News & Views Index
April
2009

 

 

 

Levi-Montalcini First Nobel Laureate to Score a Ton.    30/04/09 [More]

 

Support for Austrian Basic Research in Limbo.    30/04/09

     The Austrian Science Fund, Austria's central funding organization for basic research has taken an 18% cut in funding in this year's budget. [More]

 

Obama Sets Goal of 3% of GDP for US R&D, Names PCAST Members.    28/04/09

    US President Barack Obama pledged to an audience of nearly 1,000 scientists at the 146th annual meeting of the National Academic of Sciences, 3% of GDP to go to R&D -- date unspecified. [More

 

US Department of Energy Secretary, Steven Chu, About to Get Some Help.    25/04/09 [More]

 

Ralph Cicerone, President U.S. National Academy of Sciences Gives Some Advice.    24/04/09

    The president of the National Academy of Sciences, Ralph Cicerone has written the editorial in today's issue of Science on "How to Keep Science Moving". [More]

 

Royal Society's President's Full Response to Science Portion of the UK's 2009 Budget.    24/04/09

    In a carefully measured response the president of the Royal Society, Martin Rees, lauds the support for green and communication technologies but warns not to diminish support for science's infrastructure. [More]

 

Science and the 2009-10 UK Budget.    23/04/09

    Alistair Darling, Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer delivered the 2009-10 budget which included £1.4 billion to green technologies. But there is no new money for research. [More]

 

Tumult at French Universities and Research Institutions  Set to Continue.    23/04/09

    The three months of university student blockades and staff strikes have driven the French government to threaten that 2008-09 could become a lost academic year. [More

 

CSIRO's Battle of Intellectual Property Rights with IT Giants is Settled.    23/04/09

    The agreements include one-off compensation payments, agreements to pay ongoing royalties or a combination of the two. [More

 

Universities Australia Releases Analysis of Higher Education's Contribution to Long Term Growth.    22/04/09

Universities Australia today released an 86 page analysis performed for it by KPMG, Economic Modelling of Improved Funding and Reform Arrangements for Universities. [More]

 

Julia Gillard Launches "Teach for Australia" to "Attract Best and Brightest Graduates into Teaching.    21/04/09

     Will it have a significant effect on student interest and achievement? [More]

 

The Bradley Review Under a Critical Eye.    20/04/09

    Jenny Stewark writing in today's Canberra Times casts a critical eye over the practice of governmental reviews. [More]

 

US EPA Declares Greenhouse Gases a Threat to Public Health and Welfare.    20/04/09

    In April 2007 the US Supreme Court ruled that carbon dioxide is a pollutant under the Clean Air Act. [More]

 

British Scientists Make the Case For Strong Support to Prepare for the Post-Recession.    17/04/09

    Next week, the 2009-10 British budget will be brought down by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling. [More]

 

Look, Ma, A Chief Science Advisor What Says Something.    16/04/09 [More]

 

Sir John Maddox, Former Editor of Nature, Dead at 83.16/04/09 [More]

 

CSIRO Scientists Speak Out Regarding Global Warming, and First Preparatory Meeting for the Copenhagen Climate-Change Summit is Disappointing.    15/04/09

    Three of CSIRO's top climatologists have fronted the Senate inquiry into the Rudd Government's emissions trading scheme. [More]

 

Report from Union of Concerned Scientists Questions Utility of "Engineered Crops".    15/04/09

     The report's author, Doug Gurian-Sherman, comments: "Traditional breeding outperforms genetic engineering hands down." [More

 

HP, Fujitsu, Microsoft Settle with CSIRO on WiFi (802.11) Patent.    14/04/09

    The litigation begun by CSIRO several years ago is based on US patent number 5,487,069 Wireless LAN which was filed on November 23 1993 and issued on January 23 1996. [More]

 

US President Barack Obama's Chief Scientific Advisor Chats With Nature.    09/04/09

    John Holdren, formerly at Harvard University, has been confirmed as the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and is US President Barack Obama's chief scientific advisor. [More]

 

Two US House of Representatives Committee Chairmen Release Draft Climate Change Mitigation Bill.    09/04/09 [More]

 

Australian Universities' Investment Incomes Not Immune from the GFC.    08/04/09

    It ought hardly come as a surprise, but Universities Australia has now stated publically that investment and commercial income has fallen from 10%, to 5% of total university sector income. [More]

 

Once Again Steven Chu Rattles the Cage of International Cooperation.    08/04/09

    TFW has mentioned in the recent past that physics Nobel Laureate and US Secretary of Energy Steven Chu is good copy and once again he hasn't disappointed. [More]

 

European Research Council Update.    07/04/09

     "In a moment of crisis you want to put resources as much as possible to those who will have a major impact. Excellence is at the core of the ERC." Fotis Kafatos, President of the European Research Council. [More]

 

Economic Stimuli a Boost for Greenhouse Gas Reduction Efforts.    07/04/09

    A forty-nine page report, Toward a Global Green Recovery written under the auspices of the German Foreign Office sets out what its authors consider to be key measures that must be undertaken to mitigate the effects of excessive greenhouse gas emissions. [More]

 

The Fruits of Curiosity. The Royal Society to Examine the Long-Term Prospects for UK Science and Innovation.    03/04/09

     The Society wants to reaffirm the vital contribution that science has and continues to make to wealth creation, social progress and environmental sustainability. [More]

 

As Far As Most U.S. Scientists are Concerned, House Speaker Pelosi Can Do No Wrong.    03/04/09

    The journal Science reports that last week the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, was paid tribute by the nation's scientific community for her successful advocacy of bigger research budgets and, more broadly, the importance of supporting innovation in a time of economic turmoil. [More]

 

The Nobel Laureate and the Australian Academy of Science President Speak Out For Fundamental Research.    02/04/09

    In Barry Marshall's opinion peer review funding bodies such as the NHMRC are too conservative. [More]

 

A Vice-Chancellor and a Higher Education Policy Analyst Venture Some Opinions.    01/04/09 [More]

 

The Redhead With the Monotonic Delivery Has Something of Consequence to Say.    01/04/09

    Acting Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, the Federal Labor Cabinet's Pooh-Bah was in Adelaide today opening a lecture theatre at Flinders University. [More]