Winners of 2013 AAAS Student Poster Competition Tuesday, April 30, 2013 The 2013 Student Poster Competition took place at the AAAS Annual Meeting In Boston February 14-18. The student winners' work displayed originality and understanding that set them apart from their peers. The AAAS Poster Sessions provide individuals with an opportunity to present their research, offering an excellent venue for extended informal discussion with meeting attendees. All posters are peer-reviewed, and accepted posters are listed in the AAAS Annual Meeting Poster Book. Abstracts appear on the Annual Meeting Abstract CD, within the Program Book. Sir Alexander Fleming Scientific breakthroughs that were 'accidents' Scientia April 22, 2013 “There are no mistakes, only opportunities.” Although this is one of Tina Fey’s rules for improvisation, it can also apply to science. There are many inventions that we take for granted today that were born from “mistakes” or, to use a more positive phrase, “happy accidents.” OSTP seeks nominations for presidential mentoring award OSTP seeks nominations for presidential mentoring award Capitol Connection April 8, 2013 The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) are now accepting nominations for PAESMEM, the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring. OSTP/NSF seeks individuals and organizations that have demonstrated at least five years of excellence in mentoring students, trainees, and/or early career scientists and engineers from groups that are underrepresented in STEM. Marcia McNutt appointed new Editor-in-Chief of Science Marcia McNutt appointed new Editor-in-Chief of Science Tuesday, April 2, 2013 Marcia McNutt, most recently Director of the US Geological Survey, has been appointed the new, full-time Editor-in-Chief of Science. She will begin her tenure at Science on June 1. McNutt will take over the position from Bruce Alberts who decided to step down at the end of his five-year term. VIDEO: 2013 AAAS Annual Meeting reception Video February 15, 2013 Find out what attendees are looking forward to at this year's meeting in Boston. Related Links: AAASMC's complete video coverage from the 2013 Annual Meeting in Boston VIDEO: 2013 Annual Meeting: The president's address Video February 15, 2013 AAAS President William Press, researcher in computer science, genomics, statistical methods, astrophysics, and international security, welcomes attendees to Boston. This year's AAAS Annual Meeting highlights the rich and complicated connections between basic and applied research, and how they bring about both practical benefits and the beauty of pure understanding. Read more about Press's keynote. National Medal of Science AAAS members awarded medal at White House ceremony Monday, February 4, 2013 Fifteen AAAS fellows and members were awarded the U.S's top prize for scientists, engineers, and inventors, the National Medal of Science and National Medal of Technology and Innovation, at a White House ceremony on February 1. President Barack Obama handed out the medals to the nearly two dozen researchers and innovators honored in 2012. Twelve researchers received the National Medal of Science and eleven inventors received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. VIDEO: Coverage of the 2013 Annual Meeting in Boston Video February 12, 2013 Here is AAASMC's video coverage of the 179th AAAS Annual Meeting in Boston. The program for 2013 highlights the rich and complicated connections between basic and applied research, and how they bring about both practical benefits and the beauty of pure understanding. H2O molecule trapped in a buckminsterfullerene, a molecule with 60 carbon atoms Interrogating a fullerene-imprisoned water molecule Qualia September 6, 2012 In order to study the dynamic properties of one of life's most essential molecules, water, scientists trapped it inside a buckminsterfullerene. Buckminsterfullerenes are huge molecules made of 60 carbon atoms and have their own unique properties. Wallace Broecker An interview with 'the father of global warming' Scientia August 16, 2012 On August 8th, 1975, Science published a paper by AAAS fellow Wallace S. Broecker titled “Are We on the Brink of a Pronounced Global Warming?” in which he argued that the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide occurring because of the burning of fossil fuels would result in higher global temperatures. We recently interviewed Broecker, the Newberry Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University, about how warming has progressed since his ground-breaking paper, and what can or should be done about it.