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The debacle of the US space programme is the consequence of the insecure, publicity-seeking policies of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Two months ago, the superconducting supercollider was killed by the US Congress. Here, a particle physicist provides a post mortem and asks whether Europe should build its own collider.
What does the future hold for space research? Wrangles between groups of people with different interests must b resolved if a prescription is to be found.
How do we know the Sun will rise tomorrow? Hume's concern raises two questions: the problem of empirical inference was solved in this century by Popper; an approach to the stability of nature in time is outlined here.
Why is the UK's biotechnology industry still nascent? Academic institutions must exploit the commercial opportunities of the research they support if Britain is to remain internationally competitive.
Contrary to the prevailing opinion that the Roman assault ramp at Masada in Israel was entirely man-made, geological observations reveal that it consists mostly of natural bedrock.
From the structure of sodium chloride to that of a human rhinovirus complexed with its receptor — X-ray crystal analysis has taken an extraordinarily fruitful path since its inception 80 years ago.
Since 1980, volcanologists have confronted more volcanic crises than any time since the Mont Pelee catastrophe in 1902. Good science alone will not do the job of reducing volcano risk.
One of the persistent controversies that surfaces in the media about AIDS is whether the heterosexual population is at risk. The latest projections provide an emphatic affirmative.
The past year has seen many controversies about AIDS research and researchers. What productive events have occurred, and what is likely to happen in the next year?
On the eve of the announcement by the British government of its plan to reorganize the country's scientific enterprise, how should scientists see themselves in relation to the world in which they live?
One of President Bill Clinton's early decisions was to lift the ban on federally supported research on human fetal tissue. Under what circumstances can research on this material be justified?
At UNESCO's celebration of the double helix's fortieth anniversary in Paris last week, nostalgia was overlaid by vigorous optimism about the future of molecular biology.
People in rural regions of the developing world are hungry for electricity to meet the most rudimentary of needs. Small solar-power systems have proved themselves to be an appropriate technology.
How can governments ensure that wealth is created from the scientific enterprise? In an abbreviated version of his talk at Nature's recent meeting1, Sir Mark Richmond assesses the probable British strategy.
The effects of the inevitable discoveries emerging from the Human Genome Project will be catastrophic for some. Now is the time for preventative action to be taken.
The British government is promising a national strategy for science and technology in its forthcoming White Paper on research. Will its bite live up to its bark? Or will it end up merely rearranging the deck-chairs on the Titanic?