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Tight US customs controls on microbiological materials could threaten foreign research collaborations. Especially at risk are attempts to integrate Russia's former bioweapons scientists into the mainstream.
Collaborations between Western researchers and former Soviet bioweapons scientists could benefit both parties. But mistrust and bureaucracy are getting in the way, says Geoff Brumfiel.
Global warming isn't a new phenomenon — sea-bed emissions of methane caused temperatures to soar in our geological past. But no one is sure what triggered the release. Quirin Schiermeier investigates.
A quantitative means of comparing the functional abilities of different biopolymers would allow us to dissect out differences and to discern their origins.
Meteorites record the early history of the inner Solar System. A unique object that has been found in one meteorite may add support to a revolutionary idea about how the Solar System formed.
Newly discovered fossils from Ethiopia provide fresh evidence for the 'out of Africa' model for the origin of modern humans, and raise new questions about the precise pattern of human evolution.
Particles such as the proton can be imagined as vibrating strings. We also know that protons contain smaller, point-like particles, going against the string theory. But in five dimensions, the contradiction disappears.
It may seem counterintuitive, but we are not very efficient at recognizing even the most common words. This finding suggests strict limits on how flexible we are in learning to recognize new patterns.
Neutron stars are the most poorly understood stellar objects in the Universe. But observations of X-rays emitted from one neutron star have now revealed a clue to the nature of its surface and composition.
A long-term goal of studies of the way in which new species form has been to identify the genes involved, and the forces that drive their evolution. That goal is now being realized — and natural selection plays a major part.
