Telecommunications: Meeting through your computer: Information exchange and engineering decision-making are made easy through computer-assisted conferencing

As you read this article, 15 scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and three Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA) National Laboratories are meeting to discuss modeling the impact on several western states of strip and underground mining, new power plants, and other schemes for energy extraction. At another meeting, several administrators from USGS offices in Menlo Park, Calif., and Reston, Va., are evaluating a contract proposal. At a third meeting, econometricians and other specialists are exploring the problems associated with the various approaches to modeling the U.S. economy.