The Scientist - Home

Suppliers of laboratory chemicals and plastics are already beginning to feel the pinch from rising crude oil prices in the wake of the worldwide embargo of Iraqi oil. But it's not clear when-or if-scientists will have to pay more for those products. Officials at some companies, like J.T. Baker Chemical Inc. of Phillipsburg, N.J., one of the country's largest suppliers of laboratory solvents and other chemicals, say they plan to pass the cost increases onto their distributors, who could try to

Editors fear that a recent redefinition of `protected speech' could force them to stifle controversy in order to avoid lawsuits The freedom of scientists to candidly criticize their colleagues' theories in professional journals could be sharply curtailed by a Supreme Court ruling on libel handed down this past summer. Journal editors currently defending themselves in court against charges that their publications have been a party to a malicious attack fear that the high court decision could ha

Enzon Inc. gains ground in a growing industry with its innovative approach for enhancing the efficacy and durability of medicine Abraham Abuchowski was a Rutgers University biochemistry graduate student in the 1970s when his adviser set him to work on an inert polymer called polyethylene glycol (PEG). Abe Abuchowski, 42, runs his company the way he teaches karate classes. The cofounder and CEO of Enzon Inc. in South Plainfield, N.J., Abuchowski got hooked on the martial art while an undergra

Florida State's victory over MIT in gaining a new lab makes it clear that NSF is inclined to reward fresh vision and determination The National Science Foundation wants universities to know that it takes more than technical excellence and a good reputation to win a large grant. What's required are hard work, a long-range vision, a commitment to training the next generation of scientists, and a knack for obtaining outside funding to augment whatever the federal government can provide. What NSF

Contents Get Along, Li'l Duckies An Illustrious Collection Of Old Boys IIASA Takes First Steps Beyond Détente Report Chides NASA's New Safety System The idea was to enhance the environment. But when Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Lab employees decided to create plush surroundings for a breeding group of nonmigrating Maryland mallards, they didn't count on the problem of homeless ducks. Over the past few years seven domestic geese and six white ducks have been abandoned at the

Inspired by the mandate to find alternatives, researchers link up to create new technologies and substitute chemicals WASHINGTON--Leslie Guth always thought her research was too technical for casual conversations. Not anymore. Now when Guth, a materials scientist for AT&T Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, N.J., mentions that she's looking for new ways to finish electronic circuit boards without using chlorofluoro-carbons, people are eager to hear more about her battle against what many env

WASHINGTON-The Bush administration last month shaped the course of the two most important agencies for academic science within the federal bureaucracy by identifying its candidates for the directorships of the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. Its choices also suggest that presidential science adviser Allan Bromley has gained the upper hand in such personnel decisions over a range of competing interests within the White House. The selection of cardiologist Berna

Before parting with money to fund the NSF program, corporate backers demand to play a greater role in charting its development WASHINGTON--The National Science Foundation wants industry to invest more than $100 million in a new minority education program that would produce 50,000 baccalaureates and 2,000 Ph.D.'s a year in science and engineering by the year 2000. What the NSF doesn't want, say officials organizing the program, is a lot of advice from the businesses on how to set it up. That an

Cellcor's new approach to immunotherapy links patient and lab; the firm's success is tied to skirting the FDA bottleneck BOSTON--What do you get when you cross research with clinical care? The answer, immunologist Michael Osband says emphatically, is a new industry--"biocare." His Boston-based company, Cellcor Therapies Inc., is one of about a half-dozen firms worldwide that are developing therapies tailor-made in the laboratory for individual patients. It's been eight years since Michael Osb

New York alliance offers guidance and support to Russian researchers who are seeking employment in their adopted country Alexander Bolonkin, a mathematician specializing in aerodynamics, has a 10-year gap in his r‚sum‚, from 1972 to 1982, because he was serving time in a Soviet prison camp. Bolonkin is now studying English, but he still has quite a bit to learn; he says he came to the United States "1« hours ago" when he means "1« years ago." Since arriving in the U.S.,

As the shock over the mirror defect in the Hubble Space Telescope begins to wear off, some 1,000 astronomers, many of whom had anticipated funding from NASA and all of whom expected unprecedented pictures and data from the $1.6 billion instrument, are trying to salvage their research plans. Scientists at NASA headquarters in Washington D.C., the Space Telescope Science Institute (STSI) in Baltimore, the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., and here throughout the world are analyzing

Who Says Science Can't Be Fun? Playing The Odds Sign Of The Times Bridging The Gap The Invisible Professor The organizers of next month's annual meeting of the Association of Science-Technology Centers in Orlando, Fla., have made a bold bid to boost attendance by including in the registration packet a one-day pass for three popular theme parks in the area -- Universal Studios, EPCOT Center, and Sea World. The ploy is one way for ASTC, an association of more than 300 museums and affiliated insti