Science News
Royal Society launches major study on the governance of geoengineering
18 Mar 2010
A major new initiative to ensure strict governance of any plans for solar radiation management (SRM) geoengineering (counteracting global warming by reflecting a small percentage of the sun’s light and heat back into space), will be undertaken this year by the Royal Society, in partnership with the TWAS, the academy of sciences for the developing world, and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF).
Seven days in science - 18 March 2010
18 Mar 2010
This week
began with the Ferrier prize lecture by Professor
Colin Blakemore FRS (pictured) on Monday (15 March). The lecture discussed
plasticity of the brain, and how it could be the key to human development,
cognition and evolution.
How your country’s health might affect your next date
17 Mar 2010
New research shows that women living in less healthy countries tend to show a preference towards more masculine-looking men.
Scientific co-operation to support nuclear arms control and disarmament
16 Mar 2010
The scientific community has a vital diplomatic role in supporting nuclear arms control and disarmament, a new briefing published jointly by the Royal Society and the AAAS states.
Celebrating science's 'unsung heroes'
11 Mar 2010
A technician who has made scientific instrumentation that has been sent into space since the earliest days of the ‘space age’ and a chemistry teacher who has inspired hundreds of postgraduates to do outreach work are just some of the individuals awarded a Royal Society Hauksbee Award last night (10 March 2010) at a special reception held at the Society’s London headquarters.
Eggstracting ancient DNA
11 Mar 2010
Scientists have successfully extracted ancient DNA from fossil eggshells for the first time, as reported this week in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Seven days in science - 11 March 2010
11 Mar 2010
This week started with the launch of The Scientific Century: securing
our future
prosperity a report from the Royal Society that looks at the need
for
sustained long-term investment in science.
Invest in science or risk relegation from the economic premier league
09 Mar 2010
The UK will face decades of slow economic decline unless it invests heavily in research - one of the country’s few genuine areas of economic competitive advantage, according to a report by the Royal Society. The report, published today, warns that the UK’s current advantage is in danger of being wiped out by the US, China, India, France and Germany who have ramped up spending in science to boost their economies.
Seven days in science - 5 March 2010
05 Mar 2010
Professor Donal Bradley CBE FRS of Imperial College London gave the Bakerian Prize Lecture
this week (2 March), where he spoke about the diverse uses of plastic
electronic materials. A webcast of the lecture will be available on demand from
9 March at http://royalsociety.tv/
Size matters for female dung beetles
03 Mar 2010
Research published today in Proceedings of the Royal Society B shows that although the size of a female dung beetle’s horn may not make her more attractive to males, it can give her an advantage when fighting off other females in competition for a critical resource – dung.