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Title:  Americans Ambivilent About 'Y2K' Computer Bug -- TIPSHEETS
Date:   January 22, 1999




January 22, 1999

For more information on these science news and feature story
tips, please contact the public information officer at the end of
each item at (703) 306-1070.  Editor: Cheryl Dybas

          AMERICANS AMBIVILENT ABOUT "Y2K" COMPUTER BUG

   A majority of Americans think computer mistakes due to the
Year 2000 issue will cause only minor problems for themselves or
in general, but nearly half of Americans responding to a recent
Gallup poll said they would avoid travelling on airplanes or
around January 1, 2000.
   The same national questionnaire reports Americans think
possible "Y2K" computer glitches will have little or no effect on
the nation's economy, yet nearly two-thirds of those polled say
they will seek extra confirmation of bank account, retirement
fund or other financial records.   The poll also showed more than
two-thirds of those polled believe "Y2K" computer problems will
last several weeks to several months, and possibly as long as a
year.
   George Strawn, the National Science Foundation's (NSF)
Computer Networking Division director, stresses that American
industry, government and academia largely are aware of what they
need to do to be fully prepared.  Strawn believes there is no
need for worry or concern, but that anyone with a home computer
needs to review the manufacturer's instructions and warranties to
see if any corrective measures are necessary.  [Bill Line]

            STUDY REVEALS THAT LONGER GROWING SEASONS
                  COULD DESTABILIZE ECOSYSTEMS

   A long-term study of blue grama grass, an important source for
grazing animals in the prairies of Colorado, shows how global
warming can destabilize an ecosystem by giving invading plants an
advantage over native plant life.  The study was conducted by
ecologists working through the NSF's Long-Term Ecological
Research (LTER) program.
   The Shortgrass Steppe LTER site in north central Colorado
provided Colorado State University researchers Rich Alward, Jim
Detling and Dan Milchunas a place to observe how climate change
can affect an ecosystem.
   In these grassy ranges of Colorado, a long growing season
primarily benefits plants that do well in cooler weather.  Here,
the plants most likely to benefit from a longer growing season
are often the weeds and non-native grasses that can sprout
quickly after the winter thaw begins.  These coolseason plants
can then take advantage of space and water resources before the
warm-season grasses begin growing in earnest.  The warmseason
grass in question is blue grama, a plant that provides an
important food source for both cattle and wildlife in the area.
   Since blue grama covers nearly 90 percent of the shortgrass
steppe, its loss can have serious consequences on the strength of
the ecosystem.  Blue grama has flourished in the grasslands due,
in part, to its ability to survive both long periods of drought
and constant grazing.  If cool-season plants outgrow blue grama,
it is questionable that they can survive these same conditions.
   According to Detling, increases in the growing season may
ultimately destabilize the shortgrass ecosystem, possibly
resulting in the loss of important grazing land. [Cheryl Dybas]

      LARGE GENE STUDY QUESTIONS CAMBRIAN EXPLOSION THEORY

   The ancestors of major groups of animal species began
populating Earth more than 600 million years earlier than
indicated by their fossil remains, according to the largest study
ever on the subject using gene sequences.  The recently completed
study at Penn State University, funded in part by NSF, suggests
that animals have been evolving steadily into different species
for at least 1200 million years -- which challenges a popular
theory known as the Cambrian Explosion that proposes the sudden
appearance of most major animal groups, known as phyla, 530
million years ago.  A paper describing the research is published
in the January 22, 1999, issue of the Proceedings of the Royal
Society of London (Series B) by Penn State scientists Daniel Y.-
C. Wang, Sudhir Kumar, and S. Blair Hedges.
   To gauge the pace of evolution, the research team tested
hundreds of gene sequences to find those that developed mutations
at a constant rate over time.  "Because mutations start occurring
at regular intervals in these genes as soon as a new species
evolves -like the ticking of a clock -- we can use them to trace
the evolutionary history of a species back to its actual time of
origin," Hedges explains.
   "Not only are all these genes telling us that a wealth of
animal species in at least three phyla were already on Earth
millions of years before their fossils start appearing," Hedges
says, "but they also are telling us when three of the major
kingdoms of living things -- animals, plants, and fungi -- first
diverged from a common ancestor and began evolving down separate
evolutionary paths."  That date -- about 1.6 billion years ago --
is the earliest yet obtained by gene studies for this
evolutionary event.  [Cheryl Dybas]

                              -NSF-