Page 6 - Science

NEWS 20% Drop in the rate of gun-related injuries on days when
the National Rifle Association held conventions, researchers
reported in The New England Journal of Medicine.
Thousands of gun owners attend the conventions.

IN BRIEF Lawsuit over critique dropped
Edited by Jeffrey Brainard
PEER REVIEW | Environmental engineer
Mark Jacobson of Stanford University in
WORKPLACE Palo Alto, California, last week dropped
an unusual, $10 million lawsuit alleging
U.K. strike may curb research defamation by critics of a journal article
he published (Science, 10 November
2017, p. 700). Other scientists decried
Jacobson’s suit, saying such disputes
should be handled through scholarly
debate, not the courts. In 2015, Jacobson
published a paper in the Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences
(PNAS) arguing that the United States Downloaded from
could meet nearly 100% of its energy
needs from renewable sources. After
PNAS published a critique questioning
his methodology, Jacobson filed suit
in the Superior Court of the District of
Columbia against the National Academy
of Sciences, which publishes PNAS, as
well as a co-author of the critique, which http://science.sciencemag.org/
Jacobson alleged contained statements
of fact damaging to his reputation. In a
statement explaining why he dropped the
case, Jacobson said: “It became clear …
that it is possible there could be no end
to this case for years, and both the time
and cost would be enormous.”

A plan for post-Brexit grants on March 1, 2018

RESEARCH FUNDING | With negotiations
Some scientists are staying away from their labs and joining picket lines. scheduled to begin next month over the
United Kingdom’s future relationship
with the European Union, the London-
I demics in the United Kingdom began picketing last week in a dis- the U.K. government to provide access
n the largest university strike in years, researchers and other aca-
based Wellcome Trust is calling for
agreement over pensions. One of the biggest pension funds in U.K.
to EU funding sources after Brexit takes
higher education is running an estimated deficit of £6 billion, and
effect in 2019. Based on consultations
with U.K. and EU research institutions,
by shifting from offering
universities want to solve
the
problem
the report’s authors recommend that the
defined benefits to making contributions to individual investment
United Kingdom pay to be an “associated
accounts. The University and College Union (UCU) in London disputes
country” in the Framework Programmes,
the projected deficit figure and objects to the change. Strike leaders the main source of competitive grants
estimated that tens of thousands of academics will protest over 14 days for the European Union, as Norway and
during the next month at more than 60 institutions, many of them Switzerland do. In return, the United
Kingdom should also retain a voice in
research powerhouses. “It’s fair to say there will be a significant impact
setting the programs’ priorities. The
on research, but how to measure that isn’t clear,” a UCU spokesperson proposal stands a reasonable chance of PHOTO: © GUY SMALLMAN/EYEVINE/REDUX
says. Anecdotal reports suggest many researchers are staying home, success in the divorce negotiations, says
and several conferences and seminars have been canceled. Peter Tindemans, secretary general of
EuroScience, a research advocacy organi-
zation in Strasbourg, France.
962 2 MARCH 2018 • VOL 359 ISSUE 6379 sciencemag.org SCIENCE
Published by AAAS
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