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The discovery of cracks in the tubing of most French nuclear reactors has lead to a strong call for a national debate on nuclear energy. Jim Ritter outlines recent events.
This year's expensive jamboree of United Nations conferences on science and technology for development yielded hollow phrases and little else, writes Sir Ieuan Maddock. Funds would be better directed to small teams of trouble-shooters who have direct experience of real problems, such as flood control in Bangladesh or health care in Tanzania; the teams would make “blunt appraisals” and recommend practical actions, building up a library of useful prescriptions.
Hidden within what appears to the West to be an increasingly anarchic Iranian revolution lie a number of young thinkers and ideologues who are planning a new science and technology for Iran. Bitterly critical of the past, they foresee a science which would respect basic human needs and Islamic values. Zia Sardar, an enthusiast for their cause, spoke to them
Evidence concerning the associations between QSOs and galaxies with similar redshifts, and pairs with very different redshifts is reviewed. It is concluded that both kinds of associations are likely to be real.
