How shall we pay for research and education?

In the article "How shall we pay for research and education?" by Paul E. Klopsteg [Science 124, 965 (16 Nov. 1956)], the first sentence under the subhead "Income taxes and individual giving" on page 966 should read: "Notwithstanding the apparent unqualified approval by government of the taxpayer's charitable inclinations, expressed by its permission to him to deduct up to 30 percent of his adjusted gross income for legal charities, he failed in 1954 by about $20 billion to take advantage of this exemption." The printed version "$20 million" was a typographical error.     

How and why do insects migrate?

Countless numbers of insects migrate within and between continents every year, and yet we know very little about the ultimate reasons and proximate mechanisms that would explain these mass movements. Here we suggest that perhaps the most important reason for insects to migrate is to hedge their reproductive bets. By spreading their breeding efforts in space and time, insects distribute their offspring over a range of environmental conditions. We show how the study of individual long-distance movements of insects may contribute to a better understanding of migration. In the future, advances in tracking methods may enable the global surveillance of large insects such as desert locusts.     

Geodynamics--where are we and what lies ahead?

The introduction and evolution of the plate tectonics hypothesis during the past two decades has sparked the current renaissance of research in the earth sciences. An outgrowth of active geophysical and geological exploration of the oceans, the plate tectonics model has come under intense scrutiny by geologists, geochemists, and geophysicists who have attempted to apply the model to the origin and growth of continents, the generation of oceanic and continental crust, and the nature of the lithosphere, asthenosphere, and underlying mantle with respect to their evolution through time and to the driving mechanism or mechanisms for plate tectonics. The study of other terrestrial planets and moons has been helpful in understanding the earth model. The unequal distribution of geological features, both in the continents and oceans, emphasizes the need for ongoing studies of international scope such as the recently completed International Geodynamics Project and its successor, the International Lithosphere Program, both stressing studies related to the dynamics of the lithosphere.     

How much more global warming and sea level rise?

Two global coupled climate models show that even if the concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere had been stabilized in the year 2000, we are already committed to further global warming of about another half degree and an additional 320% sea level rise caused by thermal expansion by the end of the 21st century. Projected weakening of the meridional overturning circulation in the North Atlantic Ocean does not lead to a net cooling in Europe. At any given point in time, even if concentrations are stabilized, there is a commitment to future climate changes that will be greater than those we have already observed.     

Foundations of production and consumption of organic food in Norway: Common attitudes among farmers and consumers?

In Norway, the production andconsumption of organic food is still small-scale. Research on attitudes towards organic farming in Norway has shown that most consumers find conventionally produced food to be good enough. The level of industrialization of agriculture and the existence of food scandals in a country will affect consumer demand for organically produced foods. Norway is an interesting case because of its small-scale agriculture, few problems with food-borne diseases, and low market share for organic food. Similarities between groups of consumers and producers of food, organic and conventional, when it comes to attitudes concerning environment, use of gene technology, and animal welfare have implications for understanding market conditions for organically produced food. The results of our study indicate that organic farmers and organic consumers in Norway have common attitudes towards environmental questions and animal welfare in Norwegian agriculture. Conventional farmers have a higher degree of agreement with the way agriculture is carried out today. Unlike organic farmers and consumers, conventional farmers do not see major environmental problems and problems with animal welfare in today's farming system. But like the organic farmers and consumers, and to a stronger degree than conventional consumers, conventional farmers renounce gene technology as a solution to environmental problems in agriculture. These results are discussed in relation to their importance for the market situation for organically produced foods.