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The article discusses the scientific publishing contributions of North and West Europe to the Nature Index database in 2014. Topics mentioned include the role of investment and talent recruitment in the region's output in the Index, the region's article and weighted fractional count, the pattern of top five universities' relative subject area distribution and collaborativeness and top three country collaborations, and dominance of British universities in research.

The article presents insights from various leaders on ways to boost research in their countries. Rafael Camacho, chief executive at Genoma España in Spain, says that increased investment has raised the country to ninth in the global ranking of scientific productivity. Brito Cruz, science director at São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) in Brazil, adds that the country produced more than 12,000 doctoral students and 35,000 articles in international scientific journals in 2011.

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.

A letter to the editor is presented related to the use of carbon currency standard which links the economy to ecology.

The article presents several new briefs related to various topics on scientific research. According to the Osaka University's ethics committee, researcher Akio Sugino acted alone in manipulating data of a research papers in the "Journal of Biological Chemistry." Entrepreneur Richard Branson has invested $3 billion to climate-change initiatives. The committee of the U.S. Institute of Medicine has urged the Food and Drug Administration to give more funding to ensure drug safety.

The author reflects on the smart grid infrastructure of the U.S. to avoid massive power failures. He states that three factors hinder improvements to the U.S. electric power system including low investment, matching supply and demand and fragmentation. It discusses the smart grid system which consists of microgrids linked by high-voltage power grid backbone and highlights the features of the grid system including self-sufficiency, cost-effectiveness and advanced services.

The author discusses the effect of counterproductive financial incentives to the scientific enterprise. She states that science is full of incentives which encourage bad financial decisions such as laboratory expansion and hiring of temporary scientists. She relates that the incentives hurt scientists, individual, and society which derive minimal return on its investment when someone is trained on a field without career prospects. She says that true social and personal cost can fix incentives.

The article discusses the problem in education of India. It says that the 500 universities and 26,000 colleges of India have space for only about 12% of its eligible youth, and the population of the country continues to grow by 1.34% a year. Kapil Sibal, India's Minister of Human Resources and Development, notes that there is a need for 800-900 universities and 40,000-45,000 colleges in 2021. Meanwhile, it discusses the investment for research and development (R&D) in the nation.

The author discuss the stalled development for neurological disease therapies. They note that companies are reluctant to pursue neurological disease treatments due to their previous investments failing to pay off and they suggest building a culture of interdisciplinary exchange to solve the problem. They add that treatments which can restore lost function to people with brain injury can radically change their lives and reduce burden to their social environment and families.

The article focuses on the waste management strategy of a plant in Japan where plasma technology is turning waste into energy. Eco Valley Utashinai converts heaps of refuse into energy using a plasma arc. Plasma arc is a jolt of electricity that ionizes gas in a chamber and produces temperatures of up to 16,000 degrees Celsius. The technology is costly and must process massive amounts of trash to recoup Eco Valley's investment.

Describes how to raise venture capital for a start-up business in research. Difficulty in raising money this way; Views of David Gibson of X-ray Optical Systems; Value of investing in life sciences; Investment trends; Writing a business plan; Choosing a non-academic business partner; Defining an exit strategy from the investment deal. INSET: Funding brings high-risk tecnhologies to the marketplace.

Just a few months ago, the 'crisis' on everyone's mind was the spike in food prices. Then the financial crisis gripped the world, food prices declined somewhat, and agricultural concerns [...]