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Removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is as important as controlling emissions. Basic and applied research need to be pursued in the face of political obstacles.
A leading participant in US genome sequencing efforts claims that there may be more than 140,000 genes in the human genome -- a significant increase over conventional estimates.
Journals produced by not-for-profit organizations are in general better value for money than those from commercial publishers, according to a study by the University of Wisconsin.
Chinese researchers have received a boost from NATO's bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade for its efforts to argue for more support for science and technology.
China has instructed all government departments to draw up plans for helping to create an innovation-based economy and to bring research institutions and industry closer together.
Japan's science and technology-related budget is due to receive a substantial increase in the next fiscal year, thanks primarily to a new government move to promote various high-tech industries.
French science is to see a modest 1.3 per cent cash increase in funding next year, although this includes a significant increase in funds directly controlled by the Ministry of Research.
The US Senate has moved to restore cuts proposed by the House of Representatives in next year's budget for the space agency NASA and the National Science Foundation.
Japanese researchers should make more effort to publish in international science journals and communicate with foreign researchers, according to the results of a survey released last week.
The latest images from Subaru, one of the world's largest optical telescopes, were unveiled last week by Japan's National Astronomical Observatory to celebrate the completion of the 8.3 meter telescope.
The US Department of Energy is launching a major investigation into how this might be achieved by sequestering atmospheric carbon dioxide in the ocean or terrestrial ecosystems.
Eight British universities are to set up 'centres of enterprise' to provide them with a focus for exploiting their research and transferring ideas to the private sector.
An apparent discrepancy between two independent distance measurements to a faraway glalaxy may lead to a revised value for the age of the Universe. The latest distance estimate is based on the discovery of large variable stars -- known as Cepheids -- in this galaxy. But the blending effects caused by images of Cepheids being mixed with other stars may provide a solution to the distance problem.
When certain fungi infect grasses and cereals, they develop a specialized structure called the appressorium. This microscopic structure inflates on the surface of the grass leaf, then generates enough force to push through its cuticle and cell wall to tap the juices within. The development of a technique to measure the forces generated by the appressorium should help in understanding how this infection platform works.
An explanation of high-temperature superconductivity in the copper oxides has been more elusive than for conventional superconductivity -- in which crystal lattice vibrations help bind electrons into pairs. The search for a different type of pairing mechanism for the copper oxides is revealing that an excitation of the electrons themselves may provide the glue.
Many birth defects are caused by chromosomal insertions or deletions. The most common deletion syndrome in humans is DiGeorge syndrome, one of the symptoms of which is congenital heart disease. DiGeorge syndrome was thought to be caused by deletion of just one gene, but the results of a targeted-deletion study indicate that more than one gene is likely to be affected.
In contrast to the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the Indian Ocean has seemed to manifest little coherent behaviour in the variability of such parameters as water temperature and rainfall. Now, however, two studies identify a so-called dipole mode in which the distribution of ocean temperature can be related to rainfall patterns in east Africa and Indonesia.
People with mutations in either of two proteins known as polycystin-1 and polycystin-2 develop polycystic kidney disease. Studies on the nematode worm and the frogXenopus laevisare now helping researchers to work out the normal functions of these proteins. It seems that polycystin-1-related proteins act as receptors, which regulate the activity of channels containing polycystin-2-related proteins.
Sperm competition has been held responsible for higher sperm production in males with a sexual rival. DREADCO biochemists are hoping to exploit this fact to create a 'conceptive' to help couples trying to conceive. Careful studies of sperm competition between different races may even produce a new map of human evolution.