In The News

Microsoft to Share Windows Code with India

Pragati Verma December 13, 2002
Fear of losing a huge market and a software development market may be pushing Microsoft to do what it hates doing – share with select customers its closely guarded software secrets. The fact that the Indian government is seriously considering the wide use of networked computers for administration could open up a huge market. In Asia, Microsoft has shared the Windows source code with only select...

Can Global Warming Be Studied Too Much?

Andrew C. Revkin December 3, 2002
Globalization has resulted in a world in which actions in one area may have far-reaching consequences across the globe, and in no field of study is that fact more relevant than the current debate over global warming. The Bush administration has convened a three-day meeting to discuss the agenda for researching climate change. All agree that pollution, especially from fossil fuels, plays some...

Tainted Soybeans Raise Fears About ‘Biopharming’

Mike Toner November 17, 2002
The discovery in a Nebraskan grain elevator of genetically modified crops for chemicals amongst crops meant for the nation’s food supply has led to the quarantine of a half-million bushels of potentially contaminated soybeans. This is the latest in a series of incidents in which the government has been forced to take drastic measures against the potential contamination of the nation’s food...

Gene-Mappers Take New Aim at Diseases

Nicholas Wade October 30, 2002
The human genome project, which mapped every gene in the body, will soon have a new and improved counterpart to guide genetic researchers. The International “HapMap” project will chart the location of large blocks of unchanged DNA in an attempt to track down variant genes that cause common diseases such as cancer, asthma, and diabetes. The global implications of the mapping project go beyond a...

…And Click Here for China

Erik Eckholm August 4, 2002
Though the Chinese government is notorious for keeping tabs on the information its citizens can access, it is having a harder time now that the Internet’s popularity has surged in recent years. Surfing the web is cheap and fast at any of 200,000 cyber cafes around the country. Though many anticipated that the Internet would be primarily a forum for dissidents and a force for political change,...

How Islam Won, and Lost, the Lead in Science

Dennis Overbye October 30, 2001
While Europe was lost in the superstition of the Middle Ages, science reigned in the Muslim world as thinkers strove to understand the workings of Allah. The Koran was at once a source of inspiration for studying natural phenomena and comprehending them. Thus, astronomy, math, and other sciences flourished across the Islamic belt for centuries until science, for many reasons, began to decline....