Tobacco control experts from 14 countries today advised Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy against changing anti-smoking laws in order to land a multibillion casino project in the country’s capital. Read more
An American scientist and noted blogger has posted copies of newly published papers about NASA’s Curiosity expedition on his personal website, potentially breaking copyright laws. Read more
Fears abound that Australian science funding will be vulnerable to cuts after a succession of changes of minister in the science and research portfolios amid a protracted battle for the leadership of the minority Labor government. Read more
A number of higher education unions and the ‘Let’s Save Research’ campaign group called a strike today demanding withdrawal of the bill to reform higher education and research that was adopted by the French cabinet yesterday. Read more
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has ordered the only country in the world that completely prohibits in vitro fertilization (IVF) to lift its ban. Read more
A mysterious spike in atmospheric carbon-14 levels 12 centuries ago might be a sign the Sun is capable of producing solar storms dozens of times worse than anything we’ve ever seen, a team of physicists calculates in a paper published in Nature. Read more
The British economy is in shtook, as the island’s residents might say. Recovering slowly from a double dip recession, policy experts agree that the answer is to shift its economy away from its reliance on finance to high tech services and manufacturing. Do that, and the UK has some hope of competing with the emerging economies of India and China in the future. Read more
A variety of sweet potato, bred to contain more vitamin A, could prove a useful tool in tackling nutrient deficiency in parts of Africa, following a successful trial of the tuber among malnourished women and children in Uganda. Read more
At the Mission Creek Corrections Center for Women in Belfair, Washington, inmates are helping to save the endangered Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly (Euphydryas editha taylori). Under the supervision of guards and graduate students, a small group of prisoners is breeding the beautiful orange-and-white insects in a greenhouse outside the prison. They have even carried out research to show what plants the butterfly prefers to lay its eggs on – information that will be crucial for boosting its dwindling numbers. Read more
As a species tumbles towards extinction, populations with few members are more likely to die off than those with low genetic diversity. At least that’s the message from a 12-year experiment by husband and wife team, Tim Wootton and Cathy Pfister of the University of Chicago. Read more
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Archived newsblog. Breaking news from the world of science, brought to you by Nature’s news team.
The report produced by the investigators does not say so explicitly, probably out of fear of prejudicing future criminal/civil inquiries,… ... Read more
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