How will NASA transform the ISS from a building site into a _____ research laboratory, featuring the latest and most advanced technology?

NASA sold the ISS to the US Congress in 2001 as a _____, world-class laboratory in low Earth orbit, superior to all others.

Today, seeing the massive scale of the space station, no one can doubt the agency's technological _____ and drive to achieve great feats.

The most complex engineering project ever attempted has created an enormous set of _____ modules that are connected to one another in orbit.

Without gravity, astronauts are left with weakened bones and muscles; to _____ and reduce these harmful effects, they need artificial gravity.

In their _____ design, which serves as an initial model before final production, an astronaut is strapped into the seat of a machine.

An astronaut is strapped into a machine that _____ an exercise bike, looking and functioning very much like gym equipment on Earth.

Pedalling provides a workout and causes the seat to rotate vertically around a central _____ so the rider experiences artificial gravity.

It has been calculated that to properly _____ and evaluate a centrifuge's impact on human physiology, astronauts must ride it for two months.

NASA hired management consultants ProOrbis to develop a plan to cut through the _____, reducing the complex administrative rules and delays.

One of CASIS's roles is to _____ public and private investors that science on the station is worth the spend, persuading them to fund it.

Mark Uhran _____ the criticism that the station hasn't done any useful research by pointing to concrete progress made on a salmonella vaccine.

CASIS has examined more than 100 previous microgravity experiments to identify _____ research themes that show great potential for future success.

After reviewing past microgravity studies, the organisation has _____ to focus on life science and medical research rather than other fields.

The organisation recently called for proposals for experiments on muscle wasting, _____, and the immune system to study how bones become fragile.

The organisation _____ that the ISS should be used to develop commercial products, firmly asserting this viewpoint despite past criticisms.

Investment from outside organisations is _____, says Uhran, because private funding is absolutely essential to keep station research thriving.

Low-altitude balloons might not reach the ISS's orbit, yet Stern believes they will _____ and completely transform the way the public sees space.

Soon everyone will be dreaming of _____ travel again, imagining future journeys that take humans from Earth to distant planets like Mars.

This high demand for low-cost space flight could eventually lead to a service running on a more _____ basis, with launches happening regularly.

A team of researchers begins to investigate the dead whales, recording anything that could help them answer the _____, all-important question: why?

When scientists investigate why whales strand on beaches, theories _____, existing in great numbers, though some are more convincing than others.

It is known that intense noise pollution from offshore industry, shipping, and military sonar can _____ and damage underwater communication.

Typically whales wash ashore together, but in mass _____ strandings (such as the unusual one in Greece), they are scattered over a larger area.

Hearing a sudden loud noise might prove frightening for humans, but unlike for whales, it does not _____ or cause mass fatality.

For whales, a sudden loud noise can trigger a deadly chain reaction, whereas for humans it does not lead to mass _____ and loss of life.

Swimming too quickly to the surface results in decompression sickness, a severe physical _____ that human divers know all too well.

If a diver _____ too quickly from a high-pressure underwater environment toward the surface, dissolved gases expand and form dangerous bubbles.

Gas bubbles formed during rapid decompression can block the flow of blood to vital organs, and can _____ lead to death in the end.

_____ as this theory seems—sounding quite reasonable and likely—it is still unproven and based mostly on our knowledge of land-based animals.

The decompression theory is based on our more _____ and thorough knowledge of land-based animals rather than direct marine evidence.

Because the sonar theory relies mostly on studies of land animals rather than marine mammals, some scientists are _____ and cautious about accepting it.

From this perplexing question that James _____ and thought deeply about over 20 years ago, grew the university's Whale Stranding Analysis Project.

Data has revealed that all mass strandings around Australia occur on gently sloping sandy beaches, some with shallow _____ of less than 0.5%.

For whale species that depend on an echolocation system to _____ and find their way through the ocean, shallow beaches spell disaster.

They have found historical data trends which could be used to _____ and predict 'bad years' for whale strandings in the future.

In 2005, a survey of sperm whale strandings in the North Sea found a _____ and mutual relationship between strandings and the sunspot cycle.

While one study suggested changes in the Earth's magnetic field might cause strandings, other scientists are _____ and doubt this claim.

Evans argued that while the magnetic field study was interesting, the statistical analyses the researchers used were _____ and full of errors.

Researchers analysed data from 1920 to 2002 and observed a clear _____ in the number of whales stranded—a regular cycle that coincides with climate shifts.