A brief history of science and technology in Latin America that begins with the Mayan civilization and progresses through the colonial period to the present. Compares increased scientific productivity in the Latin American and Caribbean regions to productivity in the United States and European Union. (LZ)

Describes how the statistical technique of meta-analysis can be used to help resolve conflicting studies in social sciences. (ZWH)

Discusses the relation of technology to the green revolution, the role of plant breeders in inducing change in stagnant agriculture and the tools required by production scientists to increase yields of basic food crops in developing countries. (BR)

The House of Representatives voted that the National Science Foundation (NSF) must submit a list of all proposed grant awards to Congress every 30 days as well as justifications for them. The award of any grant can be vetoed by either house within 30 days. This supplants the current method of peer reviews of grant applications. (MLH)

This entire issue is devoted to the problem of producing enough food for the world population and of distributing it equitably. Areas covered include reports on the latest agricultural research, biological research concerned with more efficient photosynthesis, nutrition, and the world social structure, politics, and economics of food. (MA)

The effects of particular drugs in human memory abilities was examined. The degree of memory enhancement produced by arecholine and choline and the impairment after scopolamaine were inversely proportional to the subject's performance in placebo; that is, "poor" performers were more vulnerable to the drugs than were "good" performers. (Author/CP)

Reviews science historian Derek de Solla Prices' report to the science subcommittees of the congress that the exponential growth in science experienced since the early 1900's has ended. (SL)

Discusses recent protest concerning the conduct of survey research. (SL)

Analyzes 46 medical research papers on the effects of innovative versus standard surgical procedures on the health of patients. Results reveal that innovations generally reduce complications. The ethics of experimental surgery are also discussed. (CP)

Discusses the key sites chosen in the United States for environmental research and monitoring as part of an international program that protects major centers for ecological and environmental research. (MLH)

Examines new directions in ecological research in which ecologists are analyzing systems with theoretical models and are using descriptive studies to confirm and extend their studies. The development of a model relating to species equilibriums on islands is now being applied to problems of conservation of wildlife in national parks. (JR)

Examines earlier studies relating to human memory, extracts estimates of parameters that appear to be crucial to performance in complex tasks, and illustrates how these parameter values predict behavior in a range of laboratory situations. (JR)

Discusses unpaid postdoctoral researchers, especially those in biology and medicine, addressing reasons why they work without pay, how they receive funding, efforts to help them, their impacts on the field, and personal concerns. (DC)