NEWS OF THE WEEK
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY MEDALS Clinton honors 17 scientists, engineers A t a ceremony last week in the £^ White House Rose Garden, PresJ L J L ident Bill Clinton presented the 1993 National Medals of Science and National Medals of Technology to 17 scientists and engineers. Five of the medals were given specifically for work in chemistry. The annual awards are the highest honors the President bestows on the U.S. science and technology community. The National Medal of Science was created by executive order by President John F. Kennedy in 1961. It is awarded for the total impact of an individual's work on the present state of the sciences and scientific thought, or for distinguished service to the advancement of science and engineering. The National Medal of Technology, created by an act of Congress in 1980 and initiated in 1985, honors "extraordinary achievements in the commercialization of technology or the development of human resources that foster technology commercialization/' Chemistry professor Donald J. Cram of the University of California, Los Angeles, received one of the eight science medals for "his pioneering research on the chemical foundations of molecular recognition; the understanding of the molecular basis of biological systems; his shaping of scientific thought and development, and guidance to generations of students." Cram, 74, shared the 1987 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his landmark research in host-guest chemistry, in which synthetic host molecules are designed to attract and bind specific guest species. His work in this area recently expanded into the new subfield of carceplex chemistry, in which a guest molecule is completely captured inside a large molecular container compound called a carcerand. The inner phases of carcerands are like a new phase of matter (a vacuum with walls of molecular dimensions)—an environment that uniquely affects the motions, reactions, and stability of guest species. 4
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A science medal also went to chemist Norman Hackerman, chairman of the scientific advisory board of the Robert A. Welch Foundation, Houston, "for his seminal contributions in the field of electrochemistry; for his effective and farseeing vision in higher education; and for devoted service to the nation and science." Hackerman's electrochemistry research led to development of a number of important corrosion inhibitors. Hackerman, 81, served as chemistry professor at the University of Texas, Austin, and then as president of the university. He was president of Rice University, Houston, from 1970 to 1985, and still holds the titles of president emeritus and distinguished professor of chemistry there. Hackerman also chaired the National Science Board from 1974 to 1980. Three of the nine winners of the technology medal earned the award for chemistry. William H. Joyce, 57, president and chief operating officer of
Union Carbide, was cited for creating and commercializing the Unipol process for plastics production. The Unipol polyethylene process uses less energy; produces fewer emissions; operates at lower, safer temperatures; and improves product quality, compared with earlier polyethylene technology. The wide-ranging consumer and industrial applications of the process include packaging materials, storage containers, food wrap, and industrial films. More than 70 Unipol polyethylene reactors currently operate in some 20 countries, accounting for about a quarter of world polyethylene production. Du Pont agricultural research chemist George Levitt, 68, now retired, received a technology medal for discovering the sulfonylurea class of herbicides. The sulfonylureas are considered safe for humans and animals because they inhibit an enzyme found only in plants. Du Pont notes that "this very specif-
ic mode of action offers farmers excellent weed control, using at least 90% less volume per acre than conventional herbicides. The sulfonylureas also are environmentally friendly since they degrade naturally in the soil in a short period of time." Levitt personally created four products and has been awarded 102 U.S. patents. Marinus Los, 60, director of crop science discovery at American Cyanamid, also earned the technology medal for developing herbicides—in this case, the imidazolinone class of crop protection products. Like the sulfonylureas, the imidazolinones can be applied in much lower amounts than earlier herbicides, and they target a plant enzyme not present in humans and wildlife, rendering them nontoxic. Cyanamid estimates that since their introduction in 1985, use of the imidazolinones has resulted in a reduction of chemical load to the environment in excess of 70 million lb. To date, four commercial products with total global sales of $500 million have been developed from this class of compounds. Stu Borman
Ozone hits low levels over Antarctica, U.S. This year's Antarctic ozone hole is as deep as any ever observed and is approaching broaching the record geographical extent :ent of 1992, according to preliminary satellite satellite data. In addition, both groundbased and satellite observations indicate that ozone concentrations over the U.S. hit record lows earlier this year. For more than a decade, almost all the ozone at certain altitudes over Antarctica has been destroyed as the Sun returns to the polar region in September. This dramatic photochemical depletion, catalyzed by chlorine and bromine from man-made compounds, reaches its nadir in early October. Ozone levels return to near normal later in the season, when the circular pattern of winds that isolates air over Antarctica breaks down, and ozone-rich air pours in from the north. "The ozone hole this year is very deep, as low as any other year/' National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) scientist Paul A. Newman tells C&EN. The area covered by low ozone extends beyond the Antarctic continent and is al-
most as large as last year's record extent, he says. Exact year-to-year comparisons are not yet available because this yearns data are from the U.S.'s Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer flying on Russia's Meteor-IH satellite. Previous years' data were collected by a U.S. satellite's instrument that quit working last May. Over the U.S., total ozone concentrations hit unprecedented lows last winter and spring, according to National Oceanic & Atmospheric Ad- On Sept 26, area of severe ozone depletion over ministration (NOAA) re- Antarctica—shown as black, purple, pink, and deep searchers. In some locations, blue—extended beyond the continent the low levels continued into the summer, a time when people and da, that country's national environmental crops are more vulnerable to the resulting protection agency, recently reported findincrease in ultraviolet radiation. "We ing record low amounts of stratospheric found values in 1993 that were lower than ozone above Canada during May through we had ever seen before," says Walter D. August (C&EN, Sept. 13, page 33). Scientists suspect that the record low Komhyr, a retired NOAA scientist now with the Cooperative Institute for Re- ozone levels are in part due to lingering search on Environmental Sciences at the effects of the June 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines, which injectUniversity of Colorado, Boulder. NOAA scientists analyzed data from ed sulfur compounds into the stratoa network of ground-based spectropho- sphere. The resulting increase in sulfate tometers scattered across the U.S. They aerosols is thought to have accelerated compared current data with normal halogen-catalyzed ozone depletion. Production of both halons and chloromonthly values determined by 20 years of observations made from the mid- fluorocarbons—major sources of strato1960s to mid-1980s. 'In January, Febru- spheric bromine and chlorine, respecary, and March, values were quite far tively—is being phased out under the below normal, at some stations as much Montreal Protocol on Substances That as 18% lower," says Komhyr, "the larg- Deplete the Ozone Layer. But atmospherest deviations we've ever seen." At Car- ic concentrations of the long-lived ozone ibou, Maine, and Wallops Island, Va., depleting compounds will not begin to decline until around the turn of the centhe record lows persisted into July. The NOAA data confirm earlier reports tury. Stratospheric concentrations of chlofrom NASA, whose satellite observed un- rine will not drop below the level at usually low ozone levels over the North- which the Antarctic ozone hole first apern Hemisphere last spring (C&EN, April peared until about 2050. Pamela Zurer 26, page 8). Similarly, Environment Cana-
Clinton health reform plan vexes drug firms Hearings began last week on President Clinton's health care reform plan, with leadoff witness Hillary Rodham Clinton testifying before House and Senate committees. Pharmaceutical companies are reacting to the plan with some praise, but considerably more concern. They recognize that by the time the plan passes months of Congressional hearings and negotiations, it may bear little resemblance to the initial proposals. But many
core concepts endorsed by the President are likely to remain, and drug firms don't welcome all of them. The Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PMA), which represents about 120 drug companies, supports the President's goal of reforming health care, especially expanding coverage to pay for prescription medicines. "Drugs not only prevent disease and save lives—they save money," notes PMA president Gerald J. Mossinghoff. "They keep patients OCTOBER 4,1993 C&EN 5
