enhance human understanding of the basic processes that modulate climate, create energy and mineral deposits, influence the carbon cycle, and support a newly discovered microbial biosphere that may well be an analog for life elsewhere in the solar system. Our new capabilities will allow us to engage the public in the scientific inquiry into the last frontier on Earth: the ocean basins. Ocean observatories provide new channels for effectively communicating with educators and the public about how our planet works. Observatories offer the high educational value of student interaction with real scientific instruments and equipment, as well as opportunities to collaborate with research scientists. The LOOKING program will provide an essential architecture for the actual software, hardware, and network services that will enable routine ocean access to researchers, educators, students, and the general public.

The Integrated Global Observing Strategy (IGOS) seeks to provide a comprehensive framework to harmonize the common interests of the major space-based and in-situ systems for global observation of the Earth. IGOS is a strategic planning process, involving a number of partners, that links research, long-term monitoring and operational programmes, as well as data producers and users, in a structure that helps determine observation gaps and identify the resources to fill observation needs.

This is the Home Page for the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) and its members. CEOS membership encompasses the world's government agencies responsible for civil Earth Observation (EO) satellite programs, along with agencies that receive and process data acquired remotely from space.CEOS is an international coordinating mechanism charged with coordinating international civil spaceborne missions designed to observe and study planet Earth. Comprising 23 Members (most of which are space agencies) and 21 Associates (associated national and international organizations), CEOS is recognized as the major international forum for the coordination of Earth observation satellite programs and for interaction of these programs with users of satellite data worldwide.

The primary goals of this experiment are to test for neutrino mass by searching for neutrino oscillations. Neutrino mass is important because it may lead us to physics beyond the Standard Model. Masses in the range accessible to MiniBooNE will expand our understanding of how the universe has evolved. The BooNE project began in 1997. The first beam induced neutrino events were detected in September, 2002.

The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) is taking data that has provided revolutionary insight into the properties of neutrinos and the core of the sun. The detector, shown in the artist's conception below, was built 6800 feet under ground, in INCO's Creighton mine near Sudbury, Ontario. SNO is a heavy-water Cherenkov detector that is designed to detect neutrinos produced by fusion reactions in the sun. It uses 1000 tonnes of heavy water, on loan from Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), contained in a 12 meter diameter acrylic vessel. Neutrinos react with the heavy water (D2O) to produce flashes of light called Cherenkov radiation. This light is then detected by an array of 9600 photomultiplier tubes mounted on a geodesic support structure surrounding the heavy water vessel. The detector is immersed in light (normal) water within a 30 meter barrel-shaped cavity (the size of a 10 story building!) excavated from Norite rock. Located in the deepest part of the mine, the overburden of rock shields the detector from cosmic rays. The detector laboratory is extremely clean to reduce background signals from radioactive elements present in the mine dust which would otherwise hide the very weak signal from neutrinos.

CERN (Conseil Eurpeen pour la Recherche Nucleaire) is the European Organization for Nuclear Research, the world's largest particle physics centre. Here physicists come to explore what matter is made of and what forces hold it together. CERN exists primarily to provide them with the necessary tools. These are accelerators, which accelerate particles to almost the speed of light and detectors to make the particles visible. Founded in 1954, the laboratory was one of Europe's first joint ventures and includes now 20 Member States.

For 75 years, the Population Reference Bureau has been informing people about the population dimensions of important social, economic, and political issues. Our mission is to be the leader in providing timely and objective information on U.S. and international population trends and their implications. To increase the quality and relevance of our work and expand our reach and influence, we frequently collaborate with other organizations both in the United States and other countries. Our donors and partners government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, foundations, and universities include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the United Nations Population Fund, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Save the Children, the University of Costa Rica, Thailand's Mahidol University, the Population Council, and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

The F.R. Newman Laboratory for Elementary-Particle Physics (LEPP) is a research laboratory of the Cornell University Department of Physics engaged primarily in experimental and theoretical Elementary Particle Physics (EPP) and Accelerator Physics.

USRA provides a mechanism through which universities can cooperate effectively with one another, with the government, and with other organizations to further space science and technology, and to promote education in these areas. Its mission is carried out through the institutes, centers, divisions, and programs that are described in this website. Administrative and scientific personnel now number about 420. A unique feature of USRA is its system of Science Councils, which are standing panels of scientific experts who provide program guidance in specific areas of research. Most of USRA's activities are funded by grants and contracts from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The Universities Space Research Association was incorporated in 1969 in the District of Columbia as a private nonprofit corporation under the auspices of the National Academy of Sciences.