Science Research Groups

The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) is a facility dedicated to the detection of cosmic gravitational waves and the harnessing of these waves for scientific research. It consists of two widely separated installations within the United States one in Hanford Washington and the other in Livingston, Louisiana operated in unison as a single observatory. LIGO is being built by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Funded by the National Science Foundation, LIGO will function as a national resource for both physics and astrophysics. When it reaches maturity, this observatory will be open for use by the national community and will become part of a planned worldwide network of gravitational-wave observatories. The LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC) is the forum organizing technical and scientific research in LIGO. Its mission is to insure equal opportunity for individual participants and institutions within the scientific community.

The World Year of Physics 2005 plans to bring the excitement of physics to the public and inspire a new generation of scientists. Timed to coincide with the centennial celebration of Albert Einstein's "miraculous year," the World Year of Physics will be coming to YOU before you know it.

JILA is one of the nation's leading research institutes in the physical sciences. Its faculty, graduate students, and postdoctoral research associates explore some of today's most challenging and fundamental scientific questions. Research at JILA ranges from the small, cold world of quantum physics through the design of precision optics and atom lasers to the processes that shape the stars and galaxies, encompassing these seven broad categories:Astrophysics, Atomic & Molecular Physics, Biophysics, Chemical Physics, Materials Physics & Chemistry, Optical Physics Precision, Measurement. JILA's faculty includes two Nobel laureates and two John D. and Catherine T. McArthur Fellows. Each year, JILA scientists publish more than 200 original research papers in national and international scientific journals and conference proceedings. Creative collaborations among JILA Fellows and their groups play a key role in generating the pioneering research JILA is known for around the world.

The Consortium for Conservation Medicine is a unique collaborative institution that strives to understand the link between anthropogenic environmental change, the health of all species, and the conservation ofbiodiversity.

The mission of the Center for Human Information Processing (CHIP), which is now being renamed Center for Brain and Cognition (CBC) is to bring together faculty, students, and researchers who share an interest in neural mechanisms underlying human perception, cognition and emotions (and the application of knowledge about cognitive mechanisms to addressing real-world human problems).

The CNBC is dedicated to the investigation of the neural mechanisms that give rise to human cognitive abilities, broadly construed. The outstanding faculty of the CNBC includes researchers investigating normal processes and disorders of cognition, and there is a great deal of interest in learning and development. We stress the convergent use of a wide range of methods to investigate topics ranging from sensory processing and motor control to language, semantic cognition, and reasoning. The CNBC is a joint project of the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon, integrating the strengths of the University of Pittsburgh in basic and clinical neuroscience with the strengths of Carnegie Mellon in psychology, computer science and statistics.

The Climate Prediction Center's (CPC) products are operational predictions of climate variability, real-time monitoring of climate and the required data bases, and assessments of the origins of major climate anomalies. The products cover time scales from a week to seasons, extending into the future as far as technically feasible, and cover the land, the ocean, and the atmosphere, extending into the stratosphere. These climate services are available for users in government, the public and private industry, both in this country and abroad. Applications include the mitigation of weather related natural disasters and uses for social and economic good in agriculture, energy, transportation, water resources, and health. Continual product improvements are supported through diagnostic research, increasing use of models, and interactions with user groups. We serve the public by assessing and forecasting the impacts of short-term climate variability, emphasizing enhanced risks of weather-related extreme events for use in mitigating losses and maximizing economic gains.

So what is string theory? For that matter, what the heck are elementary particles? If this all sounds totally confusing, try this section first. Includes pages on mathematics, cosmology, black holes, gravity, theoretical physics, quantum mechanics, particle physics, and relativity.

CEMS represents the collaborations of research scientists from Stony Brook University and Brookhaven National Laboratory that focus on the molecular basis for the behavior of environmental contaminants in natural and engineered systems. Stony Brook and Brookhaven researchers, who are joined by scientists at Temple University and Penn State University, draw from the critical disciplines of chemistry, geochemistry, physics, microbiology, and materials science. Using a broad array of tools, including synchrotron radiation techniques, CEMS addresses complex environmental problems that affect society. CEMS is an Environmental Molecular Science Institute funded by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy, with support from Stony Brook University and Brookhaven National Laboratory.

The Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics has been in operation since 1979, on the Santa Barbara campus of the University of California. It is funded by the National Science Foundation and the University of California. The general purpose of the Institute is to contribute to the progress of theoretical physics, especially in areas overlapping the traditional subfields, in ways which are not easily realized in existing institutions.

The Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute) is one of more than 80 research institutes of the Max Planck Society. The Institute was established to pursue research in gravitational physics, especially general relativity and quantum gravity. General relativity is the theory of gravity devised by Albert Einstein (picture: 1929 by Lotte Jacobi); its many successful predictions concerning black holes, gravitational waves, gravitational lensing, and the Big Bang have made it a standard tool of astronomers in their attempts to describe the observed universe. Much work in theoretical physics today is directed at generalizing this theory to include the quantum effects that are known to be necessary to describe elementary particles, and which are believed to be necessary as well to describe the inside of a black hole and the details of the Big Bang. The aim is to develop a quantum theory of gravity that goes beyond general relativity and explains the relationship between gravity and the other forces of physics, such as electromagnetism and the nuclear force.

NIA, one of the 27 Institutes and Centers ofthe National Institutes of Health (NIH), leads a broad scientific effort to understand the nature of aging and to extend the healthy, active years of life. In 1974, Congress granted authority to form NIA to provide leadership in aging research, training, health information dissemination, and other programs relevant to aging and older people. Subsequent amendments to this legislation designated the NIA as the primary Federal agency on Alzheimers disease research.

PMEL carries out interdisciplinary scientific investigations in oceanography and atmospheric science. Current PMEL programs focus on open ocean observations in support of long-term monitoring and prediction of the ocean environment on time scales from hours to decades.

The Cooperative Institute for Arctic Research (CIFAR) was established through a Memorandum of Understanding between NOAA and the University of Alaska in April 1994. It is one of thirteen national NOAA-University joint institutes; CIFAR is the only joint institute exclusively concerned with arctic research. We work closely with the NOAA Office of Arctic Research and the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL). Our partnerships with NOAA also include the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the National Ocean Service (NOS), and an emerging relationship with the National Weather Service. CIFAR is designed to be a focal point for interactions between NOAA and the arctic research community through the University of Alaska for research related to NOAA's interests, especially in the Western Arctic/Bering Sea region. This area, vital to many nations because of its fisheries, oil and gas resources and its Native communities, is also the focus of increased international attention and research. While uncertainties exist about the future, changes in the region during the past few decades have occurred at a rapid pace. Both natural environmental fluctuations and human activities have caused biological changes in the Bering Sea ecosystem. On land and in the sea, substantial climate warming has taken place and this has led to major changes in this high-latitude environment with societal impacts that will become even more pronounced if present climatic trends continue.

AMAP is an international organization established in 1991 to implement components of the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy (AEPS). Now a programme group of the Arctic Council, AMAP's current objective is "providing reliable and sufficient information on the status of, and threats to, the Arctic environment, and providing scientific advice on actions to be taken in order to support Arctic governments in their efforts to take remedial and preventive actions relating to contaminants".

The Arctic Research Office (ARO) serves as a focal point for NOAA's research activities in the Arctic, Bering Sea, North Pacific and North Atlantic regions. The office manages the Arctic Research Initiative and other funds allocated to it, supporting both internal NOAA and extramural research. It represents NOAA on the Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee, leads U.S. involvement in the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program, and provides a point of contact between NOAA and the Cooperative Institute for Arctic Research and the International Arctic Research Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The Arctic Research Office is a component of NOAA's Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research.

The NOAA Arctic Science Laboratory (ASL) integrates NOAA's high latitude science capabilities to form a virtual organization focused on critical science issues in the Arctic. Participants throughout NOAA's line offices and programs to form this virtual laboratory, including NOAA research scientists, facilities, and unique capabilities.

This Arctic Theme Page provides access to widely distributed Arctic data and information for scientists, students, teachers, academia, managers, decision makers and the general public. Visit NOAA's Arctic Science Laboratory and Arctic Research Office.

The objective of this website is to present recent indicators that describe the present state of the Arctic climate and ecosystem in an accessible, understandable, and credible historical context. A summary of changes are listed in the Table of Indicators. The Arctic is a vast, ice-covered ocean that is surrounded by tree-less, frozen land, which is often covered with snow and ice. The rigors of this harsh environment are a challenge to living, working and performing research in the Arctic. None the less, the Arctic is an ecosystem that teems with life including organisms living in the ice, fish and marine mammals living in the sea, birds, land animals such as wolves, caribou and polar bears, and human societies. The Arctic has been changing in the last 30 years, as noted throughout this website. Some of the clearest indicators of this change are shown below: the warming of spring temperatures in Alaska, the warming of winter temperatures in N Europe, the loss of sea ice area in the central Arctic, and the conversion of tundra to wetlands and shrub lands in E. Siberia and NW Canada and Alaska. These changes in physical conditions also have impacted marine and terrestrial ecosystems.

The objective of this website is to present recent indicators that describe the present state of the Arctic climate and ecosystem in an accessible, understandable, and credible historical context. A summary of changes are listed in the Table of Indicators. The Arctic is a vast, ice-covered ocean that is surrounded by tree-less, frozen land, which is often covered with snow and ice. The rigors of this harsh environment are a challenge to living, working and performing research in the Arctic. None the less, the Arctic is an ecosystem that teems with life including organisms living in the ice, fish and marine mammals living in the sea, birds, land animals such as wolves, caribou and polar bears, and human societies. The Arctic has been changing in the last 30 years, as noted throughout this website. Some of the clearest indicators of this change are shown below: the warming of spring temperatures in Alaska, the warming of winter temperatures in N Europe, the loss of sea ice area in the central Arctic, and the conversion of tundra to wetlands and shrub lands in E. Siberia and NW Canada and Alaska. These changes in physical conditions also have impacted marine and terrestrial ecosystems.