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Funding science research as a sustained enterprise
At the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in October in Chicago, NIH Director Francis S. Collins discussed NIH funding and answered questions from reporters, including Science News writers Tina Hesman Saey and Laura Sanders.
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From fringe to electromicrobiological mainstream
Trained as a microbiologist, Ken Nealson pursues many interdisciplinary endeavors. He was a pioneer in the field of geomicrobiology and has worked on astrobiology and microbial fuel cells. He holds posts at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and the J. Craig Venter Institute in San Diego, where he uses genomics to survey […]
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NATO committee fosters science’s role in security
Not everyone knows about Science for Peace and Security, a NATO committee with a small budget that focuses on funding civil science projects with applications to countering threats. The committee’s goal is developing high-quality knowledge in various areas relevant to antiterrorism, to other threats to security or to the priorities of the Partner Countries of […]
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Snapshots from 25 years of publicizing astronomy
Astronomer and author Stephen P. Maran recently retired from 25 years as press officer for the American Astronomical Society. He also worked at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., for more than 35 years. Known for his Einsteinian hair, along with his quips and insightful comments at press briefings that drew record crowds, […]
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It’s time to reform work hours for resident physicians
A Harvard Medical School physician and sleep researcher says rules should be changed to make sure physicians-in-training get the sleep they need.
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Looking for a change on climate policy in Copenhagen
A Q&A with Richard A. Bradley.
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From baby scientists to a science of social learning
Developmental psychologist Andrew Meltzoff codirects the Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle. In the July 17 Science , Meltzoff and his colleagues published a paper titled “Foundations for a New Science of Learning.” Meltzoff recently spoke with Science News writer Bruce Bower. What does the science of learning […]
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A place removed from ‘the pressure of received ideas’
Murray Gell-Mann, winner of the 1969 Nobel Prize in physics for his work on elementary particles (see Page 24 in this issue), was one of the originators of the Santa Fe Institute, an interdisciplinary research center in New Mexico that is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Gell-Mann recently addressed a group of about 150 […]
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Balancing gains and threats in cardiovascular care
Clyde W. Yancy, a cardiologist and medical director of the Baylor Heart and Vascular Institute in Dallas, became national president of the American Heart Association on July 1. He recently spoke with Science News writer Nathan Seppa. Dramatic gains in cardiovascular care in the United States risk being negated by an epidemic of obesity, diabetes […]
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Tackling toxicology and environmental health
In January, toxicologist Linda S. Birnbaum became director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, home to the National Toxicology Program, in Research Triangle Park, N.C. Birnbaum recently spoke with Science News writer Rachel Ehrenberg. What areas would you like to see the institute zoom in on? LINDA S. BIRNBAUM “If I see hundreds […]
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Accept it: Talk about evolution needs to evolve
W atch your language! It’s a common message from Eugenie Scott, a physical anthropologist and director of the National Center for Science Education (www.ncseweb.org), an organization dedicated to promoting and defending the teaching of evolution in public schools. Scott recently spoke with Science News writer Susan Milius. So you urge scientists not to say that […]
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Five problems in physics without the definite article
In a 2006 book that garnered much press for its silly attacks on string theory, author and physicist Lee Smolin provides a list of “The Five Great Problems in Theoretical Physics.” There are many offensive things about this list, starting with the use of the definite article in the title, which implies that people not […]
