India and the UK will begin sifting through joint research projects in November to develop “smart” energy grids. This involves sticking communication devices on the power grid, allowing it to be monitored remotely and tweaked to reflect supply and demand. Energy from renewable sources can also be fed in seamlessly. The £10m partnership between Research Councils UK and India’s department of science and technology is aimed at cutting carbon emissions.
From 1st November, the department for international development will require any research it bankrolls to be published freely. It’s a milestone in the long fight for open access publishing. Currently, paywalls used by journals mean that breakthroughs in disease control and food security are lost on poorer countries. In the meantime, more than 12,000 scientists have signed up to a boycott of publisher Elsevier (thecostofknowledge.com), instigated by Cambridge mathematician Sir Timothy Gowers.
The idea of geoengineering the planet is being dusted off in November—literally. Scientists from Strathclyde University will reveal details of a madcap plan to place a dust cloud between the Earth and Sun, to shield us from climate change. The idea entails gravitationally anchoring the cloud to an asteroid. One cosmic hitch: you have to get the asteroid up there first, widely thought to be impossible.
The Winton Prize for Science Books will be dished out this November/ On the shortlist Brian Greene joins James Gleick as a member/ Send an entertaining four-line ditty ‘bout these tomes/ And two will win the shortlist, sent directly to their homes.
See royalsociety.org/awards for more information. Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, chair of this year’s Winton judging panel, will choose our winners. Send your four-line poems to answer@prospect-magazine.co.uk by 20th November. Winners will be announced in January.
From 1st November, the department for international development will require any research it bankrolls to be published freely. It’s a milestone in the long fight for open access publishing. Currently, paywalls used by journals mean that breakthroughs in disease control and food security are lost on poorer countries. In the meantime, more than 12,000 scientists have signed up to a boycott of publisher Elsevier (thecostofknowledge.com), instigated by Cambridge mathematician Sir Timothy Gowers.
The idea of geoengineering the planet is being dusted off in November—literally. Scientists from Strathclyde University will reveal details of a madcap plan to place a dust cloud between the Earth and Sun, to shield us from climate change. The idea entails gravitationally anchoring the cloud to an asteroid. One cosmic hitch: you have to get the asteroid up there first, widely thought to be impossible.
The Winton Prize for Science Books will be dished out this November/ On the shortlist Brian Greene joins James Gleick as a member/ Send an entertaining four-line ditty ‘bout these tomes/ And two will win the shortlist, sent directly to their homes.
See royalsociety.org/awards for more information. Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, chair of this year’s Winton judging panel, will choose our winners. Send your four-line poems to answer@prospect-magazine.co.uk by 20th November. Winners will be announced in January.
