Comment in 2013

Massive open online courses can make higher education more accessible, immersive and comprehensive — if they are deployed with due caution, says Michael M. Crow.

Giving scientists greater access to conceptual and technical tuition through massive open online courses will aid interdisciplinary research, say Hazel Sive and Sanjay Sarma.

Massoud Amin outlines how the United States should make its electricity infrastructure self-healing to avoid massive power failures.

Four insiders explain how they would make the savings in US science required by the budget sequester.

We must mine the biodiversity in seed banks to help to overcome food shortages, urge Susan McCouch and colleagues.

To establish the true role of sleep, researchers must gather real-world data from thousands, even millions, of people, says Till Roenneberg.

Sam Dupont and Hans Pörtner call for experiments of greater complexity that can probe how plummeting pH will affect marine ecosystems as the climate warms.

To change attitudes towards energy scarcity and climate change, focus on transitions and solutions, not danger and loss, says Chris Nelder.

Recent developments have rekindled the ethical debate over human cloning. This is no time for complacency, caution Martin Pera and Alan Trounson.

Arab Muslim countries need a new generation of observatories to rejoin the forefront of the field, says Nidhal Guessoum.

While we are still learning about the particle's true nature, says Frank Wilczek, let's celebrate its beauty.

John L. Heilbron describes the route that led Niels Bohr to quantize electron orbits a century ago.

Efforts to improve street lights are providing a rare opportunity to cut both financial and environmental costs, argues Kevin Gaston.

Jonathan Adams analyses papers from the past three decades and finds that the best science comes from international collaboration.

Foster partnerships and share data to reduce hazards in fast-changing northern waters, says Hajo Eicken.

C. Glenn Begley explains how to recognize the preclinical papers in which the data won't stand up.

William H. Schneider reflects on the centenary of the Rockefeller Foundation, which began the postdoc and the grant, and led to the World Health Organization.

Embrace mistakes, urges Mario Livio — they are portals to scientific progress.

Lawrence D. Burns explains how networks of driverless, shared cars will revolutionize motoring.

Researchers trying to work out whether global warming will cause more wars need to stop fighting and work together, urges Andrew R. Solow.