1405 



A new type of cost-sharing arrangement^ — the binational science foundation — 

 niaj- he used more and more to finance cooperative research programs. The first 

 institution of this kind, a United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation, 

 was established in the fall of 1972. Both countries are contributing the equivalent 

 of $30 million in Israeli pounds lor the foundation's endowment; Israel will pa}'- 

 interest on the endowment to provide the foundation its basic operating income. 

 The foundation will sponsor research on problems of interest to the two nations. 



The U.S. Bureau of Mines and the National Coal Board of the United Kingdom 

 cooperated on a study of fluidized bed techniques to burn coal. (This is a process 

 in which coal is burned more efficientlj- and so has economic and environmental 

 advantages.) Having agreed on a divi.sion of labor the Bureau of Mines saved 

 about $300,000 during a 2-year period alone by not having to perform research 

 tasks carried out by the British. 



Foreign scientists supported by their own countries have performed 89 inves- 

 tigations of the soil and rock samples the Apollo spacecraft brought from the 

 Moon. Since the American scientists receive an average of $60,000 per investiga- 

 tion, the participation of foreign scientists and laboratories has saved American 

 taxpa3'ers more than $5 million. 



Glomar Challenger, a vessel supported by the National Science Foundation, 

 collects core samples from the ocean floor. Teams of scientists serving 2-month 

 tours on the vessel, analyze the cores initially and produce information of great 

 geological value. To date, about 100 foreign scientists, supported by their own 

 governments or laboratories, have taken part in the program. They have made 

 up about one-third of the total membership of these scientific teams. 



The Soviet Union agreed to contribute the equivalent of $1 million annually 

 to the deep sea drilling program, and contributions from other nations are 

 anticipated. 



American researchers, studying the behavior of materials at high temperatures, 

 have used the solar furnace at Odeillo, in the French Pyrenees. This solar furnace, 

 the largest in the world, uses a series of large mirrors and lenses to focus on the 

 Sun's rays to produce intense heat levels for experimental purposes. We are using 

 the French facility on a reimbursable basis. 



The French have placed at our disposal two unique wind tvmnels and a large 

 rotating table. The ta})le is used f(jr studying tidal effects. In this fashion we have 

 been invited to use facilities which would have cost millions of dollars to duplicate. 



The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) use of the 

 Italian-built San Marco platform off the east coast of Africa is another illustration 

 of savings through facilities sharing. From Cape Canaveral an expensive fuel 

 consuming "dog-leg" maneuver is required to launch a satellite into equatorial 

 orbit, but a smaller, less costly launcher can put payloads of comparable weight 

 directh' into equatorial orbit from the San Marco platform. NASA has used the 

 platform on a cost reimbursable basis for this purpose, thus achieving substantial 

 savings. 



Foreign germ plasms raised crop yields by millions of dollars in the United 

 States. A variety of Argentine peanut introduced in the United States about a 

 decade ago increased yields by about S9 million annually. The Argentine germ 

 plasm was later used to breed new peanut varieties of even greater yield. Today 

 about 85 percent of the peanuts grown in the United States are types either 

 developed abroad or types with foreign germ plasm in their pedigrees. 



A Turkish variety of hard red wheat was used for breeding purposes in the 

 United States because of its resistance to various forms of stem rust and bunt 

 disease. In Montana alone the Turkish germ plasm has prevented wheat crop 

 losses of $2 to $3 million annually. 



Agriculture Department researchers have developed an experimental vaccine 

 against [hoof-and-mouth] disease. Initial field tests carried out by U.S. and Latin 

 American scientists at an international laboratory in Brazil showed the vaccine 

 was promising. It is now undergoing additional field tests to confirm its worth 

 and to establish how often cattle must be inoculated. Because hoof-and-mouth 

 disease does not exist in the United States, field tests on this scale could not be 

 performed here. So we arranged to conduct the tests in Argentina and Brazil, 

 where the disease is prevalent. If the vaccine proves successful, these two nations 

 will have made an indispensable contribution. No longer would hoof-and-mouth 

 disease threaten U.S. cattle raisers with possible losses amounting to billions of 

 dollars over the years. 



