News & Views Index
July
2008

 

 

A Beautiful Demonstration of True Multidisciplinary Research: Deciphering the Antikythera Mechanism.    31/07/08 [More]

 

ABS Releases R&D Expenditure Data Government and Private Not-for-Profit Organisations.    30/07/08

     The Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies (FASTS) has released its assessment of data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics on the financial support for Australian research and development by the the federal and state governments and private non-profit organisations. [More]

 

Stanford University Puts Nearly 200  Videoed Lectures on YouTube.    30/07/08

    A YouTube channel from Stanford made its debut on Monday July 28. [More]

 

Bias Indicated in NIH Grant Application Reviews.    29/07/08

    Valen Johnson, a biostatistician at the University of Texas finds in analysing 19,000 NIH grant applications that the NIH needs to consider correcting its peer review system to overcome bias. [More]

 

Delivery of Green Paper Stemming from Review of Australia's National Innovation System.    29/07/08

    On January 22, the federal  Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator Kim Carr, announced a review of Australia's national innovation system to be conducted by an expert panel chaired by Dr Terry Cutler. [More]

 

Institute of Science and Technology, Austria Forced to Take a Step Back.    25/07/08

    Tobias Bonhoeffe has second thoughts taking on the foundation presidency. [More

 

US Business Groups Call for Action to Enhance Competitiveness.    24/07/08

     A group of 16 business organizations known as Tapping America's Potential (TAP) released an update on their goal to double the number of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) graduates with bachelors degrees by 2015. [More

 

Newly Installed Vice-Chancellor of The University of Sydney Gives His Inaugural Address.    23/07/08 [More]

 

Kim Carr's Relentless Drive for Mediocrity has the Inertia of a Celestial Body.    23/07/08

    No one can doubt the staying power of the Labor Senator from Victoria and Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Kim Carr. [More

 

The Matter of Research Impact is Once Again Under Discussion.    23/07/08

    The Australian Technology Network of Universities (ATN) are working to place research impact on the agenda for defining the scope of Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA). [More]

 

UK's Communications Regulator Partially Upholds Complaints Against the TV Program The Great Global Warming Swindle.    22/07/08
    Broadcast as a documentary on the UK's Channel 4 on March 8 last year, with an edited version rebroadcast by ABC TV in July 2007, "The Great Global Warming Swindle" was the target of 265 complaints from the public. [More]

 

One of the Native Media is Getting Restless; Where's That "Education Revolution"?    21/07/08 [More]

 

Al Gore Has a Vision for the United States.    20/07/08

    "I’m going to issue a strategic challenge that the United States of America set a goal of getting 100 percent of our electricity from renewable resources..." [More]

 

President of the British Academy Warns Against Overreliance on Metrics.    20/07/08

     Baroness Onora O'Neill, Professor of Philosophy, University of Cambridge, calls for caution in the use of metrics to assess university research departments. [More]

 

Institute of Science and Technology, Austria Moves a Step Closer to Fruition.    18/07/08

    Two years ago TFW reported on the machinations taking place regarding the formation of a new Austrian Institute of Science and Technology. [More]

 

Michael Spence Takes Over at The University of Sydney and Offers a Few Generalisations Certain to Garner Mixed Reactions.    16/07/08

    Professor Michael Spence has now taken over from Gavin Brown as vice-chancellor of The University of Sydney and hasn't been slow in stating his viewpoint, speaking generally, on several key issues of academic governance. [More

 

Government Releases Green Paper on Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme.    16/07/08

    The federal Minister for Climate Change and Water, Senator Penny Wong on releasing the government's discussion paper for a "Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme" said to the National Press Club: [More

 

Think About It.    15/07/08

     High mental activity is correlated with a lessening of atrophying of the brains hippocampus. [More]

 

"A Problem Postponed is a Problem Half Solved" -- Long Live the Review.    11/07/08

    The following is reported in the December 13, 1938 Hansard (UK)... [More]

 

Britain's Science and Technology Facilities Council Meets With Its "Constituents" Without Bloodshed.    10/07/08

    Last week at the Royal Society of London Richard Wade, the chief operating officer of Britain's Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) held a public meeting. [More]

 

Battles Over Reform of French Research -- CNRS Medallist Voices a Successful Call to Arms.     10/07/08

    31-year-old researcher Claire Lemercier, a lecturer at the Parisian École Normale Supérieure cautions: "we are still worried about how it will pan out concretely in practice." [More]

 

Higher Education in India Gets an Upward Push Amid Cautious Optimism.    08/07/08

    This past January Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh promised: "Our government is committed to investing more, much more, in education, especially science education." [More]

 

John Archibald Wheeler -- A Bit of Advice Through Example.    07/07/08

    The brilliant theoretical physicist who coined the term "black hole" mentored 100 students. [More]

 

A Dedicated Bot for Science News.    06/07/08

    Canadian grad student develops a robotic aggregator to fill a need. [More]

 

Science's Editor in Chief and "Friends" Discuss Peer Review and Journal Impact.    04/07/08

     Axiomatically: "Peer review, in which experts in the field scrutinize and critique scientific results prior to publication, is fundamental to scientific progress." [More]

 

AAAS Issues a "Policy Alert".    04/07/08

    If there is one thing that can be said for the Bush White House, it remains consistent as regards anthropogenic effects on climate. [More]

 

Professor Ross Garnaut Tables Draft Report on Climate Change.    04/07/08

    The Review was required to examine the impacts of climate change on the Australian economy, and to recommend medium- to long-term policies. [More

 

If You're British, Forget Brain Drain -- It's "Brain Circulation".    02/07/08

    In Britain brain-drain fears have "receded because global mobility is viewed more positively..." [More