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New York meeting explores remaining mysteries and clues about the new virus

UK's Royal Society elects record number of women

 Models of estradiol (left) and genistein. For decades, researchers believed that a single estrogen receptor mediated the effects of estrogens in the body. So imagine their surprise when Jan-Åke Gustafsson of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm announced at a 1996 Keystone symposium the discovery of a second estrogen receptor in the rat prostate. The revelation added unexpected complexity to scientists' understanding of estrogen's biological action. Many attendees scurried back to

Courtesy of Sidec Technologies Researchers looking for a three-dimensional view of interesting molecules typically turn to high-resolution structural determination methods such as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) or X-ray crystallography. But not all applications require the level of resolution obtainable through these methods. Stockholm-based Sidec Technologies has developed a novel imaging method for such applications; the company's SET technology combines a proprietary optimization algorit

Scientists cheered in 1972 when Congress created the Office of Technology Assessment, a PhD-laden think tank that was dedicated to providing policy analyses and technical evaluations for the House and Senate. They wept in 1995, when, in a burst of political pique and boastful penny-pinching, Newt Gingrich and his Republican Revolution abolished OTA. Resuscitation efforts started then, and continue--in futility. Thus, in the current Congress, Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ), one of the few scientists i

Snapshot | Scientists and Their Religions  Click for larger version (58K) We asked our readers about the religious traditions in which they were raised and the ones to which they are now affiliated. The number of responses--nearly 500, out of 3,000 invitees--and the many strongly stated comments show how seriously our readers take this subject. "Religion is basically dangerous," says one; "Religion is important in my life," says another. The majority, 87%, were reared in a religious t

Foundations | 'Unlimited in its Implications...'  Click for larger version (30K) One cold night in 1945, a Columbia University medical school student named Joshua Lederberg read Oswald Avery's 1944 landmark paper that identified deoxyribonucleic acid as the chemical that carries genetic information. Lederberg wrote his immediate reactions in a diary entry the next day: "I had the evening all to myself, and particularly the excruciating pleasure of reading Avery ... Terrific and unlimi

Unlimited spending authority and industry liability remain key stumbling blocks

Concerns as inquiry confirms brains removed during postmortems were kept without family consent

B for disease cures

New approaches for speeding vaccine discovery and development proposed

Distinguished neuroscientist named as new head of UK's Medical Research Council