On the Record

“Evolution in the sense of common ancestry might be true, but evolution in the neo-darwinian sense is not.”

Cardinal Schönborn, Roman Catholic archbishop of Vienna, writes in The New York Times that the Church's position on evolution has been misunderstood.

“This is about stealing our intellectual property right and left and we're going to have to do something about it.”

Robert Goldberg of the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research criticizes a threat from Brazil to break a US patent on AIDS drug lopinavir.

Scorecard

Globe trotting

Swiss aviator plans to give wings to renewable energy by flying a solar-powered plane around the world.

Polly math

African grey parrot is first bird to zero in on the concept of ‘none’ when counting objects — could this be the first parrot with nothing to say?

Mobile mayhem

Stop dialling and drive. An Australian study reports that using a cell phone while at the wheel of a car — even if it's on a hands-free device — quadruples the risk of having a crash.

Number Crunch

A poll released last week suggests that President George W. Bush's policy on human embryonic stem-cell research doesn't match his country's mood.

63% of Americans say there should be a national policy for research using embryonic stem cells.

57% of Americans support using federal funds for embryonic stem-cell research.

59% of Americans would allow research into ‘therapeutic cloning’, a technique that can produce new stem-cell lines.

Source: Research!America