Opinion in 1998

Natural history museums face an unprecedented opportunity as central players in biodiversity research. They and their financial supporters need to match fine words with appropriate actions.

A series that ends this week should inspire not only appreciation of images but also a desire to communicate.

A viable science base requires a commitment to excellence and imagination that is incompatible with rigidity and cronyism. Spain needs to absorb this lesson if it is to flourish scientifically and economically.

South Africa has a unique opportunity to play a key role in creating effective health-care systems in sub-Saharan Africa. It must not squander this opportunity by rejecting the help offered by science.

The successful reform of French science needs a greater commitment to openness and consultation.

The process from which the Nevada desert has emerged as the only candidate site for disposal of US high-level nuclear waste has been flawed. But the result may still be a safe repository.

A proposal that senior German academics be paid on the basis of job performance has raised a storm of protest. But that should not obscure the value of this — and other — proposals for university reform.

Departing directors at the top US physics laboratories leave a discipline in search of inspired leadership.

Next year's World Conference on Science is a unique chance to reassess the dynamics of international scientific cooperation and address the challenges it currently faces. This opportunity must not be squandered.

Ageing astronauts should be more honest about their motivations for wishing to return to space.

The rules on sharing large-scale facilities are under pressure. Neither politicians nor scientists should ignore the role of self-interest. But respect must, where possible, still be maintained for universal values.

Increasingly tough conditions being attached to the transfer of experimental tools between researchers are threatening science's tradition of open communication. Agreement on optimal terms would help all sides.

Last week's announcement on human embryo stem cells requires a change in the US law on embryo research.

Tax incentives and other measures to encourage energy efficiency are needed to curtail the growth of US carbon emissions. Calls for more research, though important, should not be used to obscure this fact.

Using threats to force the formation of semi-autonomous ‘agencies’ in Japan is a flawed strategy.

The UK government has some way to go in building trust in its handling of genetic modification in agriculture.

The tragic suicide of an outstanding graduate student at Harvard University poses troubling questions about academic priorities. But it also reinforces deeper concerns about the contemporary culture of research.

Persuading countries to increase their investment in research often means starting at the bottom.

Recent high-profile research misconduct cases underline an urgent need for a more formal approach to the way in which laboratories organize and conduct their research.