In The News

The World Must Keep its Nerve over Kyoto

Michael Grubb November 13, 2003
The global response to climate change has reached a crossroads now that the US has rejected the Kyoto Protocol. Instead of capping emissions, President Bush has decided in favor of investing billions in research on technologies such as carbon sequestration, which involves storing carbon dioxide emissions. Creating environment-friendly technologies is admittedly integral to halting climate...

Iran to Suspend Uranium Enrichment Programme

Mohsen Asgari October 21, 2003
Bowing to pressure from the US and other nations, Iran has announced that it will suspend nuclear enrichment for "an interim period" to help "create a new atmosphere of trust and confidence between Iran and the international community". Meeting with the foreign ministers of France, Germany, and the UK, a top Iranian official also said that Iran would sign an additional...

Monsanto to Quit Europe

Mark Oliver October 16, 2003
In the wake of hundreds of public meetings at which a majority of UK citizens said 'No' to genetically modified crops, the American pioneer of GM foods announced it is pulling out of the European cereal business. Monsanto, the largest GM seed company in the world, said it no longer sees "a good strategic fit" for the company’s hybrid seed research in Europe. Anti-GM...

Asia Applauds Newest Space Club Member's Achievement

October 16, 2003
Upon the completion of China's successful launch and return of a manned space vessel, congratulatory wishes were sent to Beijing from across the Asia-Pacific region. From the Philippines to India, Malaysia to Japan, national leaders and space technology officials had only praise for China's technological feat. The only other two countries to achieve manned space flight also graciously...

China Sends Man Into Orbit, Entering U.S.-Russian Club

Jim Yardley October 15, 2003
China has joined the US and Russia as only the third nation to launch a person into space. The Shenzhou 5 blasted off from somewhere in China's Gobi Desert on Wednesday, carrying a lone astronaut into space. If all goes well and he returns home safely, China's leadership will have one more accomplishment to help boost domestic support for the communist party. President Hu Jintao says...

China Bids for the High Ground

Joan Johnson-Freese October 1, 2003
The world may seem a little smaller to China soon - especially as viewed from outer space. The Chinese government plans to launch a manned space capsule in the next few weeks, closing a technological gap with Russia and the US that no other country has crossed. Joan Johnson-Freese, an expert in Chinese space technology at the US Naval War College, believes that to understand the implications of...

Global Anti-GM Sentiment Slows China's Biotech Agenda

Valerie Karplus September 26, 2003
Genetic modification of agricultural products like cotton, rice, and tomatoes has recently allowed small farmers in China to avoid spraying toxic pesticides on their crops. Pesticides – laborious to apply and proven to be harmful to your health – are now becoming obsolete because genetically modified (GM) crops are automatically resistant to the most common agricultural threats. But despite early...