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Reintroduced bison churn up bones of their ancestors
Three dozen bison reintroduced to Canada’s Banff National Park are rediscovering the places where their ancestors once roamed. The animals’ activity is churning up ancient bison bones, recreating wallowing spots and renewing habitats for other animals. The iconic species was nearly driven to extinction in the nineteenth century. “This is kind of neat to learn our lessons, to reverse a historic wrong on a small scale,” says wildlife biologist Karsten Heuer.
Research-integrity training starts at home
More training and clear guidelines to curb bad research practices could be wasted on researchers with established careers who are inherently dishonest. “It might be far too late to imbue them with integrity that they do not already have,” says bioethicist Priya Satalkar. She and a colleague interviewed 33 people working in the life sciences and medicine in Switzerland and concluded that the foundations of good ethics begin in childhood. They recommend that formal training in research integrity should start at the undergraduate level.
Reference: BMC Medical Ethics paper
Features & opinion
Step inside Japan’s trio of big-physics experiments
For more than half a century, Japan has been at the forefront of big physics, asking fundamental questions about the laws which govern the workings of the universe. Over three episodes, take a rare look inside three of its flagship experiments: Super Kamiokande, the world’s largest neutrino detector; KAGRA, the world’s most advanced gravitational-wave detector; and Belle II, the experiment that could revolutionize particle physics.
‘She was as interested in the people who did the physics as in the physics itself’
Gloria Lubkin, who spent 46 years at Physics Today as an editor, editor-in-chief and editorial director, died last month at the age of 86. Colleagues and friends recall her warmth and unwavering commitment to accurate, clear science journalism. “Surrounding myself with interesting people is just the way I was raised,” writes Lubkin’s daughter, mathematician Sharon Lubkin. “Working hard to develop a joyful career in science was just what everyone did. What could be better?”