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The president-elect seems to have failed to inspire scientists during his campaign. Although support for research will probably grow, some policies and appointments are likely to signal trouble ahead.
Scientific leaders are anticipating continued strong support for research funding but potential fireworks on a range of science-related issues under the administration of President-elect George W. Bush.
Conventional wisdom has it that George W. Bush's presidency could doom US researchers' efforts to obtain federal funding for work using human embryonic stem cells. But supporters of the research are optimistic that the new administration will at least review the issue before acting.
It was the year of genomes. Every week seemed to bring another landmark — be it human, animal, plant or pathogen. But there was more to 2000 than strings of 'A's, 'C's, 'G's and 'T's. Nature explores some of the highs, lows and emerging trends behind the year's scientific headlines.
Trials in mice of a possible vaccine for Alzheimer's disease show that it reduces the behavioural defects and the brain damage seen in the disease. As promising as these results are, a human vaccine remains a long way off.
Did the Universe really start in a hot Big Bang? New measurements of the temperature of the Universe when it was young provide exciting confirmation that it was indeed hotter in the past.
In social situations, opportunities arise for some individuals to take advantage of others. This happens in wild populations of the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum.
Newton's constant, G, which governs the strength of the gravitational attraction between two masses, is difficult to measure accurately. A new set of experiments aims to end 200 years of uncertainty.
In one model of the brain, a central processing region is sandwiched between separate input and output areas. But studies of humans, and now monkeys, hint that this model may be too simplistic.
A way to control magnetism in semiconductors using an external electric field has been shown for the first time. This long-awaited result could lead to new types of information-storage devices.
Why, since around 1960, have winters in northern Europe tended to become milder and wetter? The meteorological conditions responsible came under discussion at a meeting last month.
Materials that conduct ions are useful in devices involving electrochemical reactions, such as fuel cells and batteries. Low ionic conductivity was a problem for these materials until researchers built nanoscale versions.
