In The News

Population Explosion Scrutinized

Steve Connor July 14, 2010
Researchers increasingly link population with global problems like climate change and declining resources as basic as fresh water, and the UK national academy of science will launch a study on what others regard as an overused term and needless concern. Fertility rates in most nations are falling, but the planet’s population is estimated to grow from 6.8 billion to more than 9 billion by 2050 –...

Diplomatic Pressure Narrows Iran’s Nuclear Options

Leonard S. Spector May 25, 2010
The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons allows non-nuclear nations to engage in scientific research on using nuclear power for peaceful purposes. States cannot engage in the transfer of nuclear material without safeguards, and non-nuclear states agree to accept safeguards and verification to prevent any diversion from peaceful uses toward weapon programs. The five-year NPT review...

China Expands Science Globalization Trends

March 15, 2010
Scientific research is now a worldwide endeavor, with researchers from multiple countries collaborating on projects. In recent years, Chinese authorities and academics have begun to take advantage of these possibilities, resulting in a growing network of global scientific research. A Sino-French joint research institute in Shanghai has been in existence for six years and has produced...

Terrorism’s New Avatars – Part II

Gabriel Weimann January 12, 2010
Amid the clamor surrounding intelligence failures and opening of new fronts in counter-terrorism effort, a new link has come to light – the open space of the Internet. Conventional wisdom holds that the war in Afghanistan weakened Al Qaeda and eroded its operational efficiency. Terrorism expert Gabriel Weimann believes this to be far from the truth. Social networking sites, online chat rooms,...

Scientists Use Cell Phone Records to Predict Spread of Malaria

Aaron Hoover December 18, 2009
Employing a method for epidemiology research from Europe, scientists at the University of Florida have used cell phones records to track the how malaria might spread in Zanzibar. Calls made by Zanzibar residents while travelling in Tanzania were recorded, showing a small group occasionally visits a region with a high rate of malarial infection. While individuals don’t infect one another with the...

The Fight Over the Future of Food

Claudia Parsons, Russell Blinch, Svetlana Kovalyova November 18, 2009
Population growth and climate change are creating the need for a second Green Revolution. But the form that revolution should take is heavily contested. Activists argue that the second revolution can’t be like the first, which left behind environmental damage and some claim is not sustainable. The debate is further complicated by a divide between developed and developing nations, and differing...

Revolution in a Box

Charles Kenny October 23, 2009
Television ownership has increased rapidly around the world. But many people in developing countries are only getting access to TVs now. What is unique about today’s access for the heretofore underprivileged watcher is televisions now are receiving digital signals, which means less governmental control of content. On the other hand, that many of the most popular shows are produced in the United...