Search

Fluctuation scaling relationships have been observed in a wide range of processes ranging from internet router traffic to measles cases. Taylor’s law is one such scaling relationship and has been widely applied in ecology to understand communities including trees, birds, human populations, and insects. We show that monthly crime reports in the UK show complex fluctuation scaling which can be approximated by Taylor’s law relationships corresponding to local policing neighborhoods and larger regional and countrywide scales. Regression models applied to local scale data from Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire found that different categories of crime exhibited different scaling exponents with no significant difference between the two regions. On this scale, violence reports were close to a Poisson distribution (α = 1.057±0.026) while burglary exhibited a greater exponent (α = 1.292±0.029) indicative of temporal clustering. These two regions exhibited significantly different pre-exponential factors for the categories of anti-social behavior and burglary indicating that local variations in crime reports can be assessed using fluctuation scaling methods. At regional and countrywide scales, all categories exhibited scaling behavior indicative of temporal clustering evidenced by Taylor’s law exponents from 1.43±0.12 (Drugs) to 2.094±0081 (Other Crimes). Investigating crime behavior via fluctuation scaling gives insight beyond that of raw numbers and is unique in reporting on all processes contributing to the observed variance and is either robust to or exhibits signs of many types of data manipulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the incidence of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) has declined to 1 since 2012 in the UK, uncertainty remains regarding possible future cases and the size of the subclinical population that may cause secondary transmission of the disease through blood transfusion. Estimating the number of individuals who were exposed to the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) infectious agent and may be susceptible to vCJD will help to clarify related public health concerns and plan strategies. In this paper, we explore this estimate by describing the probability of potential exposure due to dietary intake throughout the BSE epidemic period from 1980 to 1996 as a stochastic Poisson process. We estimate the age- and gender-specific exposure intensities in food categories of beef and beef-containing dishes, burgers and kebabs, pies, and sausages, separating the two periods of 1980–1989 and 1990–1996 due to the specified bovine offal legislation of 1989. The estimated total number of (living) exposed individuals during each period is 5,089,027 (95% confidence interval [CI] 4,514,963–6,410,317), which was obtained by multiplying the population size of different birth cohorts by the probability of exposure via dietary intake and the probability of survival until the end of 2013. The estimated number is approximately doubled, assuming a contamination rate of . Among those individuals estimated, 31,855 (95% CI 26,849–42,541) are susceptible to infection. We also examined the threshold hypothesis by fitting an extreme-value distribution to the estimated infectious dose of the exposed individuals and obtained a threshold estimate of 13.7 bID50 (95% CI 6.6–26.2 bID50) (Weibull). The results provide useful information on potential carriers of prion disease who may pose a threat of infection via blood transfusion and thus provide insight into the likelihood of new incidents of vCJD occurring in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the formation of NUCLEAR (Nuclear Universities Consortium for Learning, Engagement and Research) by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), as of March 2014. Topics include an access to British nuclear research facilities through NUCLEAR, funding of the DISTICTIVE consortium (Decommissioning, Immobilization and Storage soluTlons for NuClear wasTe InVEntories) by EPSRC and contribution of National Nuclear Laboratory Ltd. in the NUCLEAR.

This paper presents the findings of the qualitative component of a combined methods research study that explores a range of individual and school factors that influence the uptake of chemistry and physics in post-compulsory study in England. The first phase involves using the National Pupil Database to provide a sampling frame to identify four matched pairs of high-uptake and low-uptake schools by salient school factors. Case studies of these eight schools indicate that students employ selection strategies related to their career aspirations, their sense of identity and tactics, and their prior experience. The school factors influencing subject choice relate to school management, student support and guidance, and student empowerment. The most notable differences between students in high-uptake and low-uptake schools are that students in high-uptake schools appear to make a proactive choice in relation to career aspirations, rather than a reactive choice on the basis of past experience. Schools with a high uptake offer a diverse science curriculum in the final two years of compulsory study, set higher examination entry requirements for further study and, crucially, provide a range of opportunities for students to interact with the world of work and to gain knowledge and experience of science-related careers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article examines fundamental questions concerning the origins and evolution of academic transport studies and the dynamics of its historical development. These fundamental questions are generally little discussed, yet are vital in gaining a better understanding of how the subject is driven forward. This article therefore attempts to answer these questions by taking the UK as a case study, with the principal method being evidence from semi-structured interviews with 20 senior figures integrally involved in the development of the subject. The characterization of transport studies provided by Allsop is employed as an analytical framework, enabling the construction of a historical narrative that can provide salient insights. Thus, it is argued that for academic transport studies the degree of early cross-fertilization with public arenas has meant that subsequent developments have been shaped by the subject's contextual environment. Most prominent among these developments has been the trend towards wider disciplinary breadth. This article examines the evolution of these processes, while the concluding section discusses their implications for consequent strengths and limitations of the subject. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

As part of the U.K. contribution to the international Surface Ocean-Lower Atmosphere Study, a series of three related projects-DOGEE, SEASAW, and HiWASE-undertook experimental studies of the processes controlling the physical exchange of gases and sea spray aerosol at the sea surface. The studies share a common goal: to reduce the high degree of uncertainty in current parameterization schemes. The wide variety of measurements made during the studies, which incorporated tracer and surfactant release experiments, included direct eddy correlation fluxes, detailed wave spectra, wind history, photographic retrievals of whitecap fraction, aerosolsize spectra and composition, surfactant concentration, and bubble populations in the ocean mixed layer. Measurements were made during three cruises in the northeast Atlantic on the RRS Discovery during 2006 and 2007; a fourth campaign has been making continuous measurements on the Norwegian weather ship Polarfront since September 2006. This paper provides an overview of the three projects and some of the highlights of the measurement campaigns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author discusses English studies pertaining to literature and physical sciences at the advent of the nineteenth century, particularly at the time when Scotland became a part of Great Britain. Changes thereof were seen through the curriculum at Edinburgh University, with Francis Jeffrey challenging physical science philosophies and Dugald Stewart on humanities issues. The educational effects are said to have prevailed throughout Great Britain.

In this paper we combine the findings from two recent studies relating to participation and attainment in school science -- a re-analysis of existing official data for England and a review of wider international research evidence in the literature relevant to the UK. Although the secondary data are drawn mainly from England, the comprehensiveness of these datasets, together with our inclusion of a review of international studies on maths and science participation provides a useful reference point for an international audience. The research was prompted by concerns over a reduction in the uptake of the physical sciences post-16 and especially in higher education and interest in ways of encouraging the study of science by students from less prestigious socio-economic status backgrounds. Such concerns are not unique to the UK. Using large-scale official datasets we show that participation and attainment in science are stratified by socio-economic status. Students from poorer families arc less likely to take sciences at post-16 than many other subjects and those who do are then less likely to obtain grades high enough to encourage further study of the subject. No conclusive evidence has been found to explain this satisfactorily. Plausible reasons suggested in the literature include the relative scarcity of local opportunities putting off those who do not wish to study away from home or the perceived time demands of studying science, and so the difficulties of combining part-time study and part-time work for those needing to continue earning while studying. Direct support from professional parents may also lead to greater participation in post-16 science for students from higher SES. Perhaps the simplest explanation is that participation in science at any level is often predicated upon success at the previous educational stage. There are clear differences in science attainment at age 16 between students of differing backgrounds, which could explain the subsequent differential participation. However, these differences arc not dissimilar to those for all subjects. The largest gap presented in the paper is between students eligible and not eligible for free school meals. We also show that these patterns appear early in the life of children. At ages 7 and 11, attainment in the three core subjects (English, maths and science) is negatively related to living in an area of deprivation. The paper ends with a discussion of suggestions for research, policy and practice emerging from this review of the evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Particle Physics: LHC switch-on inspires pupils Science Fair: Science takes centre stage in Spain Conference: Czech and Slovak physicists get together Curriculum: UK needs independent curriculum body Conference: Edmonton enjoys a physics-show treat [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a case study that contributes to the current debate among historians of chemistry concerning the role and influence of pedagogy in science. Recently, Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent and her colleagues concluded that in nineteenth-century France, 'textbooks played an important role in discipline building and in creating theories'.1 Developing this idea further, this paper examines the dissemination of knowledge through face-to-face chemical lectures, showing that the influence of pedagogical strategy on theoretical content of the science is far from negligible. The pedagogy of William Cullen was essentially responsible for the prevalence of the doctrine of affinity in British chemistry from the 1760s onwards. Cullen used his affinity theory as a pedagogical tool that to a large extent defined his discipline, and the pedagogical pyramid that he headed similarly ensured that the doctrine would remain at the heart of British chemistry. From a pedagogical tool, the doctrine of affinity was transformed over time into a chemical tool, offering British chemists a disciplinary common ground that both set and reinforced the boundaries to their discipline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present research describes the genesis and initial development of 'Fair Tracing', a research project funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council—the UK Government's leading funding agency for research and training in engineering and the physical sciences. The Fair Tracing project aims to support ethical trade by implementing digital tracing technologies in supply chains to provide consumers and producers with enhanced information about specific products. In the first instance, this concentrates on two products; Chilean wine and Indian coffee. This research note describes Fair Tracing in relation to the Indian coffee case study. After an introduction by Apurba Kundu, Principal Investigator of the project, the narrative is picked up by Ashima Chopra, one of the project's funded research students. The aim of this research note is to illustrate how a research project is funded, created and then developed. It is hoped that this will the first of a series of notes tracking this project as it relates to its Indian case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This section offers news briefs related to physical sciences and other issues in the field. The Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory on August 11, 2007 operated at 183 kilowatts and surpassed the previous record. The ISIS Second Target Station Project at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire, England achieved a major milestone on December 14, 2007. Meanwhile, the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization (ANSTO) reached full power in November 2006.

The assessment of research activity in universities is now undertaken regularly in a number of countries, with resources then being allocated according to the results of those evaluations. Such an exercise (a Research Quality Framework – RQF) has recently been proposed for Australia. This paper suggests likely consequences of such an exercise for geography in Australian universities, given its current situation there, on the basis of experience with the Research Assessment Exercises undertaken in the UK since 1986. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The seventeenth century in England, bounded by the scientific stimulus of Francis Bacon at the beginning and Isaac Newton at the end, seemingly saw a huge leap from the Aristotelian dialectic of the past to a reconstruction of knowledge based on inductive methods, empirical investigation and cooperative research. In mid-century, Puritan reformers inspired both by the scientific thinking of Bacon and by the educational reforms of Comenius, hoped that educational reform at both school and university level would follow political and religious changes. In 1661, after the restoration of the monarchy, the founding of the Royal Society suggested that acceptance of experimental and practical science at the highest level had been achieved and that this would impinge on education. None of these assumptions can be accepted at face value. Indeed, the whole intellectual and educational history of the seventeenth century is far more complex than often portrayed. Various scientific and philosophical world-views and different methods of scientific investigation jostled for supremacy and major leaps forward in scientific knowledge were often a combination of some of these. The physical sciences still came under the umbrella of ‘natural philosophy’. Nevertheless, this period is seen as the beginnings of a scientific revolution that has profoundly affected, even generated the modern world. Generally such developments have been both hailed and derided as masculinist. Earlier historians usually neither saw nor looked for women's place in scientific development: more recently, feminist historians have both tried to correct the picture and sought to explain the exclusion of women from most of it. Some have seen Western science itself in this period constructing notions of masculinity and femininity that would prevent women participating in the scientific ventures which represent modernity. This article will investigate the position of women within the scientific and educational developments of seventeenth-century England. The development of Baconian science and its effects on Puritan reformers, especially Samuel Hartlib, John Dury and other like-minded scholars, will be examined. It will be shown that their ideals, like those of Jan Comenius whom they admired and worked with, had positive implications for female education. Although, however, some females were affected by the educational reforming impulses of the Hartlib circle, in the changeable political and intellectual world of seventeenth-century England, very little lasting reform was achieved. Generally women were not well educated in this period. They were excluded from formal educational institutions such as the grammar school and the university although these were not necessarily where scientific and educational reform took place. The advent of printing in the sixteenth century and the growth of scientific lectures in the seventeenth enabled upper and some middle-ranking women to take part in some of the intellectual ferment of the day and women naturally had a place in science through their culinary and medical roles. Contemporary research has uncovered some of the scientific work done by women and stimulated significant discussion on what can be counted as ‘science’. In England, female relatives of those who espoused scientific and educational reform were themselves involved in such initiatives. On the other hand, they were shut out from membership of the Royal Society for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge, established in 1662, or any other formal institution. Some women were affected by Cartesianism and other scientific theories including those on both natural magic and more occult philosophies. This was a century, however, when unorthodox thinking could meet with frightful consequences and eminent thinkers across the continent fell foul of religious and political authorities. The period was shamed by the highest number of witchcraft trials ever in Central and Western Europe, including England, chiefly against women, albeit mainly the old and the poor. In the second half of the century, longings for stability and peace were more likely to consolidate patriarchical and conservative mores than give way to radical social ideas. Nevertheless, as this study will show, a number of women, chiefly of aristocratic lineage or at least educated above the norm, were able even to publish their scientific ideas. Two of the women mentioned here did so through translation: Lucy Hutchinson, translating Lucretius, and Aphra Benn, translating Bernard le Bouvier de Fontenelle. Hutchinson particularly revealed her own thinking through the notes she added to her edition. Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle, chose to pour out the scientific and philosophical ideas she gathered through reading and conversation, in a torrent of unedited publications. Anne, Viscountess Conway, in more measured tones and timing, drew from her private form of higher education to publish The Principles of the Most Ancient and Modern Philosophy, which influenced leading philosophers of her day, including Liebniz. Both she and Margaret Cavendish were sufficiently confident to critique Descartes, although Anne Conway's thinking was based on a sounder education. Bathsua Makin was able from her own excellent education and her contacts with the Hartlib circle at home and Anna Maria van Schurmann and others abroad to promulgate an education for girls that would enable them to learn and use a range of sciences and mathematics in an extended female role. Even so, these women were a privileged few and promoted scientific and educational ideas from a vantage point of their own fortunate educational and/or social position. For none of them was this uncomplicated, while for other women, even ones within intellectual circles such as that of Mary Evelyn, their scientific impulses were restrained by gendered notions. Thus it is shown that in both the opportunities offered by new scientific and educational ideas and in their exclusion from the mainstream the position of women was in line with conflicting modern principles that underlay a contested terrain in science for the centuries to come. In addition, this brief exploration of these gendered contradictions of the scientific revolution in England shows the benefits of understanding the large areas of learning which are outside or juxtaposed to formal education, the networks that facilitate leaning and the contemporary context of gendered and scientific beliefs pervading different forms of knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given recent advances in phasing methods, those new to protein crystallography may be forgive for asking ’what problem?’. As many of those attending the CCP4 meeting come from a biological background, struggling with expression and crystallization, this introductory paper aims to introduce some of the basics that will hopefully make the subsequent papers penetrable. What is the ’phase’ in crystallography? What is ’the problem’? How can we overcome the problem? The paper will emphasize that the phase values can only be discovered through some prior knowledge of the structure. The paper will canter through direct methods, isomorphous replacement, anomalous scattering and molecular replacement. As phasing is the most acronymic realm of crystallography, MR, SIR, SIRAS, MIR, MIRAS, MAD and SAD will be expanded and explained in part. Along the way, we will meet some of the heroes of protein crystallography such as Perutz, Kendrew, Crick, Rossmann and Blow who established many of the phasing methods in the UK. It is inevitable that some basic mathematics is encountered, but this will be done as gently as possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Explores how disciplines were shaped and the hierarchy of science was defined, defended and contested by the allies within the mid-Victorian scientific community. Issues concerning the standing of science during the Victorian era; Difference between the interpretation of physical science in Cambridge and in Glasgow, England during mid-Victorian period; Significant role of the specialization of the sciences in Great Britain; Aspects of the hierarchical structure of the scientific disciplines.

This review aims at giving a picture of the progress of the UK wave energy and suggesting key steps needing to be taken for its contribution to the Net Zero greenhouse gas emissions target by 2050. It follows consultation through scoping wave energy workshops held by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) in August 2019 and by Supergen Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Hub in January 2020 and a series of structured interviews with academics, policy-makers, funding bodies and industry professionals. It is believed that the UK has excellent wave resources and advanced techniques that need to be rapidly developed to achieve the target of 22 GW of installed capacity by 2050 Greaves et al. (2020). The wave energy resources in the UK are reviewed, summarising wave energy hotspots for development and identifying openly accessible wave data. The progress and achievements of wave energy development in the UK are reviewed and described to underline the important roles that UK government and industry support have to play in securing a leading position in wave energy. The potential benefits of wave energy for the decarbonisation of UK industry (including utility scale and niche markets) to achieve Net Zero target by 2050 are presented, as well as the steps that need to be taken in the next 30 years to achieve its potential. • Review the progress and achievements of wave energy sector in the UK 1970–2020. • Summarise the UK's hotspot sites for wave energy development. • Discuss the UK Government and industry's important roles in promoting wave energy. • Summarise wave energy utility and niche markets' benefits to decarbonise industry. • Propose key steps to be taken in the next 30 years to promote wave energy in the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2013 the EPSRC published a report on the NMR equipment base serving the physical and life sciences community in the UK. Whilst this included both solution and solid state NMR, the report omitted equipment from industry or outside of the UK. This report originated as a means of benchmarking industrial solid state NMR facilities around the world. A survey of 24 SSNMR laboratories was conducted in the first half of 2019, primarily by face-to-face interviews or via telephone. Aggregated statistics relating to service throughput, equipment, and staff are presented, along with discussions about barriers to accessing SSNMR. We found that the hardware profile seen in the earlier UK-only report was representative of the worldwide view, and that the main barrier to access was a lack of knowledge about what SSNMR can do. Publishing this survey provides a strong benchmark for SSNMR laboratories, which will hopefully allow them to identify barriers that might be preventing them from performing to their optimal level in solving materials science problems. Image 1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the field of chemistry as it face an uncertain future in some universities in Great Britain. Such field has been given enough media attention due to its depreciating scientific discipline and its essence in some educational institutions. According to the author, the synthetic character of chemistry sets apart from the discovery's of sciences such as physics, biology, astronomy and Earth sciences and does it creates an object.

Nicholas A Walton, Silvia Dalla, Eduardo Gonzalez-Solarez, Anita Richards and Jonathan Tedds show off the fast-developing astronomical applications of the UK's virtual observatory service. AstroGrid has moved a few steps closer to the ideal virtual observatory and the latest release provides easy access to a range of international data sources and relevant astrophysical tools. Here we demonstrate the capabilities of this single interface for a variety of astrophysical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past, Britain held a pre-eminent position in many areas of science. Present achievement is more pedestrian, especially in the physical sciences and engineering. There are clouds hanging over the future because of the inherently conservative nature of the current peer-review process for research proposals and the ever-increasing micromanagement and regulation imposed by the UK government. Paradoxically, as the degree of control has increased, the output performance of scientists at the very highest level appears to have declined. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper gives a perspective on nanotechnology research policy from the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) having a mission to support the highest-quality research and related postgraduate training for the benefit of the UK. The paper reviews the UK approach to the support of nanotechnology and the importance of user engagement in shaping the long-term research agenda. The paper comments on future prospects for the UK. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The low viscosity of basaltic magmas generally favours effusive and mildly explosive volcanic activity. Highly explosive basaltic eruptions occur less frequently and their eruption mechanism still remains subject to debate [1] [2] [3] [4], with implications for the significant hazard associated with explosive basaltic volcanism. Particularly, highly explosive eruptions require magma fragmentation, yet it is unclear how basaltic magmas can reach the fragmentation threshold [5] [6].In volcanic conduits, the crystallisation kinetics of an ascending magma are driven by degassing and cooling [7] [8]. So far, the crystallisation kinetics of magmas have been estimated through ex situ crystallization experiments. However, this experimental approach induces underestimation of crystallization kinetics in silicate melts. The crystallization experiments reported in this study were performed in situ at Diamond Light Source (experiment EE12392 at the I12 beamline), Harwell, UK, using basalt from the 2001 Etna eruption as the starting material. We combined a bespoke high-temperature environmental cell with fast synchrotron X-ray microtomography to image the evolution of crystallization in real time. After 4 hours at sub-liquidus conditions (1170 °C and 1150 °C) the system was perturbed through a rapid cooling (0.4 °C/s), inducing a sudden increase of undercooling. Our study reports the first in situ observation of exceptionally rapid plagioclase crystallisation in basaltic magmas. We combine these constraints on crystal kinetics and viscosity evolution with a numerical conduit model to show that exceptionally rapid syn-eruptive crystallisation is the fundamental process required to trigger basaltic magma fragmentation under high strain rates.[1] Giordano, D. and Dingwell, D. (2003) Bulletin of Volcanology, 65, 8-14. [2] Houghton, B.F. and Gonnermann, H.M. (2008) Chemie der Erde-Geochemistry, 68, 117-140. [3] Szramek, L.A. (2016) Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 121, 7119-7136. [4] Moitra, P. et al. (2018) Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 500, 97-104. [5] Papale, P. (1999). Nature, 397, 425. [6] Gonnermann, H.M. (2015) Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 43, 431-458. [7] Cashman, K. and Blundy, J. (2000) Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 358,1487-1513. [8] La Spina, G. et al. (2016) Nature Communication, 7, 13402. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the 2015 Campaign for Social Sciences (CfSS) of Great Britain report "The Business of People: The Significance of Social Science over the Next Decade." It discusses issues involved in social science research, increase in tuition fees and interdisciplinary collaboration with the physical sciences. It applauds the report for making a strong case for increase in social science funding.

The article offers news briefs related to science. The State Council of China announced that it will allow HIV patients to enter the country. It states that prohibiting them did not help in controlling the disease. The Royal Institution of Great Britain has solved its legal dispute with Susan Greenfield, its former director. Greenfield claimed that she was dismissed due to sexual discrimination. Italy and Russia are planning to build Ignitor, a nuclear fusion reactor.

The article focuses on the discovery of two new globular star clusters (GC) that contain different proportions of iron and other heavy elements in Great Britain. The researchers have suggested that light elements can be made through the fusion of hydrogen at high temperatures. They also claimed that they have detected multiple stellar populations with smaller but statistically significant variations in calcium abundance in more than half of the systems in their sample of 37 GCs. The study suggests that there is a high degree of uniformity in the abundance of iron in most GCs in the stellar population.

The author praises the continued commitment of the British Astronomical Association (BAA) in providing information and innovations related to astronomy in Great Britain in 2009. The association is highly remarkable for the successful projects and conventions on visual observations and electronic imaging in astronomy. Moreover, it is its main objective to keep the society aware of the changes in the surroundings and their role in taking care of it.

The article reports that in April 2007 the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) was merged with the Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils (CCLRC) to create the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). Astronomer Keith Mason was appointed chief executive. In October 2007 the British government announced funding increases for primarily biomedical research, environmental studies, and security measures.

The article discusses the author's experience of how he has been involved in the field of astronomical observation. The author says that people want to get maximum information about visual observation. The author played a small part in confirming a discovery by David Levy who is related to the field of science. The author imaged an object which he had reported to the Minor Planet Center in Great Britain.

This article presents news briefs related to research and development in the field of municipal engineering. In September 2004, Great Britain-based Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council funded 14 research networks and four visiting fellowships, to create new collaborative research communities and identify interdisciplinary research topics. The networks were funded for two years and started on different dates, but most are active in 2005 and 2006, in subjects ranging from science and art in ceramics to musical acoustics and design.

The British Astronomical Association is very fortunate to have an enthusiastic and efficient meetings secretary in Nick Hewitt. Nick has worked relentlessly to ensure that the association had speakers at its meetings who are entertaining, up to date in their chosen subjects and of the highest possibly quality. This gives the opportunity to enjoy talks of the highest calibre from people who understand their subjects well. Nick has been director of the Deep Sky Section for eleven years and has recently relinquished this post to allow him to concentrate on the ongoing task of meetings secretary. The section has had a strong and enthusiastic leader who has made the subject interesting and enjoyable. Stewart Moore has taken over the reins of the section from Nick.

Presents updates on issues concerning physical sciences as of April 2004. Recipient of the 2003 Mexico Prize for Science and Technology; Appointment of Chris Walter as assistant professor at the physics department of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina; Award given to Edouard Brézin by the Institute of Physics in Great Britain.

The RAS is offering one last chance to apply for grants towards International Year of Astronomy activities, but you'll have to apply soon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A calendar of events and conventions related to astronomy in Great Britain in 2009 is presented including the Fifth Annual Stars and Snowdrops, Deep Sky Section Meeting and Isle of Wight Star Party.

The article explains the implication of the results of the survey regarding the efficacy of the British Astronomical Association (BAA) "Handbook" in providing information about astronomy in Great Britain. Results of the survey show that the handbook is very helpful as an observing aid for astronomical calculations, reference, eclipse information and planetary positions. Moreover, most subscribers prefer to download the handbook than receive its printed copy.

The Director of the UK Astronomy Technology Centre talks about the challenges of changing cultures and continents through his career, as well as the UK plans for International Year of Astronomy 2009. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports that the physics enterprise in Great Britain is on a favorable status. It is inferred that despite the concerns that cling on to British scientists, a review by chemical engineer Bill Wakeham of the University of Southampton found that physics had high international standing with a citation impact ranking second in the world.

The article highlights research works related to nature materials in Great Britain. It states that the extracellular matrix (ECM) in animal tissues is the area outside cells that forms a framework for connective tissue. It discusses various theoretical studies concerning the intrinsic materials of ferromagnetism and its conflicting experimental results. Andrew Price and Daniel Schwartz described the portable DNA detector that monitors the differences in refractive index of light.

The article recounts on the various issues happened 50 and 100 years ago. According to the author, 50 years ago, the young scientist that were making contact with industry or commerce fresh from school or university came as rather a shock to find that the general scientific usage of the centimetre-gram-second (C.G.S.) system has such small acceptance in the outside practical world. On the other hand, 100 years ago, a poll jest been taken by the Geological Society to ascertain the opinion of the residents in Great Britain as to the admission of women to the society.

The article reports on the exit of cosmologist at the University of Cambridge Neil Turok in Great Britain due to poor physics funding. It is stated thatTurok is departing Great Britain for Canada because of the attitude of the government towards financing physics research. Turok states that funding cuts for fundamental physics in Britain represented a great part in his decision in taking up the post of executive director at the non-profit Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ontario.