Word: high
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Antinoise is the mirror image of that wave, an equal and opposite vibration exactly 180 degrees out of phase with the noise to be blocked. When noise and antinoise collide, they interact with what is called destructive interference, canceling each other out. The idea is not new; generations of high-school physics students have seen destructive interference demonstrated with undulating Slinkies or jump ropes. But it is only recently -- with the advent of small, high-speed signal processors -- that scientists have had the computer power to make practical antinoise devices...
...repetitive noises, like the sounds of fans and turbines, but cannot stop random or unexpected noises. Analog systems fight low, random noises but do it by eliminating all low-frequency sounds, good or bad. And none of the antinoise devices currently on the market are very good at canceling high- pitched squeals and whistles. The problem: calculating antiwaves for sounds higher than middle C requires more computing power than today's chips can provide. For now, the most cost-effective way to block those tones is still to stick your fingers in your ears...
...change of strategy was so sudden and striking that even veteran policymakers were taken aback. After stressing for months how important it was for the U.S. to stay competitive in high technology, the Bush Administration was getting ready to pull the plug on its two most widely publicized high-tech initiatives. According to reports circulating in Washington, the Administration was determined to cut not only the $10 million it had pledged for research into high-definition television, but all federal support -- including $100 million in 1991 -- for Sematech, the Reagan-era industrial consortium designed to catapult the U.S. into...
Then last week, amid a chorus of complaints from Congress and industry, came the results of two blue-ribbon studies, one by the National Advisory Committee on Semiconductors and the other by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). Both concluded that what American high-technology industries need is more Government leadership, not less. Said Ian Ross, president of AT&T Bell Laboratories and chairman of NACS: "Every trend you look at is in the wrong direction for the U.S." Next day the Administration reversed itself again, denying that it had any plans for technology budget cuts...
...high-level waffling was the latest manifestation of a debate that has raged within the White House over the proper role of Government in what is becoming an increasingly global economy. Is federal intervention necessary to tip the scales of corporate decision making from short-term gain to long-term planning? Can the state stimulate private industry without making firms dependent on Government handouts? The Bush Administration is torn. Many staff members, at the Commerce and Defense departments believe that robust electronics industries are vital to the national security and should be fostered by the Government. But conservatives...