degeneration that occurred only among iso- 

 lated tribes of natives in the highlands of 

 New Guinea. 



. . . For his discovery that kuru and an- 

 other degenerative and dementing disorder of 

 the human nervous system can be caused by 

 transmissible virus-like agents. Dr. D. Carle- 

 ton Gajdusek of the National Institute of 

 Neurological and Communicative Disorders 

 and Stroke (NINCDS) was awarded the 1976 

 Nobel Prize in medicine. ... Dr. Gajdusek 

 is now coordinating a worldwide collabora- 

 tive effort to determine the role of kuru-like 

 agents in human disease. What has been dis- 

 covered thus far may be only the tip of the 

 iceberg; similar slow or latent viruses may be 

 implicated in many of the more common 

 chronic and degenerative diseases of the 

 nervous system. 



• High-Energy Physics (ERDA). Among its 

 many recent achievements, ERDA-supported 

 research has revealed the presence of "a 

 fourth 'charmed' quark and a possible new 

 lepton as among the short list of the most 

 basic constituents of matter and energy 

 (which earlier was limited to three quarks, 

 four leptons, and their antiparticles). The 

 experiments suggest that the quark binding 

 energy in hadronic matter may exceed the 

 GeV range and may be the manifestation of a 

 new basic force. It appears increasingly like- 

 ly that all of the basic types of forces may be 

 unified in a single framework analogous to 

 the equations of Maxwell (which unified elec- 

 trical and magnetic forces) and Einstein 

 (which unified mass and energy)." 



• Archeological Theory (Smithsonian): . . . 

 (Smithsonian) scientists have recently discov- 

 ered two archeological sites in northeastern 

 Colorado which indicate that man has been 

 in the New World nearly 20,000 years earlier 

 than the previously accepted dates of 11,500 

 BP. Working near Wray, Colorado, this ex- 

 pedition unearthed the most complete Pleisto- 

 cene record yet discovered of man's cultural 

 history in the Americas. The localities, 

 known as the Dutton and Selby sites, contain 

 evidence that ice age hunters killed and 

 butchered extinct megafauna such as a 

 mammoth, ground sloth, peccary, giant bi- 

 son, camel, horse, as well as deer and ante- 

 lope. These ancient hunters, with known an- 

 tecedents in Siberia using only bone tools, 

 appear to be considerably more sophisticated 

 than previously supposed. These finds will 

 call for an entire reevaluation of archeologi- 

 cal theory for the New World. 



Reverse Os/nos/s (OWRT, Interior):. . . (B)a- 

 sic studies sponsored by the Office of Saline 

 Water led directly to development and com- 

 mercialization of the reverse osmosis pro- 

 cess. This process will make up a major por- 

 tion of the Bureau of Reclamation's Yuma 

 Desalting Project which will provide 100 mil- 

 lion gallons of fresh water (per day) for Mex- 

 ico." The basic research program which led 

 to this application has continued. Basic poly- 

 mer studies performed by several organiza- 

 tions for the Office of Saline Water led to a 

 new composite membrane which investiga- 

 tors in the Fluid System Division, UOP, Inc., 

 are working to perfect for desalination of sea 

 and brackish waters. 



Historical Perspective 



Although the sciences were considered essential 

 to the intellectual and pragmatic needs of the Na- 

 tion since its founding, the evolution of Federal 

 support for research was slow. Lacking specific 

 Constitutional authority to support research, the 

 Congress was reluctant in the early years of the 

 Republic to appropriate funds for this activity. 

 The Army was the first agency to undertake a 

 major basic research task for the Government — 

 the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804-06. It was 

 not until 1807 that the first continuing scientific 

 activity — the Coast Survey — was authorized. 

 Despite the fact that the Constitution did provide 

 specific authority for granting inventors exclusive 

 rights, the permanent office of the Commissioner 

 of Patents was not established by the Congress 

 until 1836. 



The number and stature of scientific bureaus 

 began to multiply in the latter part of the 19th 

 century, e.g., the Geological Survey and the De- 

 partment of Agriculture bureaus related to re- 

 search. At the turn of the century Government 

 institutions, e.g., the Bureau of Standards and the 

 Bureau of Mines, began supporting research in 

 industry. Research budgets were small but much 

 was accomplished. Laboratory equipment was not 

 highly sophisticated or very expensive and sala- 

 ries were low. 



Yet at the outset of World War I, the United 

 States lacked an adequate base of research in 

 both the Army and the Navy. Although the Navy 

 had a modern fleet, both services needed scientific 

 help to combat the weapons they encountered. 

 The National Research Council was created as a 

 working arm of the National Academy of Sci- 

 ences and proved very effective. Immediately af- 

 ter the war research was cut back sharply in an 



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