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The sacking of France's science and education minister was unavoidable. His successor would do well to take on board some of Claude Allègre's goals, but also to learn from his mistakes in reforming French and European research.
German scientists are due to speak out this week in protest at rules that allow research on human stem cells made abroad but prevent German researchers creating their own.
As biotechnology stocks recovered slightly last week from their sharp drop in value a week before, analysts say the fall was little more than a timely correction.
Major reforms are needed to bring the workings of Spanish universities in line with other advanced nations, according to a report produced by university rectors.
Former members of the chemistry department at Cambridge University have admitted that they tested nerve gases and other chemical warfare agents on themselves during secret World War II experiments.
There are no fossils to show how language evolved. But evolutionary game theory is revealing how some of the defining features of human language could have been shaped by natural selection.
The latest in a series of genome sequences has been published - that of the fruitfly,Drosophila. The ‘substantially complete’ sequence reveals new information about the geneticist’s favourite organism. For example, the fruitfly appears to have only half as many genes as the plant Arabidopsis thaliana, despite being anatomically more complex.
Observations with the sharpest X-ray eye available have started to unravel the mysteries of the cosmic X-ray background. The first images in the higher energy ‘hard’ X-ray range have helped resolve at least 75% of the background sources.
A new study provides evidence that northern bats (Eptesicus nilssonii ) hunt at night to avoid competing with nesting sandmartins (Riparia riparia) for prey. This finding may provide a more general explanation for nocturnal flight in bats.
Nickel-48 is of special interest to nuclear physicists because it is ‘doubly magic’ - the number of neutrons and protons are both especially stable. Producing just four atoms of nickel-48 required a huge effort, because it is the most proton-rich nucleus ever created.
Enzymes are often regulated through so-called ‘exosites’ - regions on their surface that are distant from their active sites. New information about the exosites of two enzymes involved in regulating blood clotting, thrombin and thrombomodulin, offers further insight into the coagulation process, and may allow the further development of anticoagulants.
Rotating superfluid helium-3 produces vortices, much like water disappearing down a plughole, but these vortices are governed by quantum mechanics. A new type of quantum vortex has been created in helium-3 that may be the superfluid analogue of cosmic strings (vortices in the structure of space-time).
Meningococcal disease - meningitis and septicaemia - is difficult to diagnose. So vaccination against the causative organism,Neisseria meningitidis , is a better option than treatment. The sequencing of the complete genomes of N. meningitidisserogroups A and B will help in identifying vaccine candidates, but also reveals the huge adaptive potential of this bacterium.
Particles known as hadrons belong to three major subtypes. But particle physicists suspect there are more exotic species to be found. Computer experiments suggest that some familiar, but enigmatic, particles are actually some of this long-sought-for exotic matter, called quarktets.
DNA from archaeological bone material of a 29,000-year-old Neanderthal in the northern Caucasus has been extracted and sequenced. This is the second time that Neanderthal DNA has been isolated, and the two reports together provide the most reliable evidence so far of the authenticity of ancient DNA sequences.
The klystron is an efficient source of monochromatic microwaves, the wavelength being dependent on the size of the device's cavity. Daedalus plans to adapt the klystron principle, and by using silicon microengineering produce a lamp that emits a cold, white light ideal for domestic illumination.
