Editorials in 2013

Novelist Thomas Pynchon shows that science and art can combine, with mutual benefit.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has provided invaluable evidence for policy-makers, but giant reports should give way to nimbler, more relevant research.

Researchers and lawmakers must work to rebuild trust in secure Internet standards.

Don’t treat a memoir as anything other than one person’s interpretation of events.

The grey wolf is at risk of losing its endangered status under US law.

Four US studies are set to explore how genomic data can best help healthy and ill newborns. They must also settle some questions of ethics.

A simple iron complex offers a chance to update how the global supply of ammonia is made.

Japan should bring in international help to study and mitigate the Fukushima crisis.

International weapons conventions may not be perfect, but they are a vital mechanism for making wars less barbaric and less frequent — a cause that should galvanize scientists and others.

Scientists are homing in on the reasons for the current hiatus in global warming, but all must recognize that the long-term risk of warming from carbon dioxide remains high.

Metaphors are like cheese — often desirable but sometimes full of holes.

Even when conducting clinical trials to study widely used therapies, researchers must ensure that they disclose the full risks to patients.

Conflicts of interest and gaps in data contaminate US oversight of food additives.

Turkey’s scientists show they no longer want to expend their energy on political confrontation, but political volatility is threatening their efforts to work in peace.

The possibility that H7N9 avian influenza may evolve sufficiently to cause a pandemic has scientists turning again to controversial research —they must be careful how they justify the risks taken.

Scientists should give donors more information about how their biospecimens are used.

Inconsistent standards and a lack of research investment have left UK legal science in chaos.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been buoyed by election success, but he must show that his science policies take the opinions of researchers into account.

A resurgence in organic technology is set to transform the world of electronic devices, offering a way to give the very fabric of life enhanced functionality.

In the fight to combat antibiotic resistance, researchers should strengthen their advocacy.