Nonferrous Metals: Industry Structure (open access)

Nonferrous Metals: Industry Structure

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.
Date: September 1990
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Orbiting Debris: A Space Environmental Problem (open access)

Orbiting Debris: A Space Environmental Problem

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.
Date: October 1990
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Affordable Spacecraft: Design and Launch Alternatives (open access)

Affordable Spacecraft: Design and Launch Alternatives

This background paper examines several proposals for reducing the costs of spacecraft and other payloads and describes launch systems for implementing them. It is one of a series of products of a broad assessment of space transportation technologies undertaken by OTA at the request of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.
Date: January 1990
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Big Picture: HDTV and High-Resolution Systems (open access)

The Big Picture: HDTV and High-Resolution Systems

A report on High Definition Television (HDTV. During 1989, HDTV moved from obscurity to center stage in the ongoing debate over the role of the Federal Government in U.S. industrial competitiveness. HDTV and related High-Resolution System (HRS) technologies in the computer and communications sectors may significantly impact U.S. electronics manufacturing, accelerate fundamental restructuring of the U.S. communications infrastructure, and provide a host of valuable services.
Date: June 1990
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Children's Dental Services Under the Medicaid Program (open access)

Children's Dental Services Under the Medicaid Program

The report discusses the oral health of children eligible for Medicaid, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and its Subcommittee on Health and the Environment requested OTA to determine whether children eligible for Medicaid are provided at least a minimum level of dental care. This study compares the dental manuals of seven State Medicaid programs with a set of “basic’ dental services (which comprise shared components of various well-accepted dental guidelines) to see if States allow these particular services.
Date: September 1990
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Computer Software and Intellectual Property (open access)

Computer Software and Intellectual Property

This background paper examines existing intellectual-property protection for computer software-copyrights, patents, and trade secrets—and provides an overview of the often conflicting views and concerns of various stakeholders. It was prepared in response to a request from the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Administration of Justice of the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Date: March 1990
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Coping With an Oiled Sea (open access)

Coping With an Oiled Sea

In the aftermath of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska in March, 1989, a myriad of investigations were initiated to evaluate the causes of that accident and to propose remedies. The Office of Technology Assessment was asked to study the Nation’s oil spill clean-up capabilities and to assess the technologies for responding to such catastrophic spills in the future.
Date: March 1990
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Energy Use and the U.S. Economy (open access)

Energy Use and the U.S. Economy

The background paper extends the analysis of energy use into new areas by explicitly looking at how energy use has changed with the expansion of the service sector, the explosion of international trade, and greater complexity of the U.S. economy as the structure of businesses changed in response to new technologies and competitive challenges. The increasing sophistication of the U.S. economy means that the role of energy is less likely to be directly identified and is instead more likely to be an indirect factor that was added many steps before in the complex network that connects producer to consumer. This report explicitly separates direct from indirect energy use.
Date: June 1990
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Alaskan Water for California?: The Subsea Pipeline Option (open access)

Alaskan Water for California?: The Subsea Pipeline Option

This background paper focuses on one technological option for increasing the supply of fresh water to the Southwest-that of building a freshwater subsea pipeline to transport water from Alaska to California. Originally a suggestion by Governor Walter Hickel of Alaska, the proposal has recently attracted attention in southern California.
Date: January 1990
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Trading Around the Clock: Global Securities Markets and Information Technology (open access)

Trading Around the Clock: Global Securities Markets and Information Technology

This background paper assesses the effects of information technology on securities markets and the current status of global securities trading. It compares securities markets and clearing and settlement mechanisms in Japan, the United Kingdom, and the rest of Europe with those in the United States. Finally it identities emerging questions about international markets and national regulatory regimes.
Date: July 1990
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
System: The UNT Digital Library