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The British government's request for input into its promised White Paper on science has stimulated an unprecedented and often controversial stream of suggestions from the scientific community.
The world's chemical weapons are due to be destroyed within 10 years. How sensible is a radical proposal to destroy Russia's stockpiles by means of underground nuclear explosions?
The IPCC assessment of climate change is full of assumptions unfair to the developing countries. It is essential that revisions take these problems into account if effective strategies are to ensue.
Britain's first large, national survey of sexual attitudes and lifestyles will allow improved estimates of the magnitude of the HIV epidemic in Britain and should lead to better strategies for prevention.
The results of a massive telephone survey of sexual lifestyles in France should provide a basis for prevention strategies for AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases.
It is nearly 10 years since the first attempts were made to grow better protein crystals in the low gravity environment of space. Can the enormous cost of these experiments be justified by the results?
For centuries, scientists have been bombarded with pleas for plain language. Why have these pleas had no effect, when the problem of unreadable prose could be solved at a stroke?
The ethics of biological research, and its general impact, are hotly debated in the West. Japanese silence on the issues is counterproductive. Will the Human Genome Project provide the catalyst for change?
The following is an account of what happened when two researchers independently tried to correct errors in articles published in the leading US chemical journa1.
"Improbability of effective vaccination against human immunodeficiency virus...",declares the title of a newpaper by Dr Albert Sabin. But three immunologists see flaws in his argument.
The persistent controversy surrounding the role of the German scientists in developing an atomic bomb during the Second World War can be laid to rest by the release of the Farm Hall transcripts.
The abundant Vicia sativa cultivar 'blanche fleur' from Australia is perceived by markets to be a cheap, protein-rich pulse, but is it suitable for human consumption?
Karl Popper's ideas have been the touchstone for judging science during much of this century. Here, in acknowledgement of his 90th birthday on 28 July, is a celebration of the man and his works.
The first international conference on the global environment was held in 1972. Has the world come any closer to solving its environmental problems in the intervening 20 years?
An informed debate on the manner in which legislation on migration from food packaging is introduced is badly needed. Until then, scientific resources are being needlessly wasted.
The science museum in Florence has two telescopes and a single lens attributed to Galileo. Tests conducted with modern interferometric equipment show that Galileo was able to obtain nearly perfect optical quality.
How should the increasing numbers of deer throughout the world be controlled? The situation in Scotland shows that an understanding of the biology of deer can provide practical guidelines.
After years of research, the scientific committee of the International Whaling Commission is about to put forward a sound method for setting catch limits for whaling. But will other considerations undermine the science?
