Open Access arXiv Style.    31/12/12

    Just in case you were wondering, the journal Nature refers to arXiv. [More] 

The Clock Starts Now: Alan Alda Asks: Can You Explain Time to an 11-Year-Old?    31/12/12

     Contest entries will be screened for scientific accuracy and then judged by 11-year-olds. More than 5000 children already have registered. [More]

US EPA Chief Having Had Mixed Success Steps Down.    28/12/12

    A crowning achievement was the upholding by the US Supreme Court of the EPA's contention that greenhouse gases endangered public health and therefore were subject to regulation by the EPA. [More]

PCAST Agenda for the January 4, 2013 Meeting.    28/12/12 [More]

The Stick Without the Carrot Produces a Simple Non-Solution.    25/12/12

     "The recent results on primary [school pupils] performance were a big wake-up call. We have to attract and train better people." [More]

South Korea’s President-Elect, Park Geun-Hye, Promises 5% of GDP for R&D by 2017.    24/12/12

    And promises to increase the proportion of its investment in basic science from the current 35.2% of the R&D budget to 40% by 2017. [More] 

Friends of Science in Medicine Issues Its 4^th News Letter.    22/12/12

    Of immediate concern is the inclusion by a number of our universities (and other tertiary institutes) of "pseudosciences" in their health science courses. [More]

Australian Academy of Science Continues Its Effort to Improve Science Teaching.    21/12/12

     Over the past year the Australian Academy of Science has begun to greatly expand its effort in "Science by Doing" [More]

Science's Breakthrough of the Year and the Runners Up.    21/12/12

    Toward the end of each year the journal Science publishes its pick of the scientific breakthrough of the year and the nine runners up. [More] 

How Does 1 + 1 = Alzheimer's?    20/12/12 [More]

AAAS Describes Its 2012 Contribution to US Science Education.    20/12/12

    One example: Work began on a four-year study of student understanding of energy concepts at the elementary, middle, and high school level. [More] 

PMSEIC and Policy Development in Areas of Strategic Importance to Australia's Future.    18/12/12

     The lack of transparency in regard to the PMSEIC meetings as well as the lack of substance in the reporting of its deliberations is both notable and disturbing. [More]

Australia's Chief Scientist and Science's Editor in Chief on Teaching Science.    16/12/12

    Are they out of touch with the Realpolitik of STEM education? [More]

Ask What Are "The Costs and Benefits of the ERA".    14/12/12

    The  president of the National Tertiary Education Union: "The universities have to invest more and more resources in accountability..." [More] 

Results of TIMSS and PIRLS.    13/12/12

    Peter Garrett calls the results “disappointing”. But what if anything does he intend to do about them? [More] 

Gaming the ERA is a Snap -- Improving Peer Review Would take Effort and Nous.    12/12/12

    "One obvious way to game the system is to hide poor quality outputs that might drag down the average by scattering them across many codes." [More] 

Launching of The 2013 International Year of Mathematics of Planet Earth.    12/12/12 [More]

The Decadal Plan for Australian Physics 2012-2021.    10/12/12

    Provides the main recommendations for addressing the current issues identified within Australia’s physics community. [More] 

UK Autumn Budget Injects £600 Million Into Research.    07/12/12

    The additional funding is earmarked for big data and energy efficient computing, synthetic biology, energy storage, and advance materials. [More]

Scrutiny of NIH Peer Review Fingers Possible Shortcomings  in Awarding of Grants.    06/12/12

    A "Comment" article in the December 6, 2012 issue of Nature: "Research grants: Conform and be funded." [More] 

Those Major National Research Facilities.    05/12/12

     But are they really a matter of consequence when it comes to retaining government. [More]

Doha and the Way of the World.    05/12/12

    Come January 1, 2013 whether or not the US will fling itself over the "fiscal cliff": the world can go back to emitting greenhouse gases with abandon.[More] 

Group of Eight Assesses Higher Education Financing.    04/12/12

    Overall we're left with the impression that as regards higher education the sector's health is, well, so, so. [More] 

Practical Benefits from Fundamental Research.    03/12/12

    The US President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) at the end of last month released its report on Transformation and Opportunity: The Future of the U.S. Research Enterprise [More]

Archive of the PCAST November  30, 2012 Webcast.    01/12/12

    This is the 20^th public meeting of PCAST, the first after the Obama re-election, and a PCAST double session. [More]