November 2008 Archives

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November 26, 2008 4:25 PM

Thankful for Progress, Hopeful for More

by Rachel Zelkowitz

As preparations for Inauguration Day and the Obama Administration move forward, people continue to consider the significance of the election of America's first black president. Walter Massey, who served...

November 26, 2008 1:59 PM |

Extension for Gates as Defense Secretary, A Plus for Research

by Yudhijit Bhattacharjee

The news that U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates will serve for at least a year in the new Administration should be good news for basic science funded by the military....

November 25, 2008 2:16 PM |

On Weed, U.K. Government Ignores Scientific Advice

by Sara Coehlo

Today, the U.K. Parliament's House of Lords approved the government's proposal to reclassify cannabis as a dangerous Class B drug, along with amphetamines and speed, against the recommendations of its...

November 25, 2008 10:58 AM |

Stargazers Get Their Priorities Straight

by Daniel Clery

Scientists have learned that politicians like it when a discipline prioritizes its desires—the accompanying plea for money then comes across as more measured. Today, in the latest attempt at such...

November 24, 2008 4:50 PM |

Lyme Disease: Taking Shots at Shots

by Jennifer Couzin-Frankel

Congress is wading into the murky question of whether people with Lyme disease should get long-term antibiotics or whether the drugs harm more than help. That issue, which has been...

November 24, 2008 2:03 PM |

Former NASA Science Chief Lashes Out

by Andrew Lawler

NASA managers are typically like old soldiers—they fade away once they leave the agency, discreetly joining aerospace companies, stepping into academia, or entering retirement. But Alan Stern's not going quietly....

November 24, 2008 12:02 PM |

Back-to-School for Conservatives

by John Travis

Scientists frequently lament that politicians are clueless when it comes to science. Britain's Conservative party apparently agrees, having developed a plan for its party's new members of Parliament to undergo...

November 24, 2008 11:58 AM |

Order More Mortarboards

by Yudhijit Bhattacharjee

Those who worry that the United States isn't producing enough Ph.D.s in science and engineering can take heart from the National Science Foundation's latest Survey of Earned Doctorates, which has...

November 21, 2008 6:06 PM |

The Senator's New Target: a Former NIMH Director

by Jocelyn Kaiser

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) has landed another big name in his probe of financial conflicts of interest in science. Today the New York Times reports on Grassley's investigation of psychiatrist...

November 21, 2008 11:47 AM |

A Lively Environment for a Party

by Richard Stone

XIAMEN, CHINA—The drinks were flowing freely and firecrackers were popping off as Chinese and U.K. scientists celebrated the opening of a new Sino-U.K. center on environmental science and technology. The...

November 21, 2008 10:50 AM |

Seismic vote in House; Waxman Cometh

by Science News Staff

Big vote among House democrats yesterday that saw Henry Waxman (D-CA) defeat John Dingell (D-MI) for the chairmanship of the powerful Energy and Commerce panel, the committee through which climate...

November 20, 2008 4:18 PM

Short List For Obama Science Adviser Expected in "Weeks at Most"

by Eli Kintisch

The most prominent scientist in President-elect Barack Obama's transition team says that the group reviewing the White House science shop is under tight pressure to make suggestions for who should...

November 20, 2008 4:03 PM

The French Invade

by Eliot Marshall

France's leading state-run research university—the Universite Pierre et Marie Curie—has been on the prowl along the U.S. East Coast this week, looking to test its new liberty. Under a law...

November 20, 2008 2:32 PM

Will Candidate's Genes Tip Future Presidential Races?

by Jennifer Couzin-Frankel

In a new paper in the New England Journal of Medicine, neurologist Robert Green and health law specialist George Annas, both of Boston University, explore the political implications of...

November 20, 2008 2:26 PM

(Self)Censorship on Sex Grants

by Jocelyn Kaiser

Five years ago, the U.S. Congress sent a shudder through the biomedical research community when lawmakers came close to pulling funding for four National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants on...

November 20, 2008 2:14 PM

It's a Man's World

by Martin Enserink

The United Kingdom is the big winner—and women are the major losers—in the first round of grants for "advanced scientists" awarded by the European Research Council (ERC). The final results,...