December 2009 Archives
December 30, 2009 2:42 PM
Roundup 12/30: Outta Here Edition
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil has signed a landmark law to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, to mixed reviews from environmentalists.National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins is...
Russia to Explore Mission to Asteroid Despite Low Collision Risk
Russian space chief Anatoly Perminov says that his agency will soon hold an international meeting to consider a mission to asteroid Apophis, which scientists have assigned real though low...
December 29, 2009 2:28 PM
Lethal Fire at India’s Nuclear Research Laboratory
NEW DELHI—Two people have died in a fire in India’s main nuclear research laboratory, the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in Mumbai. No nuclear reactor or radiation was involved,...
December 28, 2009 4:20 PM
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Japan's Science Budget Not as Bad as Feared
Japan's researchers let loose a sigh of relief on 25 December when the new administration's first budget revealed only minor changes in science and technology priorities. Overall spending on...
December 28, 2009 9:49 AM
Light Posting This Week ...
... But Insider will be back before New Year's and then returning to full strength next week. Cheers, Eli...
December 23, 2009 4:41 PM
Roundup 12/23: Taming The Wilds Edition
An announcement from the U.K. government that university funding will suffer new cuts has stirred outraged among students and academic institutions but it appears research funding will be protected. Three...
December 23, 2009 3:28 PM
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Government Report Questions Space Station Research
Just as construction on the facility comes to an end, a new Government Accountability Office report is criticizing NASA's plans for research at the International Space Station: NASA faces...
December 23, 2009 12:19 PM
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Copenhagen a Failure? Blame China, Says One Informed Source
Journalist Mark Lynas was "in the room," as he puts it, as President Barack Obama wrangled with the most powerful leaders in the world in the waning moments of the...
December 23, 2009 10:21 AM
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Harsh Reaction to Chemistry Claims Cast Doubt on Reactome Paper
A newly developed research tool called a reactome array, which has attracted widespread interest from biologists, has come under intense fire from scientists who say the description of the...
December 22, 2009 5:51 PM
Roundup 12/22: Good Day Sunshine Edition
The Department of Energy has set a deadline of 29 March 2010 for proposals for the Fuels from Sunlight Energy Innovation Hub—one of three new $122-million energy hubs funded in...
December 22, 2009 3:56 PM
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Merck's New Vaccine Honcho: Former CDC Chief Gerberding
After stepping down as head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) almost a year ago, Julie Gerberding has a new gig: She will preside over vaccine...
December 22, 2009 11:23 AM
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Don't Shoot Research, Italian Environmental Scientists Protest
With a rooftop protest televised over the Internet and a surreal video depicting masked scientists being gunned down, Italian researchers working for the country’s main environmental research institute are protesting...
December 21, 2009 7:40 PM
Roundup 12/21: Noxious Fumes Edition
As earthquakes, lava flows, and sulfur dioxide emissions increased on Mayon Volcano, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology warned that a major eruption could come within days as it...
December 21, 2009 4:41 PM
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Dealings of Top Climate Scientist in the Spotlight
NEW DELHI—In a news report on 20 December, The Telegraph levels some serious accusations against Rajendra K. Pachauri, chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The British daily...
December 21, 2009 11:44 AM
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Turnaround on Concussions for the National Football League Now Complete
The league has now fully embraced researchers it has long sought to discredit:“It’s quite obvious from the medical research that’s been done that concussions can lead to long-term problems,” the...
December 21, 2009 4:17 AM
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MRI Drug Debate Sparks Libel Suit Against Scientist
In a joint report, The Sunday Times and ProPublica, an American investigative journalism enterprise, yesterday detailed a libel lawsuit against Henrik Thomsen, a Danish clinician who is among those...
December 18, 2009 5:40 PM
Roundup 12/18: Forest for the Trees Edition
A deceased professional hockey player has been found to have had brain damage associated with repeated head trauma, connecting hockey for the first time to health risks linked to boxers...
December 18, 2009 12:33 PM
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Could a Deeper Shade of REDD Close the Carbon Gap?
As negotiations wrap up in Copenhagen, there’s been concern over a leaked U.N. document, published by the U.K.’s Guardian newspaper last night, that shows that nations' maximum offers to...
December 18, 2009 12:16 PM
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Report Slams Deadly Dutch Probiotic Study
Most of the controversy over probiotic therapies, in which live "beneficial" bacteria or other microbes are administered to treat or prevent disease, has centered on their effectiveness, not their...
December 18, 2009 9:38 AM
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Obama's Speech in Copenhagen: Right at China
President Barack Obama's speech in Copenhagen included some unexpected additions in which he subtly pushed China to change its position on "transparency" of emissions cuts, as the United States...
December 17, 2009 7:32 PM
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Exclusive: Obama Backs New Launcher and Bigger NASA Budget
President Barack Obama will ask Congress next year to fund a new heavy-lift launcher to take humans to the moon, asteroids, and the moons of Mars, ScienceInsider has learned....
December 17, 2009 5:12 PM
Roundup 12/17: Food for Thought Edition
The European Institute of Innovation and Technology today announced the three topics for its first virtual research networks called Knowledge and Innovation Communities. The so-called KICs, each of which will...
December 17, 2009 3:32 PM
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As Forest Deal Nears, New Index Maps Profit Potential in Trees
One of the major developments likely to come out of the Copenhagen climate talks tomorrow is a global agreement to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation of forests (REDD)....
December 17, 2009 12:12 PM
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Status of the Copenhagen Talks, in a Nutshell
From international law expert Dan Bodansky, writing from the conference: ... it appears increasingly likely that the conference outcome will be a short political declaration largely devoid of substance, and...
December 16, 2009 5:25 PM
Roundup 12/16: Can't Touch This Edition
Senator John Kerry in Copenhagen: "The naysayers predicting defeat are wrong. ...With a successful deal here in Copenhagen, next year, the United States Congress, House, and Senate, will pass comprehensive...
British Science Funding Cuts Strike Nuclear Physics, Astronomy, and More
Large parts of the U.K. physics community were left dissatisfied today by a major new funding plan announced by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), the funder responsible...
December 16, 2009 1:32 PM
What Can Obama Truly Deliver? Depends on "The Climate in the Senate"--A ScienceInsider Web Feature
When President Barack Obama addresses delegates in Copenhagen on Friday, will his promises about U.S. emissions cuts be credible? Bolstered by climate legislation passed by a narrow margin in...
December 16, 2009 1:31 PM
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Could the Senate Ever Ratify an International Climate Treaty? Sixty-Seven Votes, Not Sixty, Might Be the Real Challenge
The test of garnering a filibuster-proof 60-vote majority in the U.S. Senate for climate legislation has certainly led to plenty of teeth-gnashing. But despite all the coverage of the...
December 16, 2009 1:30 PM
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What He'll Bring in the Spring: The President's Climate Pledges and the U.S. Senate
Soon after Barack Obama was elected president, congressional climate change advocates set their sights on passing a cap-and-trade bill in time for him to bring a firm U.S.commitment on...
December 16, 2009 10:52 AM
An Interview With Bart Gordon
Representative Bart Gordon (D–TN) enjoys being called the fastest man in Congress, in recognition of his performance each spring in a 5K race that features politicians and Washington, D.C.–based...
December 15, 2009 5:33 PM
Roundup 12/15: Can't Keep a Good Man Down Edition
A survey of 2008 research for neglected diseases finds that India, which submitted no data the previous year, now ranks 5th in spending. While total R&D on diseases such as...
December 15, 2009 5:08 PM
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Irish Supreme Court Rules Lab Embryos Not Protected
Irish scientists who want to work with human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) got a boost from Ireland's Supreme Court today, which ruled that human embryos outside the womb are...
December 15, 2009 5:05 PM
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Obama's Oceans Policy Emphasizes Science
The White House has unveiled its overall approach for improving ocean planning. In a report released 14 December, the Ocean Policy Task Force sketched out how nine new regional...
December 15, 2009 3:20 PM
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Global Innovation and the Recession: A New Analysis
Spending on innovation among the richest nations took a nosedive early last year and began a slow recovery in 2009—shown in sharp relief by data in a report issued...
December 14, 2009 6:08 PM
Roundup 12/14: Green Eyeshade Edition
As they struggle with declining revenues and a shift to digital technology, newspapers are shedding bureaus and talented staff. Today The New York Times confirmed that a respected science and...
December 14, 2009 12:28 PM
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Fighting Deforestation Could Imperil Some Ecosystems, Study Finds
Negotiators in Copenhagen are very near to finalizing a remarkable deal that will see the vast majority of tropical nations attempt to reduce deforestation by 25% over the next...
December 14, 2009 11:10 AM
House Science Panel Chair Is Retiring
The chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee announced today that he won't seek re-election next year. Representative Bart Gordon (D–TN), who joined the committee as a freshman in...
December 14, 2009 10:55 AM
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AP on Hacked E-mails: "Science Not Faked, But Not Pretty"
The AP had five reporters pore over the 1073 leaked e-mails from the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom for weeks and delivered...
December 14, 2009 10:51 AM
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Working 9 to 5: Australian Scientists Strike Again
Dissatisfied after a showdown last week, scientists at the Australian Synchrotron have returned to working on a 9-to-5 schedule rather than round the clock, a partial strike that could...
December 11, 2009 7:05 PM
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Forests Deal Lurching Forward in Copenhagen
In a new development roughly 45 countries with tropical rainforests are proposing to cut their deforestation by a quarter in 5 years as part of a deal to be finalized...
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