An adenovirus isolated from chimpanzee feces is proving more effective than human adenoviruses as a vaccine vector for hepatitis C. Collecting stool samples from zoos and animal facilities, Alfredo Nicosia of Okairos in Rome, Italy and his team isolated and characterized almost 30 different chimp adenovirus serotypes from some 1,000 stool samples. They made safe…
It’s no secret: American children are behind in math and science, and falling faster by the year. For a group of innovative thinkers gathering in Washington DC, restoring “stem” in America must go beyond multiplication drills, beyond the latest in computer apps. It’s time to re-imagine science learning altogether, they say; it’s time for wood…
Dutch scientists have created a version of the deadly H5N1 bird flu that’s easily transmitted. In an unprecedented move, a U.S. board asks that some details of the research not be published.
If there was a tougher moment over the last 40 years to be a leader in the American environmental movement, it would be hard to put your finger on it.
The idea that war is obsolescent may seem preposterously utopian. Aren’t we facing an endless war on terror, a clash of civilizations, the menace of nuclear rogue states? Isn’t war in our genes, something that will always be with us? The theory that war is becoming passé gained traction in the late 1980s, when scholars…
Brian P. Schmidt, 2011 Nobel Physics Prize winner, discusses his SkyMapper project, which is currently scanning the southern sky in unprecedented detail and has a peak data rate of one terabyte per day. The Australian Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder, an array of 36 radio telescope dishes being built in Australia, will generate two terabytes per…
Need to study induced seismicity in response to the string of suspicious quakes in shale-gas drilling areas.
The Anthropocene does not represent the failure of environmentalism. It is the stage on which a new, more positive and forward-looking environmentalism can be built.
The bright lights of a big city, as seen from space, may predict outbreaks of some diseases, such as measles, and help officials to prevent epidemics. By analyzing changes in the brightness of cities over time, researchers in a new study are estimating changes in population density—an important factor in disease spread. Seasonal changes in…
The International Society for Science & Religion recently posted a long essay by Sir John Houghton on “Global Warming, Climate Change and Sustainability: A Challenge to Scientists, Policymakers and Religious Believers”