Issues in Science and Technology articles from March 1998

Issues in Science and Technology archives from March 1998

The long road to increased science funding.
March 22, 1998... For decades, the United States has quietly supported one of the key sources of our nation's innovation and creativity - federal funding of basic scientific, medical, and engineering research. Federal investments in research have yielded enormous...

Clinton's proposed big boost in R&D spending faces obstacles.
March 22, 1998... President Clinton's FY 1999 budget request, which projects the first surplus in nearly 30 years, calls for increased R&D investments, especially for fundamental science, biomedical research, and research aimed at reducing greenhouse gas...

Sensible, coherent, long-term S&T strategy sought. (science and technology)
March 22, 1998... With the end of the era of federal budget deficits in sight, House and Senate members from both parties are calling for a doubling of federal nondefense R&D spending during the next 5 to 10 years. At the same time, however, key congressional...

Tobacco deal could be a boon to biomedical research.
March 22, 1998... Members of Congress are less than optimistic about enacting comprehensive tobacco legislation this year. But if a deal is reached, it's likely that biomedical research will be a big winner. In June of 1997, various states and the tobacco...

Debate over database protection continues.
March 22, 1998... A House bill aimed at strengthening copyright protection for database publishers is arousing concern among some scientists, educators, and librarians. H.R. 2652, introduced by Rep. Howard Coble (R-N.C.), seeks to address various concerns...

Proposed human cloning experiment spurs Hill action.
March 22, 1998... A year after the world learned that an adult mammal had been successfully cloned, the issue of human cloning continues to be a major concern in Congress. After the initial excitement about cloning died down last year, it appeared unlikely that...

Progress begins on controlling trade in light arms.
March 22, 1998... In an article in the Fall 1995 Issues ("Stemming the Lethal Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons"), I urged that increased international attention be given to the problem of unregulated trafficking in small arms and light weapons. This trade, I...

Scorched-earth fishing. (bottom trawl fishing)
March 22, 1998... The economic and social consequences of overfishing, along with the indiscriminate killing of other marine animals and the loss of coastal habitats, have stimulated media coverage of problems in the oceans. Attention to marine habitat destruction...

Patented genes: an ethical appraisal.
March 22, 1998... On May 18, 1995, about 200 religious leaders representing 80 faiths gathered in Washington, D.C., to call for a moratorium on the patenting of genes and genetically engineered creatures. In their "Joint Appeal Against Human and Animal Patenting,"...

Patent nonsense. (proposed patent reform bill)
March 22, 1998... Pending legislation threatens to tilt the intellectual-property playing field toward established market giants and greatly compound the risks for innovators and their backers. The bill's effects would be so farreaching that a group of more than...

Extending manufacturing extension. (Manufacturing Extension Partnership)
March 22, 1998... At the start of this decade, U.S. efforts to help smaller manufacturers use technology were patchy and poorly funded. A handful of states ran industrial extension programs to aid companies in upgrading their technologies and business practices,...

Unleashing innovation in electricity generation.
March 22, 1998... This nation's electric power industry is undergoing profound change. Just when lawmakers are replacing regulated monopolies with competitive entrepreneurs, a new generation of highly efficient, low-emission, modular power technologies is coming...

Kyoto and beyond. (climate change)
March 22, 1998... The international agreement concluded in Kyoto, Japan, during the first two weeks of December 1997 to limit greenhouse gas emissions to forestall climate warming is variously portrayed as a success or a failure. It was both. The road to Kyoto was...

Implementing the Kyoto protocol. (Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change)
March 22, 1998... The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is an agreement of historic proportions. Finally, the world is treating global warming seriously. The protocol could put us on a course that is less polluting, less...

A low-cost way to control climate change.
March 22, 1998... In December 1997 in Kyoto, Japan, representatives of 159 countries agreed to a protocol to limit the emissions of greenhouse gases. Now comes the hard part: how to achieve the reductions. Emissions trading offers a golden opportunity for a...

Academic Duty.
March 22, 1998... Academic Duty is an important book. It provides a corrective to what Donald Kennedy, former president of Stanford University, points to as the academy's one-sided focus: academic freedom and rights at the expense of academic obligations and...

Nature Wars: People vs. Pests.
March 22, 1998... In Nature Wars, Mark L. Winston argues that the public's equally intense phobias about pests and pesticides often result in irrational pest control decisions. In many situations our hatred of pests leads to unwarranted use of pesticides that...

Clone: The Road to Dolly, and the Path Ahead.
March 22, 1998... Gina Kolata, a science reporter for the New York Times, was the first to write about the cloning of Dolly in a U.S. newspaper. Cloning and its media coverage are the signal events in a story that is still far from complete. This book chronicles...