Office of Science & Technology - Volume 15

Volume 15 - September 28, 2007

Feature Articles

Offsets - Hype or Hope?

by Joseph Romm

Can carbon offsets significantly contribute to climate mitigation? Joseph Romm takes a critical look at forestry offsets and large-scale ocean fertilization, and examines why they can only be a small part of the total package.

read more...

Introducing Ulrike Diebold - Scanning Devilish Surfaces of Benign Materials

by Johannes Strobl

In-depth portrait of physicist Ulrike Diebold, professor and chair of the surface science group at Tulane University.

read more...

Measuring the Global Human Impact on Terrestrial Ecosystems – the HANPP Approach

by Helmut Haberl

Biomass carries the hope of reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. However, according to Haberl, this should be considered with great caution, as humans already gobble up about one-quarter of the earth's biomass.

read more...

A Tireless Advocate for Science - an Interview with the Former House Science Committee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert

by Caroline Adenberger

For Boehlert, retirement doesn't mean sitting on a rocking chair on his back porch. With a quarter century of experience in science policy making, he still is one of the powerhouses in Washington.

read more...

The NIH’s “Mad as a Hatter?” Campaign – Protecting People and the Environment from Mercury

by Edward H. Rau

What began in the mid-1990s as a voluntary initiative to eliminate the use of mercury in medical applications at the NIH's clinical center became a success story that reached far beyond the campus' borders.

read more...