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The TIMSS results reveal, and national education standards stress, the value of inquiry-based learning, in which students apply the scientific method. They observe, hypothesize, experiment, and discuss and interpret results. Such learning allows students to build from everyday observations. "Even as simple an idea as dropping raisins in 7-Up and watching them bob up and down teaches principles of science," notes Richard Olenick, chairman of the physics department at the University of Dallas in

A boom is under way in developing drugs for treating schizophrenia. Several new pharmaceuticals are now available or in trials, and research is continuing on even better compounds that will target particular symptoms while avoiding side effects. This approach is one of many recent advances in research on pharmacological treatments for mental illness. As sales of psychoactive drugs soar, opportunities abound for scientists who want to be involved in the creation of yet more of these compounds, w

As the agency overhauls its peer-review system, scientists assess the potential consequences. The peer-review system at the National Institutes of Health is in the midst of a critical series of reforms that will alter the way study sections judge and score grant applications. For the first time, reviewers will be required to consider five explicit criteria in judging grants, and one criterion will have the effect of placing a premium on innovative science. But NIH director Harold Varmus reject

Cases of potential scientific misconduct are rarely routine, and even those that seem to have the potential for a swift conclusion often metamorphose into highly contentious and confused proceedings. A recent case involving Philadelphia's Fox Chase Cancer Center (FCCC) illustrates some of the difficulties institutions face in responding to misconduct allegations-especially with regard to conflicts that arise when institutions must police themselves. THE FIRST TIME: Fox Chase president Robert

Table of Contents Push for Drug Policy Change FASEB's New President Neandertal R NOT US Brought to you by . . . Nerve-Wracking Procedure Leptin's Role Bulks Up Summer Reading Gene Causes Migraine -- And More SEEKING SOLUTIONS: Physician Leadership on National Drug Policy members Louis Sullivan, left, and David Lewis Pointing out, "Drug abuse is a public health problem; addiction is a chronic illness," David Lewis, director of the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies at Brown University

A major academic research center and three private companies are touting their recently announced functional-genomics consortium as the first of its kind. Officials from the participating entities as well as industry analysts are unsure whether the partnership will inspire similar deals, and they differ on whether it will launch a trend whose net result is more jobs for scientists. DANGER? Dorin Schumacher of the Consortium for Plant Biotechnology Research warns of a "non- peer-review researc

Young academic scientists who want to do their bit for the cause of science by presenting its concepts to nonscientific audiences face a serious dilemma. If they turn out to be effective popularizers, they might find that their peers regard them as shallow scientists. Senior members of the scientific establishment are trying to persuade their juniors that they can popularize without jeopardizing their careers. But those efforts are only slowly bearing fruit. Doubts remain whether one can truly

'CLEAR AWARENESS': Keith Clark says epidemiologists have recongized the importance of geography in studying infectious diseases. Adventurers of the 18th and 19th centuries in search of gold and new trade routes were not the only ones to value a good map: Early epidemiologists inspected the lay of the land in attempts to discern the causes and spread of diseases. But as unexplored frontiers slowly disappeared, geography came to be taken for granted. In fact, the number of classic epidemiology p

Now that summer is in full swing, all but the most dedicated couch potatoes are playing on departmental softball teams, hitting the tennis courts, or laboring in the garden. For a growing number of scientists, however, exercise is more than a seasonal diversion-it's the focus of a thriving discipline that integrates molecular and cellular biology, physiology, nutrition, and behavioral sciences. One important trend, not only in exercise science but also in physiology, is the integration of mole

There's bad news for faculty members in the American Association of University Professors' recently released annual report on academic salaries. While average salaries in 1996-97 rose 3 percent, the rate of inflation was slightly higher at 3.3 percent. The net result was a 0.3 percent decrease in faculty members' real wages. Report author Linda Bell, an associate professor of economics at Haverford College in suburban Philadelphia, tells The Scientist that last year's "moderate" 3.3 percent inc

Sidebar: 1997's Roll Call of Honor As colleges and universities the world over honored their graduates in commencement ceremonies this spring, many also chose to celebrate the work of noted scientists by presenting them with honorary degrees. Among the researchers accepting such honors were a former surgeon general of the United States, the "father" of the birth control pill, and a victim of a Unabomber attack. Some distinguished scientists were further honored by being asked to speak at gradua

Agreement on industry user fees may force the agency to scale back its intramural program, which critics say is fragmented. Intramural research at the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is coming under increasing financial pressure and criticism. In discussions with FDA officials, pharmaceutical manufacturers have won an agreement that the user fees they pay will soon no longer help fund the agency's research. Since 1992, approximately $10 million annually from industry user fees