Chemists at UCLA and the University of Michigan have taken another step toward making cars that can run on hydrogen rather than gasoline by developing a new "crystal sponge" material that stores nearly three times more hydrogen than any known substance.

This is the first material with the storage capacity required to make hydrogen fuel practical--a development that could lead to transportable power sources for cars, laptop computers, cellular phones, digital cameras and other electronic devices. Currently, the high-storage densities are possible only at very low temperatures (-321 degrees Fahrenheit), but researchers are optimistic the limitation is temporary.

The microscopic structure of crystal sponge resembles a scaffold made of linked rods with a multitude of nanoscale pores. The result is an enormous internal surface area where hydrogen molecules can attach--a pinch of crystal sponge has a surface area roughly equivalent to that of a football field.

NSF, the U.S. Department of Energy, and chemical company BASF funded this research. For more on this technology, see "New 'Crystal Sponge' Triples Hydrogen Storage."

Working with support from NSF's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, Imaginestics, a company located in West Lafayette, Ind., has created a software application called 3D-Seek. This new kind of search engine lets users find an item in an online catalog without knowing its names or part number. A freehand sketch is all the user needs, thanks to a major advance in practical pattern recognition.

The Purdue Research Park-based company developed 3D-Seek and its associated catalog mainly for manufacturing firms, which are constantly looking for bolts, conveyor belts, motors and a host of other products. With 3D-Seek, users can find in seconds what once may have taken weeks of warehouse searching or a complete part redesign.

Eventually, the search engine could prove equally beneficial for ordinary shoppers. Instead of carrying a part to the hardware store, customers could just sketch what they needed to find its replacement.

Researchers have been working for several years on software that can compare industry-standard 3-D image files to each other. This new method is faster than most and permits search "terms" that are far outside the norm. Read NSF's "Doodle Search" for more on this software.

Using new fiberglass-polymer materials, contractors in Springfield, Mo. performed a quick and dramatic makeover of a badly worn 70-year-old bridge deck. The workers used pre-fabricated plates and cages developed by an NSF-supported university-industry partnership to finish the job in a mere five days.

The NSF's Repair of Buildings and Bridges with Composites Industry-University Cooperative Research Center is based at the University of Missouri at Rolla and North Carolina State University. The Missouri researchers joined with colleagues at the University of Wisconsin and industry partners to develop the new construction solution.

The fiberglass-polymer composites are strong enough to endure several decades of traffic, salt and other corrosive de-icers. Moreover, workers can put the lightweight, prefabricated structures in place quickly-- saving time and preventing commuter headaches.

Using data from long-term observations of physical properties and biological communities, a team of U.S. and Canadian researchers supported in part by NSF has concluded that previously documented physical changes in the Arctic are profoundly affecting Arctic life.

The northern Bering Sea provides critical habitat for large populations of sea ducks, gray whales, bearded seals and walruses, all of which depend on small bottom-dwelling creatures for sustenance. These bottom-dwellers are accustomed to colder water temperatures and long periods of extensive sea ice cover.

As a result of the changing environment, animal inhabitants that subsist on these bottom-dwelling creatures can be expected to follow their food source northward--leaving behind the small, isolated Native communities of people on the Bering Sea coast who subsist on them.

To learn more about the physical changes in the Arctic, see NSF's press release, "Bering Sea Ecosystem Responding to Changes in Arctic Climate."

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In the 1960s, NSF supported William C. Stokoe, Jr.'s research demonstrating that American Sign Language (ASL) contained the fundamental properties of a true language. Further NSF support enabled Stokoe and two of his Gallaudet University colleagues to publish A Dictionary of American Sign Language on Linguistic Principles, the first dictionary of ASL.

Prior to Stokoe's studies, strictly "oralist" methods were used for educating deaf children, an approach that prevented them from reaching their full cognitive ability. Stokoe's groundbreaking work inspired other ASL research--culminating in a revolutionized method to educate the deaf.

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