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Science
Friday > Archives
> 1999
> June
> June 4, 1999:
Hour Two : Earth Science Update
The American Geophysical Union had its annual meeting in Boston this week. We'll give a sampler of science from the meeting, including the state of the world's beaches, the latest on plans for long-term nuclear waste storage, and an innovative proposal to use a space probe crash to learn more about the moon. | 
| It's getting to be prime beach time. But as you head to your favorite patch of sand, you might want to think about the condition of the beaches around the country. What is development (say, your shore house) doing to the coastal environment? Are efforts to control beach erosion worthwhile - indeed, do they even work at all? We'll find out.... | 
| | Speaking of water.... a team of scientists operating the Lunar Prospector satellite, which has been mapping the Moon for the past two years, are proposing that at the end of its useful life it be given one last mission. Their plan -- once the aging orbiter hits its last legs -- is to deliberately crash the Prospector into a permanently-shadowed part of the lunar surface. They hope that a properly-aimed crash would kick up lunar soil from the surface - and that instruments on the Hubble Space Telescope, aimed properly, could tell whether or not that dust contained water. Sound intriguing? We'll find out more... | 
NASA illustration | | And finally -- scientists studying the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada, a much-debated potential repository for radioactive waste, say that studies of the site predict that it'll stay high, dry, and stable long enough to be used for nuclear storage. It's not the final word on the site, which must still be approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, but it's a step forwards. We'll talk about the scientist's findings and what they mean.
A science sampler from the AGU - on this hour of Science Friday. | 
Image courtesy Department of Energy |
Guests:
Cornelia Dean
Author, "Against the Tide: The Battle for America's Beaches"
(Columbia University Press)
Science Editor
The New York Times
New York, New York
Allison MacFarlane
Research Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Harvard University
Cambridge, Massachusetts
David Goldstein
Associate Professor, Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering
Mechanics
University of Texas
Austin, Texas
Books/Articles Discussed:
Related Links:
Lunar Prospector
The
American Shore and Beach Preservation Association
The Coastal Coalition
Great Lakes Information Network
Army Corps of Engineers
Coastal Engineering Research Center
America's Top Beaches
NRC's High
Level Waste page
State of Nevada nuclear
information
This segment produced by:
Karin Vergoth
Web producer:
Charles Bergquist
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