During the past decade, colleges and universities throughout the United States have found themselves grappling with an increasingly nettlesome problem: how, in a cost-effective way, to get rid of the hazardous waste material generated by their labs. Although academic labs account for a tiny fraction of the hazardous wastes produced nationwide--probably less than 1 percent--they must abide by the same stringent regulations as those imposed upon the industrial plants that produce most of the oth

Minerva's 1990 Golden Brain Awarded To Caltech Pioneer In Vision Research Author: Rebecca Andrews (The Scientist, Vol:4, #23, pg. 22-23, November 26, 1990) (Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.) -------- The Minerva Foundation of Berkeley, Calif., presented its 1990 Golden Brain Award on October 18 to John Allman, Hixon Professor of Psychobiology at the California Institute of Technology, in recognition of his pioneering research on how the brain processes visual information. The priv

J. Freeman Gilbert, professor of geophysics at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, has been awarded a 1990 Balzan Prize in honor of his contributions to solid earth geophysics. The award, which includes a cash prize of approximately $230,000, was presented to Gilbert earlier this month in a ceremony at Rome's Academia Lincei, the world's oldest scientific society. The Balzan Prizes, three of which were awarded this year, are presented annually by the Intern

Microscale chemistry, which began a decade ago as an effort to save money on a major lab renovation at a small New England college, today has revolutionized undergraduate chemistry. This system, which uses techniques and equipment that allow students to work economically and safely with relatively minute amounts of chemicals, is now implemented in colleges throughout the United States and is the subject of several textbooks and lab manuals. It all began in 1980, when renovation of the antiqua

Since its establishment in 1957, the Gairdner Foundation International Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions in medical science, has earned a reputation as a "Nobel predictor" prize. The award, given each year by the Gairdner Foundation of Ontario, Canada, has lived up to its reputation again this year. Within the same week in October, E. Donnall Thomas, director emeritus of the division of clinical research at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, received both the

Stanley Pine, a professor of chemistry at California State University, Los Angeles, has dedicated a large part of his professional life to chemical safety. At its recent fall meeting, the American Chemical Society honored Pine with its Chemical Health and Safety award. Pine attributes his interest in safety to his experiences as a chemist in industry prior to beginning his graduate education. "In many respects," he says, "I was stimulated 30 years ago when I worked for Union Carbide, which had

Ophthalmologist and epidemiologist Alfred Sommer has been appointed dean of the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health. His new position began on September 1. Sommer is recognized for his research showing that even small, inexpensive doses of vitamin A can save children's lives. This discovery came in 1983, while Sommer was working in Indonesia and other developing countries, using vitamin A to prevent blindness in malnourished children. "[I] quite accidentally recognize

The Bower Award for Achievement in Science, the United States' richest prize for science, was presented to Paul C. Lauterbur on September 18 by the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. Lauterbur, a professor of medical information science, chemistry, biophysics, and bioengineering at the Center for Advanced Study of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, was recognized for his leadership in developing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the human body. The international award, establis

The primary channel of communication between scholars from the United States and their counterparts from China will resume this fall when the National Academy of Sciences reopens its Beijing office, closed for 14 months following last year's massacre at Tiananmen Square (The Scientist, July 10, 1989, page 1). John W. Olsen, a University of Arizona archaeologist, left for Beijing last month to serve a one-year appointment as the office's director. Reopening the office is going to be a real chal

Muriel Davisson, staff scientist at Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine, was recently appointed chairwoman of the International Committee on Standardized Genetic Nomenclature for Mice. This committee, formed in 1939 to ensure that names for mouse genes and linkage groups are standardized worldwide, also determines genetic criteria for the establishment of inbred and congenic strains of mice. When the committee was created, only 31 mouse gene loci were identified; today, that number is closer