Issues in Science and Technology articles from January 2008

Issues in Science and Technology archives from January 2008

Post-Scientific Society.(FORUM)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2008... In "The Post-Scientific Society" (Issues, Fall 2007), Christopher T. Hill correctly observes that science-based commercial innovations must increasingly satisfy users' functional needs. This trend has increased with the power of software and...

Jill Greenberg.(Brief article)
January 1, 2008... Jill Greenberg is known for her photographs of celebrities, but in this photographic series she focuses on actors of a different sort, playfully capturing the similarities between humans and some of their distant cousins. Many of the monkeys...

Ethanol food fight.(FORUM)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2008... I am responding to "Ethanol: Train Wreck Ahead?" by Robbin S. Johnson and C. Ford Runge (Issues, Fall 2007). Although the article is replete with misinterpretations and misrepresentations, I will touch on just a few of its unsubstantiated...

Water worries.(FORUM)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2008... In his article on dam removal, James G. Workman draws much-needed attention to a U.S. conundrum: We have a lot of infrastructure, and a lot of it is very old ("How To Fix Our Dam Problems," Issues, Fall 2007). Workman lucidly argues for a...

Mexican cha-cha.(FORUM)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2008... The title "Mexico's Innovation chacha" (Issues, Fall 2007) is most adequate to head the analysis by Claudia Gonzalez-Brambila, Jose Lever, and Francisco Veloso, three well-known authorities on science and technology policy in Mexico. It depicts...

Improving Indian innovation.(FORUM)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2008... R. Chidambaram's "Indian Innovation: Action on Many Fronts" (Issues, Fall 2007) provides an excellent illustration of the variety and customization of current programs that support innovation in India. The article correctly concludes that a...

Fiscal year 2008 R&D funding levels on hold.(FROM THE HILL)(research and development)
January 1, 2008... The federal government's fiscal year (FY) 2008 began on October 1, but most agencies are still operating under a continuing resolution extending funding at 2007 levels through December 14. Congress would like to spend $23 billion more on...

Expansion of FDA oversight power sought.(FROM THE HILL)(United States Food and Drug Administration)
January 1, 2008... In the wake of high-profile problems with drugs such as Avandia and Vioxx as well as concerns about the safety of imported food, members of Congress are continuing to push for an expansion of the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) oversight...

Bill to promote electronic health records proposed.(FROM THE HILL)
January 1, 2008... Arguing that the use of electronic health records (EHRs) is a necessary first step toward more comprehensive use of information technology (IT) in health care, the House Committee on Science and Technology on October 24 passed a bill (H.R....

Legislation would boost support for women in science.(FROM THE HILL)
January 1, 2008... On September 10, 2007, Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) introduced the Gender Bias Elimination Act of 2007 (H.R. 3514), which would implement many of the recommendations of the 2006 National Academies report Beyond Bias and Barriers:...

Climate Change Science Program under fire.(FROM THE HILL)(Discussion)
January 1, 2008... As discussions in Congress shift from debating the causes of climate change to examining solutions to address it, increasing attention is being paid to the research that supports these decisions. In particular, the Climate Change Science...

Living Legos.(EDITOR'S JOURNAL)(Editorial)
January 1, 2008... Benjamin, I have one word for you: Syntheticbiology. Of course, there is no need to update The Graduate, and that is really two words, but rewriting that line is a national pastime, and if we can string together small stretches of DNA to create...

Forging a new, bipartisan environmental movement.(PERSPECTIVES)(Report)
January 1, 2008... Although our passion for the living Earth dates to our joyful youth spent outdoors, in Pennsylvania and California respectively, our intellectual commitment to the environment as a political and social issue can be traced to the first Earth...

Racial disparities at birth: the puzzle persists.(PERSPECTIVES)(Report)
January 1, 2008... A baby born to an African-American (black) mother in the United States is twice as likely to die before reaching her first birthday as a baby born to a European-American (white) mother. A range of conditions contribute to infant mortality, but...

Freedom of speech in government science.(PERSPECTIVES)(Viewpoint essay)
January 1, 2008... Since the early 1990s, researchers, scholars, journalists, and professional organizations have published hundreds of articles, books, and reports on the ethical problems related to industry-funded science, addressing such concerns as conflicts...

A new strategy to spur energy innovation: no one questions the need to develop new energy technologies. Government can play a critical role by increasing funding and reorganizing its programs.(ENERGY INNOVATION)
January 1, 2008... The United States must confront the reality of its energy circumstances. Consumers and industry are facing the prospect of a continued rise in the real price of oil and natural gas as conventional reserves are depleted. The increased reliance...

The whys and hows of energy taxes: the 20th-century policy aimed at developing domestic energy sources no longer makes sense. The 21st century demands a fresh approach.(ENERGY TAX POLICY)
January 1, 2008... Current federal energy tax policy is premised in large part on a desire to achieve energy independence by promoting domestic fossil fuel production. This, we argue, is a mistake. The policy also relies heavily on energy subsidies, most of which...

A blind man's guide to energy policy: the broad vision needed to transform the energy system will develop only when narrowly focused constituencies learn to see through the eyes of others.
January 1, 2008... The United States has seemingly reached a consensus that energy is a serious problem. Unfortunately, there is no consensus on the solution. Three major constituencies are dominating discussion of the problem, and each approaches the issue from...

Global science gaps need global action: the opportunity exists for many developing countries to become active participants in science, technology, and innovation, but to succeed they will need the support of the international scientific community.(GLOBAL SCIENCE GAPS)
January 1, 2008... When it comes to the global state of science, technology, and innovation (ST&I), there's more than one divide. Many readers of Issues in Science and Technology are familiar with the North-South divide between developed and developing...

Open access to research for the developing world: as scientists in poor countries connect to the Internet, their colleagues in the wealthy nations must make more scientific literature available to them.(RESEARCH ACCESS)
January 1, 2008... Kofi Annan, then secretary-general of the United Nations, noted in 2002 that "[A] wide consensus has emerged on the potential of information and communications technologies (ICT) to promote economic growth, combat poverty, and facilitate the...

How to use technology to spur development: merging technology and entrepreneurialism to meet the needs of the poor and improve their productivity has obvious appeal, but such efforts need more careful study and planning to deliver on their potential.(TECHNOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENT)
January 1, 2008... After decades of global antipoverty efforts in which nonprofit organizations operated on a separate track from the business sector, disappointment with the results is leading a diverse group of institutions to test a new approach. In recent...

Sharing the catch, conserving the fish: to end the urgent problem of overfishing, we need a new approach in which fishermen are given a share in--and take responsibility for--a fishery's total allowable catch.(SUSTAINABLE FISHING)
January 1, 2008... The mid-1990s were tough times to be a Pacific rockfish fisherman on the West Coast of the United States or a ground-fish fisherman in Canada's British Columbia. Fish populations in both regions were on the decline. Fishermen were working...

Dealing with disability: disabilities will touch nearly everyone in some manner. Here's a plan for preparing the nation for this future, but choices should not be put off.(DISABILITIES)
January 1, 2008... Between 40 million and 50 million people in the United States--at least one in seven residents--currently report having some kind of disability that limits their daily activities or restricts their participation in work or social life. Given...

The political Einstein: Einstein on Politics: His Private Thoughts and Public Stands on Nationalism, Zionism, War, Peace, and the Bomb.
January 1, 2008... eds. David E. Rowe and Robert Schulmann. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2007, 523 pp. If you've thought of Albert Einstein as he's so often pictured by news media--as that famously tousle-haired, remote genius off in his...

Industrial clouds.(ARCHIVES)(Brief article)
January 1, 2008... The paintings of Kay Jackson, an artist based in Washington, DC, address a Wide range of environmental concerns including overpopulation, pollution, loss of habitat, and endangered species. In this painting from the National Academy of...