Science

When House Republicans released a $683 million capital improvements package this week, it contained a transportation project that surprised some observers. The bill includes $4 million for a testing facility for personal rapid transit -- PRT. The idea has the support of some fiscal conservatives who don't usually support mass transit projects. Skeptics call it a boondoggle.
This spring marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of American psychologist B. F. Skinner. Skinner was known for studies of how animals reacted to their environments. But some only know him as the controversial creator of the Skinner box.
The Nobel Symphony is St. Paul composer Steven Heitzeg's most monumental composition to date. Gustavus Adolphus College commissioned the piece to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Nobel Prizes. The symphony premiered in the fall of 2001. It will be performed again at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis this Sunday afternoon, but with an added dimension. Minneapolis College of Art and Design students have created an interactive media component.
When University of Minnesota officials announced recently they would pursue human embryonic stem cell research, they made a pledge to keep the controversial process open to public scrutiny. To that end, the university held a public forum Tuesday night to discuss the science and ethical issues behind the new research policy.
A new report from the President's Council on Bioethics says the government should more aggressively oversee the largely unregulated fertility industry.
A Great Conversations event at the University of Minnesota about bioethics. Jeffrey Kahn, director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Biomedical Ethics, and Harold Shapiro, professor of economic and public affairs at Princeton University, discuss cloning, health care reform, and genetic engineering.
Lawyers for Microsoft are making their opening statements in Minneapolis, in a case seeking more than $400 million for Minnesota consumers. The class action suit against the software maker is the only one of more than 30 such cases around the country to go to trial. Plaintiffs say Microsoft's illegal monopoly in computer operating systems and certain software allowed it to charge high prices to individuals and businesses. Minnesota Public Radio's Jeff Horwich reports Microsoft's lawyers are eager to defend the company.
The new president of the Science Museum of Minnesota talks about guiding the St. Paul attraction through difficult economic times and competition from other cultural and educational institutions.
Dozens of lawmakers are prepared to stand behind a bill that would deny public money to institutions that conduct research on human embryos. The bill is a threat to the University of Minnesota, where officials announced that they will pursue embryonic stem cell research.