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A review is offered on the science academy to be constructed by Magnolia Public Schools in California.

The neutrons for science (NFS) facility is a component of SPIRAL-2, the new superconducting linear accelerator built at GANIL in Caen (France). The proton and deuteron beams delivered by the accelerator will allow producing intense neutron fields in the 100 keV–40 MeV energy range. Continuous and quasi-mono-kinetic energy spectra, respectively, will be available at NFS, produced by the interaction of a deuteron beam on a thick Be converter and by the 7Li(p,n) reaction on thin converter. The pulsed neutron beam, with a flux up to two orders of magnitude higher than those of other existing time-of-flight facilities, will open new opportunities of experiments in fundamental research as well as in nuclear data measurements. In addition to the neutron beam, irradiation stations for neutron-, proton- and deuteron-induced reactions will be available for cross-sections measurements and for the irradiation of electronic devices or biological cells. NFS, whose first experiment is foreseen in 2018, will be a very powerful tool for physics, fundamental research as well as applications like the transmutation of nuclear waste, design of future fission and fusion reactors, nuclear medicine or test and development of new detectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New science facilities have become a reality on many college campuses in the last few decades. Large time investments in creating shared programmatic vision and designing flexible spaces, partnered with large fiscal investments, have created a new generation of science building. Unfortunately, few studies provide evidence about whether the articulated goals were achieved. In this study, we revisit assessment of our science facilities after 5 years of occupancy, looking specifically for sustained gains in (a) student perceptions of interdisciplinarity, (b) the ability to stay focused despite high levels of visual connectedness, and (c) overall appreciation for the learning environment. In general, we find that the increased level of satisfaction observed after 1 year is sustained after 5 years of occupancy. In two areas, students have a less favorable response than they did at one year, suggesting a "new building" effect that has began to wear off. Interestingly, student perception of interdisciplinarity has increased over time, which we attribute to the combination of arranging faculty by interest rather than department and intentional growth of interdisciplinary programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, the observations on the earth tide at Shiquanhe and Wushi were used to show that gravity propagates at the speed of light. Based on the brief review of general relativity and the Newtonian gravitational theory, we re-analyze the experiments and cannot reach the same conclusion from the observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the Diamond Light Source Ltd., the largest scientific facility to be constructed in Great Britain. The facility was built to advance research in areas from medicine to biology to the physical and chemical sciences and earth and environmental sciences. The Diamond Light Source produces very bright beams of light mainly in the soft and X-ray regime which enables scientists to dig deep into the basic structure of materials to the atomic and molecular scale. The facility was constructed into two phases. The first phase cost 260 million pounds which consisted of the main synchroton building, the first seven beam lines, and the office building. The second phase which is said to be completed in 2011 costs 120 million pounds and consists of the construction of 15 beamlines.

The practices and justifications of 15 pre-service science teachers in using ICT were explored by survey, observation and interview. Interactive whiteboards are frequently employed, although predominantly as projection screens for presentations, whilst datalogging and spreadsheets are used infrequently. Trainees incorporate ICT to enhance pupil motivation and to save time, but demonstrate little use of ICT to enhance the teaching of conceptual knowledge. ICT helps to increase the currency and broaden the scope of activities and occasionally to promote pupil collaboration. The imaginative use of ICT, although limited, was identified and respondents were able to rationalise its use. We recommend improved dialogue between mentors and trainees with respect to the effective use of ICT in science teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to investigate Emiratii high school students' understandings of stoichiometry, their use of metacognitive strategies, and the influence of students' use of metacognitive strategies on their understandings of stoichiometry. Two instruments were used in this study, the first to measure students' understandings of stoichiometry and the second to measure students' use of metacognitive strategies. One hundred and sixty-two 11th grade students participated in this study, 80 boys and 82 girls. The results showed that students' understanding of stoichiometry was low and students used five metacognitive strategies: awareness of cognition, planning, monitoring and self-checking, self-appraisal and engagement in task. Planning was the most used strategy and could predict students' success in displaying sound understanding of stoichiometry. The results also showed that students' overall use of metacognitive strategies predicts their understanding of stoichiometry. The study argues that students should be taught how to use metacognitive strategies to improve their understanding of stoichiometry in particular and chemistry in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The decline in the popularity of physics over the period of secondary schooling and its consequent low uptake at A-level and beyond continues to cause concern on educational and economic grounds. The aim of this study is to explore whether physics might be made more attractive to students by employing an extended range of classroom and laboratory activities to teach it. Specifically, the study scores the popularity of a range of activities, students' perceptions about how often these activities are used to teach physics, and whether students consider them educationally useful. Students appear to think in terms of written activities, passive activities, social activities and constructive activities. Written activities are relatively unpopular and seen as educationally less effective, but students perceived them as used frequently. Social activities such as group work are more popular. The most popular activities are constructive activities, such as doing experiments; these are seen as educationally useful, but are perceived as being used less often than other activities. While there are legitimate limitations on the types of activities that can be used, these findings add to our appreciation of which teaching activities students like and value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the factors that might be associated with students' attitudes towards science. The participants were 1745 students from secondary schools and universities across Australia. The results of factor analysis, descriptive statistics, Tukey's post hoc test and correlation analysis demonstrate that there were statistically significant differences between male and female students. Finally, the study provides a valid and reliable instrument. Implications of this study for future research are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ‘h index’ proposed by Hirsch [Hirsch JE (2005) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 102:16569-16573] is a good indicator of the impact of a scientist's research and has the advantage of being objective. When evaluating departments, institutions, or laboratories, the importance of the h index can be further enhanced when it is property calibrated for the size of the group. Particularly acute is the issue of federally funded facilities whose number of actively publishing scientists frequently dwarfs that of academic departments. Recently, Molinari and Molinari [Molinari JF, Molinari A (2008) Scientometrics, in press] developed a methodotogy that shows that the h index has a universal growth rate for large numbers of papers, allowing for meaningful comparisons between institutions. An additional challenge when comparing large institutions is that fields have distinct internal cultures, with different typical rates of publication and citation; biology is more highly cited than physics, for example. For this reason, the present study has focused on the physical sciences, engineering, and technology and has excluded biomedical research. Comparisons between individual disciplines are reported here to provide a framework. Generally, it was found that the universal growth rate of Molinari and Molinari holds well across the categories considered, testifying to the robustness of both their growth law and our results. The goat here is to set the highest standard of comparison for federal investment in science. Comparisons are made of the nation's preeminent private and public institutions. We find that many among the national science facilities compare favorably in research impact with the nation's leading universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While profitability and shareholder return often represent the overall success of commercial organisations, the performance of public aquatic centres tends to include, amongst other criteria, the number of customers that visit the centre, and the fit between customers and the local community profile. Retention of current customers and attracting new customers therefore should be a major issue for centre operators and owners. This paper provides data on Australian public aquatic centres that highlight the relationships between retention of customers and their willingness to recommend the centre, and measures of service quality, problem resolution and overall satisfaction. These relationships are often represented in generic service quality models. This paper proposes amending an existing model to include contextual variables that further clarify the relationships between such variables and operational performance in public aquatic centres. This enhanced model of service quality also provides a framework to highlight the diagnostic value of longitudinal data from 1999 to 2001 and 2003 to 2005. In turn, examples of industry benchmarks are offered for groupings of public aquatic centres against which centre operators can compare the performance of their centre. The contribution of the paper is therefore twofold. First, a proposed model that represents key operational relationships at Australian public aquatic centres. Second, an initial overview is conducted of the type of data currently available for use in future testing of the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article talks about a survey regarding the support for plant science research and teaching strength in American universities in 1965-1975. Responses to questionnaires sent by K. V. Thimann, the plant sciences study committee chairman, to established educators and plant science research staff showed a commitment to advanced level research and teaching. The distribution of research support among interest groups and the need for increased research support and science equipment and facilities are discussed.

The article features the Janelia Farm Research Campus, an intramural research facility in Ashburn, Virginia. It says that the campus represents an experiment in scientific culture, which places world-class researchers in a setting that makes it easy to interact in all scientific disciplines through the funding provided by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). It states that in October 2006, the HHMI has opened the main laboratory facility of the campus, called the Landscape building.

The article focuses on the condition of science and technology aspect in Brazil as supported by the Brazilian Physical Science and by the government. It says that the primary scientific facility in the country is a synchrotron light source that was launched in 1997. It states that growth of scientific efforts in the country is due to the support of the science and education by the sate and national governments, particularly the since the stabilization of the economy in 1995.

The article focuses on the building of the new research project Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Shanghai, China. Nearly $150 million has been invested in the 36,000-square-meter research project. It is the most expensive project China has ever undertaken. Along with this new facility, a new institute named China Spallation Neutron Source would also be constructed. The National Development and Reform Commission of the government has denied to leak further information regarding any of the projects. China needs a good number of scientists in several disciplines for new research institutes.

The author discusses the appointment of Riccardo Giacconi as the director of the science operations of U.S. National Aeronautics & Space Administration's (NASA) Hubble Space Telescope by the Space Telescope Science Institute. The belief of Giacconi on the benefits regarding the potential contributions of the science systems engineering approach is discussed. The establishment of the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) is also mentioned.

The article reports on the culture clash between board director Catherine Walter and scientists at the Australian Synchroton in Melbourne, Victoria. It notes the resignation threat by the researchers of the facility's Science and Advisory Committee (SAC) if Walter remains in her position. The scientists remark the constant dismissal of Walter on the advice given by the committee. Furthermore, SAC member Michael Grunze points the management of big science facilities as one cause of their uprising.