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BOSTON—State science academies, which traditionally ply the backwaters of the scientific world, can actually play vital roles in public debates that involve science and technology, according to an environmental policy specialist. The North Carolina Academy of Sciences (NCAS) has shown the way by playing an active role in setting standards for hazardous waste landfills and designing a state regulatory approach to toxic air pollutants, reported Richard N.L. Andrews, director of the Univ

WASHINGTON—There are two ways for biomedical research to receive more federal funds: from new money generated by raising taxes, or through a larger share of the existing budget. While the biomedical commnunity as a whole is just beginning to tackle the problem, one group—the American Federation for Clinical Researchers—has already decided that biomedical research should receive a larger slice of the current pie at the expense of military research. On March 3 the New Jersey-

Campaign ‘88 has now passed through the Straits of Super Tuesday. Not all candidates passed in safety. Republican George Bush swamped his opponents, while among the Democrats the field was narrowed considerably, with Michael Dukakis, Albert Gore and Jesse Jackson the apparent survivors. Whoever the eventual nominees for the two parties, the pair should focus their debates, at least in some part, on ways to ensure the effective use of our scientific assets. In our last issue we ran a p

During my recent stay in Moscow I was told several different variations on the following anecdote. Japanese experts were invited to assess the state of Soviet electronics and computer technology, and to tell their hosts how long it would take for the Soviet Union to catch up to Japan. “We thought you were behind us 15 or 20 years,” the Japanese experts responded, “But now we have come to the conclusion that it is forever.” A professor in Moscow told me that in the 194

SAN DIEGO-Three U.S. journals still have not published retractions or clarifications on nine articles by Robert A. Slutsky that 18 months ago were declared fraudulent or questionable. One small journal is waiting for its publishing house to obtain permission from Slutsky. A second publication has withdrawn only research retracted by Slutsky himself. The third journal has printed no corrections because neither Slutsky nor his co-authors have requested retractions. All said they feared litigat

PARIS- U.S. proposal to resolve imbalances in scientific cooperation among nations may be adopted as early as this spring by science ministers from the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development. The organization’s Committee for Scientific and Technological Policy meets later this month to review the latest draft of a proposal put forth last fall by White House science adviser William Graham. U.S. officials believe that such common principles of scientific cooperation can als

WASHINGTON—NSF Director Erich Bloch has thrown Congress a curveball in the hope that legislators won’t knock his request for a 19 percent budget increase out of the ballpark. Bloch's 1989 budget contains a new pitch to salvage his plan for a dozen or more university-based science and technology centers. It requests $150 million up front—nearly half of the overall $333 million increase sought by NSF—for a five-year program that would be isolated from the foundationR

Boston-Scientists who advise the president face a dilemma. Their advice must remain confidential if it is to be useful. Yet their authority ultimately is derived from public acceptance of their technical expertise. Last month, at the annual meeting here of the Amencan Association for the Advancement of Science, a distinguished panel of past and present science advisers discussed how best to advise the president. Although the day-long symposium was spawned by the frustration and disappointment

Every few weeks I read another journalist’s jab at the value and quantity of scientific journals. When discussing the ever-expanding literature, reporters of the popular press frequently indulge in superficial analyses that distort reality, whether through misunderstanding or exaggeration. Nancy Jeffrey revealed profound misunderstanding in “Mollusks, Semiotics and Dermatology: Narrow Scholarly Journals Are Spreading” (Wall Street Journal, August 27, 1987, p. 25). She invites

The genome. project... seems a ploy to raise money, a project justified by its public relations value, not its scientific value... We stand now at a moment of great opportunity. We have, a low-resolution map of much of the human genome and it is sure to improve. We have the skills to develop clone banks, high-resolution maps and rapid sequencing techniques. We can do what we have always done: each of us can apply these techniques as we see fit. We can distribute our efforts over various exper

Editor’s note: February was a key month for the proposed project to map and sequence the human genome. The National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences issued its report “Mapping and Sequencing the Human Genome,” which sounds a strong call for an immediate, largescale program. Meanwhile, David Baltimorebiologist, devoted part of his keynote address at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science to a cautionary note regarding t

What should scientists and technicians working in a military research establishment do if they come across classified information that they believe should be made public? If they decide to publish information concerning a clear threat to world security, how should the international scientific community respond? Should it assist whistle-blowers if they are put on trial for breaking the country's secrecy laws? The plight of Mordechai Vanunu dramatically raises all these questions. Vanunu, a 33