A new US policy, which goes into effect in one year, provides stricter oversight of risky pathogen research conducted in biosafety facilities.Credit: Associated Press/Alamy Stock Photo After more than four years of deliberations, US officials have released a policy that outlines how federal funding agencies and research institutions must review and oversee biological experiments that … Read more
Construction of the small modular reactor CAREM, shown here in 2023 on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, in Argentina, has been paused owing to funding constraints.Credit: CNEA/Reuters Owing to massive budget cuts and lay-offs of government employees, Argentina’s nuclear sector — which includes power plants and research facilities — is at risk, scientists say. The … Read more
On 16 April, the Brazilian National Research Council (CNPq) announced a bold initiative to combat the brain drain in Brazilian academia. Over five years, the talent-repatriation programme will invest 1 billion reais (US$190 million) into encouraging expatriated scientists to return to Brazil and expanding collaborations with Brazilian researchers overseas. In 2023, more than 35,000 academics … Read more
The Biden Administration has opened applications for $285 million in CHIPS Act funding for an institute to develop digital twins for the chip manufacturing industry. The investment aims to speed up silicon design and engineering while boosting national security. It’s part of a multi-billion-dollar push to establish the US as a thriving chip fabrication powerhouse, … Read more
Paris-Saclay University formed from a merger of several institutions.Credit: Alain Jocard/AFP via Getty The board of directors of Paris-Saclay University, one of Europe’s biggest research campuses, has failed to elect a president after three rounds of voting. The result reflects an ongoing row over the leadership and management structure of Paris-Saclay, which was formed by … Read more
Female animals and women have been ignored or actively excluded in clinical and laboratory-based biomedical research since such research began. This was especially true until the US Congress passed the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Revitalization Act in 1993, which directed the NIH to establish guidelines on the inclusion of women and members of under-represented … Read more
Over the past decade, intense and polarizing debates about transgender rights and women’s bodies have escalated worldwide — from politicians being grilled on the definition of a woman to scientific journals being critiqued for the language they use in discussions of women’s health. Meanwhile, studies have accumulated showing that the impacts of sex and gender … Read more
Apple has poached dozens of artificial intelligence experts from Google and created a “secretive European laboratory” in Zurich to house a new team of staff tasked with building new AI models and products, according to a paywalled Financial Times report. Based on an analysis of LinkedIn profiles conducted by FT, Apple has recruited at least … Read more
RedacTek’s tool alerts users to PubPeer discussions, and indicates when a study, or the papers that it cites, has been retracted.Credit: deepblue4you/Getty A free online tool released earlier this month alerts researchers when a paper cites studies that are mentioned on the website PubPeer, a forum scientists often use to raise integrity concerns surrounding published … Read more
A NATO research vessel conducting studies of marine mammals in the Mediterranean Sea (pictured in 2009).Credit: U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Kristen Allen via Mil image/Alamy Science has been essential to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the political and military alliance founded 75 years ago this month. The 32-country alliance is admitting more … Read more