Commentary

Germany's outdated system for promoting postdocs frustrates the career ambitions of many promising researchers. Worse still, it is preventing universities from competing as well as they should in the international science race.

The anthropic principle has gained much popularity among cosmologists. But, faced with a need for historical explanation, biologists are bound to find it a cop-out.

The research equipment that scientists require to remain competitive is becoming more and more expensive. Unless new funding is found, existing allocation and management systems will have to change.

The recent first budget of the new Australian Coalition government offers an opportunity to reflect on the way in which Australian science must adapt to an environment of fiscal rectitude.

The philosophy of science is not independent of the way research is organized. Can scientists produce objective knowledge in a world where their research is increasingly directed towards making money or meeting social needs?

Recently released documents give the inside story of Otto Hahn's 1944 Nobel prize in chemistry for the discovery of nuclear fission. They reveal flaws in the award-making process — and an attempt to rewrite history.

Thomas S. Kuhn, who died on 17 June aged 73, is best known for introducing the principles of 'paradigms' and Incommensurability' into the study of science. The influence of his work, however, goes beyond such slogans.

The intrinsic conflict between the mandated need to inform the public of potential health hazards and the need of the media for sensational headlines is threatening to compromise the scientific process.

The struggle between the Congress and the White House over environmental issues provides an opportunity for improving science at the US Environmental Protection Agency, a chance that may be lost in the fray of election-year politics.

In evaluating the cost of phasing out chlorofluorocarbons, it pays to look not only at current damage to the ozone layer but also at what might have happened had our use of these chemicals continued unimpeded.

NASA needs to develop a new generation of space observatories embracing the theme of 'cosmic origins' if it is to maintain its lead in the exploration of space.

Existing approaches to sequencing the human genome are based on the assumption that each region to be sequenced must first be mapped. But there is a simpler strategy in which any number of laboratories can cooperate.

What do rank-and-file scientists think the aim of peacetime national science policy should be? Should it be economic competitiveness? That is not what they said the last time they were asked.

Despite wide interest in human genome patents, there has been little information about exactly who owns what. Europe would do well to ponder over the stake already held by Japan and the United States.

The origins of experimental psychology can be traced back to 1796, when the then Astronomer Royal dismissed his assistant for making some seemingly inaccurate measurements. But there is more to the story than meets the eye.

The Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare is again considering legalization of steroid oral contraceptives. Approval could greatly reduce the incidence of abortion in Japan, which is at least twice that officially reported.

Melatonin is being touted as the latest cure-all. But in their eagerness to explain to the public the possible health benefits of this natural hormone, the mass media as well as some scientists have misrepresented the scientific data.

A recent conference on "nurturing creativity in research" revealed some extreme examples of the growing tendency of governments to drive research towards strategic socioeconomic goals at the expense of basic research.

This year's commemorative platter includes ether anaesthesia, smallpox vaccination, radioactivity and several mathematical morsels, as well as an accidental death (Otto Lilienthal) and the mother of all births (the Universe).