Technology Polymer breakthrough to boost smart drugs SMART plastic films programmed to release a precise sequence of drugs are poised to revolutionise drug delivery thanks to a breakthrough in polymer chemistry. The films could be used to coat implants such as artificial hips and tissue scaffolds to deliver phased shots over a period of hours or weeks. Simple drug-releasing coatings are used … 51¶¯Âþ
US science under political siege TO UNDERSTAND the troubling schism that has emerged between the US Republican party and the nation's scientific community, look no farther than the senate majority leader Bill Frist. Frist is a medical doctor, a heart surgeon, and yet he has become notorious for abusing medical science in the interests of politics. Not only did he … Opinion
Technology Cellphones at 35,000 feet IT WAS just another flight for the nine passengers flying from Palmerston North to Christchurch, New Zealand, on the night of Friday 6 February 2003. As the aircraft approached its destination, the darkness and bad weather meant the pilot of the small aircraft, a Piper Navajo Chieftain, was flying the landing approach on instruments. Without … Features
Physics Coincidences, Chaos and All That Math Jazz by Edward Burger and Michael Starbird I ONCE had a maths teacher who used to throw books at us. If only this had been one of them. Math Jazz is, as its name suggests, a medley of absorbing mathematical diversions, from two professors who know how to hold an audience. Their narrative is full of arch humour and the maths is … Books & Arts
Life Designs on Nature: Science and democracy in Europe and the United States by Sheila Jasanoff Books & Arts
Feedback Nanoplane AIRBUS "conceived the A350-800 to dramatically increase the aircraft payload-range", the firm says in a magazine advert. But the next bit made Francis Quinn splutter: "Flying 300 nm further with space for 30 more passengers..." "I am not sure," Quinn muses, "whether your average passenger in first, business or cattle class would really notice … Regulars