MedWorm.com provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest items from the 'AIBS BioScience Editorials' source. Sun, 21 Mar 2010 17:00:36 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3353737&cid=s_38588_62_f&fid=38588&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FBioScienceEditorials%2F%7E3%2FesfXfOHiVTs%2Feditorial_2010_03.html As some of the broader impacts of the cultivation of biofuel feedstocks have become more apparent--not just the direct effects on greenhouse gas emissions but also indirect effects triggered by changes in the supply of agricultural commodities--so has the need to accurately estimate them. The assessment of the greenhouse gas emissions expected to flow from such induced land-use change (e.g., when farmers in Central America cut down forests to grow crops to replace the reduction in maize availability) has become a policy battleground. The stakes are high: The 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act mandates a steep increase in the production of biofuels over the next dozen years, and requires estimates of life-cycle emissions of greenhouse gases from biofuels to be considered when establ... AIBS BioScience Editorials info http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3353737 Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:42:47 +0100 3353737 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3290476&cid=s_38588_62_f&fid=38588&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aibs.org%2Fbioscience-editorials%2Feditorial_2010_02.html Those of us who once learned that genes are entities that propagate and manifest themselves within species may find their conceptual categories stretched beyond the breaking point if they dare read the overview of progress in metagenomics on page 102 by W. Ford Doolittle and Olga Zhaxybayeva. Together with the similarly challenging Feature by Karen Hopkin published in December (BioScience 59: 928-931), their article reminds us, if reminding were needed, that there is still a great deal still to be understood about how and where, exactly, natural selection acts on DNA. Critical analysis of new data makes clear that, among the bacteria and archaea that are Doolittle and Zhaxybayeva's focus, the concept of species may hamper the appreciation of more fundamental categories: communities of inte... AIBS BioScience Editorials info http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3290476 Sat, 20 Feb 2010 16:20:11 +0100 3290476 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3227190&cid=s_38588_62_f&fid=38588&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FBioScienceEditorials%2F%7E3%2Fb75g_6pjf9s%2Feditorial_2010_02.html Those of us who once learned that genes are entities that propagate and manifest themselves within species may find their conceptual categories stretched beyond the breaking point if they dare read the overview of progress in metagenomics on page 102 by W. Ford Doolittle and Olga Zhaxybayeva. Together with the similarly challenging Feature by Karen Hopkin published in December (BioScience 59: 928-931), their article reminds us, if reminding were needed, that there is still a great deal still to be understood about how and where, exactly, natural selection acts on DNA. Critical analysis of new data makes clear that, among the bacteria and archaea that are Doolittle and Zhaxybayeva's focus, the concept of species may hamper the appreciation of more fundamental categories: communities of inte... AIBS BioScience Editorials info http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3227190 Mon, 01 Feb 2010 17:21:56 +0100 3227190 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3207828&cid=s_38588_62_f&fid=38588&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aibs.org%2Fbioscience-editorials%2Feditorial_2010_01.html While the biological sciences cover a broad terrain of ideas and subjects, we who explore that terrain have always defined ourselves as biologists. We might include an adjective that clarifies the level at which we study (e.g., molecular biologist) or the methods with which we're most comfortable (e.g., mathematical biologist), but the noun has always been "biologist." Over the years, the number of adjectives has grown—we now have, among others, computational biologists, structural biologists, and systems biologists—and the definition of "biologist" has become ever broader, as has the range of background and expertise applied to research in biology. This dynamism and the progress it has catalyzed have inspired a new report from the National Research Council titled A New Biolo... AIBS BioScience Editorials info http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3207828 Tue, 26 Jan 2010 16:21:44 +0100 3207828 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3138733&cid=s_38588_62_f&fid=38588&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FBioScienceEditorials%2F%7E3%2FWyJfkvVLpYI%2Feditorial_2010_01.html While the biological sciences cover a broad terrain of ideas and subjects, we who explore that terrain have always defined ourselves as biologists. We might include an adjective that clarifies the level at which we study (e.g., molecular biologist) or the methods with which we're most comfortable (e.g., mathematical biologist), but the noun has always been "biologist." Over the years, the number of adjectives has grown—we now have, among others, computational biologists, structural biologists, and systems biologists—and the definition of "biologist" has become ever broader, as has the range of background and expertise applied to research in biology. This dynamism and the progress it has catalyzed have inspired a new report from the National Research Council titled A New Biolo... AIBS BioScience Editorials info http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3138733 Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:57:07 +0100 3138733 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3088694&cid=s_38588_62_f&fid=38588&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aibs.org%2Fbioscience-editorials%2Feditorial_2009_11.html Biologists of all stripes may be grateful for the powerful support the National Research Council, the operating arm of the National Academies, has recently given to a new interagency biological research program. In its study A New Biology for the 21st Century (www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12764), the council concludes that biology has reached an inflection point that could allow rapid progress in multiple biological fields. The program it envisages would involve better coordination and integration of research, as well as substantial new financial support. The "New Biology," the report says, has the potential to deliver "remarkable and far-reaching" benefits addressing critical challenges—notably, food production, protection of the environment, renewable energy, and improvement... AIBS BioScience Editorials info http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3088694 Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:58:34 +0100 3088694 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3088693&cid=s_38588_62_f&fid=38588&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aibs.org%2Fbioscience-editorials%2Feditorial_2009_12.html Sometimes scientists despair at the challenge of expanding the public's under­standing of science. Progress, however, is tangible, and one telling example last summer revolved around arthropods. In July, at the request of the US Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS), the National Research Council (NRC), the operating arm of the National Academies, convened a committee charged with evaluating APHIS's response to two petitions filed by groups of citizens in California. The petitions opposed the agency's decision to classify the light brown apple moth (LBAM; Epiphyas postvittana), a species native to Australia, as a quarantine-significant pest. The moth's presence in California was confirmed in 2007. In view of its reportedly broad host range&#8... AIBS BioScience Editorials info http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3088693 Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:58:34 +0100 3088693 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3043944&cid=s_38588_62_f&fid=38588&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FBioScienceEditorials%2F%7E3%2FXkUqYneIF4Y%2Feditorial_2009_12.html Sometimes scientists despair at the challenge of expanding the public's under­standing of science. Progress, however, is tangible, and one telling example last summer revolved around arthropods. In July, at the request of the US Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS), the National Research Council (NRC), the operating arm of the National Academies, convened a committee charged with evaluating APHIS's response to two petitions filed by groups of citizens in California. The petitions opposed the agency's decision to classify the light brown apple moth (LBAM; Epiphyas postvittana), a species native to Australia, as a quarantine-significant pest. The moth's presence in California was confirmed in 2007. In view of its reportedly broad host range&#8... AIBS BioScience Editorials info http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3043944 Tue, 01 Dec 2009 18:31:22 +0100 3043944 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2938661&cid=s_38588_62_f&fid=38588&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FBioScienceEditorials%2F%7E3%2F4kx7yTgm-AQ%2Feditorial_2009_11.html Biologists of all stripes may be grateful for the powerful support the National Research Council, the operating arm of the National Academies, has recently given to a new interagency biological research program. In its study A New Biology for the 21st Century (www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12764), the council concludes that biology has reached an inflection point that could allow rapid progress in multiple biological fields. The program it envisages would involve better coordination and integration of research, as well as substantial new financial support. The "New Biology," the report says, has the potential to deliver "remarkable and far-reaching" benefits addressing critical challenges—notably, food production, protection of the environment, renewable energy, and improvement... AIBS BioScience Editorials info http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2938661 Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:54:16 +0100 2938661 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2908079&cid=s_38588_62_f&fid=38588&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aibs.org%2Fbioscience-editorials%2Feditorial_2009_10.html Two articles in this issue of BioScience illustrate the power of new molecular techniques to give wings to very different types of biology. Both articles discuss, in part, how information from genetic sequences might guide urgently needed planetary ecological management. In the article that begins on page 745, Christopher W. Dick and W. John Kress describe how DNA diagnostic tools can be used to achieve insights into the dynamics of tropical forests. The extraordinary biological diversity of tropical forests has become recognized in recent decades as one of the wonders of the world. The importance of the gargantuan amounts of carbon stored in these forests has also become more widely appreciated. Yet detailed scientific characterization of tropical forests has yet to be accomplished, lar... AIBS BioScience Editorials info http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2908079 Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:14:28 +0100 2908079 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2850850&cid=s_38588_62_f&fid=38588&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FBioScienceEditorials%2F%7E3%2FTYGHNFqoZdc%2Feditorial_2009_10.html Two articles in this issue of BioScience illustrate the power of new molecular techniques to give wings to very different types of biology. Both articles discuss, in part, how information from genetic sequences might guide urgently needed planetary ecological management. In the article that begins on page 745, Christopher W. Dick and W. John Kress describe how DNA diagnostic tools can be used to achieve insights into the dynamics of tropical forests. The extraordinary biological diversity of tropical forests has become recognized in recent decades as one of the wonders of the world. The importance of the gargantuan amounts of carbon stored in these forests has also become more widely appreciated. Yet detailed scientific characterization of tropical forests has yet to be accomplished, lar... AIBS BioScience Editorials info http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2850850 Thu, 01 Oct 2009 18:20:43 +0100 2850850 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2774318&cid=s_38588_62_f&fid=38588&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aibs.org%2Fbioscience-editorials%2Feditorial_2009_09.html In the Forum article that begins on page 699, Stephen R. Carpenter and 18 distinguished coauthors argue for a national program focusing on synthesis in environmental sciences. This influential group, representing an array of specialties, argues that ecologists and scientists in closely connected disciplines—the biological, computational, atmospheric, hydrological, geological, oceanic, and social sciences—can, by working together better, accelerate discovery and research in basic and applied environmental science. The article urges spreading the culture of synthesis more extensively to undergraduate and postgraduate education and toward management and governance. BioScience is a hybrid biology magazine and journal that publishes mainly synthetic overview articles, so it should ... AIBS BioScience Editorials info http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2774318 Tue, 08 Sep 2009 18:00:04 +0100 2774318 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2751154&cid=s_38588_62_f&fid=38588&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FBioScienceEditorials%2F%7E3%2FgpI9NZPFcqo%2Feditorial_2009_09.html In the Forum article that begins on page 699, Stephen R. Carpenter and 18 distinguished coauthors argue for a national program focusing on synthesis in environmental sciences. This influential group, representing an array of specialties, argues that ecologists and scientists in closely connected disciplines—the biological, computational, atmospheric, hydrological, geological, oceanic, and social sciences—can, by working together better, accelerate discovery and research in basic and applied environmental science. The article urges spreading the culture of synthesis more extensively to undergraduate and postgraduate education and toward management and governance. BioScience is a hybrid biology magazine and journal that publishes mainly synthetic overview articles, so it should ... AIBS BioScience Editorials info http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2751154 Tue, 01 Sep 2009 13:31:00 +0100 2751154 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2597620&cid=s_38588_62_f&fid=38588&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aibs.org%2Fbioscience-editorials%2Feditorial_2008_09.html In 1974, Thomas Nagel famously grabbed the attention of philosophers by asking, “What is it like to be a bat?” In the article starting on p. 737, Gerald Kerth finally provides some answers. The answers are probably more complicated than Nagel envisaged. Nagel was pondering whether we could ever provide an objective account of a subjective experience. The question still resonates, but biologists as well as philosophers have clarified some relevant matters over the past three-and-a-half decades. In particular, biologists have revealed previously uncharted complexity in the social relationships of many animals, especially mammals. The challenge of managing these fraught interdependencies is now widely thought to have been a key driver of the evolution of the mammalian neocortex. Homo sap... AIBS BioScience Editorials info http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2597620 Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:04:45 +0100 2597620 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2597619&cid=s_38588_62_f&fid=38588&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aibs.org%2Fbioscience-editorials%2Feditorial_2008_10.html Charismatic they are not, but fungi have a vastly larger impact on the flow of essential elements through ecosystems than do most more appealing organisms. Gaining an understanding of their diversity and spatial variability, and the implications of these for fundamental ecological processes such as decomposition, has to be a high priority if biologists are to predict the consequences of habitat and climate change. Only in recent years have techniques existed to allow the systematic exploration of patterns of fungal diversity, as Kabir Peay, Peter Kennedy, and Thomas Bruns explain in the 21st Century Directions in Biology article that starts on p. 799. The often micro­scopic size and the generally cryptic nature of fungi have typically made it necessary to use biochemical techniques to di... AIBS BioScience Editorials info http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2597619 Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:04:45 +0100 2597619 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2597618&cid=s_38588_62_f&fid=38588&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aibs.org%2Fbioscience-editorials%2Feditorial_2008_11.html The idea of a state license that allows an inventor to prevent others from copying an invention for a fixed period—otherwise known as a patent—has seemed a sensible one to enlightened governments since the 15th century. The public benefits by having the details of the invention disclosed, and the inventor’s right to profit from the invention is preserved. But times have changed since the rulers of Venice issued the first such documents. Today the international patent system is a nightmarish mire of broad yet uncertain rights. Wealthy corporations purchase patent rights they have little intention of exploiting to impress investors and discourage competitors. The main business of some patent “trolls” is threatening purported patent infringers with legal actions, which can be huge... AIBS BioScience Editorials info http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2597618 Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:04:45 +0100 2597618 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2597617&cid=s_38588_62_f&fid=38588&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aibs.org%2Fbioscience-editorials%2Feditorial_2008_12.html The economy took a nose-dive in the fall of 2008, with all indicators showing a free fall: inflation at nearly 6 percent—its highest level in 17 years—unemployment at 6 percent, no net job growth in the private sector for most of 2008, plummeting housing prices, and record losses in the banking industry. Public investments in technology, a major component of which is the Internet, have reaped huge benefits for the economy in the past. Remember, however, that it is science that supports the technology we need to keep America great in the 21st century. Within a few short years, an estimated seven billion people will populate the planet, and all of them will need food, shelter, and water. Natural resources are dwindling, and the challenges of achieving energy security, assuring ... AIBS BioScience Editorials info http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2597617 Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:04:45 +0100 2597617 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2597616&cid=s_38588_62_f&fid=38588&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aibs.org%2Fbioscience-editorials%2Feditorial_2009_01.html The year 2009 has been designated the Year of Science (www.yearofscience2009.org). The Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science (COPUS) and AIBS, together with the Geological Society of America, the National Science Teachers Association, and the University of California Museum of Paleontology (home of the new Understanding Science Web site; see p. 91)—are fully engaged in the effort to attain the goal of the Year of Science: to empower Americans "to appreciate the pragmatic outcomes of science, to distinguish science from non-science, and to participate in social discourse that provides insight into the nature of science" (COPUS, www.copusproject.org/rationale.php). The celebration is timed to coincide with many seminal scientific anniversaries, most notably the 200th annive... AIBS BioScience Editorials info http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2597616 Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:04:45 +0100 2597616 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2597615&cid=s_38588_62_f&fid=38588&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aibs.org%2Fbioscience-editorials%2Feditorial_2009_02.html When I first studied—if that is the word—biology, in high school in the 1970s, it seemed uncompelling: the lab demonstrations could not compare for spectacle or danger with more vivid offerings in chemistry and physics. Only an encounter with The Ecologist magazine persuaded me that biology had gravity. Today's biology teachers have at hand not only better demonstrations of biology's power but also more convincing arguments for its importance. As Thomas Lovejoy, biodiversity chair of the Heinz Center, remarked recently, humanity has finally come to the point where daunting rates of species loss and the challenges of sustainably meeting energy and food needs are "all one big crunch." Individuals' decisions are important, but national and international policies will govern how o... AIBS BioScience Editorials info http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2597615 Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:04:45 +0100 2597615 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2597614&cid=s_38588_62_f&fid=38588&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aibs.org%2Fbioscience-editorials%2Feditorial_2009_03.html It may be cold comfort to struggling alternative-energy entrepreneurs, but it is now close to a done deal that investment in wind and solar energy will increase dramatically in coming years. Although many sectors are clamoring for federal financial assistance in these troubled economic times, the administration and Congress seem agreed that low-carbon energy sources need boosts. Not only will these energy alternatives reduce US dependence on foreign oil, but they also promise to provide new jobs. Moreover, pressure for a federal carbon tax, or some similar measure, is likely to be ultimately successful in Congress, which points to a rosy long-term competitive outlook. For these reasons, planning for high-voltage transmission lines, wind farms, and solar power stations is moving ahead apac... AIBS BioScience Editorials info http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2597614 Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:04:45 +0100 2597614 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2597613&cid=s_38588_62_f&fid=38588&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aibs.org%2Fbioscience-editorials%2Feditorial_2009_04.html The 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth, widely and properly celebrated last 12 February, was a gratifying event for biologists. The founding father of modern biology was feted in articles, broadcasts, and gatherings, and evolution was even a pictorial motif on Google's home page. The public recognition was a notable plus for biology's image, especially as 12 February was also the 200th birthday of another great benefactor of human freedom, Abraham Lincoln. Charles Darwin a benefactor of freedom? Yes. Even aside from the case argued by Adrian Desmond and James Moore in Darwin's Sacred Cause (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009)—that hatred of slavery inspired the great man to argue for a single human origin—understanding natural selection in itself opens paths to freedom. ... AIBS BioScience Editorials info http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2597613 Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:04:45 +0100 2597613 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2597612&cid=s_38588_62_f&fid=38588&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aibs.org%2Fbioscience-editorials%2Feditorial_2009_05.html The century of biology is almost a tenth complete, and its first decade seems to have delivered more pain than progress. Yet in March, biologists of all stripes were relieved when two scientists with impeccable credentials and broad experience in energy and marine policy—John P. Holdren and Jane Lubchenco—were confirmed as director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Despite the national preoccupation with the country's economic woes, the Senate finally recognized the pettiness of further delay in approving these crucial appointments. Holdren and Lubchenco, together with Steven Chu, the previously sworn-in secretary of energy, should have excellent opportunities to effectively inform US ... AIBS BioScience Editorials info http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2597612 Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:04:45 +0100 2597612 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2597611&cid=s_38588_62_f&fid=38588&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aibs.org%2Fbioscience-editorials%2Feditorial_2009_06.html Biologists are familiar with studies that estimate the range of temperatures that must prevail for a species to survive and then examine where those temperatures might be found under various scenarios for the future climate. The approach, which allows a rough estimate of how a species' geographic range might change with global warming, has provided important insights: the expected shifts in the ranges of many organisms, animals and plants, seem drastic. In many cases, ranges seem likely to be smaller in the future as biota move toward the poles and higher up mountains (where that option exists). Bioclimatic envelope modeling can be more sophisticated than this simplistic account suggests; precipitation and other variables may be included, for example. But organismal biologists know that t... AIBS BioScience Editorials info http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2597611 Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:04:45 +0100 2597611 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2597610&cid=s_38588_62_f&fid=38588&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aibs.org%2Fbioscience-editorials%2Feditorial_2009_07.html One talk at the AIBS meeting in May on sustainable agriculture stood out both for its immediacy and for the challenge it represents to established wisdom. Pedro A. Sanchez, recipient of the 2002 World Food Prize and director of the Tropical Agriculture and the Rural Environment Program at Columbia University's Earth Institute, told rapt attendees about the latest results from an initiative that is being called the "Malawi miracle." Malawi, a landlocked country of poor farmers, faced a food crisis in 2005, the result of drought, floods, and a disastrous maize harvest. Huge amounts of food aid, costing more than $100 million, barely averted widespread starvation. President Bingu wa Mutharika, whom Sanchez advises, decided to ignore the consensus advice of the World Bank, the US Agency for I... AIBS BioScience Editorials info http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2597610 Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:04:45 +0100 2597610 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2560118&cid=s_38588_62_f&fid=38588&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FBioScienceEditorials%2F%7E3%2FppyZ3tsZFlU%2Feditorial_2009_07.html One talk at the AIBS meeting in May on sustainable agriculture stood out both for its immediacy and for the challenge it represents to established wisdom. Pedro A. Sanchez, recipient of the 2002 World Food Prize and director of the Tropical Agriculture and the Rural Environment Program at Columbia University's Earth Institute, told rapt attendees about the latest results from an initiative that is being called the "Malawi miracle." Malawi, a landlocked country of poor farmers, faced a food crisis in 2005, the result of drought, floods, and a disastrous maize harvest. Huge amounts of food aid, costing more than $100 million, barely averted widespread starvation. President Bingu wa Mutharika, whom Sanchez advises, decided to ignore the consensus advice of the World Bank, the US Agency for I... AIBS BioScience Editorials info http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2560118 Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:24:34 +0100 2560118 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2462740&cid=s_38588_62_f&fid=38588&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FBioScienceEditorials%2F%7E3%2F-g4lCS2DJa8%2Feditorial_2008_07.html Global circulation models have long predicted that greenhouse warming would be greatest in polar regions, and abundant data confirm strong warming there. Not surprisingly, in recent decades there have been pronounced effects on wildlife in polar regions. The plight of the polar bear, the Arctic wildlife poster species facing the disappearance of its habitat, was officially recognized in May when the US Department of the Interior designated the animal “threatened” (a designation challenged, however, by the State of Alaska). Penguins, which play a similarly iconic role for the Antarctic (though they are found throughout the Southern Hemi­sphere), are facing more varied challenges, as P. Dee Boersma describes in the article that starts on p. 597. Climate change again underlies may of t... AIBS BioScience Editorials info http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2462740 Mon, 08 Jun 2009 06:56:47 +0100 2462740 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2462739&cid=s_38588_62_f&fid=38588&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FBioScienceEditorials%2F%7E3%2FL8Ne701hDvo%2Feditorial_2008_09.html In 1974, Thomas Nagel famously grabbed the attention of philosophers by asking, “What is it like to be a bat?” In the article starting on p. 737, Gerald Kerth finally provides some answers. The answers are probably more complicated than Nagel envisaged. Nagel was pondering whether we could ever provide an objective account of a subjective experience. The question still resonates, but biologists as well as philosophers have clarified some relevant matters over the past three-and-a-half decades. In particular, biologists have revealed previously uncharted complexity in the social relationships of many animals, especially mammals. The challenge of managing these fraught interdependencies is now widely thought to have been a key driver of the evolution of the mammalian neocortex. Homo sap... AIBS BioScience Editorials info http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2462739 Mon, 08 Jun 2009 06:56:47 +0100 2462739 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2462738&cid=s_38588_62_f&fid=38588&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FBioScienceEditorials%2F%7E3%2F54W3GDvMPvE%2Feditorial_2008_10.html Charismatic they are not, but fungi have a vastly larger impact on the flow of essential elements through ecosystems than do most more appealing organisms. Gaining an understanding of their diversity and spatial variability, and the implications of these for fundamental ecological processes such as decomposition, has to be a high priority if biologists are to predict the consequences of habitat and climate change. Only in recent years have techniques existed to allow the systematic exploration of patterns of fungal diversity, as Kabir Peay, Peter Kennedy, and Thomas Bruns explain in the 21st Century Directions in Biology article that starts on p. 799. The often micro­scopic size and the generally cryptic nature of fungi have typically made it necessary to use biochemical techniques to di... AIBS BioScience Editorials info http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2462738 Mon, 08 Jun 2009 06:56:47 +0100 2462738 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2462737&cid=s_38588_62_f&fid=38588&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FBioScienceEditorials%2F%7E3%2FCSjuPKnYN-U%2Feditorial_2008_11.html The idea of a state license that allows an inventor to prevent others from copying an invention for a fixed period—otherwise known as a patent—has seemed a sensible one to enlightened governments since the 15th century. The public benefits by having the details of the invention disclosed, and the inventor’s right to profit from the invention is preserved. But times have changed since the rulers of Venice issued the first such documents. Today the international patent system is a nightmarish mire of broad yet uncertain rights. Wealthy corporations purchase patent rights they have little intention of exploiting to impress investors and discourage competitors. The main business of some patent “trolls” is threatening purported patent infringers with legal actions, which can be huge... AIBS BioScience Editorials info http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2462737 Mon, 08 Jun 2009 06:56:47 +0100 2462737 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2462736&cid=s_38588_62_f&fid=38588&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FBioScienceEditorials%2F%7E3%2FAEBMBeBd5uo%2Feditorial_2008_12.html The economy took a nose-dive in the fall of 2008, with all indicators showing a free fall: inflation at nearly 6 percent—its highest level in 17 years—unemployment at 6 percent, no net job growth in the private sector for most of 2008, plummeting housing prices, and record losses in the banking industry. Public investments in technology, a major component of which is the Internet, have reaped huge benefits for the economy in the past. Remember, however, that it is science that supports the technology we need to keep America great in the 21st century. Within a few short years, an estimated seven billion people will populate the planet, and all of them will need food, shelter, and water. Natural resources are dwindling, and the challenges of achieving energy security, assuring ... AIBS BioScience Editorials info http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2462736 Mon, 08 Jun 2009 06:56:47 +0100 2462736 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2462735&cid=s_38588_62_f&fid=38588&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FBioScienceEditorials%2F%7E3%2FhQvTH6H68zc%2Feditorial_2009_01.html The year 2009 has been designated the Year of Science (www.yearofscience2009.org). The Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science (COPUS) and AIBS, together with the Geological Society of America, the National Science Teachers Association, and the University of California Museum of Paleontology (home of the new Understanding Science Web site; see p. 91)—are fully engaged in the effort to attain the goal of the Year of Science: to empower Americans "to appreciate the pragmatic outcomes of science, to distinguish science from non-science, and to participate in social discourse that provides insight into the nature of science" (COPUS, www.copusproject.org/rationale.php). The celebration is timed to coincide with many seminal scientific anniversaries, most notably the 200th annive... AIBS BioScience Editorials info http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2462735 Mon, 08 Jun 2009 06:56:47 +0100 2462735 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2462734&cid=s_38588_62_f&fid=38588&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FBioScienceEditorials%2F%7E3%2FAeeQF_GAV8Q%2Feditorial_2009_02.html When I first studied—if that is the word—biology, in high school in the 1970s, it seemed uncompelling: the lab demonstrations could not compare for spectacle or danger with more vivid offerings in chemistry and physics. Only an encounter with The Ecologist magazine persuaded me that biology had gravity. Today's biology teachers have at hand not only better demonstrations of biology's power but also more convincing arguments for its importance. As Thomas Lovejoy, biodiversity chair of the Heinz Center, remarked recently, humanity has finally come to the point where daunting rates of species loss and the challenges of sustainably meeting energy and food needs are "all one big crunch." Individuals' decisions are important, but national and international policies will govern how o... AIBS BioScience Editorials info http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2462734 Mon, 08 Jun 2009 06:56:47 +0100 2462734 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2462733&cid=s_38588_62_f&fid=38588&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FBioScienceEditorials%2F%7E3%2FJaipEJgmT14%2Feditorial_2009_03.html It may be cold comfort to struggling alternative-energy entrepreneurs, but it is now close to a done deal that investment in wind and solar energy will increase dramatically in coming years. Although many sectors are clamoring for federal financial assistance in these troubled economic times, the administration and Congress seem agreed that low-carbon energy sources need boosts. Not only will these energy alternatives reduce US dependence on foreign oil, but they also promise to provide new jobs. Moreover, pressure for a federal carbon tax, or some similar measure, is likely to be ultimately successful in Congress, which points to a rosy long-term competitive outlook. For these reasons, planning for high-voltage transmission lines, wind farms, and solar power stations is moving ahead apac... AIBS BioScience Editorials info http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2462733 Mon, 08 Jun 2009 06:56:47 +0100 2462733 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2462732&cid=s_38588_62_f&fid=38588&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FBioScienceEditorials%2F%7E3%2FNl0eIG4FTZg%2Feditorial_2009_04.html The 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth, widely and properly celebrated last 12 February, was a gratifying event for biologists. The founding father of modern biology was feted in articles, broadcasts, and gatherings, and evolution was even a pictorial motif on Google's home page. The public recognition was a notable plus for biology's image, especially as 12 February was also the 200th birthday of another great benefactor of human freedom, Abraham Lincoln. Charles Darwin a benefactor of freedom? Yes. Even aside from the case argued by Adrian Desmond and James Moore in Darwin's Sacred Cause (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009)—that hatred of slavery inspired the great man to argue for a single human origin—understanding natural selection in itself opens paths to freedom. ... AIBS BioScience Editorials info http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2462732 Mon, 08 Jun 2009 06:56:47 +0100 2462732 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2462731&cid=s_38588_62_f&fid=38588&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FBioScienceEditorials%2F%7E3%2Fh2aZmBRFSGA%2Feditorial_2009_05.html The century of biology is almost a tenth complete, and its first decade seems to have delivered more pain than progress. Yet in March, biologists of all stripes were relieved when two scientists with impeccable credentials and broad experience in energy and marine policy—John P. Holdren and Jane Lubchenco—were confirmed as director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Despite the national preoccupation with the country's economic woes, the Senate finally recognized the pettiness of further delay in approving these crucial appointments. Holdren and Lubchenco, together with Steven Chu, the previously sworn-in secretary of energy, should have excellent opportunities to effectively inform US ... AIBS BioScience Editorials info http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2462731 Mon, 08 Jun 2009 06:56:47 +0100 2462731 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2462730&cid=s_38588_62_f&fid=38588&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FBioScienceEditorials%2F%7E3%2F31hagzOm3DI%2Feditorial_2009_06.html Biologists are familiar with studies that estimate the range of temperatures that must prevail for a species to survive and then examine where those temperatures might be found under various scenarios for the future climate. The approach, which allows a rough estimate of how a species' geographic range might change with global warming, has provided important insights: the expected shifts in the ranges of many organisms, animals and plants, seem drastic. In many cases, ranges seem likely to be smaller in the future as biota move toward the poles and higher up mountains (where that option exists). Bioclimatic envelope modeling can be more sophisticated than this simplistic account suggests; precipitation and other variables may be included, for example. But organismal biologists know that t... AIBS BioScience Editorials info http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2462730 Mon, 08 Jun 2009 06:56:47 +0100 2462730