Science News
Geithner urges U.S., China cooperation on freer trade
BEIJING (Reuters) - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Monday the United States and China need to work together to reduce trade barriers and develop a more balanced global economy.
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South Korea's Lee says to take North to Security Council
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said on Monday North Korea would pay the price for sinking a South Korean naval ship and that the South would invoke its right to defend itself if Pyongyang waged aggression again.
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China holds door open a crack to U.S. on yuan
BEIJING (Reuters) - China struck a conciliatory note in talks with the United States on Monday by vowing to spur domestic demand and keeping a guarded opening to exchange rate reform, which the Obama administration says is needed to rebalance the global economy.
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U.S. keeps "boot on neck" of BP over spill
GALLIANO, Louisiana (Reuters) - The government piled pressure on BP Plc on Monday to clean up a "massive environmental mess" in the Gulf of Mexico, and a top official said fines would definitely be imposed on the energy giant for the spreading oil spill.
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Jamaica declares emergency in capital after attacks
KINGSTON (Reuters) - Jamaica declared a state of emergency in two parishes of its capital Kingston on Sunday after shooting and firebomb attacks on police stations by suspected supporters of an alleged drug lord who faces extradition to the United States.
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Birds rescued as oil spill spreads
With BP continuing its efforts to contain a widening oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, U.S. wildlife officials continue their efforts at rescuing Gulf Coast area birds. Jon Decker reports.
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Syria defies Western pressure over Hezbollah
DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Syria defied Western pressure on Sunday over its support for the militant group Hezbollah and said it will not act as a policeman for the Jewish state to prevent weapons from reaching the Lebanese Shi'ite movement.
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U.S. will "push" out BP if spill response falls short
HOUSTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government will move aside BP from the operation to try to halt the Gulf of Mexico oil spill if it decides the company is not performing as required in its response to the well leak, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said on Sunday.
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Russia gives U.S. Afghan drugs data, criticizes NATO
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's top drugs official gave a list of Afghan and Central Asian drug barons to U.S. anti-drugs tsar Gil Kerlikowske Sunday, but criticized U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan for failing to stem opium output.
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Iran will ditch fuel plan if new sanctions: speaker
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran will abandon an offer to ship some of its uranium stockpile abroad if the United States imposes new sanctions, its parliament speaker said on Sunday.
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Fresh appeals lodged in Iraqi election impasse
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Election officials in Iraq said Sunday they had received new appeals stemming from March's parliamentary election but did not expect more than a brief delay in ratification of the results.
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Iran says U.S. "hikers" spies, proposes prisoner swap
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's intelligence minister said on Sunday he had no doubt three U.S. citizens arrested last July near the Iraq border were spies and called on Washington to propose a prisoner swap to secure their release.
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Save the Whales--by Hunting Them?
Whaling has been banned since 1986. And yet the actual number of whales killed each year has been increasing steadily. Japan, Iceland, Norway and indigenous groups hunted and killed at least 17,000 whales over the last decade.
[audio clip of minke whale song]
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Iran speaker: will ditch fuel plan if new sanctions
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran will abandon an atomic fuel swap plan brokered by Turkey and Brazil if the United States imposes new sanctions on the Islamic state, Iran's parliament speaker said on Sunday.
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Hermits and Cranks: Lessons from Martin Gardner on Recognizing Pseudoscientists
Editor's note: In light of the recent death of Martin Gardner, we are republishing this column from the March 2002 issue of Scientific American.
In 1950 Martin Gardner published an article in the Antioch Review entitled "The Hermit Scientist," about what we would today call pseudoscientists. It was Gardner's first publication of a skeptical nature (he was the math games columnist for Scientific American for more than a quarter of a century). In 1952 he expanded it into a book called In the Name of Science , with the descriptive subtitle "An entertaining survey of the high priests and cultists of science, past and present." Published by Putnam, the book sold so poorly that it was quickly remaindered and lay dormant until 1957, when it was republished by Dover. It has come down to us as Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science , which is still in print and is arguably the skeptic classic of the past half a century. [More]
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U.S. cleric urges Muslims to kill U.S. soldiers
DUBAI (Reuters) - A U.S.-born militant cleric has urged Muslims to kill U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan and vowed to step up attacks against the U.S. military, according to a videotape released on Sunday.
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South Korea to take ship case to U.N
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea said on Sunday it would take the case of its sunken naval vessel to the U.N. Security Council to try to tighten the economic vice on impoverished North Korea after accusing it of torpedoing the ship.
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Okinawans angry over U.S. base plan, PM at risk
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Sunday abandoned a pledge to move a U.S. air base off Okinawa, fanning local anger, upsetting a coalition partner and risking another blow to his ratings ahead of a mid-year election.
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Train derails in storm-hit east China, 10 dead
BEIJING (Reuters) - A passenger train in eastern China's Jiangxi province has derailed, killing at least 10 passengers and injuring 55, Xinhua news agency said on Sunday.
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Air crash puts focus on India infrastructure, safety
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - An air crash in India that killed 158 people has underlined fears about safety gaps in the country's booming airline industry and raised doubts about whether infrastructure can keep pace with rapid economic growth.
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