A transmission electron microscope image shows
"nanobalance": a resonating carbon nanotube used to determine
the mass of the attached carbon molecule.
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Electrical voltage can be used to induce electrostatic deflection and vibrational resonance in individual carbon nanotubes, according to a report published earlier this year in the journal Science. This ability to selectively deflect or induce resonance in individual nanotubes opens new potential micromechanical applications for the tiny structures, which are smaller than the finest features on modern microcircuits.
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology studied the behavior of multiwalled nanotubes using a transmission electron microscope with a unique sample holder designed and built by Dr. Philippe Poncharal of Georgia Tech. The holder allowed them to rotate specimens, apply electrical voltage and observe many fundamental effects. The work was sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Army Research Office.
"This opens a broad new field of study," says Dr. Walter de Heer, a professor in Georgia Tech's School of Physics. "To show that we can manipulate individual carbon nanotubes while examining them with an electron microscope is breaking new ground. This allows us to use the microscope in a much more interactive way with direct visualization and control that enable us to manipulate the nanotubes the way you would manipulate macroscopic objects on a desktop."
For the full text of this article, see www.gtri.gatech.edu/res-news/BALANCE.html. For more information, contact Dr. Walter de Heer, School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0430. (Telephone: 404/894-7879) (E-mail: deheer@electra.physics.gatech.edu); or Dr. Z.L. Wang, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0245. (Telephone: 404/894-8008) (E-mail: zhong.wang@mse.gatech.edu)
Tracking Real Estate
Title searching has gotten a lot easier in Georgia, thanks to a unique statewide database that puts property information online — a boon for both the real estate community and the general public.
courtesy Ga. Dept. of Industry, Trade and Tourism
Title searching at Georgia county courthouses, such as
this one in Lincoln County, is now easier because of a new
statewide database that puts property information online.
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About 1.5 million property deeds are filed in Georgia each year. Up to now, counties have varied greatly regarding the indexing of these documents, making title searches both cumbersome and frustrating.
In the works for three years, the project was mandated by the Georgia General Assembly in 1995 and is officially being launched in January 1999. The database, developed by the Economic Development Institute (EDI) at the Georgia Institute of Technology, contains an index of all property transactions, including the name of the seller and buyer, location of property, any liens on the property, and the book and page where the actual deed is filed in the county.
The index can be searched free of charge at county courthouses, or subscribed to on the Internet through the Clerks' Authority (www.gsccca.org). Although its biggest users are expected to be title searchers, banks, finance companies and government agencies, the system benefits anyone seeking property information in Georgia.
"Georgia is taking a leadership role with this project," says John Myers, project director and director of EDI's Center for Public Buildings (CPB). "No other state has a consolidated, statewide index for real and personal property, much less an on-line system."
To further enhance the system, GSCCCA is in the process of re-indexing three years of historical data for real estate records, and plans to have them on line in late 1999 or early 2000. Additionally, images of the actual real estate instrument (from participating counties) are also being added to the online system.
For the full text news release, see www.gtri.gatech.edu/res-news/TITLE.html. For more information, you may contact John Myers, Economic Development Institute, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332-0640. (Telephone: 404/894-3864) (E-mail: john.myers@edi.gatech.edu).
Measuring Scientific Research
How do you measure the impact of basic research on society? What does "quality" mean when applied to scientific research activities?
These are among the questions faced by the research community as it deals with new government-mandated requirements for accountability. These often controversial efforts to increase accountability are hampered by the difficulty in measuring creative activities like research, concerns about a growing burden of reporting and a lack of standard measuring tools.
Dr. Susan E. Cozzens, director of the School of Public Policy at the Georgia Institute of Technology, addressed these questions in a study she presented earlier this year at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Anaheim, Calif. There, she described "best practices" in research assessment.
"There are some very tough methodological questions, and there are no breakthrough methods out there," Cozzens adds.
In her research, Cozzens reviewed the best assessment methods available and looked at what techniques managers actually use to make decisions about research programs. Predominantly, decisions are made on the basis of a modified "peer review" process in which panels of experts offer their evaluations. Over the past 10 years, Cozzens found, the traditional peer review process has broadened to include input from potential users of the research such as industrial companies.
Though the specific assessment techniques may be changing, evaluation of projects being considered for funding has always been important and highly competitive in the U.S. research enterprise. But Cozzens' study found a growing interest in ongoing monitoring of these projects once they receive funding.
For the full text of this article, see www.gtri.gatech.edu/res-news/QUALITY.html. For more information, contact Dr. Susan Cozzens, School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0345. (Telephone: 404/894-6822) (E-mail: susan.cozzens@pubpolicy.gatech.edu)
Also see Research Notes news stories.
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