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Study of Radiation Exposure from the Connecticut Yankee Nuclear Power Plant. Bulletin of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering. Volume 16.2! Spring 2001

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"ECTICUT ACADEMY OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING I Voum 16, / Spin S00 A New Name ... A New Look!

CASE Reports is now the Bulletin of the ConnecticutAcademy of Science and Engineering You may register to receive the News from the Bulletin in either an online or a print version. Please see page 8 National Academies for complete subscriptiondetails. The following is excerpted from News Report Online, a news resource of the National Note: Currentsubscribers MUST Academies which can be found at complete the subscription form www.nationalacademies.org/onpi/newsrpf/

on page 8 in order to receive future issues of the Bulletin.

• Agricultural Biotechnology Agricultural biotechnology holds great promise for alleviating world hunger You are reading the first edition of the new and poverty, according to a recent version of CASE Reports-now known as white paper prepared by a working the Bulletin of the ConnecticutAcademy of group of members of seven national Science and Engineering, academies of science, including five from developing countries. However, Why are we changing? Because we sense public concerns about the effects on two significant trends in Connecticut: the environment and human health of genetically modified crops must be

- A growing appetite for objective, addressed before the technology gains fact-based information on technol- widespread acceptance.

ogy related topics delivered from a non-aligned source; and The white paper urges governments to base decisions regarding biotechnology

- Significant growth in both the on sound science. It also calls on pri-breadth of science, engineering vate corporations and research institu-and technology topics and the tions to share their technology with sci-number of individuals interested entists and farmers in developing coun-in receiving this information- tries, and urges organized, concerted interests which we are simply efforts on a global scale to quickly iden-unable to serve with our existing tify any potential health and environ-publication and delivery mental risks. Each country should estab-formats, lish public health regulatory systems to identify andmonitor any potential The Academy has spent much of the last human health effects of transgenic year planning ways to modernize its com- plants, and environmental concerns munications vehicles and channels to bet- should be examined systematically and ter serve the lifestyles, needs and interests assessed against the agricultural tech-of its constituencies. The basic design and nologies currently in use that cause (See National Academies, page 7)

(See New Name, page 2)

Activities (continued from page 7) New Name (continued from page 7) this study reviewed, analyzed and recommended new bus delivery format of CASE Reports has remained unchanged propulsion technology for CTTRANSIT's 400-bus fleet, most of since it was first introduced nearly 20 years ago. During that which will be replaced over the next decade with vehicles that time, it has had to meet the demands of several distinct reader-meet both transportation and environmental needs. ship groups within a single format, delivered via traditional postal service.

The study was based on extensive literature review of salient bus technology, surveys of and visits to manufacturers; meet- Modern technology provides an opportunity to customize the ings with transit operators; and discussions with representatives Academy's publications to meet the needs and interests of our of various groups such as the Northeast Advanced Vehicle different audiences, and to deliver the information by whatever Consortium and the Clean Cities Coalition. Diesel, electric means-whether traditional mail or electronic transmission-trolley, compressed natural gas, methanol, liquefied natural individual readers find most desirable and efficient.

I gas, liquefied petroleum gas, ethanol, diesel-electric hybrid, and fuel cell propulsion systems were examined. Based on With this in mind, the Academy's governing Council, acting comparisons of costs and emissions, the study committee on the recommendation of its ad hoc communications com-recommended the purchase of clean diesel buses with an early mittee, has taken the bold step of entering the age of elec-phase-in of ultra low sulfur fuel and Continuously tronic communications with the following three objectives:

Regenerating Technology (CRT) exhaust filter units. They rec-ommended purchasing an increasing number of hybrid diesel- to package information more effectively for quick, electric buses as the technology proved itself to be reliable, easy access and use by targeted recipient fuel efficient and very low in emissions. communities;

The full Summary of Response is available on the Academy web- to provide a broader scope of information in an site at www.ctcase.org/reports/bus.html.

easy-to-use, interactive format; and The Connecticut Academy of to provide a greater number of individuals with Science and Engineering access to the information, in a cost-effective manner.

The purpose of the Academy is to "provideguidance to the people and the government of the State of Connecticut, upon request, in the The new Bulletin-formerly CASE Reports-is designed for applicationof science and engineering to the Connecticut's lay professional public. The popular "In Brief" economic and social welfare."

section will continue, delivering timely information on sci-OFFICERS OF THE ACADEMY ence and technology activities in Connecticut. A new col-John P. Cagnetta, President umn will provide information about studies conducted by the Senior VP, Northeast Utilities (ret.)

Academy; another will highlight those activities of the Michael J. Werle, Executive Director National Academies (the National Academy of Sciences, the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering National Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine, Joseph D. Bronzino, Vice President and the National Research Council) which have potential rel-Trinity College evance for Connecticut. Feature articles will occasionally be Peter G. Cable, Secretary/ Treasurer included, with.a synopsis appearing in 'the Bulletin and the GTE/BBN Systems & Technologies article itself available in full on the Academy's web site (www.ctcase.org).

EDITORS George Foyt , Executive Editor - Engineering Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority Every attempt will be made to embrace the latest technology as we start an orderly five-year transition from paper to elec-Jan Stolwjk, Executive Editor - Science Yale University School of Medicine tronic communication. Through this means, we hope to be able to serve a readership many times the size of our existing MANAGING EDITOR one. We would very much welcome your comments by Martha Sherman telephone or fax at 860-527-2161, or via email at acad@ix.netcom.com.

The BULLETIN of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineeringis published by the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering, Inc., 179 Allyn Street, Suite 512, Hartford, CT 06103-1422. Telephone and fax: (860) You may register to receive the Bulletin in either 527-2161. E-mail: acad@ix.netcom.com. WWW: www.ctcase.org an online or a print version. Please see page 8 The Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering is a private, nonprofit for complete subscription details.

public-service organization established by Special Act No: 76-53 of the Connecticut.General Assembly.

Note: Current subscribersMUST complete the COPYING PERMITTED, WITH ATTRIBUTION subscription form on page 8 in order to receive future issues of the Bulletin.

Bulletin of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering. Volume 16,2 / Spring 2001

IN BRIEF Science and Engineering Notes from Around Connecticut see two objects appear. If an incorrect number of objects-such as h Communication MONEYTALKS. Fleet Bank plans to equip its ATMs with special I one or three-was shown, the babies looked longer. Wynn is interested, she said, "in the fundamental mechanisms in the human mind that enable us to hold numerical concepts and repre-sent mathematical knowledge."

headsets that will provide spoken directions to the visually impaired. While Fleet already provides Braille instructions for its DEGREES OF LEARNING. With grants from the Connecticut machines, only 10% to 15% of the visually impaired rely on Distance Learning Consortium, five state schools are among those Braille, according to Nandita Bakhshi, FleetBoston director of self- who will develop degree programs that can be completed entirely service/ATM banking. Sixteen of the new "talking ATMs" have online, and will be available to students anywhere in the world.

already been tested in pilot locations, and Fleet plans to install Capital Community College, Teikyo Post University, Northwestern 150 machines in New England by the end of the year, including Connecticut Community College, Eastern Connecticut State some in Connecticut. University, and Teikyo Post & Charter Oak State College plan to award degrees in early childhood education and business admin-LIGHT SPEED. A growing number of Connecticut businesses are istration as well as more technological areas. The Consortium, a working in the field of optical networking technologies, which may partnership of state and private colleges and universities, is funded be the fastest growing sector of the state's technology industry. by the General Assembly, which awarded it $2 million in the cur-Driven by increasing demand for high-speed data connections, the rent fiscal year. The state hopes to encourage distance learning as field is taking advantage of advances that have vastly increased the a way to spur the Connecticut economy.

ability of optical fibers to carry data. For example, instead of carry-ing a single beam of white light, each fiber can now carry multiple SPEAK UP. Youngsters need more thanjust a good memory to beams, each of slightly different color. Light pulses can also now be learn the meanings of words, according to Yale researcher Paul sent over longer distances. "It's really one of the biggest success Bloom. "Children learn word meanings," he says, "by utilizing stories in the state," said Academy member Fred Leonberger, of cognitive skills that are normally used for other purposes, such as JDS Uniphase in Bloomfield. social reasoning, concept acquisition, and appreciation of syntac-tic structure." While others have linked some of these abilities with SPEAK TO ME. Communications software currently under devel- learning word meaning, Bloom was the first to show that young-opment by Middletown-based start-up Axiom8, will allow users to sters must use all these skills to acquire a vocabulary. He points to track down a person no matter where he or she is. As a kind of the complexity of learning number words. While many two-year-

"super address book," the product will store profiles of people and olds can count up to three, he says, it took them nearly a full addi-their communication devices. If a user wishes to contact someone, tional year to learn which words referred to which numbers. "It's the software will be able to open a connection by whatever not enough that children hear 'the three dogs'; they have to hear it method will work: pager, telephone, cell phone, email, or instant in a situation where they can be certain that the word 'three' message. The still-unnamed device will also allow users to see applies to the numerical property of threeness," says Bloom.

each other's computer desktops, share documents, view video feeds, and more. The device, which entered its final testing phases SHOCKING SUCCESS. Anti-depressants can lead to new cell last November, is expected to be released in mid 2001. growth in an area of the brain known to atrophy as a result of depression and stress, according to research performed at Yale.

HEALTHY SIGN. A device used to monitor the health of climbers "The findings of our study are that chronic administration of anti-

• e '4 on Mount Everest could also be used to track patients in their own depressants increases the number of neurons in the adult hip-homes, according to a study done by a Yale researcher and collab- pocampal," said Ronald Duman, professor of psychiatry and phar-orators. The Vital Signs Monitor (VSM) uses sensors and a telecom- macology. Anti -depressants tested included electroconvulsive munications system to monitor heart rate, temperature, respiratory seizure (ECS) therapy, and a seratonin-selective reuptake inhibitor, rate, and other signs. The VSM can be a lightweight wearable as well as three other drugs. ECS increased the number of neurons device strapped across the chest or wrist, or it can be swallowed in the hippocampus by 50%, while the chemical antidepressants in pill form. "This is the first time thatthere has actually been doc- augmented the number by 20 to 40%. Changes were only seen umentation of long distance monitoring of vital signs in real time," after treatment lasting 14 to 28 days.

said Richard Satava, professor at the Yale School of Medicine and an investigator on the project. The system, he says, is commercial- SCIENCE SUPPORT. St. Joseph College has received a $500,000 ly viable because of its low-bandwidth requirement, and because grant from the Northeast Utilities Foundation to promote science it uses commercial off-the-shelf products. education. The grant, the largest corporate gift in the college's histo-ry, will be used to renovate two biology laboratories for the school's C Education & Cognition new environmental science program. In addition, the grant will be used to establish a statewide Fresh Water Institute to promote envi-ronmental education among high school science teachers and stu-ADVANCED LEARNERS. By noting how long infants looked at dents; to help fund summer science camps for urban middle and objects, Yale psychology professor Karen Wynn was able to show high school students; and to support the existing Adventures in that babies are able to distinguish different numbers of objects, Science Program for Hartford elementary school students.

and that, by the age of five months, they are able to do simple addition and subtraction. Wynn, who was recently awarded the ,j Troland Research Award from the National Academy of Sciences, ltems that appearin the In Brief section are compiled from.

studies the development of early numerical understanding in *prleviouslyj publlshed sources including newspape accounts and humans. Wynn's research takes advantage of the fact that babies press reess o oeinformation about any In ~Briefitem, please' look longer at something that they don't expect. In her studies, the call the Academy at (860))527-2761, write the editors at j,

'9XAlyn S.Suite 512, Hartford, CeTco0 o-..... 2or e-mai us' babies were shown first one object, and then a second, placed behind a screen. When the screen was removed, they expected to ~at'lacao~

( netoim~com Bulletin of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering

• Volume 16,2 / Spring 2001

IN BRIEF Science and Engineering Notes from Around Connecticut flEnergy I were abrupt, produced conditions that were unfamiliar to the inhabitants of the regions, and persisted for decades or even cen-turies. Weiss believes that we may now be able to predict the soci-etal effects of climate change.

POWERFUL ALTERNATIVE. A device to "store" power generated by alternative energy sources is under development by Rocky Hill- HEALTHIER DEER. Controlled hunts have successfully reduced based Proton Energy Systems. The UNIGEN, a regenerative fuel the size of the deer herd at Bluff Point in Groton, resulting in cell, can use alternative energy sources, like solar or wind power, healthier animals that are less destructive of the area ecosystem, to produce hydrogen from water; this hydrogen can be stored, and, according to a study by the state Department of Environmental when needed, used by a fuel cell to produce electricity. This pro- Protection. The study found that, since the hunts were instituted, vides alternative energy companies with the much needed ability the deer have experienced a gradual improvement in health, body to "store" the energy generated during peak production, allowing weight, and fertility. In 1996, the average adult buck at the park solar energy companies, for example, to continue producing power weighed 109 pounds, compared to a statewide average of 140 even when the sun goes down. Idaho Power and NASA are among pounds. Last year, the average weight for bucks rose by about 10 the customers who have contracts to buy and test a UNIGEN box. pounds; however, the Bluff Point deer are still 8 to 20% skinnier than other Connecticut deer.

. , WASTE NOT. FuelCell Energy Inc, of Danbury, hasjoined with King County, WA, in a two-year field trial that will use municipal HEALTHY COYOTES, TOO. Uma Ramakrishnan at the wastewater digester gas to operate a 1-megawatt power plant. The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station has begun researching project, which is expected to generate electricity with less air pollu- white-tailed deer at Lake Gaillard in North Branford. In some areas tion air and greenhouse gases than conventional systems, takes around the lake, there are more than 125 deer per square mile.

advantage of the methane-rich gas produced by a wastewater treat- Deer have companions here: coyotes. Coyotes at Lake Gaillard ment system; the system uses an anaerobic digester process to sta- weigh 50 to 60 pounds, which is substantially larger than their bilize solids and reduce pathogenic microorganisms. The trial is western counterparts, and their glossy coats show their good health.

financed in part through an Environmental Protection Agency grant. Coyotes caused much of this year's winter mortality of deer, an infer-ence gathered by tracking hoof prints in fresh snow. White-tailed DOWN TO EARTH. Generators based onjet turbines and capa- deer alone contribute 70% of the coyote diet at Lake Gaillard.

ble of producing 600 megawatts of electricity are being sold by Pratt,& Whitney Power Systems to an independent power produc- SHAKE, RATTLE AND ROLL. A minor earthquakejiggled inhabi-er in Minneapolis. The contract, one of Power Systems' largest, is tants of Guilford, Madison, Killingworth, and North Branford on for 12 FT8 Twin Pac units; the FT8 is a derivative of Pratt's JT8D February 3, at about 1 p.m. The quake was assessed variously at aircraft engine, in which two of the turbines are joined together in magnitudes that ranged from 1.8 to 2.8; typically, earthquakes start the twin-pac configuration. The natural gas-fired units can deliver to cause damage after a magnitude of about 5. Yale geologist 55 megawatts each. An advantage of the process, said Power Jeffrey Parks believes that the quake was centered around

• 1 Systems president Ellen Smith, is that "we can manufacture and Guilford. "In northern Guilford, there's an old fault that was active install these units far more quickly than it would take to build a about 100 million years ago. It still has tremors and now I would conventional power plant," guess that this tremor would eventually be found to be right on top of that [fault]." An earlier tremor was reported in the state in SEPARATION OF POWER. A breakthrough technology could help Danbury in August. It registered a magnitude of about 2.5.

<, International Fuel Cells (IFC), based in South Windsor, take advan-tage of the increasing market for distributed power, in which small MEASURING SUSTAINABILITY, The United States ranks 11 th in generators are used to provide a reliable source of electricity on or environmental sustainability among 122 nations studied, accord-near the site where it is used. IFC is focusing on "proton exchange ing to a model developed at Yale University. The rankings are membrane" technology. In this system, the hydrogen molecules are based on the Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI), which separated into protons and electrons. The protons pass through the examines 22 factors that contribute to environmental performance, fuel cell membrane, while the electrons create an electric current by such a urban air quality and environmental regulation, and meas-traveling around it. This new technology is expected to produce ures them against 67 quality of life variables, such as levels of sul-smaller, more affordable fuel cells for the residential and vehicular fur dioxide in urban air, and infant mortality rate. "The ESI repre-markets, The company hopes to sell 1,000 fuel cells a year by 2005. sents a first step toward a new approach to pollution control and natural resource management where decision-making will be sub-L Environment stantiated by data, facts, and analytic rigor rather than emotion and rhetoric," said Daniel Esty, who designed the methodology used to construct the index. Esty is the project director of the

• CLIMATE CHANGE AND SOCIETY. Abrupt climate change has, World Economic Forum and director of the Yale Center for throughout history, repeatedly caused societal collapse, according Environmental Law and Policy.

to Yale anthropologist Harvey Weiss. Working with Raymond S.

Bradley at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, Weiss ana- POOLING RESOURCES. With a grant from the Rockfall lyzed recent archaeological and paleoclimatological research. Foundation, a private group based in Middletown, the Westbrook "These data force a change in some general social science under- Conservation Commission will map and delineate the town's ver-standings," says Weiss, Often, the social. sciences attribute societal nal pools. Vernal pools, which form on the forest floor in spring, collapse solely to social, economic, and political forces. The data but dry up in the summer, provide breeding grounds for such also, says Weiss, emphasize the difference between past climate species as spotted salamanders and wood frogs. The project, change, which was not provoked by anthropogenic forces, and cur- which will locate pools in the coastal area of Westbrook, "is par-rent/future climate change, which, in part, may be. The climactic ticularly important to making informed decisions about preserva-changes described in Weiss' study disrupted societies because they tion of natural resources and development," said Stan Watson, of 4 Bulletin of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering

• Volume 16,2 / Spring 2001

IN BRIEF Science and Engineering Notes from Around Connecticut the Rockfall Foundation. The Westbrook project will provide one MOVING ALONG. Last year, researchers at Yale identified the of six maps that will be used by the town to make decisions about Nogo protein, which blocks the regeneration of nerve cells after open-space preservation. central nervous system injury. Now, they have made a key discov-ery in understanding how that protein works, and their work L Food & Agriculture [ could be used to heal spinal cord injuries. Neurologist Stephen Strittmatter and his colleagues have identified the receptor on the axons to which the Nogo protein binds. It is this receptor, said RETURN OF THE OYSTERS. Last year's cool weather has helped Strittmatter, that inhibits the ability of the axon to regenerate. "The to kill off the deadly shellfish parasite MSX which attacked oysters importance of the discovery is that by having both the ligand and in Long Island Sound, cutting Connecticut's oyster harvest by the receptor molecules in hand, it greatly simplifies the search for 76%. According to John Volk, director of the state's Bureau of inhibitors of that interaction, and for therapeutic possibilities."

Aquaculture, the parasite had spread so quickly because of the recent spate of warm winters and low rainfall. But this year, he explained, the oysters faced a more traditional New England win- High Technology ter. In 1995, before the parasite appeared, 751,876 bushels of oysters were gathered, with about 200 oysters to a bushel. By PLANET FORMATION. Stars may be able to form planets in about 1998, only 179,562 bushels were produced. But, with MSX large- 10 million years, far more quickly than previously thought, accord-ly gone, Volk is predicting a bumper crop of oysters in the near ing to the preliminary results of a study conducted in part by future: because oysters take three or four years to mature, a full astronomers from Yale. Using software designed by Yale graduate harvest will probably take place in 2002. student Katharine Vivas, and a large CCD Mosaic digital camera developedjointly by Yale and Venezuelan institutions, astronomers VNHealth were able to discover 168 young stars in a region called the Orion star forming complex. The stars were all between one and 10 mil-lion years old. According to one researcher, variations in the dusty SILENT NIGHT. Physicians at Yale have developed a technique disks surrounding the younger and older stars may be evidence of to cure snoring by using radiofrequency technology to shrink extra planet formation around the older stars.

tissues in the nose and throat. Snoring results when floppy tissue in the back of the nose and throat relaxes and vibrates, during DNA CHIPS. Using a new DNA chip technology developed at sleep. The new technology, somnoplasty, treats the problem by Yale, researchers have been able to identify all the gene targets of reducing the size of the tissue. The procedure, which cuts down some key proteins in yeast: The proteins, known as transcription on the bleeding and pain resulting from other types of snoring factors, control cell reproduction in yeast, telling the cell when and cures, relies on a device that produces a low-level radiofrequency. whether to turn on the particular genes that cause a new cell to be After 3 to 6 weeks, the treated tissue is "sloughed off" and reab- made. Previously, only a few of the gene targets for these proteins sorbed by the body, resulting in a reduction in tissue volume. The had been identified. But the new technology, which involves using outpatient procedure can be performed in a doctor's office in less DNA chips, allows researchers to find all of the targets simultane-than ten minutes, and requires only local anesthesia. ously; that is, the researchers were able to determine all of the genes to which the proteins were able to bind. "Our method takes ESTROGEN ONCE AGAIN. Research conducted on monkeys advantage of genomics and all of the targets in one simple experi-shows that estrogen deprivation causes the death of dopamine ment," said Yale professor Michael Snyder. The Yale researchers, in cells in the brain. The studies, conducted at Yale, may help explain collaboration with researchers at Stanford, found almost 250 genes why men, who have less estrogen in their bodies, develop that were turned on by the proteins, many of which had not been Parkinson's Disease more easily than pre-menopausal women, and associated with cell reproduction before.

why postmenopausal women are then more likely to develop the disease, said D. Eugene Redmond, Jr., a Yale professor and a co- NOT ALL GONE. Finding missing people hasjust become easier, investigator of the study. The study found that the cells can be with a high-tech system put in place by state police last February.

regenerated if estrogen is administered within 10 days, but by 30 Aimed at those who are at risk of wandering, such as Alzheimer's days, the cells do not appear to return. These results may provide patients, Project Locate provides participants with a small trans-another reason for estrogen replacement in postmenopausal mitter than can be wornjust like a watch. If the person wearing women, but Redmond cautioned women not to base treatment the transmitter becomes lost, he or she can easily be traced via a plans on these initial results, hand-held antenna and a small receiver. If necessary, a helicopter can be used to narrow down the search area. The transmitter and A DOSE OF EXERCISE. Doctors have long urged the benefits of a charging system cost about $300, and about 30 units are available program of long-term, regular exercise. But, says University of free to those unable to pay. Currently, the state has about 69,000 Connecticut professor and exercise physiologist Linda Pescatello, residents with Alzheimer's, and over 65,000 with other brain a single session of aerobic exercise helps as well, significantly impairments that can cause dementia, lowering blood pressure for up to sixteen hours, an effect that could be used to treat high blood pressure. Pescatello's work DIGITAL DETAIL. Software developed !n the early 1990s at the focuses on the effects of physical activity on cardiometabolic dis- University of Connecticut (UConn) by former UConn Health ease, a cluster of disorders that occur together, and lead to heart Center researcher Klaus Peters provides "a fundamentally new disease, stroke, and Type II diabetes. The disorders include: glu- way of extracting detail from an image," says Barbara Williams, of cose intolerance, high blood pressure, and obesity. Cardiometa- Glastonbury, who has secured the worldwide rights to the pro-bolic disease is the major cause of disability and death in the gram and uses it as the basis for her company, Image Content industrialized world, said Pescatello, who is currently examining Technologies. The Lucis program takes advantage of the fact that the effects of different amounts of aerobic exercise on high blood computers can perceive far more subtle levels of contrast than the pressure. human eye. In a digital image, Lucis can enhance this contrast to Bulletin of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering - Volume 16,2 / Spring 2001 5,

I Ng Science and Engineering No1tes from Around Connecticut very fine levels, revealing much greater detail, without inserting through the efforts of high-tech start-up company AQSolutions.

elements that were not originally there. The software can be used Founded by Awo Quaison-Sackey, the firm recruits information to better diagnose diseases or bone fractures, and it has been used technology professionals in Africa to develop customized software by the state police to compare bite marks and to correct underex- for US businesses. Because the programmers remain in Ghana, posed crime scene images. they receive lower wages than would workers here in America, saving labor costs for American companies. AQSolutions provides VIRTUALLY FEARLESS. Fear of flying can be cured by a virtual local supervisors to manage the employees in Ghana. Financing reality treatment developed by University of Connecticut (UConn) comes from Next Generation Ventures, which supplies seed researchers in conjunction with Argus VR International, a money and management counsel to state start-ups.

Farmington virtual reality studio, The treatment is based on the concept that controlled encounters with the source of certain pho- INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY. To encourage communication among

• " bias can desensitize sufferers to the experience, according to those interested in ways in which environmental and economic UConn researcher Nicholas Maltby, who worked on the project. concerns can be better integrated, an International Society of The patients wear headsets that simulate the sight and sound of air Industrial Ecology has been formed. It will be based at the Yale travel; the treatment, while not identical to reality, is close enough School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. "Industrial ecolo-to provoke the fear response needed by therapists to defuse the gy," said Academy member Tom Graedel, a Yale professor and one phobia. About 4 out of 10 people who used the treatment were of the field's founders, "is a powerful way of finding innovative later able to take flights. Argus VR hopes to expand, by treating solutions to complicated environmental problems." Industrial ecol-spider phobias and by developing "relaxation pods," a virtual real- ogy studies the way energy and materials move as products are ity way to treat anxiety. created, used, and abandoned, and it looks to nature for clues to creating industrial processes that are more efficient, less wasteful, SIndustry & Business and, ideally, have recycling built in. The society, which will hold its inaugural meeting in the Netherlands in November, has its website at www.yale.edu/is4ie RECYCLING SUCCESS, A recycling technology that mixes several grades of plastic provides Obex Inc, of Stamford, with the potential to buck the odds against manufacturing start-ups. Obex uses the unique method developed by its founder, Celeste M. Johnson, to 0 Transportation manufacture Novawood Products: gardening necessities such as SUNNY SKIES. The economic impact of Bradley International composting bins, landscape garden tiles, and landscape ties. While Airport has tripled since 1993, increasing far faster than projected, many companies design for gardens using plastic, very few limit according to a study recently released by the state Department of themselves to recycled plastic. Historically, plastic recycling tech- Transportation. Its regional impact has reached $2.5 billion, a fig-j< nologies have been restricted to only certain grades of plastic, which ure it was not expected to achieve until 2015. Passenger traffic

-,. has often hampered companies by limiting supplies. However, alone grew almost 20% in the year 2000. Transportation infra-Johnson's technology helps to mitigate this problem. structure is central to the economic performance of a region, says Fred Carstensen, director of the Connecticut Center for Economic BUSINESS AS USUAL. Incubator space for start-ups is in the works Analysis. The airport is currently undergoing $200 million of at the University of Connecticut (UConn). The university plans to improvements, including the addition of a new passenger con-spend $7.7 million to build a 12,500-square-foot addition to an course and a 3,500 space parking garage.

agricultural biotechnology laboratory already on campus; the new structure will provide lab and office space for four to five compa- DAY TRIPPERS. Fourteen-year-old Ariel Faulkner, of Wallingford, nies. This move allows UConn tojoin the many universities nation- and her father, John, plan to head out to Alaska-in an airplane wide that already offer space to new businesses; the practice helps they're building themselves. The two have been flying in home-to attract faculty and aids in commercializing new technologies. built aircraft since Ariel was an infant. Made from kits, these The university will also use the money to help finance an 11,000- planes require about two to three years of work, and often pro-square foot greenhouse, part of which will be available to the start- duce machines that are both faster and more efficient than ready-ups. Locating incubator space on campus is key, because it allows made craft. At about $40,000, they cost around half the price of a for easy contact between the researchers and the companies. The manufactured plane. The Faulkners are building an all-metal RV-6 new facility is expected to be completed within two years. capable of flying at 180 miles per hour. They expect the plane to be completed by the time Ariel is old enough to obtain her student DRUG PARTNERSHIR A $1.5 billion deal between CuraGen pilot's certificate at age 16.

K Corp, of New Haven, and Bayer links the two companies in a partnership to develop drug treatments for obesity, adult onset dia- BRIDGE BUILDERS. Coast Guard cadets will redeck an iron rail-betes, and other conditions. The companies will use Curagen's road trestle bridge to close the gap along the Air Line Trail in technologies, including computer modeling and gene analysis to Colchester. The work will be performed as part of a senior design attack the diseases on the molecular level. Curagen will aid Bayer project, said Lt. Commander Joel Dolbeck, assistant professor-of in developing "small molecule" drugs. These drugs, unlike proteins engineering at the Coast Guard Academy. As part of the course, and antibodies, do not occur naturally in the body, and they must which offers project management, logistics, and hands-on design, undergo extensive testing before winning federal approval, a the cadets will deck the 110-foot span, and put in a boardwalk process that can take over ten years. However, a successful prod- and railing. Dolbeck called it the largest project the cadets have uct can bring in over $1 billion annually. Aspirin is an example of done so far. The refurbished bridge, which crosses the Black Ledge a drug derived from a substance originating outside the body. River, will permit hikers and bikers to travel from the old cranber-ry bog in East Hampton to Route 85 in Hebron.

STATE OF THE WORLD. Programmers in Ghana could ease the information technology labor shortage here in United States, Compiled and edited by Karen Miller Bulletin of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering . Volume 16,2 / Spring 2001

National Academies (continued from page 7) from a National Research Council committee. The guide offers teachers, administrators, parents, and others a proven method to environmental problems. (See Transgenic Plants and World evaluate and select K-12 science instructional materials that will Agriculture at http://www.nap.edu/books/N 1000227/html/) help all students meet higher standards in any school district. It also provides districts with a training plan to help educators or

• Global Warming community members systematically sift through materials. (See A new report from a panel of the Research Council concludes Selecting InstructionalMaterials:A Guide for K- 12 Science at that, despite an apparent incongruity between surface and http://www.nap.edu/books/030906533X/html/)

upper-air temperatures, global warming is a real phenomenon.

Surface temperatures in the past two decades have risen at a

• The Vaccine Challenge rate substantially greater than average for the past 100 years, The structure that supports vaccination programs in the United although data collected by satellites and weather balloons since States is weakening in spots, and the immunization system 1979 show that temperatures in the upper atmosphere have may be unprepared to handle future large-scale disease out-changed very little. The panel cautioned that this surface tem- breaks or the addition of new vaccines, according to a report perature increase is not necessarily representative of how the from the Institute of Medicine. The report recommends that atmosphere is responding to long-term, human-induced federal and state governments spend an additional $875 changes, such as increasing amounts of carbon dioxide and million over five years to strengthen the management of the other greenhouse gases. And while a combination of human immunization system. Two-thirds of this money would come activities and natural causes has contributed to rising surface from the federal government in the form of grants, with the temperatures, other human and natural forces may actually remainder coming from the states. The report also urges have cooled the upper atmosphere, the panel said. Congress to develop a formula that ensures that states with the greatest need receive extra funding.

The differences between surface temperature and upper-air temperature records also may be partially attributed to uncer- As new vaccines become available for widespread use, federal tainties in temperature measurements. The nations of the world and state governments will likely need additional money to should establish a better climate monitoring system to ensure provide vaccines to the poor and uninsured. Congress should continuity and quality in data collection, the panel said. anticipate such needs in the near future, the report says. It also Measurements should include not only temperature and wind, recommends that the federal government spend an additional but also ozone, water vapor, clouds, and aerosols. (See $50 million per year to purchase vaccines for poor and unin-Reconciling Observations of Global Temperature Change at sured adults. Collectively, the states ought to share in these http:Ilwww.nap.edu/books/0309068916/htmllý costs by spending an extra $11 million to buy vaccines for adults. The report also recommends that variations in reporting

• The Evolution of the Internet systems, which make tracking difficult, be standardized. (See A new report from the National Research Council finds that, Calling the Shots: Immunization Finance Policies and Practices while the Internet is fundamentally healthy, it faces several chal- at http://www.nap.edu/books/0309070295/html/)

lenges, including the need to keep pace with demands for growth and reliability. And because the Internet is a dynamic,

• Stateside Smokeout constantly evolving environment, the current policy of not regu- In reviewing 10 years of regulatory experience, the National lating the Internet's infrastructure is appropriate; caution should Cancer Policy Board-ajoint program of the Institute of be used when contemplating any regulatory measures, the Medicine and the National Research Council - found that report urges. A period of watchful waiting is needed, with close states which have mounted substantial tobacco-control pro-attention to several areas, including services such as telephony, grams have seen greater drops in smoking. The Board issued a or voice service, which pits the unregulated Internet against a report that assesses actions that states can take to reduce smok-regulated industry, as well as the interconnection agreements ing, including special advertising and public-education cam- 'K=

that link the Internet's many thousands of networks together. paigns, the establishment of smoke-free zones, and raising the price of tobacco products through taxation - one of the fastest The report provides a set of principles to guide policy-makers; and most effective ways to discourage children and teens from most important of these is a reminder that any new laws or starting to smoke, and to encourage smokers of all ages to quit.

regulations should focus on specific online activities and States can help support treatment efforts by running public.

behaviors, and avoid mandating changes to the Internet's archi- health campaigns alerting smokers that help is available, and tecture. (See The Internet's Coming of Age at by ensuring that state-funded insurance programs such as http://books.nap.edu/catalog/9823.htm1) Medicaid cover the costs. The report notes that a balanced state program also will include school-based prevention efforts,

• Choosing the Right Science Education Tools as well as vigorous enforcement of laws outlawing sales to Low student achievement in science has led many states to those under 18. To ensure that control efforts improve and that embrace higher academic standards and, in turn, create new money is well-spent, states should include a budget for evalua-tests to measure student performance against those standards. tion and monitoring so that programs can be carefully assessed But efforts to boost learning will have little success if books, and state officials held accountable.

lab kits, and other supplies used in science courses are not (See State Programs Can Reduce Tobacco Use at aligned with the tougher measures, concludes a new guide http://books.nap.edu/catalog/9762.html)

Bulletin of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering . Volume 16,2 I Spring 2001 7

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