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A review of physics in the United Kingdom highlights the usefulness of external scrutiny and the challenge of getting a part of the community to set itself new standards. Who will take the lead?
In the face of rapidly dwindling numbers of Pacific Leatherback turtles, a group of US marine biologists are suing the US Government for failing to protect the species.
A US federal agency has launched an ambitious new research programme to investigate a disturbing trend of population declines and birth deformities in amphibian populations.
Physicists have criticised plans by the US government plans to privatize the nation's helium reserve, but the National Research Council says the move should not do any substantial harm.
More than half of university laboratories in the United Kingdom are using out-of-date equipment, and at least £600m (US $885m) is needed to bring essential research facilities up to date, says a new report.
The University of Pennsylvania's Institute of Human Gene Therapy has decided that it will no longer conduct clinical trials in the wake of a death of a patient in such trials.
The Dean of Harvard Medical School announced last week that the school will not relax its conflict-of-interest guidelines, as had been recommended by committee of senior faculty members.
France plans to spend FF39 million ($5.4 million) to build a scientific port in Brest to support its extensive research fleet and oceanographic campaigns.
The governments of both France and the United States are weighing up proposals to expand their research into the transmutation of radionuclides as a safe and cost-effective way of disposing of nuclear waste.
The largest volcanic chimney ever to be recovered from the sea floor is being brought ashore by an international team working for the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation.
The World's scientific academies have urged governments to increase their investment in areas of basic science and technology related to sustainable development.
One of NASA's most productive satellites is about to meet a fiery end. Henry Bortman assesses the achievements of the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory, and considers the missions that will follow in its footsteps.
Colonizing species often lose genetic variation. Usually this has harmful effects, but in Argentine ants it has led to loss of clan warfare and formation of supercolonies that overwhelm native species.
Noise is inherent in gene expression, and can lead to sizeable fluctuations in the concentrations of expressed RNA and proteins. But many biological processes, such as circadian rhythms, are predictable and must be robust to internal noise. New simulations and studies of synthetic gene networks indicate that negative feedback may counteract noise.
An amorphous or ‘glass’ structure can be created when a liquid is cooled quickly. It has long been debated whether this transition involves an underlying thermodynamic or kinetic change. A model system of hard spheres supports the second view.
To understand how we learn, we need to study the activity and interactions of many neurons over long periods of time. A new study attempts to do just that. Recordings of neuronal activity as rats learn a simple task, combined with complex analytical algorithms, offer one way to approach the problem.
The varying pattern of meanders in the lower Mississippi has been reconstructed from surveys of the river carried out before its course became greatly constrained by human agency. That pattern doesn't fit into a common picture of meander behaviour, probably because of the heterogeneity of the deposits through which the Mississippi flows.
The quantum Zeno effect is the idea that the decay of an unstable quantum state — such as a radioactive atom — can be stopped by frequently repeated observations. It is now suggested that the exact opposite effect may be more common.
Class I molecules of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) are expressed on most cells of the body. Recognition of MHC molecules on target cells by receptors on natural killer (NK) cells ensures that the NK cells do not kill the target cell. The structure of the life-saving interaction between MHC and an immunoglobulin-type receptor has now been described.
Conducting fluids are used to cool reactors, but Daedalus hopes that insulating fluids could be used to drive a pump without moving parts. The best working fluid would be air, with the potential to create silent air-conditioners and even aircraft.
