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TOKYO—Stung by foreign criticism of its scant contributions to basic research, Japan has taken steps to break down its traditionally rigid system of funding university research and to launch new ventures. Budget figures released this summer show that government support is strongest, in fact, for the least traditional of the new programs, some of which involve substantial foreign participation. The Science and Technology Agency (STA) achieved a 23 percent increase in funds for its nont

WASHINGTON—Last spring’s newspaper stories that described how IBM researchers had boosted the critical current density of a superconductive thin-film crystal by a factor of 100 were also bringing news of the discovery to most scientists. Not until six weeks later were the details published in Physical Review Letters. Increasingly, scientists in fast-paced fields are announcing breakthroughs at meetings or press conferences. Long before results appear in scientific journals, they

SAN FRANCISCO—A battle is brewing over a Federal Communications Commission proposal that could double the cost of accessing many on-line computer networks. Users affected by the proposal include the thousands of research labs across the nation that regularly use on-line computer services to keep them up-to-date on specific topics or to assist otherwise in their work. The change could force such labs to severely curtail or drop their use of such services. At issue is the right of so-ca

Director of the Institute of Medicine since 1985, Samuel 0. Thier has succeeded in increasing both its budget and its public profile. In doing so, the Brooklyn native has been able to draw upon his experience as an academic physician and administrator. A Cornell University graduate, Thier received his MD degree from the State University of New York at Syracuse in 1960. He went to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston as an intern and eventually became chief of its renal unit, while also jo

Q: The AIDS report is a major example of IOM’s increased visibility. Its recommendations have been widely disseminated. Are you happy with the response it’s gotten from policymakers? THIER: The response from the research community has been pretty reasonable. The major concern is that we pointed out that education is our only major intervention until therapies and vaccines are developed, but the amount of activity relating to education has been very modest. We also were concerned th

Although many scientists must narrowly fail to make an important discovery, it is hard not to feel guilty for not having pushed oneself just that little bit harder. Early in my career as a psychologist, I began to study vision in the octopus. I chose this strange beast because it was an invertebrate; hence its visual system, though highly developed, has evolved from structures very different from that of vertebrates. I believed (perhaps rather naively) that by finding the differences betwee

Export and other controls over the dissemination of “technical data” are part of the federal government’s efforts to inhibit or prevent the transfer of advanced technology of critical military or intelligence importance from the United States to the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact nations. Some university research results might be technical data of the kind subject to these controls. The present situation of security controls—which for the most part exempts academic

The two definitions of technical data in the respective sets of regulations are: " “Information of any kind that can be used, or adapted for use in the design, production, manufacture, utilization, or reconstruction of articles or materials. The data may take a tangible form, such as a model, prototype, blueprint, or an operating model; or they may take an intangible form such as technical service.” (EAR). " “Information which is directly related to the design, engineering,

LONDON—Cooperation between Western Europe and the United States on the manned space station have been thrown in doubt by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s decision not to boost the British space budget. Thatcher’s announcement that there was little immediate hope for an increase in Britain’s $170 million annual spending on civilian space technology dashed the hopes of her partners in the 13-nation European Space Agency that the country would become a leading contribut

WEST BERLIN—A rose isa rose is a rose, according to Gertrude Stein. But a professor is not a Professor an einer Kunsthochschule (college of art), much less a Universitätsprofessor. So says the West German Bundestag, which voted to end rampant rank inflation in academic circles. A suit by hundreds of university professors forced the legislature to reestablish the hierarchical structure of academics that had eroded over the past two decades. The new law has no effect on salaries. &

LONDON—An international group of eminent scientists hopes to establish a European Academy of Science to provide a new voice for researchers. Sir Arnold Burgen, a biologist and former foreign secretary of the Royal Society has taken the lead in convening an ad hoc group with representatives from seven European nations to discuss the academy. Its proposal received a favorable reception this summer at the European Science Foundation’s council meeting in Bonn. The Royal Society has ag

Something mysterious is formed, born in the silent void. Waiting alone and unmoving, it is at once still and yet in constant motion. It is the source of all programs. I do not know its name, so I will call it the Tao of Programming. If the Tao is great, then the operating system is great. If the operating system is great, then the compiler is great. If the compiler is great, then the application is great. The user is pleased and there is harmony in the world. The Tao of Programming flows fa