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Everybody is anxious to help mould Europe's research policy. The place to start is to say that episodic funding (by means of 'framework' programmes) is a bad idea. What is needed is a truly European research council.
As participants at Nature's conference "Patterns of Life" (Boston, 9–10 November) found, moves to different organisms and even to biochemistry are helping to sustain the drive to understand how different body plans develop.
This edition covers new computer hardware and software, including a portable workstation, data-logging and acquisition hardware, imaging software, and on-line and CD-ROM information.