Railroad buffs may want to head to Oak Ridge, Tenn., on June 14, for Horn Honk '03, a gathering of locomotive horn collectors and enthusiasts.

Collectors will have a rare chance to exercise their horns at the Horn Honk '03 in Tennessee.

The Southern Appalachia Railway Museum will be hosting the event for the first time, taking over a couple of local affairs in Pennsylvania and Missouri that have been going on for a dozen years or more, according to museum president Bart Jennings.

Fifty collectors from all across the country are expected to attend, bringing along an assortment of diesel horns. Non-collectors are welcome as well. "We may sell a few ear plugs," Jennings said. "It can get pretty loud."

The House of Representatives has passed a bill authorizing more than $700 million for nanotechnology research in fiscal 2004. The bill, H.R. 766, The Nanotechnology Research and Development Act of 2003, passed by a vote of 405 to 19 on May 7, six days after the legislation came out of the House Science Committee.

It authorizes funding in fiscal 2004 of $350 million for the National Science Foundation, $265 million for the Department of Energy, $31 million for NASA, $62 million for the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and $5 million for the Environmental Protection Agency. It also authorizes funding for each agency for fiscal 2005 and 2006. The three-year total exceeds $2.1 billion.

The agencies would be directed to spend the money on various programs to further the development of nanotechnology in the United States. The bill calls for the establishment of interdisciplinary laboratories, and partnerships with the national laboratories, universities, and industry. It also authorizes a study of molecular manufacturing.

The agencies would have to put part of the money into scholarships for students in nanotechnology disciplines who would take government jobs on graduation.

A companion bill, S.189, The 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act, is in the hands of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. The committee is not expected to take action on the bill before the middle of June, at the earliest.

The Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee has broader jurisdiction than the House Science Committee, so the Senate bill includes provisions for the National Institutes of Health and the Departments of Justice, Transportation, and Agriculture, in addition to those mentioned in the House measure. The bills also differ over amounts of money.

Because of committee jurisdiction, providing for other nano prospects in government—the Department of Defense and Homeland Security, for instance—will probably come under other legislation, a Senate committee spokesperson said.

If the Senate passes its version, differences between it and the House version must be worked out in conference.

The Department of Energy will open the management of Los Alamos National Laboratory to competitive bidding in September 2005.

The University of California, which has operated the lab since its inception in 1943, will continue to operate it until then, and will be eligible to bid on the new contract. The university's contract has until now been extended without competition, most recently in January 2001.

The DOE's decision follows a report by Kyle McSlarrow, deputy secretary of the department, and Linton F. Brooks, acting administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration. The report said that the Los Alamos Lab reflected a systemic management failure following a series of incidents involving mishandling of classified documents and abusive business practices.

Michael Reese, assistant vice president for strategic communications at the University of California's Office of the President in Oakland, said that any decision by the university to compete for the Los Alamos contract would depend on the terms and conditions of the bidding process and contract.

The University of California also runs Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, another major nuclear weapons laboratory, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Security breaches occurred in the late 1990s, with the case of Wen Ho Lee, a Los Alamos scientist who mishandled classified material, and, in May 2000, with the misplacement of two hard drives containing restricted data.

A new proposal from the U.S. Department of the Interior calls for concentrating current federal resources and expanding research and development in the areas of water conservation and desalination as a means of staving off water conflicts in the western states.

The proposal, "Water 2025: Preventing Crises and Conflict in the West," does not call for any additional funding beyond the $11 million already allocated to the Bureau of Reclamation for the Western Water Initiative.

A primary principle of "Water 2025" is that states, tribes, and local governments should share a leading role in solving complex water supply issues, with the assistance of the Department of the Interior.

Explosive population growth in western urban areas, the increasing need for water for environmental and recreational users, and the national importance of food and fiber production from western farms and ranches are all contributing to the lack of adequate water in the western states.

"Water 2025" proposes the creation of water banks, better monitoring of water resources, modernization of aging water supply infrastructure, and federal investment in research and development into affordable water treatment technologies, such as desalination, as methods for alleviating the impending water crisis in the West.

A report from the Environmental Protection Agency evaluating light-duty automotive fuel technology from 1975 to 2003 noted a peak of 22.1 mpg in new vehicles in 1987 and 1988. The trend has been downhill since, with model-year 2003 light vehicles averaging 20.8 mpg.

The report blames the popularity of light trucks—which include pickups, vans, and sport utility vehicles—for dragging down the fuel economy numbers.

In 1975, cars made up more than 75 percent of light-duty vehicle sales. Over the next 28 years, pickup trucks maintained a consistent 15 percent of the market, while van sales nearly doubled to 10 percent and sport utility vehicles sales jumped from a paltry 2 percent to better than 20 percent. The three combined now make up 48 percent of the U.S. light vehicle market. For proof, count 'em yourself in any parking lot.

BMW Manufacturing Corp. in Spartanburg, S.C., is burning methane gas from a nearby landfill to produce up to 25 percent of its electricity, the company said.

A 9 1/2-mile pipeline transports the gas from the Palmetto landfill to four turbines at the plant site. The turbines produce electricity and hot water.

Rotting organic waste produces landfill gas, an equal mix of methane and carbon dioxide. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that also contributes to smog when it's vented to the atmosphere. The landfill gas-to-energy project is expected to reduce net annual carbon dioxide emissions by an amount equal to those of a car driven more than 100 million miles.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency created the Landfill Methane Outreach Program in 1994 to encourage the use of solid waste emissions as fuel. According to the agency, of the 2,500 landfills operating in the United States, 230 are using the methane to generate electricity.

BMW and project partners Ameresco Energy Services of Framingham, Mass., and Waste Management Inc. of Houston completed the construction phase in six months.

The Danish wave energy converter Wave Dragon was under deployment when strong winds damaged the fender system between the device's wave reflectors and main platform. The floating wave energy converter is intended to transfer renewable energy from ocean waves into power for the electric grid.

A maker of Web publishing and collaboration software applications, Informative Graphics Corp. of Phoenix, has released Brava 4.0, a Java-based view and markup software. It can be used to view and mark up computer-aided design and portable document format files in addition to other file types.

MSC.Software Corp. of Los Angeles, a provider of simulation software, has expanded its partnership with nCode International of Southfield, Mich., to provide durability and fatigue software tools. nCode International makes durability analysis technology.

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