[In Depth] Research agencies revel in final 2016 budget

Science: Current Issue
Advocates for U.S. science succeeded in winning more dollars for most federal research agencies in the final 2016 spending bill signed into law last month. Just as importantly, however, they also dissuaded Congress from imposing policies that they believe would have harmed the scientific enterprise. At the National Institutes of Health (NIH), backers of biomedical research achieved their ambitious goal of winning a $2 billion increase for the king of the research hill; the 6.6% boost over its 2015 budget was the largest NIH has received since 2003. Science at NASA and the Department of Energy did much better than expected, with hikes of 6.6% and 5.5%, respectively. The National Science Foundation ended up with a more modest bump of 1.6% that nevertheless exceeded the amounts approved earlier in the budget process by congressional spending panels. Research funded by grant competitions will expand at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as well. Author: Jeffrey Mervis
Read More...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Designing of India's Etsy

Image
Shopo, a marketplace for artisinal goods that has been compared to Etsy, was acquired by Snapdeal and relaunched in July 2015 . The company's year-long journey has seen it grow while keeping its focus on small businesses that would not be well served on the parent platform, says Sandeep Komaravelly, Senior Vice President Snapdeal - Shopo. What's interesting is that Komaravelly believes that much of the growth the platform has seen in this time has been driven by design, as it has not been strongly marketed as yet. To showcase the point, Komaravelly gave Gadgets 360 a behind-the-scenes peek showing exactly how the design has evolved since July, and why. We've talked a lot in the past about how Indian startups are turning to design to act as a differentiator in a crowded market. Improved data connections, and better displays on smartphones mean that companies are now turning to glossy magazines for inspiration and moving away from the tired designs that were so commonplac...
Read more

[In Depth] A whale's life, inscribed in baleen

Science: Current Issue In 2004, a collision with a ship cut short the life of an endangered North Atlantic right whale named Stumpy. Many lamented her death, but Stumpy's demise could ultimately help other whales. Researchers are using her tough, hairlike baleen to develop a new method of reconstructing a whale's life story—much as scientists use growth rings to reveal a tree's past. The nascent technique could make it easier to study, and perhaps protect, whales. Deriving whale biographies from baleen is just one concept to be discussed next week at the 21st Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals in San Francisco, California. Some 3000 researchers will share insights into some of the world's most charismatic creatures, including first-time audio recordings of rare species and updates on struggling populations. They'll also discuss novel ways of assessing the health and physiology of free-swimming mammals that can be hard to study in the wild. That...
Read more

Yu Founder On Next Flagship and Open Source Model for Upcoming Smartphones

Image
Micromax subsidiary Yu Televentures is gearing up to launch its next flagship smartphone this month. Ahead of the launch, company founder Rahul Sharma spoke to Gadgets 360 about the company's strategy for upcoming smartphones and the relationship with Cyanogen. He confirmed that the upcoming Yu flagship will run Android with some customisations from the company, and not Cyanogen , as seen on its predecessor. Sharma revealed that the company has so far sold 2 million devices since Yu established itself as an independent brand, with a new flagship smartphone expected to launch later this month. Talking about the upcoming smartphone, Sharma said that the company will be focusing on offering "pure Android experience" with a deep integration of Around Yu , a service aggregator platform that was introduced last year alongside the Yutopia flagship. He further hinted that the Around Yu will come with some new features. "When we got Cyanogen things were moving fine but ...
Read more