What happens when an eminent Soviet scientist, battling for reforms in his own country, must confront U.S. peer review? WASHINGTON -- The wave of perestroika in Soviet science has crossed the Atlantic and is lapping up on the shores of the Potomac. And one of the first landmarks it has encountered is the process of peer review. Two years ago biologist Valery Soyfer was waiting to emigrate to the United States after enduring nearly a decade of isolation for his human rights activities. At the

The San Francisco disaster proved the urgency of work toward mitigating damage as well as predicting when future quakes will strike WASHINGTON -- The physical aftershocks from last fall's deadly earthquake in San Francisco have ceased. But earthquake scientists are hoping that the political aftershocks from that devastating event, and the recent smaller trembler near Los Angeles, persist long enough to invigorate a field that has suffered from more than a decade of neglect since the launching

The new HHS unit resists pressure to reveal the names of the biomedical scientists it has found guilty of wrongdoing NEW ORLEANS -- The year-old Office of Scientific Integrity Review - responsible for resulting the cases of federally funded biomedical researchers accused of scientific misconduct - has meted out punishment to more than a dozen such researchers so far. But the head of that office said last month that he has no intention of making information pertaining to these cases available t

WASHINGTON -- Hackers have been breaking into an unclassified worldwide computer network that contains data on research in the space and earth sciences. So far the 100,000 scientists who are linked to the Space Physics Analysis Network (SPAN) are lucky: The unauthorized access hasn't been malicious, and no files have been altered. But a recent government report to Congress chides NASA for not doing enough to protect the integrity of the system. It takes the agency to task for its failure to co

WASHINGTON -- The National Science Foundation, in the midst of declining funding rates and a growing debate about the nature of peer review, has decided to make it easier for scientists to appeal the bad news they receive. Procedural changes disclosed last month at a meeting of the National Science Board also are designed to help NSF identify the worthiest grant proposals and to provide applicants with more information about the factors that led to funding decisions. "We want to open up the pr

Big increases for NSF, NASA, the genome project, and the supercollider must vie with the needs of domestic programs WASHINGTON--President Bush has asked for significant increases for science in his 1991 budget proposal to Congress. But the really good news is that he's also asked for more money for housing, veterans' affairs, and other programs that compete with science for scarce resources. Why, in a time of fiscal austerity, is more money for other domestic programs a blessing for researche

14% increase features more for education, academic facilities, and some new projects that look into space. WASHINGTON--This year NSF decided to go with the flow. The 14% increase requested in President Bush's 1991 proposed budget, which continues the pledge first made by President Reagan in 1987 to double the agency's budget in five years, would give more money to several programs that Congress already supports. As a result, foundation officials think their $2.38 billion budget has a better ch

WASHINGTON--As far as nuclear chemist Frederick Bernthal is concerned, democracy works. The man whom President Bush has picked to be the next deputy director of the National Science Foundation is a shining example of a scientist whose thoughts in midcareer turned to government and who has wound up playing a major role in federal science policy. "There are two kinds of political appointees," says physicist John Ahearne, the executive director of Sigma Xi, the scientific research society, and, l

Following a storm of criticism, HHS chief Sullivan asks for another plan to stem conflicts of interest. WASHINGTON--As soon as he read them, James Wyngaarden knew that there would be problems. The former National Institutes of Health director expected the agency to propose guidelines to eliminate potential conflicts of interest by government-funded university scientists who are carrying out clinical trials. But instead of directing a surgical strike against questionable financial relationships

A new report says a White House committee has failed to properly oversee the nation's biotech policies. WASHINGTON--The Biotechnology Science Coordinating Committee, which was created to address the scientific problems arising from the burgeoning biotechnology industry, is being criticized for failing to do its job. The government body has been accused in one recent report of overstepping its charter by encroaching on the authority of other federal agencies and of hiding its work from the publ

WASHINGTON--The Bush administration's continued opposition to rejoining the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization is based on complaints that are no longer valid, say those who advocate renewed United States ties with the international agency. The latest evidence, they say, is the admini-stration's hard-line response to actions taken at UNESCO's recent meeting in Paris that were meant to improve its management practices and defuse some controversial issues that contr

Under attack by animal rights campaigners, federal health agencies counter with a vigorous drive yo gain public support WASHINGTON - Top health officials in the Bush administration have begun an offensive on behalf of the use of animals in research. Their campaign is meant to counter the continuing efforts by animal rights activists to disrupt and condemn animal research as part of the movement's broader attack on the treatment of animals. This new, more aggressive attempt to preserve a scien