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Alan Leshner

AAAS Op-Ed: Don't Devalue Basic Research

[21 May 2013]
Prioritizing industry-focused science more highly than basic research—a trend underway in the U.S. and Canada—is short-sighted, AAAS CEO Alan Leshner writes in the Toronto Star.
Gary Goodyear

Canada Aims to Boost Industrial R&D

[21 May 2013]
The Canadian government is taking steps to encourage business-oriented research, said the country's minister responsible for science and technology.
Stack of colorful journals

New Limits Needed on Journal Impact Factors

[16 May 2013]
The misuse of a well-known ranking system for research journals has distorted how scientists are hired and how research is funded and published, Bruce Alberts writes in a Science editorial.
Scientist

Experts Outline Challenges in International Collaboration

[15 May 2013]
International research collaborations are on the rise, pushing scientists, their institutions and security experts to find new ways to create a safe, productive environment for research.
Freeman Hrabowski, III speaking at the AAAS 2013 S&T Forum. [Credit: AAAS/Robert Beets]

Carey Lecture: 'Empower More S&E Students'

[14 May 2013]
America needs a national, research-based effort to help more undergraduates complete science and engineering degrees, Freeman Hrabowski, III said in his 2013 William D. Carey lecture.
Photo: Smoke stacks [Credit: Palmer, Alfred T., Flickr Commons]

Misconceptions Mar Environmental Regulation Efforts

[13 May 2013]
Polarized debate over environmental regulations' effects on the economy are complicating federal efforts to create sound environmental policies, experts said.
Photo: Germinating seedling [Credit: Dbxsoul, Wikimedia Commons]

Philanthropists Aim to Boost Basic Research

[10 May 2013]
Seven foundations have formed a coalition with the aim of increasing support for basic science among the nation’s philanthropists and foundations.
Photo: This colorized version of PHIL 7137 depicts a highly magnified scanning electron micrographic (SEM) view of a dividing Escherichia coli bacteria, clearly displaying the point at which the bacteria’s cell wall was dividing; Magnification 21674x. [Credit: Janice Haney Carr]

Bacteria Migrate in Urinary Tract Infections

[8 May 2013]
E. coli bacteria that travel between the gut and urinary tract may contribute to recurring urinary tract infections, researchers suggest in a new Science Translational Medicine study.
Photo: Center For Functional Imaging, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI)

Brain Scans Have Little Use in Courtrooms, for Now

[7 May 2013]
Brain imaging and other tools of neuroscience are unlikely to shake up the legal system in the near future, experts said.
Photo: Students working with the Toward High-School Biology curriculum.

New Middle School Curriculum Shows Promise

[7 May 2013]
Preliminary AAAS research suggests that a stronger foundation in chemistry can better prepare students for high-school biology.
Photo: Arial view of the southern portion of the Caspian Sea [Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC]

New Technique Offers Clues to Oil Leaks

[6 May 2013]
AAAS has confirmed on-the-ground reports of multiple oil slicks in Turkmenistan and the adjacent Caspian Sea in a report that demonstrates an innovative use of imaging technology.
Photo: John Holdren [Credit: AAAS]

Holdren: Congress Should Stay out of Grant Review

[3 May 2013]
Legislation limiting NSF funding to research with direct uses "would throw the basic research baby out with the bathwater," said presidential science adviser John Holdren.
Photo: A robotic flu [Image courtesy of Kevin Ma, Pakpong Chirarattananon]

Robotic Flies Take Flight

[2 May 2013]
A robot the size of a house-fly is providing researchers with a new way to study the dynamics of nature’s smallest aerialists, according to a report in Science.
Photo: Seal of the U.S House of Representatives

Future Looks Uncertain for Federal R&D Spending

[2 May 2013]
President Obama's budget request for Fiscal Year 2014 includes increases in federal R&D spending—but only if sequestration is repealed.
A sticky note flow chart. [Credit: Joe Immel]

Why Did the Titanic Sink?

[29 April 2013]
A California high school course, winner of the Science Prize for Inquiry-Based Instruction, teaches students to probe the root causes of famous engineering disasters.

Researchers Must Bind Diverging Disciplines

[29 April 2013]
Explosions of knowledge in diverse fields will stifle biomedical progress if researchers don't strengthen interdisciplinary connections, said engineer-turned-cardiologist Elazer Edelman.

S&T Forum Convenes 2-3 May

[26 April 2013]
The AAAS Forum on Science and Technology Policy, the premier gathering for those interested in the intersection of policy with science and technology, will be held on Thursday and Friday.

Students Showcase Green Inventions

[26 April 2013]
Eco-friendly egg-washers, waterfall-powered battery-charging stations and other technologies presented at the EPA P3 competition help solve important sustainability challenges.
A patient in the tuberculosis (TB) pediatric ward in Pyongyang, North Korea. [Image courtesy of Richard Stone]

Science Tracks TB in North Korea

[25 April 2013]
Tuberculosis, including an alarming number of drug-resistant cases of the disease, is on the rise in North Korea. But the country has stepped up its efforts to fight TB, in new laboratories and rural clinics.
Setting Priorities for America COMPETES Act

Setting Priorities for America COMPETES Act

[22 April 2013]
In a set of principles delivered to lawmakers, AAAS and others urged Congress to support STEM education and research across all disciplines while reauthorizing the America COMPETES Act.
Children raise their hands at a school in the Busia district

Experts Delve Into Education Challenges

[19 April 2013]
Researchers in this week's special issue of Science highlight strategies to make science education more relevant to students and to equip teachers with next-generation resources.
Robert Atkinson speaking at a podium

S&T Under the Microscope

[19 April 2013]
Graduate students investigating the scientific enterprise itself exchanged ideas at the STGlobal Consortium's Science and Technology in Society conference.
Norman Ornstein speaking at a podium

Why Making Science Policy Is So Difficult

[18 April 2013]
Polarization of the two main U.S. political parties has changed from partisanship to tribalism, stymieing the development of effective science policy, an expert said at AAAS.
The reconstructed skull and mandible of Australopithecus sediba.

A Mosaic of Human and Ape

[11 April 2013]
New findings in Science shed light on the anatomy and likely habits of Australopithecus sediba, a possible human ancestor discovered in South Africa in 2008.
John P. Holdren, Obama's science and technology advisor, answers questions about the President's proposed FY 2014 R&D budget.

White House Releases FY 2014 R&D Budget

[10 April 2013]
Obama's proposed FY 2014 budget includes $142.8 billion for R&D—slightly more than the enacted FY 2012 amount and about the same as the FY 2013 continuing resolution level.
A student with gloves conducts a science experiment in her Stanford undergraduate biology class.

Prize-Winning Class Meshes Teaching and Research

[8 April 2013]
A Stanford biology class that involves undergraduates in their instructors' research has been awarded the Science Prize for Inquiry-Based Instruction.
A girl dances next to a jelly bean dispenser.

Jumping for Jelly Beans at the White House

[5 April 2013]
How much exercise burns off the calories in one jelly bean? Kids jumped to find out while learning about the science of healthy living from AAAS staff at the White House Easter Egg Roll.
Droplet networks printed in water. The aqueous droplets are encapsulated within a drop of oil that resides in bulk aqueous solution. [Image courtesy of Gabriel Villar, Alexander D. Graham and Hagan Bayley (University of Oxford)]

Printing Tissues a Drop at a Time

[4 April 2013]
A printed, three-dimensional material assembled from tiny droplets could one day mimic the behavior of cells in tissues, new research in the journal Science shows.
PHOTOGRAPH Marcia McNutt [Courtesy of Marcia McNutt]

McNutt Named Editor-in-Chief of Science

[2 April 2013]
Marcia McNutt, former director of the U.S. Geological Survey, has been named by the AAAS Board of Directors to serve as editor-in-chief of the Science family of journals.
Eclipse of Sun by Earth; View of the solar corona and magnetic loops during an eclipse of the Sun by the Earth. In this image, the outer plasma atmosphere of the Sun, 200 times hotter than the Sun's surface, is occulted by our planet. The graduated reduction in our view is due to the variable density of Earth's atmosphere, which blocks ultraviolet light. Ultraviolet exposure. Solar Dynamics Observatory, April 2, 2011. [Credit: NASA GSFC/Michael Benson, Kinetikon Pictures]

Interplanetary Missions Supply Fodder for Science and Art

[1 April 2013]
Turning a photographer's eye on raw data from space missions, Michael Benson has created stunning images of planetary vistas, displayed in a new exhibit at the AAAS Art Gallery.
E coli up close [Credit: Wikimedia Commnons]

Gastric Bypass Alters Gut Bacteria

[27 March 2013]
New research in Science Translational Medicine demonstrates that gastric bypass surgery in mice dramatically altered their gut microbes, which may contribute to weight loss.
Dollar symbol

Cuts of Nearly $10 Billion in Store for Federal R&D

[25 March 2013]
The U.S. government will likely invest approximately 6.9 percent less in federal R&D for the fiscal year 2013 than it did in 2012, according to an analysis by AAAS.
Iran country highlight, red. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

U.S.-Iran Science Partnerships Improve Public Health

[25 March 2013]
Cooperation between U.S. and Iranian health scientists has led to important health advances for both countries, according to the latest edition of Science & Diplomacy.
A six-legged robotic device walking across a bed of dry, loose grains. [Courtesy of Chen Li, Tingnan Zhang, Daniel Goldman]

Small Robot Treads Loose Ground With Ease

[21 March 2013]
A six-legged robotic device can walk across a bed of loose sand and may help improve the performance of walking and roving robots, researchers report in Science.
 
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