Although spending on science has risen worldwide, greater investment is needed in the face of growing crises, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has recommended in a new report published. The latest edition of its Science Report, which is published every five years, further reveals that there is …
Conflicts of interest, situations where personal or organizational considerations have compromised or biased professional judgment and objectivity, can weaken scientific credibility, pose threats to biodiversity and ecosystem services, and are often precursors to corruption. Here, we review historical and international examples of conflicts of interest and their impacts on global …
Warming is held responsible for a rash of extinctions of global lizard populations. Lizards should be relatively invulnerable to warming: They are very good at evading thermal stress, tolerate high body temperatures, and resist water loss. Nevertheless, on page 894 of this issue, Sinervo et al. (1) document extinctions of …
Long-term ecological effects of transgenic Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) crops on non-target pests have received limited attention, more so in diverse smallholder-based cropping systems of the developing world. Field trials conducted over 10 years in northern China show that mirid bugs (Heteroptera: Miridae) have progressively increased population levels and acquired pest …
This document provides an analysis of capacity development for biodiversity and ecosystem services with a view to facilitating discussions at the third ad hoc intergovernmental and multi-stakeholder meeting on an intergovernmental science-policy platform on biodiversity and ecosystem services.
Nobel Laureate Richard Feynman believed that creative pursuit in science requires irreverence. Sadly, this spirit is missing from Indian science today. As other nations pursue more innovative approaches to solving problems, India must free itself from a traditional attitude that condemns irreverence, so that it too can address local and …
Work on an observatory to study neutrinos, tiny particles that can pass through matter unhindered, has been delayed by three years as its site has not been finalized. Naba K Mondal, spokesperson for the India-based Neutrino project (INO) and particle physics researcher at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in …
In 2002, world leaders committed through the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to achieve a significant reduction in the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010. The researchers compiled 31 indicators to report on progress toward this target. Most indicators of the state of biodiversity (covering species
From the initial quest of our science to understand the Universe, have we strayed so far that we are destroying the very foundations of life and disrupting our life support systems? This was the main thread of the discussion with John Seed 12 January 2010 at the Raman Research Institute, …
We live in a world that is more interconnected - and more vulnerable - than ever before. The fallout from the banking crisis was worldwide. Concerns about infectious diseases have risen and fallen in the public's consciousness, and while no catastrophic pandemic has yet hit us, it is clear that …
MICHAEL SPECTER SCIENCE AUTHOR Michael We tend to think that the arts provoke controversy. In truth, science causes more controversy these days. Back in the 1960s and '70s, the World Bank, in its infinite wisdom, came up with a bold scheme of constructing high-rise flats on the outskirts of Jakarta …
As Egypt celebrates the 50th anniversary of the start of the construction of the Aswan High Dam, some scientists say that this wonder of engineering is contributing to an environmental catastrophe that could force millions of its citizens to abandon the lush, fertile delta. The worst of these is coastal …
Monsanto has revealed that a common insect pest has developed resistance to its flagship genetically modified (GM) product in India. The agricultural biotechnology leader says it "detected unusual survival" of pink bollworms that fed on cotton containing the Cry1Ac gene from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis, which codes for a protein …
In a nod to rising public expectations, China's government work plan for 2010, rolled out last week at the country's two major annual political powwows, puts the environment front and center. At the National People's Congress, officials announced that science priorities include new energy sources, energy conservation, environmental protection, and …
Climate controls landscape evolution, but quantitative signatures of climatic drivers have yet to be found in topography on a broad scale. Here we describe how a topographic signature of typhoon rainfall is recorded in the meandering of incising mountain rivers in the western North Pacific. Spatially averaged river sinuosity generated …
On a damp November day in 1660, 12 London University dons listened in rapt attention as Christopher Wren, a young astronomer, lectured about the moon. Elated after the lecture, they decided to gather every week to talk about science. Wren was also roped in and the informal gathering coalesced into …
Microbes aside, upward of nine in 10 species crowd into the 30% of Earth's surface that's dry. It wasn't always that way, say a pair of researchers at the University of California (UC), Davis, who have been studying land and ocean features to understand how evolution proceeds in these two …
