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The Department of Energy-funded Solar Energy Research Institute is looking for new partners to stay alive. After eight years of diminishing DOE money—partially attributable to the Reagan administration’s lack of support for solar energy—the 11-year-old Golden, Cob., lab has enlisted NASA to underwrite part of its alternative energy research. It is also completing deals with EPA and the Department of Defense that could add 10% to SERI’s $58 million budget next year, accor

The name Erkki Ruoslahti appears so frequently below the titles of groundbreaking cell biology papers in top-quality journals, it should be a household word in cell laboratories by now. Three of his team’s papers have been listed among The Scientist’s ‘Hot Papers’ during the past three months; two other papers have made it into the Institute for Scientific Information’s Current Contents listing of the 100 most-cited life-sciences articles for 1986. Many Stars Wh

At Last, A Science Policy From Bush At the very end of his campaign for president, George Bush finally offered scientists a glimpse of how they would fare under his administration. And, in what came as a surprise to many scientists, it was a view that embraced many of the positions urged upon both candidates by the major scientific organizations. Speaking three weeks ago to a Columbus, Ohio, audience of broadcasters, Bush pledged to promote his science adviser to a Cabinet-level position (with

The Latest Word On Communication The U.K’s Economic and Social Research Council announced last month the creation of the Human Communication Research Centre at the Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow. It will be the first Interdisciplinary Research Centre that the council has located in Scotland, and will unite studies in psychology, linguistics, computer science, and artificial intelligence, says University of Edinburgh psychologist Keith Stenning. The goal will be to understand how p

The American Museum of Natural’ History's summer expedition to Madagascar yielded some "devastating" news about the health--that is, the lack of it—of the country’s unique flora and fauna, says museum biologist Melanie Stiassny. During the first comprehensive survey of ichthyofauna in the country, Stiassny and biologist Peter Reinthal discovered a new species of silverside fish and several primitive species of cichlid fish. But they also found that rain forest destruction is e

The advantage of neural networks over Al is that they “think” like a real brain, instead of performing computations in a linear sequence.

The Formula For Success Although 34% of their investments are total or partial losses (see chart), venture capitalists still make money. How? By backing companies with the right ingredients for success, says Don Gooding, director of research at venture capital firm Accel Partners—and he’s talking about more than savvy science among the key ingredients. Last month, Gooding spoke to small business owners in a seminar on how to find venture capital at Federal High Tech ‘89, a go

Opportunity In The Land Of The Rising Sun How can a small biotech firm penetrate the Japanese market? What kinds of technology are Japanese corporations looking for? How can a partnering agreement protect the commercial interests of the companies inyolved? Across the broad expanse of the Pacific, U.S. and Japanese firms are eying each other with mutual interest—and some trepidation. Enter consulting firm Venture Economics. Together with Arthur Young and Japan Associated Finance Co., Ven

Sharing Soviet Science Glasnost may be opening up Soviet society, but it’s not happening fast enough for Soviet ref useniks. So from December 8 to 10, the Committee of Concerned Scientists is taking advantage of the gains of glasnost by sponsoring an unusual international scientific conference in Moscow—one organized by Soviet ] and held in private apartments without the sanction of the Soviet government. Although, like any scientific meeting, it is meant to promote the sharing of

In the fall of 1986, Will Talbot was just another college senior nervously applying to graduate school. He knew his credentials were good. As an ambitious high school junior in Gainesville, Fla. he had talked his way into an immunology research laboratory to begin hands-on training at the lab bench. And as a student at the University of Florida, he had compiled an outstanding academic record. But he figured that the competition for top programs in molecular biology would be stiff. “I appli

“Human Immune Defenses Are Transplanted in Mice” beckoned the headline on a front page of the New York Times last month. It announced a story arousing high expectations for a powerful new medical research tool Independently, two teams of researchers had shown that rodents having no immune systems of their own could be made to serve as true models of the human immune system, and this promised to open many doors in the study of human disease—offering insights into some cancers, f

LONDON—Unless you’ve got a mean case of ulcers, you may barely have heard of Glaxo, maker of the top-selling digestive aid Zantac. But recent COUPS by the British pharmaceutical giant’s staff scientists have catapulted the firm to the forefront of the drug industry, giving its United States rivals a case of corporate ulcers. In the 1970s, Glaxo was consid ered an industrial laggard. But in the past eight years, the pharmaceutical company has pulled a stunning about-face. Besid