Archive by date | September 2010

Bat fellatio and slime molds take 2010 IgNobels

It’s that time of year, when a few elite scientists are recognized for years of hard work tackling the great problems of the day. Yes, IgNobel season is upon us.

Jan Hendrik Schőn remains a PhD.

Jan Hendrik Schőn remains a PhD.

A court in Freiburg, Germany, has upheld the right of disgraced physicist Jan Hendrik Schőn to hold a doctoral degree, reversing a 2004 decision by his alma-mater, the University of Konstanz, to withdraw it. Schőn, who was a staff physicist at Lucent Technologies’ Bell Labs in New Jersey, is notorious for having perpetrated a remarkable string of fabrications in the fields of organic and molecular electronics, several of which were published in Nature and Science between 2000 and 2002. The university withdrew his PhD not because of any misconduct in his 1997 thesis, but because of its view that misconduct  … Read more

ADHD gets the attention of geneticists

ADHD gets the attention of geneticists

True to its name, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has had a tough time garnering much notice from behavioural geneticists. The condition is highly heritable, but genetic association studies of ADHD, which affects about 2% of children, have mostly come up blank – until now.

Report recommends adaptive adaptation strategy for global warming

Report recommends adaptive adaptation strategy for global warming

Back in May the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research hosted a National Climate Adaptation Summit that brought together roughly 150 people representing the US science, business and policy communities for a three-day conversation about coping with the impacts of global warming. On Wednesday, summit representatives provided the White House with a summary document (available here) laying out a series of recommendations as the administration seeks to craft a national adaptation strategy.  Read more

US Department of Interior refines scientific integrity effort

US Department of Interior refines scientific integrity effort

Only nine days after the end of the comment period on the US Department of Interior’s proposed policy on scientific integrity, Secretary Ken Salazar has issued a memo that appears to address some of the issues raised by critics and recently reported in Nature. The memo orders the development of a new policy that “must clearly direct that DOI employees, political and career, must never suppress or alter, without new scientific or technological evidence, scientific or technological findings or conclusions. Further, employees will not be coerced to alter or censure scientific findings, and employees will be protected if they uncover  … Read more