August 2009 Archives
There are 39 entries in this section.
|
Previous: July 2009
|
Next: September 2009
| Back To Archives
Indian Moon Mission "Terminated"
NEW DELHI—India’s maiden moon mission, Chandrayaan-1, has come to a shuddering and unexpected halt. On 29 August, the Indian Space Research Organization lost all contact with the spacecraft after a...
August 31, 2009 11:05 AM
|
Wildfire Threatens California Observatory
The wildfire raging in Angeles National Forrest outside of Los Angeles, California, is inching close to Mount Wilson, home to the 105-year-old Mount Wilson Observatory. The facility was evacuated on...
August 28, 2009 1:50 PM
|
Coast Guard Floats Rule on Invasive Species
The U.S. Coast Guard announced a proposed regulation today designed to prevent invasive species from entering U.S. waters. The rule would require ships to treat ballast water, which is pumped...
August 28, 2009 12:13 PM
Stem Cell Trial May Resume Soon
Geron Corp. has revealed why the Food and Drug Administration halted its much-heralded Phase I clinical trial using embryonic stem cells to treat spinal cord injury 2 weeks ago. The...
Japan's Education Ministry Aims High With Budget Request
TOKYO—The Ministry of Education's budget request for the next fiscal year has some welcome news for research, including a new teaching assistant program to employ graduate students, dramatically expanded funding...
August 27, 2009 5:34 PM
|
Gulf War Study Challenged on "Deficiencies"
A controversial U.S. research project on Gulf War illness got word yesterday that the government plans to end its support because of managers’ “persistent noncompliance and numerous performance deficiencies.” The...
August 25, 2009 4:57 PM
|
Dean Kamen, Tutus, and Innovation
The National Science Foundation is about as likely to become a leader in innovation, says inventor and entrepreneur Dean Kamen, as a sumo wrestler is of fitting into a tutu....
August 24, 2009 4:09 PM
|
Furloughed Professors Can't Cut Class
Under intense pressure to save money, the University of California (UC) announced last month that all faculty and staff members who receive even a fraction of their salaries from state...
August 24, 2009 1:00 PM
|
Chandrayaan-1 Joins Search for Lunar Water
NEW DELHI—Indian scientists point to a search for water ice above the moon's north pole, conducted with the United States on 20 August, as a sign that India's lunar...
August 21, 2009 3:30 PM
|
Unsurprisingly Surprising Swine Flu Battle Continues
The virus causing the swine flu pandemic has spread to turkeys in Chile, slowed its spread in people in the Southern Hemisphere and in the United Kingdom, and is thriving...
August 21, 2009 11:11 AM
|
Japan streamlines embryonic stem cell reviews
TOKYO—Research involving human embryonic stem (ES) cells will become easier in Japan as a result of new ethical review requirements that take effect today....
August 21, 2009 11:01 AM
|
Varmus Gets His Preprint Server
The most prominent open-access biomedical research publisher—that is, the Public Library of Science (PLoS)—has launched an "experimental" site for posting raw preprints of papers on hot topics. PLoS Currents (Beta)...
August 20, 2009 3:53 PM
|
Genetics Policy Expert to Rejoin Collins at NIH
New National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins has recruited a former aide to be his chief of staff....
August 20, 2009 3:29 PM
|
Pro-Embryo Group Sues NIH Over Stem Cell Policy
A Christian group has filed a lawsuit against the National Institutes of Health alleging that the Obama Administration's stem cell policy violates federal law, reports the online newspaper Kansas Liberty.com....
August 20, 2009 11:13 AM
Times Higher Education: Journal Retractions on the Rise—But Why?
Working with Thomson Reuters, whose Web of Science database tracks scientific publications, the Times Higher Education has conducted an analysis showing that journal article retractions have increased ten-fold over the past...
August 18, 2009 3:28 PM
|
Researchers Call for Second Look at Right Whale Protection
A group of top whale researchers is arguing that the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA should reexamine a major regulation designed to reduce collisions between ships and...
August 18, 2009 2:35 PM
|
Pathologists Splinter From Army Institute to Form Company
More than two dozen pathologists have left the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) in Washington, D.C., to form a new company that will offer the same pathology consultation services...
August 18, 2009 11:37 AM
|
Berkeley Engineering Dean Defends Student Services Shakeup
Students and faculty members at the University of California, Berkeley, had a chance yesterday to air concerns about a major change in the status of diversity programs within the College...
August 17, 2009 8:59 PM
|
Collins Sets Five Themes for NIH
The new director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) laid out his priorities today, spending his 1st day on the job speaking to his staff and reporters. Physician-geneticist...
August 17, 2009 9:33 AM
|
Debate Today on Engineering Diversity Program at Berkeley
Unhappy students and faculty members at the University of California, Berkeley, are expected to jam a campus town hall meeting this afternoon to hear the dean of the college of...
August 14, 2009 6:07 PM
|
USDA Puts Climate, Water at Top of Forest Priorities
Restoring national forests to prepare them for climate change and to protect water resources will be the overarching goal of U.S. forest policy, Tom Vilsack, who heads the U.S. Department...
August 14, 2009 5:00 PM
|
Dog Days of Augustine for U.S. Space Panel
The chair of a blue-ribbon panel reviewing the U.S. human space program briefed senior Obama Administration science officials today on what's expected to be a frank assessment of NASA's choices....
August 14, 2009 1:14 PM
|
Why Low Inflation Is Bad for U.K. Scientists
According to Times Higher Education, lower than expected inflation rates have U.K. research councils considering whether they can legally demand that grantees return some money to the councils. New grants...
August 13, 2009 3:11 PM
Smithsonian Gets New Science Secretary
The Smithsonian Institution has tapped an academic administrator to take over as Under Secretary for Science, a job that entails overseeing a $300 million annual budget and about 1800...
August 12, 2009 6:01 PM
Two Scientists Win Medal of Freedom
President Barack Obama awarded the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom to 16 people today, including two scientists. Geneticist Janet Davison Rowley of the University of Chicago identified a chromosomal translocation...
Asteroid Hunt Proceeding; All It Needs Is Money
Astronomers are making good progress discovering and tracking large asteroids that could hit Earth, but they won't meet the goal set by Congress without dedicated funding, according to a report...
August 10, 2009 4:33 PM
|
More Turmoil Over Hidden Costs of NIH Children's Study
The long-time director of an ambitious children's health study at the National Institutes of Health has changed jobs in the wake of an internal report suggesting that officials deliberately concealed...
August 10, 2009 4:12 PM
|
A Human Genome in Record Time
A new type of technology has sequenced a human genome in a month and for less than $50,000 worth of reagents, according to a report today in Nature Biotechnology. But...
August 7, 2009 5:24 PM
|
IBM's Kappos Approved as U.S. Patent Chief
David Kappos, IBM's former vice president and chief patent attorney, has been approved by the Senate to be the new director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Kappos easily...
August 7, 2009 3:58 PM
|
New Chief Orders CDC to Cut Management Layers
Thomas Frieden, the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has decided to dismantle a key component of former CDC Director Julie Gerberding’s controversial reorganization of...
August 7, 2009 12:24 PM
|
Collins Confirmed as NIH Director
The Senate today confirmed geneticist Francis Collins as director of the National Institutes of Health. A Senate committee had approved the nomination of the former NIH genome institute director on...
August 7, 2009 11:29 AM
|
Panel Says NASA Should Reopen Innovation Institute
In a rare rebuke to NASA, today the National Academy of Sciences told the space agency it should reopen an organization designed to come up with innovative technologies. The NASA...
August 6, 2009 5:23 PM
|
FDA Recruits Bioethicist Charo to Its Top Ranks
Bioethics expert R. Alta Charo is joining the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a senior adviser to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg. In an interview Wednesday, Hamburg said that Charo...
August 6, 2009 4:10 PM
|
Only in California: UC Will Borrow Money, Then Lend to the State
Talk about creative financing. The cash-strapped University of California plans to loan $200 million to the even more cash-strapped State of California so that—get this—the state can give the money...
August 6, 2009 12:17 PM
|
Impending Ban on Ship Fuel Squeezes U.S. Antarctic Program
Two workhorses of the U.S. Antarctic research program may need to be put out to pasture because the fuel they burn is likely to be banned from the Southern Ocean....
August 5, 2009 1:31 PM
|
The Role for Science in Regulatory Policy
An expert panel today suggested ways to improve how U.S. regulatory agencies use input from outside scientists. Their recommendations urge the government to be more transparent in selecting and vetting...
August 4, 2009 2:54 PM
|
Obama Hopes New GI Bill Will Produce More STEM Workers
President Barack Obama hopes that a new bill that will provide college tuition for veterans and other service members will boost the number of homegrown scientists and engineers in the...
August 4, 2009 2:45 PM
|
Novartis Blames Animal Rights Activists For Theft, Arson
Swiss drug maker Novartis claims animal rights extremists are responsible for stealing an urn containing the ashes of CEO Daniel Vasella's mother last week and setting fire yesterday to Vasella's...
August 4, 2009 10:59 AM
|
Small Business Research Program Gets 2-Month Lifeline
A $2.5 billion-a-year program to fund research by small businesses received a 2-month extension last week. The move gives the U.S. Congress more time to reconcile differences in how to...
There are 39 entries in this section.
|
Previous: July 2009
|
Next: September 2009
| Back To Archives
