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Scientists have been wrongly condemned for accepting research sponsorship from the tobacco industry. But there are plenty of ways in which the academic community can be harmed or led astray by cigarette manufacturers.
The remarkable increase in the number of overseas Chinese scientists returning to the booming economies of Asia is already having an impact on the region. Scientists are also going back to take up key posts in China itself.
In December 1992, part of the San Andreas fault ruptured. No damage was caused, because instead of lasting for a few seconds, this earthquake sequence took a week. So why are other earthquakes fast?
