Lab Weds Brain Research and Physics
Magnets and modeling may help reveal secrets of brain development and disease.
Visas Extended for Students, Scientists
After months of trying to strike a balance between openness and security, State Department officials have changed immigration rules to allow foreign researchers and students in science and technology fields classified as "sensitive" to maintain their US visa clearances for up to four years.
Statue Hid Hipparchus Star Catalog 
Since Alexandria's great library was ransacked 1600 years ago, astronomers have searched in vain for a copy of the Hipparchus star catalog, the earliest sky map known to have used a coordinate system. Now, an astrophysicist vacationing in Naples, Italy, believes he has found a copy sitting in plain view on a statue of Atlas, the Greek god sentenced to bear the weight of the heavens.
Nobelist Garners Religion Prize
Charles Hard Townes is this year's winner of the Templeton Prize for Progress Toward Research or Discoveries About Spiritual Realities. The prize comes with $1.5 million-an amount that purposely exceeds the Nobel Prize purse. He joins Mother Teresa and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn as recipients of both the Templeton and Nobel Prizes.
No Leaky Pipeline for Women in Physics, but Discrimination Persists
The pipeline of women in US physics academe is not as leaky as is commonly supposed, according to a recent report by the American Institute of Physics.
News Notes
New NASA head; European expat network; Attaining equality in astronomy; Carcinogen labels
Web Watch
Silicon Genesis; Lightsources.org; Gemini Observatory Image Gallery
Special Report: War, Terrorism, and Growing Deficits Limit Bush FY 2006 R&D Budget; Civilian Science Funding Flat
With the administration attempting to hold non-security domestic spending flat across the board, R&D increases are limited primarily to homeland
security and the president's Moon/Mars initiative.
