Search

The article discusses postage stamps that have been issued by Britain’s Royal Mail throughout the years and examines the latest set, which commemorates the founding of the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, England. This set belongs to the Action for Species series, which depicts threatened species in Great Britain. Other sets of stamps have featured evolutionary theorist Charles Darwin and England’s Queen Elizabeth II.

The article discusses the study carried out by researcher Sanjev Gupta and his colleagues of the Imperial College London concerning on how Great Britain became an island. It states that Gupta's team has utilized the map of the English Channel to gather relevant data. It was found that islands existed on the valley's bed rock floor where the channel is divided into two that resulted to the formation of land in between. Also, the occurrence of flood contributed to the existence of lakes.

The article reports on the request of government for public comment on the benefits and culling badgers to control tuberculosis infection among cattle in Great Britain. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has campaigned to protect the badgers in response to the open consultation.

Focuses on the work of Alison Smith, a plant scientist at the University of Cambridge in Great Britain, in exploring the idea that seaweed make Vitamin B12. Collaboration made with her constant collaborator Martin Warren to initiate the experiment; Inquiry made on the genomic sequences of the three types of algae; Examination on the mechanism by which the algae get the vitamin from the bacteria and also what the bacteria get from the transaction.

Talks about the criticism by the House of Commons on Britain's White Paper on science and technology. Failure to switch from military to civilian research; White Paper's alleged shortcomings; Reply to criticisms; Concern of the Royal Institute of Chemistry and the Institution of Chemical Engineers on biological organic chemistry; Setting up of Britain's new Council for Science and Technology.

Reports on Great Britain's 1993 white paper `Realizing Our Potential.' Research reforms proposed in the white paper; Threat on the medical Research Council's institutes; Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council's funding of basic research; Privatization of public research laboratories.

Discusses reaction to the British government's White Paper (policy statement) on the organization of science and technology, `Realising our Potential,' published last week in London, England. The lack of radical change; Additional information. INSETS: Waldegrave gets help, by D.D.;A global search, by D.D..

The article reports on a surge in withdrawn scientific papers from scholarly literature and on the system for handling such post-publication retractions in Great Britain. It states that retraction notices are increasing to more than 400 notices even though the number of papers published has increased by only 44% since 2001. It cites the British Committee on Publication Ethics' (COPE) survey on editors' attitudes toward retraction which showed inconsistencies in policies and practices.

Comments on the reorganization of Britain's research enterprise. William Waldegrave, chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in charge of the newly established Office of Science and Technology (OST) within the Cabinet Office; White Paper (policy document) on the organization of British science; Advisory Council on Science and Technology; Dominance of defense-related research; The 1993-94 science budget; Waldegrave's invitation of advice; Research council expenditure on postgraduate training.

Provides facts on various issues related to science in Great Britain. Enlargement of a British-owned island in the South Atlantic due to volcanic eruption; Creation of a paper plane that could travel farther than 30 meters by students at the University of Leeds; Citation of a study indicating the potential for spending time with dolphins to help dispel depression.

Comments on the unprecedented and often controversial stream of suggestions from the scientific community stimulated by the British government's request for input into its promised White Paper on science. Proposed `privatization' of government-funded research; Office of Science and Technology (OST); Replies to the call for suggestions on what should be included in a White Paper on the organization of science; Details.

The author reflects on the two reports which highlight aspects of the global trends concerning open access to research results. He discusses an analysis of openness in scientific data published by the Royal Society and the Finch report by the British government after Janet Finch, chairman of the committee who delivered it. He adds that authors are required to pay article publishing charges (APCs) to publish their research papers in journals.

Reports that editors at "The Lancet" launched a pre-emptive media strike on February 18, 2004 after learning that "The Sunday Times" was investigating undeclared conflicts of interest in a 1998 paper linking autism with the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. Decision of the medical journal to declare that the autism was flawed and should have not been published in its original form; Public controversy triggered by the paper over the safety of the MMR vaccine; Failure of lead author Andrew Wakefield to disclose the existence of the legal-aid study.

The author discusses aspects of maximizing the use of public research in Great Britain. He states that the most significant policy moves in open access in 2012 came from Research Councils UK (RCUK) and the Wellcome Trust. He mentions that from April 2013, papers arising from RCUK funding must be made free to access.

The article reports on the science funding in Great Britain. This paper gives observation on the changing landscapes in the funding that the government provides. Research councils may be pressured to deliver results as the government now seeks for results to the long and heavily invested science researches. Scientists had enjoyed tremendous funding in the past decade and the government wants to see results as indicated by the council documents implying economic competitiveness and social impacts.

Describes the British government's white paper on environmental policy, titled `This Common Inheritance.' Environmental pressure groups claim the paper has few new initiatives; Environment Secretary, Chris Patten, suggests more radical action in the future.

Reports on a paper from the British Department of Education calling for closer collaboration between British universities. The desire to create world-class research centers; The results of a review of the financing of universities; Reactions to the paper.

Reports that the government of Great Britain has pledged to put the commercialization of scientific knowledge at the heart of its industrial policy. Controversy about implementing the series of initiatives; Financing of the initiatives according to the government's white paper; Encouragement of academics to work with industry; Views of Peter Mandelson, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry; Emphasis on science to create wealth. INSETS: Making a case in the corridors of power;Foresight initiative goes for competitiveness.

States that last week's government White Paper on British research policy has the air of finality proper in a policy statement. Assertion that there are several passages which deny the Haldane principle; Other criticisms of the document; Additional information.

Opinion. Comments on a White Paper on science which is due to be released by the British government, and offers some criteria be which its recommendations should be judged. Role of William Waldegrave, the minister in the British Cabinet responsible for science; Focus on the organization of research; Possible future of the Advisory Council on Science and Technology (ACOST); The Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC); More.

Discusses the national strategy for science and technology the British government is promising in its forthcoming White Paper. Sir Mark Richmond, chairman of the Science and Engineering Research Council; William Waldegrave, the cabinet minister responsible for science; Two large areas of concern still remaining; Advisory Council on Science and Technology (ACOST); Council for the Advancement of Scientific Knowledge (CASK); More.

A letter to the editor is presented concerning the gold route to open-access research papers in Great Britain.

The article presents the report of Royal Society on the rise of international research collaborations worldwide. According to the Royal Society, the number of papers published by renowned authors both in the U.S. and overseas collaborators rose from 50,000 in 1996 to 95,000 in 2008. According to Robert Zeigler, the institute's director general, these partnerships not only boost citation impact, but also broadens research horizons.

The article recaps facts about nature and science that were discovered previously. In June 1,1958, the Clean Air Act of 1956 was implemented. Clean Air Act bans dark smoke from any chimney in England and Wales. The ban is applicable to all buildings, railway engines and ships, however it directly affects industrial and commercial premises. 100 years ago a notable paper was read by professor W. Phillips related to children's capacity for attention. After referring to various experimental inquiries, he came up with an assumption that a child's attention declines more quickly in the afternoon and that math is the subject that demands more attention than any other subjects.

The article reports on the evidence of water gush on Mars. This paper provides information on the recent volcanic activity that are recorded by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The orbiter recently launched to observe and have photographs of high-resolution quality around Mars. Niels Hovius at the University of Cambridge in Great Britain suggested that signs of volcanic and flowing meltwater might be the logical evidence that the planet is relatively active in recent times. More observations on the geomorphic evidence are discussed briefly.

This article focuses on the dance performance "Constant Speed," by Rambert Dance Co. The Great Britain-based Institute of Physics had commissioned a ballet to celebrate the World Year of Physics 2005, or "Einstein Year." Constant Speed is inspired by physicist Albert Einstein's 1905 publications; the World Year of Physics celebrates their centenary. From the patent office in Bern, Switzerland, Einstein dashed off five papers, all of them seminal work, on three themes: brownian motion, the photoelectric effect and the special theory of relativity. Choreographer Mark Baldwin, the artistic director of the Rambert, developed "Constant Speed" through conversations with Ray Rivers, professor of theoretical physics at Imperial College London. Although he claims to be ignorant of physics, Baldwin was struck by a similarity of language--space, time, energy, between physics and dance.

Reports that the British House of Commons Science and Technology Committee has reported that the concept of author-pays open access seems viable but requires further experimentation. Advise of the report to the government to oblige British authors to publish articles on their institution's websites; Inquiries of people on the economic sustainability of the author-pays open-access model; Recommendation of the committee that the British government should ensure that funders should make it compulsory for researchers to post their papers on line.

Public-health researchers have unveiled a project to tackle what they describe as information concealment by Great Britain-based multinational firm British American Tobacco PLC. The group aims to publish some 8 million pages of the company's documents on an independent Website, making them more easily accessible. Researchers have accused the company of obstructing public attempts to access papers at its depository and allege that some files detailing the company's activities have been removed or altered. The company sources denies the charge of files being deleted.

Discusses issues surrounding proposals to encourage the commercial exploitation of scientific research in Britain. How the research was expected to be given high priority in a government white paper on economic competitiveness, due to be published in December 1998; Details about measures designed to help narrow the gap between the United Kingdom and its industrial competitors in terms of ability to benefit commercially from science and technology.

Reports on the rejection of a proposal made by the Office of Science and Technology (OST) by Britain's Royal Society requiring those wishing to pursue PhD to undergo an initial year of training. OST's proposal as one of the key recommendations in 1993's white paper on science; Feelings of many professional scientific bodies regarding the proposal; Other responses.

Reports on the government policy on science and technology research in Great Britain. Published white paper (policy document) as the first government-wide statement of science since 1970; Explicit acknowledgement of the political importance of research in a competitive global economy; Reorganization of the research councils; Management of the councils by the Office of Science and Technology.

Reports on the British government's plan to reorganize its research by reducing the number of graduate students. The White Paper report; Issues and debates; Two possible dangers from the report; Reduced output of PhDs in science and technology; Age-distribution of teachers at the older universities.

Reports the British Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has lifted a temporary freeze on the LINK program, the government-wide initiative that encourages industry to undertake collaborative research with universities and other publicly funded research institutions. Forthcoming White Paper on science and technology; Temporary freeze on new initiatives in the LINK program due to budgetary problems; More.

Assesses the probable British government's strategy for ensuring that wealth is created from the scientific enterprise. Office of Science and Technology (OST); The money the research councils/OST spend compared with government spending departments; The White Paper; The author's recommendations.

Details the meeting organized in Edinburgh in which a succession of speakers urged the British government to take firmer steps to stimulate the links between industry and the academic world. The British government's White Paper on the organization of science; Need for an improved career structure for scientists; Cooperation between national and European science policy; Need for the government to provide greater infrastructural support for linking basic and applied research; More.

Announces two London meetings on British science. Meeting of the Royal Society on March 19, 1993 to discuss proposals for the forthcoming White Paper on the organization of British science; Meeting held by Save British Science on March 18, 1993 called `Waldegrave meets the scientists'; Contact points.

Opinion. Discusses the policies for British science as proposed in the Liberal Democrats' Green Paper. Criticizes the document for a lack of conviction.

Opinion. Comments on Christopher Patten's (British Secretary of State for the Environment) white paper on environmental policy. Bad press unjustified; Lack of policy on strategic issues.

Reports that a consultative paper by the British Department of Education and Science proposes reform of the `dual support' system. Government finds that the distinction between universities' and research councils' funding responsibilities has become blurred; Polytechnics find system to be unjust.

Describes the life and career of British physicist Sir Frederick Charles Frank, on the occasion of his death on April 5, 1998. His work during World War II and at the University of Bristol; His approach to physics; Background; His visual acuity and wide range of interests; His influence in modern solid-state physics; His classic paper on nuclear physics; His scientific style; Awards; Family life and personality.

Reports on the findings that Oxford and Cambridge Universities continued from 1991 to 1995 to dominate the rankings of British universities in terms of scientific citations. The finding that Cambridge ranked higher for papers in physical and chemical science; Oxford's dominance of the biological subjects; Other strong performers; A chart of the results; The results of another survey with different criteria.

Reports that the British General Medical Council has struck off Malcolm Pearce from its medical register. Indictment of Pearce for the publication of fraudulent papers in the `British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology'; Medical Research Council's drafting of document on good research practice; Plans of the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) to set up an independent body to regulate medical research.

Analyzes the practice of lottery in Britain. Spending of some of the lottery receipts by the Heritage Commission on buying paper archive from the trustees of the family of Sir Winston Churchill; Impact of financial imprudence engendered by gambling on gamblers and beneficiaries.