Analysis and Synthesis of Metadata Goals for Scientific Data

The proliferation of discipline-specific metadata schemes contributes to artificial barriers that can impede interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research. The authors considered this problem by examining the domains, objectives, and architectures of nine metadata schemes used to document scientific data in the physical, life, and social sciences. They used a mixed-methods content analysis and Greenberg’s (2005) metadata objectives, principles, domains, and architectural layout (MODAL) framework, and derived 22 metadata-related goals from textual content describing each metadata scheme. Relationships are identified between the domains (e.g., scientific discipline and type of data) and the categories of scheme objectives. For each strong correlation (\u3e0.6), a Fisher’s exact test for nonparametric data was used to determine significance (p \u3c .05). Significant relationships were found between the domains and objectives of the schemes. Schemes describing observational data are more likely to have “scheme harmonization” (compatibility and interoperability with related schemes) as an objective; schemes with the objective “abstraction” (a conceptual model exists separate from the technical implementation) also have the objective “sufficiency” (the scheme defines a minimal amount of information to meet the needs of the community); and schemes with the objective “data publication” do not have the objective “element refinement.” The analysis indicates that many metadata-driven goals expressed by communities are independent of scientific discipline or the type of data, although they are constrained by historical community practices and workflows as well as the technological environment at the time of scheme creation. The analysis reveals 11 fundamental metadata goals for metadata documenting scientific data in support of sharing research data across disciplines and domains. The authors report these results and highlight the need for more metadata-related research, particularly in the context of recent funding agency policy changes

Enabling an Equitable Energy Transition Through Inclusive Research

Comprehensive and meaningful inclusion of marginalized communities within the research enterprise will be critical to ensuring an equitable, technology-informed, clean energy transition. We provide five key action items for government agencies and philanthropic institutions to operationalize the commitment to an equitable energy transition

Preliminary Design of a New Hybrid and Technology Innovative Suborbital Vehicle for Space Tourism

The general enthusiasm aroused by space tourism combined with the great technological achievement of Scaled Composites with the SpaceShipOne in 2004 initiated a new era: suborbital space tourism. As of today, most of the vehicles have been designed for performance, combining the most advanced technologies from both aeronautics and astronautics. Nevertheless, in order to become viable, vehicles must be safe enough to carry paying passengers and they must match the increasing demand. Thus, the implementation of a new design process based on adapted requirements led to a new vehicle. The latter is mainly powered by newly designed hybrid rocket engines but it also makes use of turbofans for the first segment of the climb and a safe powered landing. It takes-off and lands horizontally and is able to carry up to eight passengers and two pilots to an altitude of 109 km. The micro-gravity experienced by the passengers lasts approximately 4 minutes while the maximum load factor is reduced to 3.3 g in order to improve the passenger experience