WASHINGTON, D.C.–Research did well on Capitol Hill last night, as a joint House-Senate committee put the finishing touches to an appropriations bill that will provide funds for NASA and the National Science Foundation (NSF) in 1998. Both agencies won budget increases, although the good news was tempered by some disappointments. Cash-strapped NASA, for example, faces another delay in the space station. And NSF didn’t get its wish to start construction of a polar cap observatory near the magnetic North Pole. The bill must still be approved by the House and Senate and signed by the president.NSF’s research account will increase by $113 million to $2.55 billion, about a 5% gain over last year. But the agency must spend $40 million of that increase on a plant genome initiative, a project promoted by agricultural lobbyists and championed by Senator Kit Bond (R-MO) that was not part of NSF’s request (Science, 27 June, p. 1960). The agency’s education programs will receive $633 million, a 2% rise that doubles the request.The $25 million polar cap observatory to study solar-upper atmosphere interactions has got caught in a tug-of-war over where it should be located. The proposed site is near magnetic North Pole in northwest Canada, but Senator Ted Stevens (R-AL) wants it built at an Alaskan defense lab–which scientists say would greatly reduce its value. NSF’s plans to replace its aging South Pole station fared better: The bill includes $70 million to begin construction of a new facility, about half the estimated total cost. And legislators added $4 million to complete the twin Gemini telescopes and maintained initial funding for the $200 million millimeter array.The space agency received $13.65 billion, $100 million above the request and close to the 1997 level. But that windfall won’t go far, as the agency failed to win approval to move money from other accounts into the station budget to meet cost overruns. Lawmakers like Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) worried that other programs–particularly the space shuttle and science efforts–would suffer as a result, so the bill severely restricts the agency’s flexibility. “We’re in a bad situation,” says one NASA manager. “This would force a slip in the station’s schedule.”
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Have genetically engineered crops increased the personal well-being of farmers? Find out on Tuesday when the National Academy of Sciences’ National Research Council releases what it’s billing as the “first comprehensive assessment” of the environmental, economic, and social impacts of genetically engineered crops on U.S. farms. The success rate among researchers seeking grants from the National Institutes of Health could fall sharply, unless a trend in the president’s budget is reversed, says the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB). In a detailed analysis released yesterday, FASEB argues that Congress should boost NIH’s budget to $37 billion, up from $36.4 billion this year, including stimulus funds. A Boston company has pleaded guilty to withholding safety information from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on its implantable defibrillators, and will pay almost $300 million in damages and penalties. Sign up for our daily newsletterGet more great content like this delivered right to you!Country *AfghanistanAland IslandsAlbaniaAlgeriaAndorraAngolaAnguillaAntarcticaAntigua and BarbudaArgentinaArmeniaArubaAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBahamasBahrainBangladeshBarbadosBelarusBelgiumBelizeBeninBermudaBhutanBolivia, Plurinational State ofBonaire, Sint Eustatius and SabaBosnia and HerzegovinaBotswanaBouvet IslandBrazilBritish Indian Ocean TerritoryBrunei DarussalamBulgariaBurkina FasoBurundiCambodiaCameroonCanadaCape VerdeCayman IslandsCentral African RepublicChadChileChinaChristmas IslandCocos (Keeling) IslandsColombiaComorosCongoCongo, The Democratic Republic of theCook IslandsCosta RicaCote D’IvoireCroatiaCubaCuraçaoCyprusCzech RepublicDenmarkDjiboutiDominicaDominican RepublicEcuadorEgyptEl SalvadorEquatorial GuineaEritreaEstoniaEthiopiaFalkland Islands (Malvinas)Faroe IslandsFijiFinlandFranceFrench GuianaFrench PolynesiaFrench Southern TerritoriesGabonGambiaGeorgiaGermanyGhanaGibraltarGreeceGreenlandGrenadaGuadeloupeGuatemalaGuernseyGuineaGuinea-BissauGuyanaHaitiHeard Island and Mcdonald IslandsHoly See (Vatican City State)HondurasHong KongHungaryIcelandIndiaIndonesiaIran, Islamic Republic ofIraqIrelandIsle of ManIsraelItalyJamaicaJapanJerseyJordanKazakhstanKenyaKiribatiKorea, Democratic People’s Republic ofKorea, Republic ofKuwaitKyrgyzstanLao People’s Democratic RepublicLatviaLebanonLesothoLiberiaLibyan Arab JamahiriyaLiechtensteinLithuaniaLuxembourgMacaoMacedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic ofMadagascarMalawiMalaysiaMaldivesMaliMaltaMartiniqueMauritaniaMauritiusMayotteMexicoMoldova, Republic ofMonacoMongoliaMontenegroMontserratMoroccoMozambiqueMyanmarNamibiaNauruNepalNetherlandsNew CaledoniaNew ZealandNicaraguaNigerNigeriaNiueNorfolk IslandNorwayOmanPakistanPalestinianPanamaPapua New GuineaParaguayPeruPhilippinesPitcairnPolandPortugalQatarReunionRomaniaRussian FederationRWANDASaint Barthélemy Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da CunhaSaint Kitts and NevisSaint LuciaSaint Martin (French part)Saint Pierre and MiquelonSaint Vincent and the GrenadinesSamoaSan MarinoSao Tome and PrincipeSaudi ArabiaSenegalSerbiaSeychellesSierra LeoneSingaporeSint Maarten (Dutch part)SlovakiaSloveniaSolomon IslandsSomaliaSouth AfricaSouth Georgia and the South Sandwich IslandsSouth SudanSpainSri LankaSudanSurinameSvalbard and Jan MayenSwazilandSwedenSwitzerlandSyrian Arab RepublicTaiwanTajikistanTanzania, United Republic ofThailandTimor-LesteTogoTokelauTongaTrinidad and TobagoTunisiaTurkeyTurkmenistanTurks and Caicos IslandsTuvaluUgandaUkraineUnited Arab EmiratesUnited KingdomUnited StatesUruguayUzbekistanVanuatuVenezuela, Bolivarian Republic ofVietnamVirgin Islands, BritishWallis and FutunaWestern SaharaYemenZambiaZimbabweI also wish to receive emails from AAAS/Science and Science advertisers, including information on products, services and special offers which may include but are not limited to news, careers information & upcoming events.Required fields are included by an asterisk(*)
U.S. officials and the state of Louisiana continue to battle over whether the state’s attempt to build sand berms that will protect wetlands from oil could damage sensitive barrier islands. Yesterday the federal government ordered a temporary halt in the dredging program, declaring that “enough is enough.” “If it were to continue for another week, we might pass a tipping point” of harm, said Tom Strickland, assistant secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Scientists raised several objections to the state’s first proposal last month to build a long line of sand berms on 10 May. One key concern was that taking sand from in front of the Chandeleur Islands would make them more vulnerable to erosion. The state agreed to change its approach by taking sand from a site further away and then pumping it through pipes to build the berms. 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Apparently, the state has had trouble constructing the pipe. The Army Corps of Engineers agreed to let the state dredge from in front of islands for a week, citing the imminent threat to the wetlands. And yesterday the state asked for permission for another 5 to 10 days of dredging in the same location, promising that tit would eventually put sand back. But Strickland says that replacing what was packed sand with loose sand wouldn’t suffice. The “preservation of the barrier island” is at stake, he says. Although Strickland said no final decision had been made about allowing more dredging in that location, right now the dredges are idling. “They shut down yesterday evening,” he says. Billy Nungesser, the president of Plaquemines Parish and a strong advocate of the berms, is reportedly furious. Governor Bobby Jindal is equally insistent that there should be no delays. “We absolutely want to continue dredging in the current spot for another 5 days until we can make a seamless transition to the next borrow site,” he said in a statement released yesterday evening. “We absolutely cannot afford to lose another day.” Jindal says that almost 1 kilometer of berm had been built. That’s about 14% of the project. Strickland says the berms are unlikely to last more than 90 days before they’re eroded away.
Scientists and journal editors are still struggling to resolve the confusing saga of the reactome array, a chiplike device intended to easily analyze all the enzymatic activity inside cells. First unveiled last year in a paper in Science, the reactome array was quickly declared “impossible” by biochemists who found its description and supporting data full of flaws. The uproar led Science to publish an “Editorial Expression of Concern,” and the authors’ institutions launched an investigation. Now, as originally reported by Nature last week, an ethics committee from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) has recommended that the paper be retracted, concluding that the “content of the publication does not have all the necessary experimental support for the conclusions reached.” But one of the authors of the paper maintains that the reactome array works. And several scientists who have used the array, including a Nobel Prize-winning biologist who has subjected it to “blind” testing, also defend the device and suggest that its developers are guilty of little more than poor manuscript preparation and communication. “This technique is a major breakthrough in high-throughput methodologies that will become useful for researchers in many scientific fields,” says Antonio Suárez García of the Center of Biomedical Investigation in Armilla, Spain, who says he has used reactome arrays to characterize differences among lean and obese people in gut enzymatic activity and microbial populations. Sign up for our daily newsletterGet more great content like this delivered right to you!Country *AfghanistanAland IslandsAlbaniaAlgeriaAndorraAngolaAnguillaAntarcticaAntigua and BarbudaArgentinaArmeniaArubaAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBahamasBahrainBangladeshBarbadosBelarusBelgiumBelizeBeninBermudaBhutanBolivia, Plurinational State ofBonaire, Sint Eustatius and SabaBosnia and HerzegovinaBotswanaBouvet IslandBrazilBritish Indian Ocean TerritoryBrunei DarussalamBulgariaBurkina FasoBurundiCambodiaCameroonCanadaCape VerdeCayman IslandsCentral African RepublicChadChileChinaChristmas IslandCocos (Keeling) IslandsColombiaComorosCongoCongo, The Democratic Republic of theCook IslandsCosta RicaCote D’IvoireCroatiaCubaCuraçaoCyprusCzech RepublicDenmarkDjiboutiDominicaDominican RepublicEcuadorEgyptEl SalvadorEquatorial GuineaEritreaEstoniaEthiopiaFalkland Islands (Malvinas)Faroe IslandsFijiFinlandFranceFrench GuianaFrench PolynesiaFrench Southern TerritoriesGabonGambiaGeorgiaGermanyGhanaGibraltarGreeceGreenlandGrenadaGuadeloupeGuatemalaGuernseyGuineaGuinea-BissauGuyanaHaitiHeard Island and Mcdonald IslandsHoly See (Vatican City State)HondurasHong KongHungaryIcelandIndiaIndonesiaIran, Islamic Republic ofIraqIrelandIsle of ManIsraelItalyJamaicaJapanJerseyJordanKazakhstanKenyaKiribatiKorea, Democratic People’s Republic ofKorea, Republic ofKuwaitKyrgyzstanLao People’s Democratic RepublicLatviaLebanonLesothoLiberiaLibyan Arab JamahiriyaLiechtensteinLithuaniaLuxembourgMacaoMacedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic ofMadagascarMalawiMalaysiaMaldivesMaliMaltaMartiniqueMauritaniaMauritiusMayotteMexicoMoldova, Republic ofMonacoMongoliaMontenegroMontserratMoroccoMozambiqueMyanmarNamibiaNauruNepalNetherlandsNew CaledoniaNew ZealandNicaraguaNigerNigeriaNiueNorfolk IslandNorwayOmanPakistanPalestinianPanamaPapua New GuineaParaguayPeruPhilippinesPitcairnPolandPortugalQatarReunionRomaniaRussian FederationRWANDASaint Barthélemy Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da CunhaSaint Kitts and NevisSaint LuciaSaint Martin (French part)Saint Pierre and MiquelonSaint Vincent and the GrenadinesSamoaSan MarinoSao Tome and PrincipeSaudi ArabiaSenegalSerbiaSeychellesSierra LeoneSingaporeSint Maarten (Dutch part)SlovakiaSloveniaSolomon IslandsSomaliaSouth AfricaSouth Georgia and the South Sandwich IslandsSouth SudanSpainSri LankaSudanSurinameSvalbard and Jan MayenSwazilandSwedenSwitzerlandSyrian Arab RepublicTaiwanTajikistanTanzania, United Republic ofThailandTimor-LesteTogoTokelauTongaTrinidad and TobagoTunisiaTurkeyTurkmenistanTurks and Caicos IslandsTuvaluUgandaUkraineUnited Arab EmiratesUnited KingdomUnited StatesUruguayUzbekistanVanuatuVenezuela, Bolivarian Republic ofVietnamVirgin Islands, BritishWallis and FutunaWestern SaharaYemenZambiaZimbabweI also wish to receive emails from AAAS/Science and Science advertisers, including information on products, services and special offers which may include but are not limited to news, careers information & upcoming events.Required fields are included by an asterisk(*) The reactome array—as described last year in the 9 October issue of Science by Manuel Ferrer of the Spanish National Research Council’s (CSIC’s) Institute of Catalysis in Madrid and colleagues in Spain, Germany, and the United Kingdom—consists of a glass slide peppered with 1676 synthesized compounds representing cellular metabolites and other targets of enzymes. Each one, the authors said, is linked to a dye that emits light when the compound reacts with an enzyme. The reactome array in theory would allow a quick analysis of all the enzymes present in a bacterium, cell, tissue, or other biological sample. Immediately after the Science paper was published, researchers objected that the description of how the fluorescent dye attaches to each compound was flawed. And biochemists almost as rapidly picked holes in other parts of the paper, complaining especially about the lack of information and mistakes in the supplementary online material meant to detail how Ferrer and his colleagues synthesized the many hundreds of enzyme targets. Science didn’t escape the fierce criticism, as some condemned its peer-review process, especially after the journal acknowledged that the paper’s primary reviewers did not include a synthetic organic chemist. The CSIC Ethics Committee (CEC), led by maize geneticist Pere Puigdomènech of CSIC’s Institute of Molecular Biology in Barcelona, has now delivered its own verdict in a brief letter sent to Science dated 13 July. The panel concludes that: Clear indications of deviation of good scientific practices in the lack of controls in the experiments, in the treatment of data, in the lack of information in the publication and in contradictions in the responses to the journal appear to have been produced by the authors, including researchers belonging to CSIC. The committee doesn’t provide any further details to back up its retraction recommendation and doesn’t explicitly conclude that the reactome array does not work; the letter in fact notes that “a number of scientists are convinced of the validity of the methodology described.” That mixed message may be attributed to the fact that the CEC investigation was relatively limited in scope. “In Spain, CSIC researchers work under the rules of Public Administration, and to investigate individual responsibilities a formal investigation that may include a search in the laboratories and research books and might lead to disciplinary actions has to be decided by the president of CSIC. He is waiting for the reaction of Science in order to take his decision. This kind of action is outside the mandate of CEC,” Puigdomènech tells ScienceInsider. The ethics committee’s report has disappointed some scientists. “I frankly think the CSIC Committee could have done a much better job by clearly distinguishing between the part of the work that is entirely sound from the bits and pieces which could be doubtful or bear anomalies. To this end, they should have interviewed and site-visit[ed] the Authors at stake, which they did not do -the whole process was basically done at a distance,” Victor de Lorenzo of CSIC’s National Center of Biotechnology in Madrid e-mailed ScienceInsider. He continues: “If the paper is just withdrawn or retracted, I am afraid of two consequences [i] the wider scientific community will be deprived of the use of an incredibly powerful tool, further amendments and improvements notwithstanding and [ii] any smart cookie (maybe some of those who raised the most venomous criticism) may now rush, if they have not done it yet, to replicate the work, produce a publication and claim credit for themselves.” Like García, De Lorenzo considers himself a satisfied user of the reactome array. “We have employed the chips before and after the controversy and—to the best of our understanding—they generally work as anticipated. The instances that do not fit the expectations might be indicative of new, unprecedented metabolic reactions, which of course need to be confirmed separately,” he says. The biggest defender of the reactome array may be Nobel laureate Richard Roberts of New England Biolabs in Ipswich, Massachusetts. Initially skeptical of the technology, Roberts visited Ferrer’s lab and came away impressed enough that he says he has urged Science to avoid rushing to any judgment. Roberts has sent Ferrer’s lab anonymous samples of 10 purified proteins, including metabolic and DNA-modifying enzymes. The Spanish lab analyzed each solution with the reactome array and sent the data back to Roberts. When he unblinded the results, the “appropriate” substrates had fluoresced on the reactome arrays in eight of nine cases. (Technical problems stymied analysis of one solution.) “Based on our test, I am convinced that the reactomes work. We have actually engaged in collaboration with Ferrer to study H. pylori,” says Roberts, who has submitted his data to the editors at Science evaluating the reactome array paper. While acknowledging that the Science paper and its supplementary online material had multiple errors for which he takes responsibility, Ferrer does not agree that the publication should be retracted. If it is, however, he plans to continue his efforts to win over skeptics. “I will do my best to convince the scientific community that the chemistry and content of the paper are correct through additional blind experiments and future articles, subjected to peer review by organic chemists, describing in detail the chemistry,” he e-mailed ScienceInsider. Ferrer, Roberts, Puigdomènech, and many others are waiting to see how Science responds to the CSIC recommendation. A journal spokesperson last week released the following statement: “Science has received the committee report and is now following up with a few additional questions, including some to the other institutions involved and [we] hope to have a published statement and decision as soon as possible.”
In a 3 September editorial in Science, two prominent Chinese scientists alleged that China’s mega-science funding system is corrupt and antithetical to innovation. The Chinese scientific establishment has at last issued a public response. On Monday, the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) issued a sharp rebuttal that claims the editorial’s assertions “are contrary to facts” and highlights a slew of recent Chinese-born S&T advances. In the editorial, Shi Yigong, dean of the School of Life Sciences at Tsinghua University in Beijing, and Rao Yi, dean of the School of Life Sciences at Peking University in Beijing, singled out for criticism the funding mechanism for mega science projects in China, alleging that to procure grants, “it’s an open secret that doing good research is not as important as schmoozing with powerful bureaucrats and their favorite experts.” They said a societal dependence on interpersonal connections instead of rules for conducting business is partly to blame and called for the creation of a “healthy research culture” such that “new funds are distributed based on merit.” The editorial caused a big stir in China and even came to the attention of Premier Wen Jiabao, who, according to sources, asked relevant ministries to come up with specific suggestions for reforming the funding system. Rank-and-file researchers, as well as some scientific leaders, also voiced support. Earlier this month, at the annual meeting of the Chinese Association of Science and Technology in Fuzhou, CAST President Han Qide quoted from the editorial and said that the country should “solve some of the problems by systemic reform.” Sign up for our daily newsletterGet more great content like this delivered right to you!Country *AfghanistanAland IslandsAlbaniaAlgeriaAndorraAngolaAnguillaAntarcticaAntigua and BarbudaArgentinaArmeniaArubaAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBahamasBahrainBangladeshBarbadosBelarusBelgiumBelizeBeninBermudaBhutanBolivia, Plurinational State ofBonaire, Sint Eustatius and SabaBosnia and HerzegovinaBotswanaBouvet IslandBrazilBritish Indian Ocean TerritoryBrunei DarussalamBulgariaBurkina FasoBurundiCambodiaCameroonCanadaCape VerdeCayman IslandsCentral African RepublicChadChileChinaChristmas IslandCocos (Keeling) IslandsColombiaComorosCongoCongo, The Democratic Republic of theCook IslandsCosta RicaCote D’IvoireCroatiaCubaCuraçaoCyprusCzech RepublicDenmarkDjiboutiDominicaDominican RepublicEcuadorEgyptEl SalvadorEquatorial GuineaEritreaEstoniaEthiopiaFalkland Islands (Malvinas)Faroe IslandsFijiFinlandFranceFrench GuianaFrench PolynesiaFrench Southern TerritoriesGabonGambiaGeorgiaGermanyGhanaGibraltarGreeceGreenlandGrenadaGuadeloupeGuatemalaGuernseyGuineaGuinea-BissauGuyanaHaitiHeard Island and Mcdonald IslandsHoly See (Vatican City State)HondurasHong KongHungaryIcelandIndiaIndonesiaIran, Islamic Republic ofIraqIrelandIsle of ManIsraelItalyJamaicaJapanJerseyJordanKazakhstanKenyaKiribatiKorea, Democratic People’s Republic ofKorea, Republic ofKuwaitKyrgyzstanLao People’s Democratic RepublicLatviaLebanonLesothoLiberiaLibyan Arab JamahiriyaLiechtensteinLithuaniaLuxembourgMacaoMacedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic ofMadagascarMalawiMalaysiaMaldivesMaliMaltaMartiniqueMauritaniaMauritiusMayotteMexicoMoldova, Republic ofMonacoMongoliaMontenegroMontserratMoroccoMozambiqueMyanmarNamibiaNauruNepalNetherlandsNew CaledoniaNew ZealandNicaraguaNigerNigeriaNiueNorfolk IslandNorwayOmanPakistanPalestinianPanamaPapua New GuineaParaguayPeruPhilippinesPitcairnPolandPortugalQatarReunionRomaniaRussian FederationRWANDASaint Barthélemy Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da CunhaSaint Kitts and NevisSaint LuciaSaint Martin (French part)Saint Pierre and MiquelonSaint Vincent and the GrenadinesSamoaSan MarinoSao Tome and PrincipeSaudi ArabiaSenegalSerbiaSeychellesSierra LeoneSingaporeSint Maarten (Dutch part)SlovakiaSloveniaSolomon IslandsSomaliaSouth AfricaSouth Georgia and the South Sandwich IslandsSouth SudanSpainSri LankaSudanSurinameSvalbard and Jan MayenSwazilandSwedenSwitzerlandSyrian Arab RepublicTaiwanTajikistanTanzania, United Republic ofThailandTimor-LesteTogoTokelauTongaTrinidad and TobagoTunisiaTurkeyTurkmenistanTurks and Caicos IslandsTuvaluUgandaUkraineUnited Arab EmiratesUnited KingdomUnited StatesUruguayUzbekistanVanuatuVenezuela, Bolivarian Republic ofVietnamVirgin Islands, BritishWallis and FutunaWestern SaharaYemenZambiaZimbabweI also wish to receive emails from AAAS/Science and Science advertisers, including information on products, services and special offers which may include but are not limited to news, careers information & upcoming events.Required fields are included by an asterisk(*) MOST’s statement echoes a speech reported in Chinese media today that science minister Wan Gang had given over the weekend at an innovation forum in Shanghai. Wan said “to seize upon isolated problems and say our country’s science and technology system is rotten is something with which I do not agree. To say so is unfair to the struggles and efforts of our sci-tech workers.” The speech and statement both rattled off achievements in agriculture, information technology, materials, energy, population and health, resources, and the environment as evidence that the ministry’s basic science program, according to the statement, “has solved a host of major sci-tech problems and provided important sci-tech support for economic and social development.” Rao says he was surprised by MOST’s response, which he says appears aimed to counter him and Shi personally rather than to address systemic problems recognized by most Chinese scientists. “We did not reveal anything new in our article but restated publicly what is commonly known in China,” says Rao, adding that MOST’s rebuttal did not point out any errors in their editorial. Reactions in the Chinese blogosphere to the ministry’s statement are largely critical. Close to 98% of those who answered a survey on ScienceNet.cn regarding research funding mechanism voted for “urgent need for reform,” while 2% voted for “no need for reform.” (The survey was at the end of this report.)
Science has learned that the Chinese State Council yesterday appointed chemist Bai Chunli the next president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). Bai has been heir‑apparent since he was named executive vice president of CAS in 2004. He was expected to assume the post in 2008 when CAS President Lu Yongxiang’s second term ended. However, for reasons unknown, Bai’s appointment was delayed and Lu continued on to a third term. Bai, 57, will succeed 68‑year‑old Lu, who has been president since July 1997. Founded in 1949, CAS followed the Soviet model in establishing the majority of its research institutes in the 1950s. When China began to reform its economy in the 1980s, some leaders wanted to trim the academy or even get rid of it altogether. The central government reduced appropriations to CAS and forced institutes and researchers to look for funding from industry. Shortly after he took over at CAS, Lu launched what he called the Knowledge Innovation Project (KIP) to reform and save the academy. The goal was to establish an “innovation system of our own,” as then Chinese President Jiang Zemin instructed. Capital investment may be the most noticeable KIP achievement: Many new buildings and big science facilities, such as the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility, have been constructed over the past 13 years. CAS’s operating budget allocated by the central government has also been increasing steadily; over the same period it has grown more than 10-fold on a staff per‑capita basis. Sign up for our daily newsletterGet more great content like this delivered right to you!Country *AfghanistanAland IslandsAlbaniaAlgeriaAndorraAngolaAnguillaAntarcticaAntigua and BarbudaArgentinaArmeniaArubaAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBahamasBahrainBangladeshBarbadosBelarusBelgiumBelizeBeninBermudaBhutanBolivia, Plurinational State ofBonaire, Sint Eustatius and SabaBosnia and HerzegovinaBotswanaBouvet IslandBrazilBritish Indian Ocean TerritoryBrunei DarussalamBulgariaBurkina FasoBurundiCambodiaCameroonCanadaCape VerdeCayman IslandsCentral African RepublicChadChileChinaChristmas IslandCocos (Keeling) IslandsColombiaComorosCongoCongo, The Democratic Republic of theCook IslandsCosta RicaCote D’IvoireCroatiaCubaCuraçaoCyprusCzech RepublicDenmarkDjiboutiDominicaDominican RepublicEcuadorEgyptEl SalvadorEquatorial GuineaEritreaEstoniaEthiopiaFalkland Islands (Malvinas)Faroe IslandsFijiFinlandFranceFrench GuianaFrench PolynesiaFrench Southern TerritoriesGabonGambiaGeorgiaGermanyGhanaGibraltarGreeceGreenlandGrenadaGuadeloupeGuatemalaGuernseyGuineaGuinea-BissauGuyanaHaitiHeard Island and Mcdonald IslandsHoly See (Vatican City State)HondurasHong KongHungaryIcelandIndiaIndonesiaIran, Islamic Republic ofIraqIrelandIsle of ManIsraelItalyJamaicaJapanJerseyJordanKazakhstanKenyaKiribatiKorea, Democratic People’s Republic ofKorea, Republic ofKuwaitKyrgyzstanLao People’s Democratic RepublicLatviaLebanonLesothoLiberiaLibyan Arab JamahiriyaLiechtensteinLithuaniaLuxembourgMacaoMacedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic ofMadagascarMalawiMalaysiaMaldivesMaliMaltaMartiniqueMauritaniaMauritiusMayotteMexicoMoldova, Republic ofMonacoMongoliaMontenegroMontserratMoroccoMozambiqueMyanmarNamibiaNauruNepalNetherlandsNew CaledoniaNew ZealandNicaraguaNigerNigeriaNiueNorfolk IslandNorwayOmanPakistanPalestinianPanamaPapua New GuineaParaguayPeruPhilippinesPitcairnPolandPortugalQatarReunionRomaniaRussian FederationRWANDASaint Barthélemy Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da CunhaSaint Kitts and NevisSaint LuciaSaint Martin (French part)Saint Pierre and MiquelonSaint Vincent and the GrenadinesSamoaSan MarinoSao Tome and PrincipeSaudi ArabiaSenegalSerbiaSeychellesSierra LeoneSingaporeSint Maarten (Dutch part)SlovakiaSloveniaSolomon IslandsSomaliaSouth AfricaSouth Georgia and the South Sandwich IslandsSouth SudanSpainSri LankaSudanSurinameSvalbard and Jan MayenSwazilandSwedenSwitzerlandSyrian Arab RepublicTaiwanTajikistanTanzania, United Republic ofThailandTimor-LesteTogoTokelauTongaTrinidad and TobagoTunisiaTurkeyTurkmenistanTurks and Caicos IslandsTuvaluUgandaUkraineUnited Arab EmiratesUnited KingdomUnited StatesUruguayUzbekistanVanuatuVenezuela, Bolivarian Republic ofVietnamVirgin Islands, BritishWallis and FutunaWestern SaharaYemenZambiaZimbabweI also wish to receive emails from AAAS/Science and Science advertisers, including information on products, services and special offers which may include but are not limited to news, careers information & upcoming events.Required fields are included by an asterisk(*) Bai is expected to carry Lu’s legacy forward. CAS has already extended KIP into the next decade under the new banner of project “Innovation 2020.” The goal is to “take hold of core indigenous intellectual property rights so as to provide support for the development of an innovative country.” In its pilot phase, five forerunner projects have been slated for funding: future advanced nuclear fission energy, space science, stem cell and regenerative medicine research, carbon budget verification and related problems in response to climate change, and a new center for mathematics and interdisciplinary science.
The Boston Globe reports today that Harvard University cognitive scientist Marc Hauser, who is on leave after a university investigation found evidence of research misconduct in his lab, will not be allowed to teach at the university next year. Federal investigations into the matter are still pending. The Globe article reports that faculty members in the psychology department, of which Hauser is a member, voted decisively not to allow him to return to teaching this fall, and that his role at the university is still being worked out.
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A. aegypti has earned suspicion because it spreads dengue and chikungunya as well as yellow fever and is common in urban areas of Brazil where major outbreaks have occurred and throughout Latin America. But evidence of wild mosquitoes infected with Zika has been lacking. It is harder than one might expect to find them. In dengue outbreaks, says Sander Koenraadt, an entomologist at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, researchers typically find that fewer than 1% of sampled mosquitoes are infected with the dengue virus, even where people are falling sick. “You have to look at a lot of mosquitoes to find [infected ones],” Gubler says. The mosquitoes “infect people and die before anyone shows up at the hospital” with disease symptoms, says Oliver Brady, an entomologist at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.For the insects to transmit a virus, they must take up infected blood from a human or animal and become infected themselves. The virus then has to travel from their gut to their saliva. Only some species are susceptible to particular viruses.To test whether a given species is able to transmit a virus, researchers feed insects on infected blood in the lab and a week or so later collect saliva from them. If the saliva contains infective virus, the species is considered a “competent” vector. Not all lab-
competent vectors spread disease, however. That depends on several factors, such as how often the species bites, whether it feeds primarily on humans or other animals, and how long it lives. To confirm that a species is transmitting disease, researchers also need to find virus-infected mosquitoes in the wild.You have to look at a lot
of mosquitoes to find
[infected ones].Duane Gubler, Duke-NUS Medical SchoolThe team that reported the first Zika-
infected mosquitoes in Brazil, led by Ricardo Lourenço-de-Oliveira, an entomologist at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) in Rio de Janeiro, vacuumed up mosquitoes from homes and streets in Rio de Janeiro neighborhoods that were home to people complaining of Zika symptoms. Over 10 months they collected more than 1500 mosquitoes, identified them, and tested pooled samples of the same sex and species for the presence of Zika and other viruses. Nearly half were A. aegypti, and most of the rest were Culex quinquefasciatus, another common mosquito in urban Brazil. Roughly 5% were other species. A species called A. albopictus, widely known as the Asian tiger mosquito, which can also transmit Zika in the lab and has been found infected with the virus in Mexico and Gabon, made up only about 2% of the catch, Lourenço-de-Oliveira says. They found Zika virus in three sets of female A. aegypti mosquitoes, but none of the other species.The lack of virus in C. quinquefasciatus is somewhat reassuring, Lourenço-de-Oliveira says, but the case is not closed. Constância Ayres, an entomologist at Fiocruz in Recife, Brazil, says that her lab has evidence that the species is a possible vector; they have found Zika virus in the saliva of C. quinquefasciatus that had fed on infected blood. (Her team has submitted its work for publication.)Lab tests can be misleading, however. “There is a classic discordance between what you see in the lab and what happens in the wild,” Brady says. “Albopictus and aegypti are both highly competent in the lab” as vectors for dengue. “But in Europe, where we have widespread albopictus and almost no aegypti, you don’t have huge dengue outbreaks.”Ayres and others are still searching for Zika in the wild. She and her colleagues have collected and identified more than 5000 mosquitoes in the Recife area since March, from homes where confirmed Zika patients lived and from urgent care centers. She is waiting for promised grant money before she can run the polymerase chain reaction tests to find which viruses the mosquitoes are
carrying, she says.Culex mosquitoes transmit several viruses related to Zika, and it would not be particularly surprising if both Culex and Aedes species could spread Zika, Ayres says. Gubler agrees that Culex is a plausible carrier. He notes that several Zika relatives spread by Culex mosquitoes, including the West Nile virus, target the nervous system, which Zika also seems to do.If Culex mosquitoes can transmit Zika virus, that will make slowing its spread even more difficult. C. quinquefasciatus is found as far north as Iowa and Indiana in the United States, although people there are protected by window screens and other factors. In Latin America, most vector control methods are targeted at A. aegypti. Those efforts have made barely a dent in curtailing spread of the Zika virus so far, notes Paul Reiter, an entomologist at the Pasteur Institute in Paris. Targeting multiple vectors at once will only make the job harder. “If [C.] quinquefaciatis is a vector,” he says, “we can forget anything about mosquito control.” Zika virus, the once obscure pathogen now widely feared for causing birth defects and other problems, has spread very far very quickly since an outbreak was first noticed in northeast Brazil in early 2015. It has reached more than
40 countries across the Americas, even making it to the Cape Verde islands, off the western coast of Africa. More than a million people have become infected.As public health officials try to contain the epidemic, researchers are racing to answer a key question with important implications for which areas are at risk, and what methods might work to slow its spread: Which mosquitoes are transmitting the virus? Answering the question is no small challenge. Scientists need evidence from both lab-raised and wild-caught mosquitoes to make the case that a given species is guilty.Just last week, a team in Rio de Janeiro announced that it had nabbed several
Aedes aegypti infected with Zika—the first infected mosquitoes found in Brazil. The species, the yellow fever mosquito, has long been the prime suspect, but some scientists believe the Zika virus must have other carriers to have spread so quickly—and they have field and lab studies underway to resolve the issue. Until that evidence is in, “we shouldn’t jump to conclusions,” says Duane Gubler, a virologist at Duke-NUS Medical School
in Singapore.Sign up for our daily newsletterGet more great content like this delivered right to you!Country *AfghanistanAland IslandsAlbaniaAlgeriaAndorraAngolaAnguillaAntarcticaAntigua and BarbudaArgentinaArmeniaArubaAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBahamasBahrainBangladeshBarbadosBelarusBelgiumBelizeBeninBermudaBhutanBolivia, Plurinational State ofBonaire, Sint Eustatius and SabaBosnia and HerzegovinaBotswanaBouvet IslandBrazilBritish Indian Ocean TerritoryBrunei DarussalamBulgariaBurkina FasoBurundiCambodiaCameroonCanadaCape VerdeCayman IslandsCentral African RepublicChadChileChinaChristmas IslandCocos (Keeling) IslandsColombiaComorosCongoCongo, The Democratic Republic of theCook IslandsCosta RicaCote D’IvoireCroatiaCubaCuraçaoCyprusCzech RepublicDenmarkDjiboutiDominicaDominican RepublicEcuadorEgyptEl SalvadorEquatorial GuineaEritreaEstoniaEthiopiaFalkland Islands (Malvinas)Faroe IslandsFijiFinlandFranceFrench GuianaFrench PolynesiaFrench Southern TerritoriesGabonGambiaGeorgiaGermanyGhanaGibraltarGreeceGreenlandGrenadaGuadeloupeGuatemalaGuernseyGuineaGuinea-BissauGuyanaHaitiHeard Island and Mcdonald IslandsHoly See (Vatican City State)HondurasHong KongHungaryIcelandIndiaIndonesiaIran, Islamic Republic ofIraqIrelandIsle of ManIsraelItalyJamaicaJapanJerseyJordanKazakhstanKenyaKiribatiKorea, Democratic People’s Republic ofKorea, Republic ofKuwaitKyrgyzstanLao People’s Democratic RepublicLatviaLebanonLesothoLiberiaLibyan Arab JamahiriyaLiechtensteinLithuaniaLuxembourgMacaoMacedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic ofMadagascarMalawiMalaysiaMaldivesMaliMaltaMartiniqueMauritaniaMauritiusMayotteMexicoMoldova, Republic ofMonacoMongoliaMontenegroMontserratMoroccoMozambiqueMyanmarNamibiaNauruNepalNetherlandsNew CaledoniaNew ZealandNicaraguaNigerNigeriaNiueNorfolk IslandNorwayOmanPakistanPalestinianPanamaPapua New GuineaParaguayPeruPhilippinesPitcairnPolandPortugalQatarReunionRomaniaRussian FederationRWANDASaint Barthélemy Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da CunhaSaint Kitts and NevisSaint LuciaSaint Martin (French part)Saint Pierre and MiquelonSaint Vincent and the GrenadinesSamoaSan MarinoSao Tome and PrincipeSaudi ArabiaSenegalSerbiaSeychellesSierra LeoneSingaporeSint Maarten (Dutch part)SlovakiaSloveniaSolomon IslandsSomaliaSouth AfricaSouth Georgia and the South Sandwich IslandsSouth SudanSpainSri LankaSudanSurinameSvalbard and Jan MayenSwazilandSwedenSwitzerlandSyrian Arab RepublicTaiwanTajikistanTanzania, United Republic ofThailandTimor-LesteTogoTokelauTongaTrinidad and TobagoTunisiaTurkeyTurkmenistanTurks and Caicos IslandsTuvaluUgandaUkraineUnited Arab EmiratesUnited KingdomUnited StatesUruguayUzbekistanVanuatuVenezuela, Bolivarian Republic ofVietnamVirgin Islands, BritishWallis and FutunaWestern SaharaYemenZambiaZimbabweI also wish to receive emails from AAAS/Science and Science advertisers, including information on products, services and special offers which may include but are not limited to news, careers information & upcoming events.Required fields are included by an asterisk(*)
Chinese students learn about U.S. universities at a 2015 education fair in Beijing. Given the timing, he and others suspect the cause is President Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric during the campaign and his election, rather than the White House’s 27 January travel ban against seven Muslim-majority countries, which is now in legal limbo. And the deans wonder whether the impact will ripple through the next step in the admissions process. Acceptance letters are going out in the coming weeks, Fauchet notes, “and when we make the offers, who knows how many [students] will show up?”A global talent poolThe 200 or so colleges and universities that do the bulk of federally funded research compete for a talent pool that is increasingly international. At Cornell University, for example, the number of applications from international students has increased by 30% annually for the past 5 years, says Graduate School Dean Barbara Knuth, whereas domestic applications have dropped by 9% a year. As a result, she says, international students now make up two-thirds of Cornell’s graduate applicants.Schools of engineering and computer science programs are especially reliant on international students, in some cases drawing up to 90% of their applicants from abroad. And though students on temporary visas make up only 19% of all U.S. graduate students, they compose 55% of those studying engineering and computer science, according to 2015 enrollment data from the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) in Washington, D.C.It will be several months before CGS compiles final statistics on international applications for 2017. And some universities declined to provide Science with their numbers, perhaps out of fear that it could damage their reputation and give competitors a recruiting edge. But many schools told Science that they are concerned.At Vanderbilt, the overall number of international students applying for engineering master’s programs is down 28% from 2016, and the number seeking engineering Ph.D.s dropped 11%. Dartmouth College saw a 30% plunge in international applications for its venerable master’s program in engineering management (MEM), a professional degree. “That’s never happened before” in the program’s 25-year history, says engineering dean Joseph Helble. We’ll be trying to reassure folks that the United States is still a free country, and that we’d love to have them attend our institution. Tim Anderson, University of Massachussetts At Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, one of the nation’s largest engineering schools, engineering applications overall are up 3%, says Director of Graduate Admissions Lee Gordon. But applications for the electrical and computer engineering department fell by 8.2%, and applications from Middle Eastern students interested in engineering are down by 12%.At the University of California (UC), Irvine, overall international applications “are on par with last year,” says Frances Leslie, dean of the graduate school. International applications to its school of information and computer sciences are actually up by 9%, thanks to a new professional master’s program. But engineering has seen a drop of 10%.Cornell’s Knuth says that international applications are up 2% across the university. She didn’t provide a breakdown for engineering but noted that applications from Iran and Pakistan were down 10% and 23%, respectively.Financial impactSuch declines could have a major impact on a university’s bottom line, although calculating its magnitude is not straightforward. The federal government heavily subsidizes graduate education in the sciences and engineering, so most doctoral students don’t have to worry about tuition bills. But universities generate considerable revenue from professional master’s degree programs, a subset of all master’s training. And in those programs, international students at public universities pay tuition rates that are much higher than for in-state students.Kevin Moore, engineering dean at the Colorado School of Mines (CSM) in Golden, explains how things could play out on his campus. This year, CSM’s international applications are down 19%, he says. And almost 9% of the 698 foreign applicants hail from the seven countries fingered in Trump’s travel ban, reflecting the school’s strong history of attracting students from oil-rich nations. If some form of the ban is upheld, those students won’t be able to enroll. And if the proportion of applicants who wind up on campus this fall holds steady, “we could be down almost 60 students,” Moore says. “And I’ve been told that 30 students equals $1 million in tuition revenue.” We could be down almost 60 students. And I’ve been told that 30 students equals $1 million in tuition revenue. University officials do have some options, as demand far exceeds supply at top graduate programs. Even with this year’s sharp decline, for example, Dartmouth’s Helble has almost six applicants for each one of the MEM program’s 50 slots. Such ratios give administrators the option of admitting students who previously might not have made the cut, including more domestic students.But educators are loath to move the bar if it would lower the quality of the talent pool. Instead, some deans plan to step up the wooing of top applicants. “We’re going to do more touches,” says Anderson, such as having an adviser or a current student contact a foreign applicant who has been accepted. “We’ll be trying to reassure folks that the United States is still a free country,” he says, “and that we’d love to have them attend our institution.”At the same time, they don’t want to make promises they can’t keep. “Our legal counsel has told us to continue the admissions process as normal and that it’s illegal to discriminate by nationality,” says UC Irvine’s Leslie, who notes that the 400 Iranian students are part of this year’s pool of nearly 15,000 graduate applications. “But we have no control over what happens in Washington. And we have warned our faculty to expect a lower yield.” (The yield is the number of accepted students who end up enrolling.)A few months away from earning his Ph.D. in electrical engineering at Vanderbilt, Stanley Lo knows what it is like to be an international student weighing an offer from a U.S. institution. Lo says he didn’t worry about negative public attitudes toward immigrants when he came in 2011 from Hong Kong, China, to work with Fauchet, then at the University of Rochester in New York. “It was a big step, but I thought the United States was the best place for me to reach my potential,” Lo says.He believes that’s still the case, but notes the political culture has changed. “I would tell them to come here if they want to,” Lo says. “There are so many students from around the world, and there are still many opportunities to make the world a better place through innovation. I think tech companies are still welcoming to immigrants. But the problem is the larger U.S. policy.”
Han jitao/Imaginechina via AP images By Jeffrey MervisFeb. 14, 2017 , 3:30 PM Drop in foreign applicants worries U.S. engineering schools Amid the uncertainty over U.S. immigration policy, one fact is sending a chill through U.S. higher education: Some U.S. graduate programs in engineering, Science has learned, are seeing a sharp drop this year in the number of applications from international students.University administrators worry that the declines, as much as 30% from 2016 levels in some programs, reflect heightened fears among foreign-born students that the United States is tightening its borders. A continued downturn, officials say, could threaten U.S. global leadership in science and engineering by shrinking the pool of talent available to carry out academic research. It could also hinder innovation in industry, given that most foreign-born engineering students take jobs with U.S. companies after graduation.“It’s a precipitous drop,” says Philippe Fauchet, dean of engineering at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, of the 18% decline his department has seen in international graduate applications as last month’s deadlines passed. “Your first thought is, ‘Is it just us?’” adds Tim Anderson, engineering dean at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, where international applications for the electrical and computer engineering departments fell 30% this year. But after speaking with other deans, Anderson believes “it’s a pattern.” Sign up for our daily newsletterGet more great content like this delivered right to you!Country *AfghanistanAland IslandsAlbaniaAlgeriaAndorraAngolaAnguillaAntarcticaAntigua and BarbudaArgentinaArmeniaArubaAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBahamasBahrainBangladeshBarbadosBelarusBelgiumBelizeBeninBermudaBhutanBolivia, Plurinational State ofBonaire, Sint Eustatius and SabaBosnia and HerzegovinaBotswanaBouvet IslandBrazilBritish Indian Ocean TerritoryBrunei DarussalamBulgariaBurkina FasoBurundiCambodiaCameroonCanadaCape VerdeCayman IslandsCentral African RepublicChadChileChinaChristmas IslandCocos (Keeling) IslandsColombiaComorosCongoCongo, The Democratic Republic of theCook IslandsCosta RicaCote D’IvoireCroatiaCubaCuraçaoCyprusCzech RepublicDenmarkDjiboutiDominicaDominican RepublicEcuadorEgyptEl SalvadorEquatorial GuineaEritreaEstoniaEthiopiaFalkland Islands (Malvinas)Faroe IslandsFijiFinlandFranceFrench GuianaFrench PolynesiaFrench Southern TerritoriesGabonGambiaGeorgiaGermanyGhanaGibraltarGreeceGreenlandGrenadaGuadeloupeGuatemalaGuernseyGuineaGuinea-BissauGuyanaHaitiHeard Island and Mcdonald IslandsHoly See (Vatican City State)HondurasHong KongHungaryIcelandIndiaIndonesiaIran, Islamic Republic ofIraqIrelandIsle of ManIsraelItalyJamaicaJapanJerseyJordanKazakhstanKenyaKiribatiKorea, Democratic People’s Republic ofKorea, Republic ofKuwaitKyrgyzstanLao People’s Democratic RepublicLatviaLebanonLesothoLiberiaLibyan Arab JamahiriyaLiechtensteinLithuaniaLuxembourgMacaoMacedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic ofMadagascarMalawiMalaysiaMaldivesMaliMaltaMartiniqueMauritaniaMauritiusMayotteMexicoMoldova, Republic ofMonacoMongoliaMontenegroMontserratMoroccoMozambiqueMyanmarNamibiaNauruNepalNetherlandsNew CaledoniaNew ZealandNicaraguaNigerNigeriaNiueNorfolk IslandNorwayOmanPakistanPalestinianPanamaPapua New GuineaParaguayPeruPhilippinesPitcairnPolandPortugalQatarReunionRomaniaRussian FederationRWANDASaint Barthélemy Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da CunhaSaint Kitts and NevisSaint LuciaSaint Martin (French part)Saint Pierre and MiquelonSaint Vincent and the GrenadinesSamoaSan MarinoSao Tome and PrincipeSaudi ArabiaSenegalSerbiaSeychellesSierra LeoneSingaporeSint Maarten (Dutch part)SlovakiaSloveniaSolomon IslandsSomaliaSouth AfricaSouth Georgia and the South Sandwich IslandsSouth SudanSpainSri LankaSudanSurinameSvalbard and Jan MayenSwazilandSwedenSwitzerlandSyrian Arab RepublicTaiwanTajikistanTanzania, United Republic ofThailandTimor-LesteTogoTokelauTongaTrinidad and TobagoTunisiaTurkeyTurkmenistanTurks and Caicos IslandsTuvaluUgandaUkraineUnited Arab EmiratesUnited KingdomUnited StatesUruguayUzbekistanVanuatuVenezuela, Bolivarian Republic ofVietnamVirgin Islands, BritishWallis and FutunaWestern SaharaYemenZambiaZimbabweI also wish to receive emails from AAAS/Science and Science advertisers, including information on products, services and special offers which may include but are not limited to news, careers information & upcoming events.Required fields are included by an asterisk(*) Kevin Moore, Colorado School of Mines 
The islands “are one of the great natural treasures of the world,” says Callum Roberts, a marine ecologist at the University of York in the United Kingdom. “It’s hard to find words adequate to express my level of dismay at this abject betrayal of present and future generations.”In 2009, President George W. Bush designated the islands, lying south of the Hawaiian chain, as national monuments. All but Wake, which hosts a military base, were already National Wildlife Refuges before attaining that status. As refuges, commercial fishing is banned within 12 nautical miles, which preserved the health of the reefs even in the face of rising temperatures. In the rest of the islands’ Exclusive Economic Zone—waters out to 200 miles from shore—they were fished by long-line tuna boats from Hawaii.Bush’s designation banned fishing within 50 nautical miles of shore; in 2014, President Barack Obama extended the ban to 200 miles for Wake, Johnston, and Jarvis. President Donald Trump is expected to try to change the rules by executive order or by a new Antiquities Act proclamation. Any such move will be challenged in court, says Michael Gravitz, director of policy and legislation at the nonprofit Marine Conservation Institute in Washington, D.C.With warmer equatorial waters reducing plankton abundance and spurring many fish species, notably bigeye and skipjack tuna, to migrate toward the poles, the waters around Wake and Johnston, 1600 kilometers north of the equator, “are precisely where you want to have a protected area,” says Robert Richmond of the University of Hawaii at Mānoa. He argues that “the islands have all the right criteria” —abundant nutrients running off the islands, for instance—to replenish the overfished bigeye tuna, which is down to 16% of its estimated population before industrial fishing began.Zinke’s recommendations don’t specify whether fishers could operate within 12 miles of the shore, which would contravene National Wildlife Refuge rules. But the return of commercial fishers—especially long-line tuna boats—outside the 12-mile zone is bad enough, says Richmond, who predicts a heavy toll on sharks as well as tunas, as the bycatch rate is one shark for every two tunas.One of the monument islands, Palmyra, is a staging ground for climate and marine researchers. Located in the rainy Inter Tropical Convergence Zone, it may be the only pristine tropical island in the world with a runway, a field station, and enough lab facilities for scientists to study its ecosystem for months at a time.When Jennifer Caselle heard about the recommendations, “I was horrified,” she says. A reef biologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who runs the Palmyra Atoll Research Consortium, Caselle says having fishing boats catching reef sharks within 12 miles of the island would throw off kilter what is now a rare predator-dominated ecosystem.One high-profile discovery at Palmyra is how rain washes nitrogen-rich droppings from the island’s abundant seabird colonies into the sea, where the nutrients create algal blooms. The blooms, in turn, attract plankton, a favorite prey of manta rays. The study found that in parts of the island where imported palms replaced native trees, the ecosystem unraveled: Seabirds did not nest in the palms and in the absence of algal blooms, the manta rays migrated elsewhere.“Secretary Zinke is giving Trump truly awful advice,” asserts John Hocevar, director of oceans campaigns at Greenpeace in Washington, D.C. “The science is clearer than ever that climate change is killing our coral reefs and that industrial fishing has had a huge impact on marine ecosystems that extends far beyond the fish they target.” Opening Palmyra’s waters to fishing would harm unique tropical research lab, scientists say. Scientists pan proposal to open pristine Pacific islands to fishing By Christopher PalaSep. 21, 2017 , 3:20 PM
Marine scientists are warning that if the Trump administration rescinds fishing protections around eight Pacific islands, the United States will lose one of its best laboratories for measuring how a warming climate affects marine life.“We need baselines,” says Alan Friedlander of the University of Hawaii at Mānoa in Honolulu. “We need pristine reefs to see what we’ve lost elsewhere, to better manage damaged reefs and to isolate the effects of climate change.”A proposal from Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, leaked to The Washington Post last week, argues that regulations on waters around the islands—Howland, Baker, Johnston, Wake, Jarvis, Palmyra, Rose, and Kingman Reef—“should be amended … to allow commercial fishing.” Sign up for our daily newsletterGet more great content like this delivered right to you!Country *AfghanistanAland IslandsAlbaniaAlgeriaAndorraAngolaAnguillaAntarcticaAntigua and BarbudaArgentinaArmeniaArubaAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBahamasBahrainBangladeshBarbadosBelarusBelgiumBelizeBeninBermudaBhutanBolivia, Plurinational State ofBonaire, Sint Eustatius and SabaBosnia and HerzegovinaBotswanaBouvet IslandBrazilBritish Indian Ocean TerritoryBrunei DarussalamBulgariaBurkina FasoBurundiCambodiaCameroonCanadaCape VerdeCayman IslandsCentral African RepublicChadChileChinaChristmas IslandCocos (Keeling) IslandsColombiaComorosCongoCongo, The Democratic Republic of theCook IslandsCosta RicaCote D’IvoireCroatiaCubaCuraçaoCyprusCzech RepublicDenmarkDjiboutiDominicaDominican RepublicEcuadorEgyptEl SalvadorEquatorial GuineaEritreaEstoniaEthiopiaFalkland Islands (Malvinas)Faroe IslandsFijiFinlandFranceFrench GuianaFrench PolynesiaFrench Southern TerritoriesGabonGambiaGeorgiaGermanyGhanaGibraltarGreeceGreenlandGrenadaGuadeloupeGuatemalaGuernseyGuineaGuinea-BissauGuyanaHaitiHeard Island and Mcdonald IslandsHoly See (Vatican City State)HondurasHong KongHungaryIcelandIndiaIndonesiaIran, Islamic Republic ofIraqIrelandIsle of ManIsraelItalyJamaicaJapanJerseyJordanKazakhstanKenyaKiribatiKorea, Democratic People’s Republic ofKorea, Republic ofKuwaitKyrgyzstanLao People’s Democratic RepublicLatviaLebanonLesothoLiberiaLibyan Arab JamahiriyaLiechtensteinLithuaniaLuxembourgMacaoMacedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic ofMadagascarMalawiMalaysiaMaldivesMaliMaltaMartiniqueMauritaniaMauritiusMayotteMexicoMoldova, Republic ofMonacoMongoliaMontenegroMontserratMoroccoMozambiqueMyanmarNamibiaNauruNepalNetherlandsNew CaledoniaNew ZealandNicaraguaNigerNigeriaNiueNorfolk IslandNorwayOmanPakistanPalestinianPanamaPapua New GuineaParaguayPeruPhilippinesPitcairnPolandPortugalQatarReunionRomaniaRussian FederationRWANDASaint Barthélemy Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da CunhaSaint Kitts and NevisSaint LuciaSaint Martin (French part)Saint Pierre and MiquelonSaint Vincent and the GrenadinesSamoaSan MarinoSao Tome and PrincipeSaudi ArabiaSenegalSerbiaSeychellesSierra LeoneSingaporeSint Maarten (Dutch part)SlovakiaSloveniaSolomon IslandsSomaliaSouth AfricaSouth Georgia and the South Sandwich IslandsSouth SudanSpainSri LankaSudanSurinameSvalbard and Jan MayenSwazilandSwedenSwitzerlandSyrian Arab RepublicTaiwanTajikistanTanzania, United Republic ofThailandTimor-LesteTogoTokelauTongaTrinidad and TobagoTunisiaTurkeyTurkmenistanTurks and Caicos IslandsTuvaluUgandaUkraineUnited Arab EmiratesUnited KingdomUnited StatesUruguayUzbekistanVanuatuVenezuela, Bolivarian Republic ofVietnamVirgin Islands, BritishWallis and FutunaWestern SaharaYemenZambiaZimbabweI also wish to receive emails from AAAS/Science and Science advertisers, including information on products, services and special offers which may include but are not limited to news, careers information & upcoming events.Required fields are included by an asterisk(*) Erik Oberg/Island Conservation/Flickr 
Antonio Conte could get Arturo Vidal in January, as Barcelona reportedly propose a loan with preferential treatment for Inter stars Lautaro Martinez, Milan Skriniar and Stefano Sensi. The Inter coach, who managed Vidal at Juve from 2011 to 2014, is looking for midfield reinforcements after complaining about a lack of squad depth, and doesn’t see a future for Borja Valero or Matias Vecino at the club. Vidal, for his part, has complained about a lack of playing time at the Camp Nou and wants to move on, speaking fondly of his time with Conte. According to Tuttosport, Inter and Barcelona are in talks over a January loan deal for Vidal, with Barcelona having an option on one of Inter’s ‘crown jewels’, in the form of Sensi, Skriniar and especially Lautaro Martinez next summer. Argentina international Lautaro Martinez is seen as the ideal heir to Luis Suarez and has repeatedly been linked with a move to Camp Nou, even more so after scoring there in the Champions League for Inter this month. Vidal made 124 league appearances for the Bianconeri, scoring 35 goals in a four-year spell in Turin. He joined Barca in the summer of 2018, winning La Liga in his first season in Spain. Watch Serie A live in the UK on Premier Sports for just £11.99 per month including live LaLiga, Eredivisie, Scottish Cup Football and more. Visit: https://subscribe.premiersports.tv/
Watch Serie A live in the UK on Premier Sports for just £11.99 per month including live LaLiga, Eredivisie, Scottish Cup Football and more. Visit: https://subscribe.premiersports.tv/ Mario Balotelli explains why he “had to react” to racist abuse in Verona. “I am Italian. It’s already happened to my daughter too.” The Brescia striker kicked the ball into the stands during the game at the Stadio Bentegodi on Sunday and threatened to walk off the field. “I know that we’re not supposed to give these people attention, but we can’t just not underline the seriousness of what they are doing either,” Balotelli told Le Iene television programme. “If I don’t react, nothing will happen. You can call me an idiot, I don’t mind that, but not if you call me a n***o. That’s not done by mistake. That’s serious. “I stopped play because I thought, that’s it, I’d had enough. I say punish those who are guilty and not the whole Curva, because that is the beauty of football. I never accused the whole city of Verona, just those few idiots who were responsible. “They were only a few, yes, but they were enough for me to hear them from the pitch, so it can’t have been two or three. “I’ll be honest, I really like the stadium in Verona and their fans, as they have always mocked in an amusing and ironic way. If they want to distract a player, they can do it in a thousand ways, but not that. This is not right. We cannot accept that as mere banter.” The situation, he notes, is particularly hurtful because he represents not just himself, but whole generations of black Italians. “My daughter Pia saw this on TV and that made it hurt three times as much. It’s also happened to her before and you cannot insult a child saying words like that. We adults have to set the standard and show how to be civil. “I am not saying that I am different to the other players who receive the same abuse, the same monkey noises, but the problem is that I am Italian and I want to get back into the Nazionale. “I can take all kinds of insults, but ones based on racism are not acceptable, have never been acceptable and never will be acceptable. Those who did it, and I repeat they are only a few, are complete idiots.”
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