• PDF / 5,470,378 Bytes
• 6 Pages / 604.8 x 806.4 pts Page_size
• 104 Downloads / 180 Views

DOWNLOAD

REPORT

---

Massey Urges NSF Scientists to Help Washington Area Schools National Science Foundation (NSF) Director Walter Massey is urging the agency's 400 scientists and engineers to get involved in Washington, DC area schools through activities that illustrate the excitement of learning science and mathematics. Massey hopes professional scientific organizations will become more involved in conveying the importance and relevance of their work to their local communities, and hâve greater influence on the quality of éducation and career choices of young people. "I'm going to do everything I can to encourage scientists—whether in government, industry, professional societies, or foundations—to become more active in science éducation reform. NSF should lead the way, and this effort will help start that process." The NSF policy represents a new concerted effort on the agency's part, beyond the récent years' push by government and industry, to redirect the way science is taught at the precollege level. For the last seven years, NSF and corporate America hâve sponsored National Science and Technology Week to highlight the fun and excitement of science. This year, for the Week, spécial science éducation materials were sent to more than 500,000 teachers throughout the country. Additional instructional materials are available through the Foundation, including a "Scientist Survival Guide," which provides tips for scientists who are volunteering to work in an elementary classroom setting. Write to: National Science and Technology Week, Scientist Survival Guide, National Science Foundation, Rm. 527, 1800 G St. NW, Washington, DC 20550, or cal! (202) 357-9494.

Researchers Announce Buckyball and n-Type Superconductors Discoveries of new superconductors continue to surprise the materials world with the announcements of new organic superconducting buckyballs made in the United States and a liquid-nitrogen-level ntype superconductor round in Japan. The buckyballs discovery at AT&T Bell Laboratories had researchers there "running around like school kids," according to a Bell Laboratories spokesman, and indeed was the more surprising of the two. It set a record for organic superconductors, easily besting the old IBM record by reaching a critical température of 18 K. The molécule

MRS BULLETIN/JULY1991

is doped with potassium and referred to as KCu). The buckyball discovery was no fluke, as a group at the University of California, Los Angeles led by Robert Whetten confirmed the work within hours, and it has since been confirmed in Japan, where samples are being sold. Bell Laboratories has in the past demonstrated that CM and C^, become conductive when doped with alkali metals. In order to overcome a problem they had experienced with sample dégradation, they used sealed tubes either in high vacuum or under partial hélium pressure to carry out reactions with the alkali métal vapor. The CM was purified by chromatography of fullerite and heated at 160°C under vacuum to remove solvents. The Bell Laboratories team, which was headed by Arthur Hebard, c