Archive by category | Politics

Geologists face off over Yukon frontier

Geologists face off over Yukon frontier

The walls of the Geological Survey of Canada’s Vancouver office are, not surprisingly, plastered with maps. There’s one of the country of Canada, one of the province of British Columbia, and even a circumpolar Arctic map centered on the North Pole.  Read more

Nobel laureates call for release of Iranian physicist

Nobel laureates call for release of Iranian physicist

Eighteen Physics Nobel laureates have signed an open letter addressed to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, calling for the release of Omid Kokabee, a 32-year-old physicist who has spent the last 3 years and 8 months in a Teheran prison.  Read more

Economist and lawyer nominated for key science-related EU posts

Economist and lawyer nominated for key science-related EU posts

Portughese economist Carlos Moedas has been nominated as new European Union commissioner for research, science and innovation. Spain’s Miguel Arias Cañete, a lawyer, has been nominated as commissioner for energy and climate change.  Read more

US Department of Energy frees up access to research

The US Department of Energy has  revealed today how papers from research it funds will become free to read, making it the first federal agency to respond to new standards for open access and data-sharing ordered by the White House 18 months ago.  Read more

NSF bill with dire implications for social sciences moves forward

A key US House of Representatives committee approved legislation on 28 May that recommends steep cuts to the US National Science Foundation’s (NSF) social science funding and controversial changes to the agency’s grant-making process.  Read more

WHO postpones decision on destruction of smallpox stocks — again

The stalemate continues over the question of when to destroy the last stocks of the virus that causes smallpox, a killer disease that was eradicated in 1980. One of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) two advisory committees on smallpox supports their destruction, while the other opposes this. Last weekend, health ministers of the WHO’s 194 member states again postponed a decision, and decided to set up a third WHO smallpox advisory committee in a bid to broker a consensus.  Read more