This week newspapers in Beijing, radios in Brisbane, and television sets in Berlin will all carry stories springing from Room 112, a windowless cell buried within Boston's Hynes Convention Center. More than 600 reporters and producers from media outlets around the world will be buzzing around that news-briefing room and nearby meeting halls, lured…

In this article, the author discusses the tensions between science and religion. According to recent books--many of them by prominent biologists--the era of deference to religious belief--belief without evidence--is ending as faith is subjected to gimlet-eyed scrutiny. Like Mark Twain's celebrated comment about stopping smoking, scholars have…

This article reports an open-access journal from the Public Library of Science that has begun an online publication, offering all readers the opportunity to post comments. The site is in trial status, but registered readers will soon be able to rate each article on merit. The idea is that the best papers will bubble to the top; the wisdom of the…

The science-studies approach seeks to go beyond a history of scientific concepts and their developers; rather, its practitioners want to unravel the cultural and ideological influences that shape the content of those theories. A new science-studies program was initiated at the University of California at San Diego. (MLW)

This article reports that a Virginia Tech professor whose wife was among 32 people killed by a student gunman last year will become director of the university's new Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention. Jerzy Nowak will give up his job as chairman of Tech's horticulture department to take the new post on July 1. His wife, Jocelyne…

In this article, the author discusses the released report entitled, "Doctorate Recipients From United States Universities: Summary Report 2005," which is based on the annual Survey of Earned Doctorates. According to the report, the number of earned doctorates awarded by American universities rose 2.9 percent in 2005. Doctorates in…

Interdisciplinary research is seen as coming of age across the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, with interdisciplinary thought most substantive in the sciences. For that reason, some observers suggest that the gulf between scientific and humanistic learning may be widening. (MLW)

At a time when national attention is focused on the relative numbers of women and men on college campuses, little is known about the characteristics of the two genders and how aspects of college further shape those characteristics. The popular messages are oversimplified: Gender equity has been achieved, women are an academic success story, and…

The Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader was invited to speak at the Society for Neuroscience meeting in November 2005 to promote the idea that through meditation, an emerging meeting point for science and religion in contemporary culture can be reached. However, some members of the association were offended at the implied endorsement…

Research concerns facing scholars are described including: in science--AIDS, exploding star, Ozone Hole, animal patents, Supernova 1987A, quasars, etc.--and in humanities and social sciences--theology, psychology of health, global environment, cognitive archaeology, classic African civilizations, feminism, etc. (MLW)

Leading scholars outline current research directions in anthropology, sociology, psychology, chemistry, art history, history, philosophy, linguistics, nuclear energy, business, mathematics, engineering, Afro-American studies, cognitive science, economics, literature, music, political science, Jewish studies, education, law, and biology. (MSE)

Fewer women are choosing science and engineering careers at the same time that the college-age population is shrinking, threatening a dire shortage of scientists in academe and the general labor force. Affirmative action is seen no longer as only a moral responsibility, but also as a matter of national survival. (MSE)

Calculus must be made more relevant and understandable to students if the nation is to maintain a strong scientific and technological enterprise. A national effort should be launched to bring calculus education into the computer age by developing curricula incorporating calculators and other innovative tools. (MLW)

The top 100 institutions in total federal obligations for fiscal 1986 are listed showing research and development obligations as well as total federal obligations. (MLW)

Liberal-arts colleges dominate the list of institutions with the highest percentage of graduates who go on to earn Ph.D.'s. A study based on a comparison of the number of bachelor's degree recipients who earned Ph.D's between 1951 and 1980 is described. (MLW)