Let’s call it creative destruction, borrowing from a popular term in economics. The idea is that the very essence of capitalism is the destruction of old structures and the building of new ones that inevitably face the same pressures as the structures they replaced. It’s the reason the buggy whip industry fell on hard times. The information management business of the Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) is in constant flux too, where the next big thing can soon become the next big flop.
A modern wind turbine has more than 8,000 component parts that must withstand the wear and tear of wind stresses. DOE researchers and stakeholders have been working hard to predict and eliminate wind stress related barriers and extend the lifespan of wind turbines. Working on a paper on this subject? OSTI can save you wear and tear by providing web tools that eliminate the need to search through database after database to find the research you need. For example, if you use DOE’s Science Accelerator, you could search through 11 DOE databases, and in about 10 seconds or less, retrieve hundreds of documents about the use of simulations to understand wind turbine shear stress.
We’ve made tracking a science topic in key DOE/OSTI resources easy with the Science Accelerator Alerts service. It's as simple as first registering for Science Accelerator Alerts and then proceeding along one of the following channels:
1) conduct a search on your chosen topic/author and then select the 'Create an Alert' button on the search results page;
2) go directly to the Alerts Login page and register.
The Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) plays an integral role in ensuring transparency and access to the results of the Department of Energy’s scientific efforts – and such transparency and access help assure DOE’s scientific integrity, according to a policy statement recently issued by Secretary of Energy Steven Chu.
“Science and technology are the foundation of all Department of Energy activities…,” the Secretarial Policy Statement on Scientific Integrity opens. “The Department’s mission relies on objective, reliable, accurate, and accessible scientific and technical information.” And OSTI addresses the agency’s responsibilities to collect, preserve and disseminate scientific and technical information emanating from the Department’s research and development activities.
“Pure mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas.”
~Albert Einstein
As you prepare your taxes, keep in mind that April is Mathematics Awareness Month. This year’s theme is, “Mathematics, Statistics and the Data Deluge”.
Mathematics is used throughout the world as an essential tool in many fields, including natural science, engineering, medicine and the social sciences. Large amounts of data are collected every day, and scientific data comes in massive amounts from supercomputers, sensor networks, astronomical instruments and other devices. These data need to be sorted out and understood in order to be useful.
April 9 - 14 is National Library Week, a time to honor the contributions of libraries, librarians and library workers in schools, campuses and communities nationwide. First sponsored in 1958, it is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country. It is a time to celebrate the contributions of our nation’s libraries and librarians and to promote library use.
Engineers use imagination and analytical skills to invent, design, improve and build things and turn ideas into reality, apply basic research and dream up creative and practical solutions. Engineering has made numerous contributions to modern life, and has made it more comfortable, safe and prosperous. Engineers change the world.
Nuclear science comprises many fields. From astrophysics to radioisotopes, nuclear science starts with the atom. The atom, and its fundamental building blocks of protons and neutrons, is the bundle of radioactive energy that makes so much possible.
National Nuclear Science Week is designed to recognize the contributions of nuclear science and those who work in it every day. Did you know that nuclear science is used in archeology, food safety and nuclear medicine? Or to help industry with such things as locating cracks in steel, getting rid of dust from film, or measuring the amount of air whipped into ice cream? And that nuclear power provides 20% of the electricity in the United States?
With winter just around the corner, can snow be far behind?
We’ve all heard that no two snowflakes are alike, but what do we really know about them?
Snowflakes always have six sides. Their form and shape depends on temperature and moisture. Snowflake shapes fall into six main categories: plate (flat), column, stars, dendrite (lacy), needle and capped column. When it is extremely cold, snow becomes fine and powdery and the snowflakes’ design becomes simpler, usually needle or rod shaped. When the temperature is close to freezing point, snowflakes become much larger and more complex in design.
International Education Weekwas first held in 2000; today it's celebrated annually in more than 100 countries worldwide. IEW is a joint initiative of the US Departments of Stateand Education, and is part of the federal government’s efforts to promote programs that prepare Americans for a global environment and attract future leaders from abroad to study, learn and exchange experiences in the United States.
Science and technology have been and will continue to be engines of US economic growth and national security. Excellence in discovery and innovation in science and engineering and in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education will strengthen the US economy, increase the capacity of US research and sustain our nation’s leadership role in increasingly competitive international science.
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