Karl Popper on Falsification: Science Vs. Pseudoscience
What separates science from pseudoscience, and what should a scientist be like? Karl Popper believed that the notion of falsification could help answer these questions.
Send us a link
Replacing Academic Journals
Replacing traditional journals with a more modern solution is not a new idea. Here, the authors propose ways to overcome the social dilemma underlying the decades of inaction.
Shortage of Funding and Lack of Scale Are Holding Back EU Industrial Policy
Since March 2020 the European Commission has been making moves to improve Europe’s industrial competitiveness. Experts say things are moving in the right direction, but warn there is not enough money or enough focus on scaling up.
Why Creativity in Science Matters and Three Ways to Achieve It
Creativity is critical to the future of work. The Future of Jobs Report 2023 ranked analytical thinking and creative thinking as the first and second most important skills that workers will need to have in the future.
Secondary Publishing Rights Can Improve Public Access to Academic Research
Secondary Publishing Rights Can Improve Public Access to Academic Research
Secondary publishing rights could facilitate immediate open access to publicly funded research and foster global innovation and discovery.
Girls Have Overtaken Boys in Science Participation. In Workplaces, It's a Completely Different Story
Girls Have Overtaken Boys in Science Participation. In Workplaces, It's a Completely Different Story
Young women get better grades in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, but progress on jobs for women in these industries has been painfully slow.
Pack Up the Parachute: Why Global North-South Collaborations Need to Change
Pack Up the Parachute: Why Global North-South Collaborations Need to Change
Global-south researchers want equal partnerships that value intellectual exchange.
Scientific Publishing Has a Language Problem
Science is international, but scientific publishing is dominated by English-language publications. This disproportionately benefits native or fluent English speakers. Steps to address the imbalance this creates are taken, and new technology may help.
Commission acts to accelerate phasing out of animal testing in response to a European Citizens' Initiative
Commission acts to accelerate phasing out of animal testing in response to a European Citizens' Initiative
The Commission is responding to the European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) ‘Save Cruelty-free Cosmetics - Commit to a Europe without Animal Testing'. The response provides a comprehensive overview of the EU's legislative and policy framework relevant to the use of animals for testing purposes. It also proposes additional actions to further reduce animal testing.
No Sign of Deal on UK Return to EU Horizon Science Programme
Negotiations stalling over London's request to quit atomic research organisation and for financial rebate.
Quick Grants from Tech Billionaires Aim to Speed Up Science Research. But Not All Scientists Approve
Quick Grants from Tech Billionaires Aim to Speed Up Science Research. But Not All Scientists Approve
Fast Grants is one of many science improvement projects Silicon Valley billionaires launched or backed since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Science History: In the Shadow of Oppenheimer
How popular narratives of the atomic age obscure the bomb's first victims.
Open Access 'at Any Cost' Cannot Support Scholarly Publishing Communities
Open Access 'at Any Cost' Cannot Support Scholarly Publishing Communities
Kaitlin Thaney argues the current momentum building for “no pays” academic publishing models and establishing the “reasonable costs” of publication, present opportunities to rebalance the inequities, costs, and power dynamics initially bred by the push towards Open Access “at any cost” over the past two decades.
European Universities Need a Fine-grained Approach to Economic Security Risks
European Universities Need a Fine-grained Approach to Economic Security Risks
The newly launched European Economic Security Strategy aims to address Europe's economic vulnerabilities at a time of heightened geopolitical tensions. Among other objectives it sets out to better define technologies that are critical for Europe, or which have potential dual civil and military use.
EU Proposal on Research Careers Seen As a Step in Right Direction, but Falling Short on Ambition
EU Proposal on Research Careers Seen As a Step in Right Direction, but Falling Short on Ambition
The European Commission's long-awaited proposal to improve career pathways for researchers put forward last week is viewed an important step in the right direction, but advocates want to see more ambition and political pressure to usher in change.
To Share is to Be a Scientist
Wrangling big data is now part of being a biomedical scientist, and mandates on data sharing have entered the scene. Mandates can alter behavior, but data sharing also needs incentives and shifts in science culture.
Commission's Plan to Increase Funding for the Missions Met with Disapproval
Commission's Plan to Increase Funding for the Missions Met with Disapproval
With the research budget already overstretched, any more funding for the Missions cannot be at the expense of other parts of Horizon Europe, critics say
'We Can't Afford to Stop Science': EU Research Infrastructures Call for Help with Their Energy Bills
'We Can't Afford to Stop Science': EU Research Infrastructures Call for Help with Their Energy Bills
A new report sets out the dramatic impact that rising costs are having on some of Europe’s critical science facilities and calls on governments and the Commission to step in.
Citizens' Perceptions of Research and Innovation Dilemmas: Insights from a Large-Scale Survey in Four European Regions
Citizens' Perceptions of Research and Innovation Dilemmas: Insights from a Large-Scale Survey in Four European Regions
This study presents a valuable dataset supporting regional research and innovation systems in four European regions: Vestland (Norway), Kriti (Greece), Galicia (Spain), and Overijssel (Netherlands). It focuses on understanding citizens’ perceptions of research and innovation dilemmas within these regions.
Experimental evidence on the productivity effects of generative artificial intelligence
Science's Gender Gap: the Shocking Data That Reveal Its True Extent
Analysis of which researchers publish, get credit, move around, get funding, collaborate and receive citations shows how deeply ingrained the bias against women is.
How Do Plants with Seedless Fruit Reproduce?
Plants are capable of producing seedless fruit through a process called parthenocarpy, and humans have long leveraged it in agriculture.
Congress weighs far-reaching disclosure rules for academics doing military research
House defense bill would vastly expand information that must be disclosed and posted online.
Science funding agencies say no to using AI for peer review
Concerns include confidentiality, accuracy, and "originality of thought".
Everett Mendelsohn, Who Linked Science and Society, Dies at 91
A longtime professor at Harvard, he lectured on atom bombs, genetics and more, examining how science, culture and politics influence one another.
EU Commission Announces Plan to Improve Working Conditions for Young Researchers
EU Commission Announces Plan to Improve Working Conditions for Young Researchers
The European Commission has announced three new measures aimed at improving career paths and working conditions for young researchers in the European Research Area (ERA). The proposal, put forward today by the Commission, includes a new European framework for research careers, a new charter for researchers and a new European competence framework for researchers.
×