This report analyzes various technologies that may be important for future advances in miniaturization. Current research in the United States and other nations is pushing the limits of miniaturization to the point that structures only hundreds of atoms thick will be commonly manufactured. Researchers studying atomic and molecular interactions are continuing to push the frontiers, creating knowledge needed to continue progress in miniaturization. Scientists and engineers are creating microscopic mechanical structures and biological sensors that will have novel and diverse applications.
This report examines in detail ways in which compliance with such a regime might be monitored. Surveying the life-cycle of SLCMs from development testing through deployment and storage, the assessment identifies the ‘indicators’ by which the missiles might be tracked and accounted for. It also assesses the paths of evasion that a determined cheater might take to avoid the proposed monitoring measures.
This report discusses the major issues surrounding the reauthorization of highway and transit legislation is laid out and four illustrative types of surface transportation programs are presented in chapters 1 and 2. Chapter 3 is devoted to the discussion of motor carrier programs, with special attention to issues related to longer combination trucks.
This report discusses globalization in perspective, U.S. technology policy in international economic perspective, and other aspects of technological developments. The most technologically sophisticated and economically significant sectors of the U.S. economy are now characterized by high levels of international production, foreign direct investment, trade among affiliated companies, and complex forms of international financial and technological collaboration.
This Background Paper summarizes a one-day workshop convened to assess the effectiveness of the planning and priority-setting mechanisms used by NASA’s Office of Space Science and Applications (OSSA) in carrying out its diverse scientific program.
This report is the first in a broad assessment of the health and future prospects of the U.S. space transportation technology and industrial base. The report focuses on the Clinton Administration’s National Space Transportation Policy. It examines administration policy in light of the implementation plans prepared by NASA, DOD, and the Transportation and Commerce Departments.
This special report, the second of our neuroscience series, discusses the field of neural grafting into the brain and spinal cord to treat neurological disorders. It describes the technology of neural grafting, the neurological conditions that it may be used to treat, and the patient populations that are affected. Also, the legal and ethical issues raised by the development of neural grafting techniques are discussed. The report includes a range of options for congressional action related to the Federal funding of transplantation research using human fetal tissue, the adequacy of existing Federal laws and regulations regarding the use of human fetal tissue, and the role of the Federal Government in guiding the development and promoting the safety and efficacy of neural grafting procedures.
This Report, the first of the neuroscience series, discusses the risks posed by neurotoxic substances—substances that can adversely affect the nervous system—and evaluates the Federal research and regulatory programs now in place to address these risks.
This background paper discusses the legacy of 40 years of U.S. university/AID collaboration, and examines new opportunities for U.S. university participation in development assistance.
The report concludes that these technologies have the potential to provide new solutions to many agricultural problems. The challenge, however, will be whether government, industry, and the public can strike the proper balance of direction, oversight, and use to allow these technologies to flourish. Congress will be faced with many issues and choices as American agriculture moves into this new era.
Common issues for these systems include their possible contributions to improving mobility in congested corridors, U.S. technology leadership, the Federal role in transportation research and development, and institutional and community barriers to major, new infrastructure programs. Moreover, some Federal financing is likely to be required if commercial maglev or tiltrotor technologies are to be developed by U.S. industry over the next decade. Congress will need to clarify its objectives for supporting or encouraging these technologies before it can make wise decisions on when or whether to undertake substantial, long-term Federal programs in support of either or both of them. This report identifies several funding and management options for consideration if such goals are established.
This report profiles the structures of four domestic nonferrous metals industries (copper, aluminurn, lead, and zinc) and the changes they have undergone since 1980. The study also outlines the U.S. position in the world markets.
This report analyzes what International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards can and cannot be expected to accomplish, identifies areas where they might be broadened and improved, and presents options for doing so.
This report examines the environmental and human health impacts from wastes dumped into the Arctic and North Pacific regions, from nuclear contaminants discharged into these environments, and from radioactive releases from both past and future nuclear activities in the region. The report presents what is known and unknown about this waste and contamination and how it may affect public health.
The report discusses the problems of high unemployment among young people ages 16 through 19. This paper examines the youth training experiences of the United Kingdom over the last 30 years.
The Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) is a nonpartisan congressional support agency of the United States congress. OTA is charged with advising the Congress on a wide range of critical issues involving science and technology. This report to Congress is required under Sec. 11 of the Technology Assessment Act of 1972, Public Law 92-484 (see p. 55). It describes the activities of the Office in Fiscal Yaer 1994 within the context of the legislative agenda of the 103rd congress and the events in the United States and the world during 1994.
This document is a faxed transmission of Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) materials located in the National Archives as overseen by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and as of May 12, 1998.
This collection of Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) Resources information briefs details assessments and documents completed by OTA and categorized into a variety of topics, including the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, defense technology, and energy research and development.
This report includes information on technological products released during FY1994, legislation in the 103rd Congress related to the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), and background information on OTA itself, among other things.
This background paper, OTA sought the contributions of abroad spectrum of knowledgeable individuals and organizations. Some provided information, others reviewed drafts. OTA gratefully acknowledges their contributions of time and intellectual effort. As with all OTA studies, the content of this background paper is the sole responsibility of the Office of Technology Assessment and does not necessarily represent the views of our advisors or reviewers.
This document is a program from the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) Forum on Technology and Governance in the 1990s, held on January 27, 1993. The program includes a schedule of events and biographical information on each of the forum speakers.
This report is divided into two sections, one of the PRC and one on Japan. Each section describes the structure and management of the respective defense industrial base and then compares it with its U.S. counterpart. The paper then assesses the degree to which lesson from the PRC and Japanese cases can be applied to the U.S. defense technology and industrial base (DTIB).
The paper is divided into two sections, one on the PRC and one on Japan. Each section describes the structure and management of the respective defense industrial base and then compares it with its U.S. counterpart. The paper then assesses the degree to which lessons from the PRC and Japanese cases can be applied to the U.S. defense technology and industrial base (DTIB).
In 1984, the year after cyclosporine made its debut onto the health care market, OTA reported to Congress on the likely benefits of the drug for Medicare kidney transplant recipients. The present report, requested by the Senate Committee on Finance in the wake of the repeal of the Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act, examines Medicare’s current immunosuppressive drug coverage dilemma and the policy tradeoffs it entails for the 1990s.
This report on proposed performance standards for the Food Stamp Employment and Training Program (FSET) responds to a mandate in the Hunger Prevention Act of 1988 (Public Law 100- 435). This report, then, goes beyond the original mandate and analyzes successful employment and training programs. Based on this analysis, the report identifies several alternative approaches to increasing the impact of FSET.
This report examines an array of sustainable development definitions and discusses their common elements. Current agriculture, energy, and industry technologies are described as well as the strides being made in education, communication, and information technologies that could support sustainable development.
This report focuses mainly on the economic side of the R&D process. Pharmaceutical R&D is an investment, and the principal characteristic of an investment is that money is spent today in the hopes of generating even more money in the future.
This report offers an analysis of the vulnerability of electric power system specific equipment which is included in a separate appendix that is under classification review by the Department of Energy. This appendix will be made available only under appropriate safeguards by the Department of Energy.
This is OTA’S fifth report on U.S. foreign aid and African agriculture and our most detailed look at one specific problem. The report provides a background on the unusual nature of grasshopper and locust problems, examine t e implications this has for the way problems are treated, then consider how U.S. contributions to the bilateral and multilateral control effort might be improved.
This report discusses the standards for body-armor. The report describes the origin of the standard, the rationale for particular provisions, and the main points of controversy, which concern acceptable risks, the validity and discrimination of the test, and the reproducibility of results.
This report is an extension of volume one, that discusses the standards for body-armor. The report describes the origin of the standard, the rationale for particular provisions, and the main points of controversy, which concern acceptable risks, the validity and discrimination of the test, and the reproducibility of results.
This document presents the findings of the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) staff assessment of policy analysis that took place in 1992. It consisted of reviewing 18 sample OTA reports and soliciting opinions about OTA's policy analysis from outside observers. This report presents the findings of this assessment, along with options for OTA management and suggestions for OTA project directors.
This report reviews how bioenergy crops could potentially affect soil quality and soil erosion, water quality, air quality, habitat for a variety of species, and the global environment.
This background paper concludes that continued use of the radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) at Burnt Mountain entails low risk for the safety of maintenance workers and local populations and for the environment.
This report discusses climate change that poses many potential problems for human and natural systems, and the long-term effects of climate change on these systems are becoming increasingly important in public policy.
This is the OTAs second report on climate change. OTA examines how the Nation can best prepare for an uncertain future climate. This assessment tackles the difficult tasks of assessing how natural and human systems may be affected by climate change and of evaluating the tools at our disposal to ease adaptation to a warmer climate.
This is the OTAs second report on climate change. OTA examines how the Nation can best prepare for an uncertain future climate. This assessment tackles the difficult tasks of assessing how natural and human systems may be affected by climate change and of evaluating the tools at our disposal to ease adaptation to a warmer climate.
This Special Report analyzes policy and research issues raised in considering Medicare coverage of preventive services. OTA examines how decisions are currently made about coverage of specific preventive services under Medicare and lays out options for altering the process and criteria governing those decisions. The Special Report also reviews and critiques ongoing demonstration projects and summarizes the results of OTA studies of the costs and effectiveness of specific preventive services for the elderly.
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