On the Record

“The Royal Society today is a lazy institution, resting on its historical laurels... It is little more than a shrill and superficial cheerleader for British science.”

An editorial in The Lancet calls for the Royal Society to revamp its mission.

“The benefits of research that kills living human embryos are purely speculative and have been hyped by researchers who are after federal funding.”

Congressman Steve King (Republican, Iowa) condemns plans for US funding of embryonic stem-cell research.

Scorecard

Weeds

The rampant, invasive weed kudzu may be useful after all. An extract from the plant seems to help people reduce their alcohol consumption — a sobering thought.

Smallpox experiments

The World Health Organization says it might approve research on smallpox, if scientists provide more details on the work.

Japanese girl power

Japan finds it has a lower percentage of women in its science and technology work force than any other rich nation.

Overhyped

Shark cartilage

During the 1990s, shark cartilage was the ‘next big thing’ — an alternative cancer treatment that actually seemed to work, at least in some animal studies. But a paper in this week's Cancer takes a thorough look at shark cartilage in human cancer patients, and it's not pretty. The paper reports that 42 cancer patients who took the cartilage lived no longer than the 41 who went without it. In fact, those taking the cartilage felt worse. Maybe this will sink the shark idea once and for all (C. L. Loprinzi et al. Cancer doi:10.1002/cncr.21107; 2005).