European defence companies asked to merge
In an effort to compete against US defence companies, the UK, French and German governments have called on European defence companies to merge into a single company
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Carbon-based electronics
In addition to being very strong and flexible, carbon nanotubes also have unusual electronic properties. Nanotubes are described by two numbers, conventionally m and n, and a specific nanotube can be metallic or semiconducting, depending on these numbers. Nanotubes are made by rolling up two-dimensional sheets of carbon atoms. The atoms are arranged in hexagons […]
Read article: Neutrons for the future
Neutrons for the future
If plans to build the European Spallation Source are successful it will be the world's most powerful neutron source and will revolutionize many areas of experimental science
Austrian hopes dashed by ESF
Austrian hopes to build either a crystal-growth facility or a pulsed neutron source have been given a frosty reception by the European Science Foundation
Battery boost
The growth in the use of mobile phones and portable computers is placing new demands on battery technology, but a new type of lithium battery could solve many of these problems
ESF General Assembly: new image, new physics and new secretary general
A number of new research projects in physics were also announced and Enric Banda, former secretary of state for universities and research in Spain, was confirmed as the foundation’s next secretary general. In particular, Rees advised, scientists cannot expect to convince the public of the benefits of science using only scientific logic. “The result is […]
New contractor for weapons lab
Department of Energy officials announced last week who will be running Brookhaven National Laboratory
Climate summit hots up
Politicians and policy-makers from more than 150 countries meet in Kyoto, Japan, this month to set legally binding targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
Clouds over Kyoto
Even if levels had increased over the previous two years, it was surely not beyond the wit of the world’s most technologically advanced countries to reduce them by the end of the decade. The difficult part was going to be cutting emissions below existing levels. Five years later even that soft target has proved too […]
Science studies – what’s wrong?
Physicists form a rather closed group of people. You may occasionally talk to a chemist or a mathematician, but how often do you cross the campus to speak to people working in the relatively new academic disciplines of “science studies”, “sociology of scientific knowledge” (SSK) or “science, technology and society” (STS). Do you even talk […]
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