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Scientific leaders are anticipating continued strong support for research funding but potential fireworks on a range of science-related issues under the administration of President-elect George W. Bush.
Newton's constant, G, which governs the strength of the gravitational attraction between two masses, is difficult to measure accurately. A new set of experiments aims to end 200 years of uncertainty.
It was the year of genomes. Every week seemed to bring another landmark — be it human, animal, plant or pathogen. But there was more to 2000 than strings of 'A's, 'C's, 'G's and 'T's. Nature explores some of the highs, lows and emerging trends behind the year's scientific headlines.
Did the Universe really start in a hot Big Bang? New measurements of the temperature of the Universe when it was young provide exciting confirmation that it was indeed hotter in the past.
In social situations, opportunities arise for some individuals to take advantage of others. This happens in wild populations of the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum.
In one model of the brain, a central processing region is sandwiched between separate input and output areas. But studies of humans, and now monkeys, hint that this model may be too simplistic.