Organic chips ELECTRONIC circuits could soon be made from biological rather than inorganic materials. Researchers have found that molecules of guanosine, a building block of RNA, behave like tiny transistors. Stefano D'Amico at the University of Lecce in Italy chose guanosine because its molecules tend to line up in strings that act as diodes, allowing current through … 51¶¯Âþ
Humans Washington diary PRIVACY advocates were among those celebrating the departure this month of the holder of an obscure government office, John Poindexter. A retired admiral, Poindexter was appointed by President Bush as a senior policy maker at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the best-known scientific arm of the Department of Defense. There he created the … Opinion
The talented Mr Hooke When Michael Cooper set out in 2001 to find the remains of Robert Hooke, the greatest experimental scientist of the 17th century, he immediately ran into a problem. Hooke had been buried at the church of St Helen Bishopsgate in the City of London in 1703 – but by the time Cooper got there Hooke … Features
What shapes science? The Evolution of Scientific Knowledge edited by Hans Siggaard Jensen, Lykke Margot Richter and Morten Thanning Vendelø, Edward Elgar, £45, ISBN 1843762358 Reviewed by Steve Fuller HAD a book with this title been written by biologists, someone would have asked, "Are we genetically programmed to do science?" But economists wrote The Evolution of Scientific Knowledge, … Books & Arts
Feedback CREATION science is the creationists' slap in the face to orthodox science. It's their way of proving the silly old orthodox scientists have got it all wrong: life didn't evolve over millions of years, God created it 6000 years ago. But browsing reports of a recent Creation Science Fair, Feedback was glad to see that … Regulars