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Author(s): Colin Macilwain (corresponding author) [1] With the arrogance expected of a governing class born to power, the British government has tried to buy off academic opposition to Brexit by [...]

Author(s): Colin Macilwain [1] [illus. 1] Bonny Island's strategic location, at the mouth of the Niger River in west Africa, has always been a blessing and a curse. An important [...]

Author(s): Colin Macilwain [1] [illus. 1] In their frantic search for votes, George W. Bush and John Kerry are leaving no stone unturned. They've even been sparring over science, with [...]

Plant scientists believe that the scourge of the parasitic weed Striga across vast areas of marginal land in sub-Saharan Africa, could be lifted if local crop seed was treated with a modern herbicide. However this could only be undertaken if the crops themselves were genetically modified so as to tolerate the herbicide. For many developing countries the urgent issues is how to obtain access to technology which is patented and tightly controlled by researchers.

The potential of bioprospecting to bring advantages to countries rich in natural resources but poor in material terms received considerable publicity in the early 1990s. However, the amount of bioprospecting activity taking place has actually risen very little during the 1990s. This is partly attributable to the growing reliance of pharmaceutical companies on combinatorial chemistry, rather than natural products, as the preferred source for biologically active molecules to be tested as drugs. Bioprospecting activity will in future focus on collecting genetic information from exotic species, to be used in genetic medicine and genetic engineering of crops.

The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) programme to build a new power generator using nuclear fusion technology has progressed less quickly than intended. ITER partners, Europe, US, Japan and Russia have all experienced financial and political pressures since project commencement in 1992. The proposed construction date of July 1998 is now increasingly unlikely. Fusion experts are divided over the future success of the project.

Author(s): Colin Macilwain (corresponding author) [1] It was Clark Kerr, a former chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, who most memorably defined the role of a university administrator: to [...]

There was something of a chill in the air at Cardiff's City Hall in October, and not just because autumn was arriving. Social scientists, and some life scientists, were gathering [...]

Author(s): Colin Macilwain [1] [illus. 1] At the summit of Yucca Mountain, a gentle summer breeze breaks the scorching heat of the Nevada Desert. 'People have two reactions when they [...]

Author(s): Colin Macilwain [1] There is no such thing as bad publicity, it is sometimes said. But ever since Eric Drexler brought the term 'nanotechnology' into vogue in his 1986 [...]

There is a long standing dichotomy between the conditions of scientists in Sao Paulo and those in the rest of Brazil. The Foundation for the Support of Research of the State of Sao Paulo (FAPESP), the state funding agency for science, is to continue investing in world class equipment and supporting a large scientific community. However the remainder of the country is seeing the retrenchment of a system that is already unable to support the number of qualified scientists produced by its universities.

Directors of the world's major natural history museums are placing their faith in biodiversity to revive their fortunes. There is a growing awareness of the relevance of museums in underpinning efforts to conserve biological diversity. However the prominence given to biodiversity has not yet translated into substantial financial backing, although there are signs of an increase in funds for biodiversity research in many countries.

An increasingly bitter debate about the nature of scientific practice and knowledge is having a significant impact on science faculties at US universities. There is particular conflict between scientists and social scientists, with some observers accusing social scientists of attacking science and reason at many levels. It is possible that this debate has emerged because of the collapse of radicalism on university campuses, according to biologist Paul Gross, former director of the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, MA.

The US is currently engaged in a massive environmental remediation effort aimed at cleaning up decades of contamination at nuclear weapons plants. Many scientists believe, however, that the approaches and technologies adopted so far by the program's managers are technically flawed and unrealistic. They believe that more effort should be focused on basic research, with the goal of developing new and more effective remediation technologies.

Author(s): Colin Macilwain [illus. 1] The inexorable rise of global renewable energy stocks -- as measured by the WilderHill New Energy Global Innovation Index (symbol NEX on the US stock [...]

Author(s): Colin Macilwain [illus. 1] With the collapse of both the dollar and the housing market undermining confidence about the general economic outlook in the United States, 2007 has been [...]

Colin Macilwain talks to the curators of the National Museum of Scotland on the eve of a grand expansion., Author(s): Colin Macilwain [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) Colin Macilwain is a science-policy journalist, based in Edinburgh, and editor of the policy newsletter Research Europe., National Museum of Scotland gallery opening [...]

National Museum of Scotland gallery opening 8 July 2016. Edinburgh, UK. The afterlife of Dolly the sheep will take an exciting turn next month: the clone is the first attraction [...]

The annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Washington DC last month was one of the best I've witnessed in more than 20 years [...]

When Cathy Lord arrived in New York last month, her US$1.2-million grant was about to run out. The autism researcher had won the funding from the National Institutes of Health [...]

North Sea energy used to mean oil and gas. Today, production of both is waning, and the rough weather that challenged the drillers has itself become a resource. In a [...]

Last week, Reuters reported that Germany is set to continue its moratorium on the cultivation of genetically modified (GM) crops. The decision will doubtless meet a well-orchestrated barrage of criticism. [...]

As the staffof the European Commission head for the beaches this August, they have been asked to ponder the future of science. Research commissioner Carlos Moedas has announced his priorities [...]

The 'war on cancer' has run off course. Efforts must refocus on the best interests of patients, says Colin Macilwain. When Angelina Jolie had a double mastectomy in 2013 after [...]

Portrayals of science in the cinema are growing in sophistication -- but not exactly at the speed of light, says Colin Macilwain., Author(s): Colin Macilwain [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) Colin Macilwain writes about science policy from Edinburgh, UK., Some Hollywood stardust will sprinkle across the world of science this week, in the [...]

Some Hollywood stardust will sprinkle across the world of science this week, in the build-up to next weekend's Oscars ceremony in Los Angeles. Uniquely in the history of the silver [...]

Just before Christmas, European Union (EU) legislators delivered an unexpected bonus for European scientists: a generous 2015 budget for the flagship Horizon 2020 funding programme. The scheme, which runs from [...]

Author(s): Emma Marris; Colin Macilwain [illus. 1] President George W. Bush's 31 May announcement of a 'new framework' for international efforts to confront climate change sounded, at first, like a [...]

Author(s): Colin Macilwain [1] [illus. 1] 'Bush declares war on environment,' read an unflattering CNN headline in March 2001. It was early in the administration of President George W. Bush, [...]

Author(s): Colin Macilwain; Geoff Brumfiel St Louis, Missouri The rift between US scientists and the administration of President George W. Bush widened last weekend, as Nobel-prizewinning biologist David Baltimore used [...]

Author(s): Colin Macilwain [illus. 1] If your politics are green, you like your medicine 'holistic' and you're deeply worried by economic globalization, the chances are your fridge is full of [...]

Author(s): Colin Macilwain [1] Last June, the China Daily -- the English-language mouthpiece of the country's ruling Communist Party -- published an article by Greenpeace, describing the alleged ecological risks [...]

In a few months, Europe will appoint a research commissioner whose 11-billion € (US$15-billion) annual budget will make him or her, at least in theory, the most influential figure in [...]

The term 'sound science' has become Orwellian double-speak for various forms of pro-business spin, says Colin Macilwain., Author(s): Colin Macilwain [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) Colin Macilwain writes about science policy from Edinburgh, UK., Scientific and environmental groups enjoyed a small victory in Washington DC earlier this year, [...]

Scientific and environmental groups enjoyed a small victory in Washington DC earlier this year, when an insidious little item called the sound-science bill was removed from farm legislation signed into [...]

A mild-mannered man's fiery resignation leaves a troubling vacancy at the world's largest office for investigating scientific fraud, says Colin Macilwain., Author(s): Colin Macilwain [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) Colin Macilwain writes about science policy from Edinburgh, UK., When David Wright leaves the Office of Research Integrity (ORI) at the US Public [...]

When David Wright leaves the Office of Research Integrity (ORI) at the US Public Health Service later this month, everyone will know just why he is walking out of the [...]

Rio de Janeiro's peerless Copacabana beach has not changed much in the 15 years since I last visited, but there has been one innovation: all along the promenade, sturdy, open-air [...]

Author(s): Colin Macilwain [1] People who work for the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) don't expect to be loved. Responsible for managing the federal government's vast bureaucracy [...]

Author(s): Colin Macilwain On a calm and gloriously sunny September morning in Bethesda, Maryland, thousands of researchers were streaming into work as usual on the main campus of the National [...]

Author(s): Colin Macilwain Washington In a radical change of direction, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) will this week announce plans to build a $500 million research campus near Washington [...]

Author(s): Colin Macilwain Washington [illus. 2] Ever since March 1999, when allegations of Chinese spying at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico burst into public view, draconian security [...]

Author(s): Colin Macilwain [1]; Ricardo Bonalume Neto [2] [illus. 1] When Fernando Perez, scientific director of FAPESP, the Brazilian state of São Paulo's science funding agency, launched an ambitious project [...]

Author(s): Colin Macilwain Washington It is not looking a good year to be a physicist -- or even a biologist -- who depends on facilities supported by the US Department [...]

Author(s): Colin Macilwain It was portrayed as the scientific rivalry to end all scientific rivalries. But after two years of often acrimonious competition, the principal players in the Human Genome [...]

Author(s): Colin Macilwain Washington Rival approaches to the way in which genome sequences are published are creating growing tension between scientists at the sequencing centres and those who want to [...]

Author(s): Colin Macilwain Washington [illus. 1] Canada's leading role in neutron scattering is under threat, according to Canadian physicists. An ambitious plan to construct a world-class neutron-scattering facility at Chalk [...]

Author(s): Colin Macilwain Washington [illus. 2] US high-energy physicists, facing deep budget cuts and divided on their priorities, have been given six months to come up with a consensus on [...]

Author(s): Colin Macilwain Stanford, California Leaders in high-energy physics from around the world came to SLAC on 21 January to pay tribute to Burt Richter, who retired as its director [...]

Author(s): Colin Macilwain Washington Negotiators from 130 countries last week agreed on a Biosafety Protocol that will require exporters to identify genetically modified (GM) organisms, and allow importing countries to [...]