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WASHINGTON—Although many scientists may wish otherwise, the political debate over scientific misconduct is not likely to end anytime soon. Despite the decidedly mixed reviews of last month’s two-day grilling by Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) of MIT biologist David Baltimore and others involved in investigating allegations of error stemming from a 1986 Cell paper, Congress seems eager to extend the discussion. Two more congressional panels have scheduled hearings this month on the to

As science continues to push the envelope of experimentation, computer-based numerical simulation is gaining wide acceptance as a means of quantifying research subjects that are either too large or too small—or move too quickly or too slowly—to be measured by conventional instruments. Indeed, numerical simulation is now not only the domain of mathematicians and theorists, but also of researchers in most life- and physical-science disciplines. The virtues of numerical simuladon ar

Linus Pauling, the two-time Nobel Prize winner who revolutionized the teaching of chemistry by presenting it in terms of the laws of quantum mechanics applied to molecular structure, has been selected to receive the 1989 Vannevar Bush Award by The National Science Foundation’s National Science Board. The award is named for the former director of the Office of Scientific Research and Development, whose recommendation led to the establishment of the NSF in 1950. The 88-year-old Pauling wo

If At First You Don’t Succeed The four states—Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Dakota—that have just been awarded three-year, $1.8 million grants from the National Science Foundation know what it’s like to try, try again. Each of them has lost out in previous bids to receive funds under a 10-year-old program that is meant to help states at the bottom of the federal research pile do better by improving the quality of their science. “Louisiana is going thro

If At First You Don’t Succeed The four states—Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Dakota—that have just been awarded three-year, $1.8 million grants from the National Science Foundation know what it’s like to try, try again. Each of them has lost out in previous bids to receive funds under a 10-year-old program that is meant to help states at the bottom of the federal research pile do better by improving the quality of their science. “Louisiana is going thro

WASHINGTON—Luther Williams, a molecular biologist and former president of a predominantly black graduate research university, has been named senior science adviser to NSF Director Erich Bloch. Williams becomes the fourth scientist to hold the job since Bloch created the position five years ago. Williams, 48, has spent the past 18 months at NIH, most recently as deputy director of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. From 1984 to 1987 he was president of the 1,100-stude

When it comes to computers, space science is far from space-age science. A new government report reveals that NASA’s ambitious program to explore the universe is being seriously hampered by on-board computers that are barely a match for the technology used in children’s video games. The big problem, according to a report from the congressional General Accounting Office (GAO), is the difficulty of protecting leading-edge technology from the hazards of cosmic radiation found in s

Antimatter To Go Physicists have begun a grass roots effort to make Brookhaven National Lab the world’s first source of portable antiprotons. The scientists, led by Syracuse University physicist Theodore Kalogeropoulos, discussed the construction of a $20 million antiproton addition to Brookhavens Alternating Gradient Synchrotron accelerator last month in a workshop at the lab’s usergroup meeting. According to Kalogeropoulos, antiprotons created at the lab could be stored in portab

Jackson Fire Imperils Research The May 11 fire that injured four workmen and destroyed 500,000 mice at the Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine, could disrupt genetic research all over the world. The lab’s most optimistic projections are that shipments of lab mice won’t be resumed until late summer However, Barbara Trevett, a lab spokeswoman, stressed that only production stocks of lab mice were destroyed; the lab didn’t lose any research colony stocks, its library of gen

PHILADELPHIA—A federal lawsuit involving the University of Pennsylvania professor who developed Retin-A, the now-legendary drug said to reverse the effect of aging on the skin, has wrinkled the brows of university administrators, who say they would prefer to settle the matter out of court. In a case that observers believe is the first of its kind, the university has been named an involuntary plaintiff in a suit filed by University Patents Inc., a Westport, Conn., patentlicensing firm

Biotech Wins Some, Loses Some State legislators throughout the country have started looking at biotechnology—and the results, according to one survey, have been positive for scientists. The Industrial Biotechnology Association (IBA) finds 51 legislative initiatives either pending or enacted in 24 states. In a flurry of lawmaking, five of the 51 bills were enacted this past March. Richard Godown, the IBA president, says he was pleasantly surprised by the survey’s results. “At

When Biospan—a biotech firm that is studying the severe muscle disease myasthenia gravis—opened for business last year, it employed a new financial instrument that is growing in popularity among science startups: venture leasing. A report issued last month by Venture Economics, a consulting firm in Needham, Mass., finds that venture leasing in the U.S. has accounted for more than $300 million in deals from 1986 through 1988. Biotechnology firms especially have shown interest in this