Nothing in Richard J. Greenberg’s past hinted that his career might suddenly take a radical turn. A highly esteemed planetary scientist at the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, he had been responsible for a number of pioneering ideas, including the theory that gravitational forces combined with the effects of colliding orbiting bodies could lead to a runaway. growth of very big planets. His current work revolved around developing the digital image processing system f

The University of Arizona thought it had a perfect plan to pull astronomy in the United States out of its doldrums. In a single bold stroke the university would end the nation’s serious shortage of telescopes (The Scientist, August 8, 1988, page 1)—and establish itself as one of the leading observatories—by building the world’s largest instrument and six other scopes on the 10,000-foot peak of southeastern Arizona’s Mt. Graham. The university dubbed the plan the Co

A scientist’s dream: a “thinking” computer smart enough to recognize objects by sight, understand human speech and respond in kind, even learn by example. And if that’s not enough, the computer’s pattern of thought would help unlock the mysteries of how the human brain works. That’s the promise of the hot new approach to computing that’s been dubbed neural networking— and scientists are paying attention. Neural network courses and doctoral progr

Celebrating its centennial, the Marine Biological Laboratory adapts to a new era in which money talks as loudly as science WOODS HOLE, MASS.—When Harlyn 0. Halvorson, the new director of the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, blows out the candles for his institution’s 100th birthday this summer, no one will have to ask what he wished for. The laboratory needs more money, more room, and more molecular biology if it is to remain in the forefront of scientific research durin