There is nothing like being in the path of totality during a total solar eclipse.

… But only a sliver of the country gets this first-hand view. For the 2024 eclipse, [Corinne Brevik, a physicist at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale] used money from a National Science Foundation grant to help middle schoolers host a live, interactive broadcast that brought together kids within the path of totality with those around the country outside the path. It meant thousands of students could share the experience.

… On Tuesday, Brevick was surprised to learn that her grant was one of over 3,400 NSF grants labeled by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, as "Woke DEI" research that may be advancing "neo-Marxist class warfare propaganda."

Real field trip model for the 2024 total solar eclipses -approximately 7 million school-age children live inside the path of totality for the 2024 total solar eclipse. this means that most school-age children in the united states will not be in the path of totality.

A project run through southern illinois university will develop and assess a remote engagement and access to learning (real) field trip model that would allow any school, regardless of location, funding, or other barriers, to have its students actively participate in large-scale, localized scientific events such as a solar eclipse. the model will be tested, developed and activated for the april 8, 2024 total solar eclipse. the impact of this type of active scientific participation for students will be measured amongst various populations to determine the model’s effectiveness in overcoming inequalities in science-education opportunities.

The real field trip model, if shown to be successful, could be used for a vast array of future scientific events and phenomena, allowing school kids from across the country to interactively participate in distant, real-time, scientific events. this will increase science literacy and numbers of children who become interested in science and stem careers.

three middle schools located in the path of totality for the 2024 solar eclipse and three middle schools located out of the path of totality will participate in the real field trip. student interaction with the real field trip will occur both prior to and during the eclipse via various online streaming opportunities.

prior to the eclipse, teacher-led instruction will be supplemented by pre-recorded downloadable discussions of eclipses from a diverse group of experts, providing scientific as well as artistic, economic, and historical discussions of current and past eclipses. students will also have the opportunity to create their own eclipse videos that can be submitted for inclusion in the live eclipse broadcast. during the eclipse, students, both in and out of the path of totality, will be able to actively participate in the eclipse experience through a variety of streaming interactions including a question and answer chat session, where experts will be on hand to answer student questions in real time. data will be collected prior to and after the eclipse to assess the efficacy of the real field trip model.

in addition, the april 2024 total solar eclipse experience will be expanded beyond the partner schools through a professionally produced live tv broadcast simulcast with the real field trip over the national pbs feed. this broadcast format will reach a much larger national audience. this award reflects nsf's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.- subawards are planned for this award.

Lemon Drop wrote:
That press sec is something straight out of 1984.

And I don't mean her hair and wardrobe.

U of Illinois-Urbana computing center [where Mosaic was developed, the predecessor to all modern web browsers]:
… the national center for supercomputing applications (ncsa) at the university of illinois at urbana-champaign will deploy and operate Delta-AI, an advanced computing and data resource that will be a companion system to ncsa’s delta system. in doing so, deltaai will greatly expand the ai-focused computing capacity available within the nsf-funded advanced computing ecosystem…

U of Illinois-Urbana again:
…core national ecosystem for cyberinfrastructure…

Colorado - Wyoming climate resilience engine:
… both states have a commitment to address climate-related challenges faced by communities of this region. the nsf engine has the potential to increase the nation's ability to compete on a global stage as the world races to find technology solutions to the world's greatest climate challenges while also unlocking regional economic growth and creating opportunities…

Louisiana energy transition engine: -
This nsf engines award to the louisiana energy transition engine will advance our nation’s capacity for innovation in clean energy by driving research and commercialization efforts in carbon capture, hydrogen as an alternative fuel, carbon dioxide as a feedstock, sustainable water, sustainable manufacturing for clean energy, and economic and policy research to promote pathways to decarbonization in the state of louisiana…

North Dakota advanced agriculture technology engine:
The North Dakota advanced agriculture technology engine will advance our nation’s capacity for innovation in advanced agriculture by driving research and commercialization efforts to increase the growth of existing crops, introducing new crops, and monitoring and optimizing crop growth in north dakota…

Southwest [Utah, Nevada, and Arizona] sustainability innovation engine:
nsf engines award to the southwest sustainability innovation engine will advance us innovation capacity in three interrelated areas of sustainability: (1) water security, (2) renewable energy, and (3) net carbon emissions. the southwest (sw) region of the u.s. is changing rapidly, and like many regions around the world, is experiencing increasingly harsh climate conditions?with wide-ranging impacts, from extreme weather events that damage infrastructure and pose serious health risks to increasing water and energy insecurity that threaten economic prosperity…

DeusxMac wrote:
[quote=Lemon Drop]
That press sec is something straight out of 1984.

And I don't mean her hair and wardrobe.