FY2020 House Funding Proposal for NIH & Brain
Policy
Appropriations Committee Releases Fiscal Year 2020 Labor-HHS-Education Funding Bill
April 29, 2019 | House Committee on Appropriations
The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services (LHHS), Education and Related Agencies approved the FY2020 bill, which includes an increase of $2 billion for NIH and $411 million for the BRAIN Initiative. The bill’s next step will be to head to the full Committee for markup.
House Democrats Move to Resurrect Congress’s Science Advisory Office
April 30, 2019 | Science
Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives want to bring back Congress’s long-dead science advice office. A draft funding bill released today calls for providing $6 million to re-establish the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), which Republican lawmakers killed in 1995.
An Interview with OSTP Director Kelvin Droegemeier
April 30, 2019 | American Institute of Physics
A new phase in the history of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy began in January with the Senate confirmation of University of Oklahoma meteorologist Kelvin Droegemeier as its director. Shortly after he was sworn in, Droegemeier outlined his priorities for the office at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Thousands of Scientists in Argentina Strike to Protest Budget Cuts
April 30, 2019 | Science
Scientists from labs across Argentina stayed home today, joining a nationwide strike against the government’s latest round of austerity measures. One of their key rallying points: a call to restore lost opportunities for young researchers who began their education during a time of high investment in science but now have little hope of continuing their careers in Argentina.
How China is Redrawing the Map of World Science
May 1, 2019 | Nature
Two hundred positions are funded each year by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in conjunction with The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) in Trieste, Italy. But this is no ordinary fellowship scheme. Each of the 200 is a small part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the world’s largest programme of loans and investments, including some grants, which China is brokering with 126 countries.
Science in the News
Seven Ways Scientists Handle Technology Challenges in Resource-Poor Settings
May 1, 2019 | Nature
The computers that scientists use are growing increasingly more powerful. But in many parts of the world, reliable electricity and Internet access, much less supercomputing power, remain elusive. There are things that researchers can do, however. Some scientists with experience in resource-limited areas share their tips.
Brain Mapping: New Technique Reveals How Information is Processed
May 1, 2019 | Neuroscience News
Researchers combined infrared laser stimulation techniques with functional magnetic resonance imaging in animals to generate mapping of connections throughout the brain. The technique was described in a study published in the journal Science Advances.
A Mysterious Dementia that Mimics Alzheimer’s Gets Named LATE
April 30, 2019 | Science News
A newly described dementia strikes people in their last decades of life. The disease, aptly named LATE, comes with symptoms that resemble Alzheimer’s disease, but is thought to be caused by something completely different. An international team of scientists and clinicians describe the disease and officially christen it LATE, which stands for the more technical description, “limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy,” online April 30 in Brain.
