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Articles 31 - 36 of 36
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Stem Cell Research: State Initiatives, Judith A. Johnson, Erin D. Williams
Stem Cell Research: State Initiatives, Judith A. Johnson, Erin D. Williams
Congressional Research Service Reports
Embryonic stem cells have the ability to develop into virtually any cell in the body. Stem cells are used by scientists to study the growth and differentiation of individual cells into tissues. This work may provide insights into the causes of birth defects, genetic abnormalities, and other disease states, as well as potential treatments. The research is controversial, in the opinion of some, because the stem cells are located within the embryo and the process of removing them destroys the embryo. Some have argued that stem cell research should be limited to adult stem cells obtained from tissues such as …
U.S. Military Space Programs: An Overview Of Appropriations And Current Issues, Patricia Moloney Figliola
U.S. Military Space Programs: An Overview Of Appropriations And Current Issues, Patricia Moloney Figliola
Congressional Research Service Reports
The 1958 National Aeronautics and Space Act specified that military space activities be conducted by the Department of Defense (DOD). DOD and the intelligence community manage a broad array of space activities, including launch vehicle development, communications satellites, navigation satellites (the Global Positioning System — GPS), early warning satellites to alert the United States to foreign missile launches, weather satellites, reconnaissance satellites, and developing capabilities to protect U.S. satellite systems and to deny the use of space to adversaries (called “space control” or “counterspace systems”). The 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War is dubbed by some as the first “space war” because …
Manipulating Molecules: Federal Support For Nanotechnology Research, Michael E. Davey
Manipulating Molecules: Federal Support For Nanotechnology Research, Michael E. Davey
Congressional Research Service Reports
The Bush Administration has requested $1.277 billion for nanotechnology research for FY2007, $24 million less than the estimated $1.301billion appropriated level for FY2006. (See Table 1.) Nanotechnology is a newly emerging field of science where scientists and engineers are beginning to manipulate matter at the molecular and atomic levels in order to obtain materials and systems with significantly improved properties. Ten nanometers is equal to one-ten thousandths the diameter of a human hair. Proponents of this technology argue that nanotechnology will lead to a new industrial revolution in the 21st century. Scientists note that nanotechnology is still in its infancy, …
Space Exploration: Issues Concerning The “Vision For Space Exploration”, Marcia S. Smith
Space Exploration: Issues Concerning The “Vision For Space Exploration”, Marcia S. Smith
Congressional Research Service Reports
On January 14, 2004, President George W. Bush announced new goals for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), directing the agency to focus on returning humans to the Moon by 2020, and eventually sending them to Mars and “worlds beyond.” The President invited other countries to join. Most of the funding for this “Vision for Space Exploration” is to be redirected from other NASA activities, including terminating the space shuttle program in 2010, and ending U.S. participation in the International Space Station by 2016. NASA released an implementation plan for the Vision on September 19, 2005, and estimated the …
Hubble Space Telescope: Should Nasa Proceed With A Servicing Mission?, Daniel Morgan
Hubble Space Telescope: Should Nasa Proceed With A Servicing Mission?, Daniel Morgan
Congressional Research Service Reports
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) estimates that without a servicing mission to replace key components, the Hubble Space Telescope will cease scientific operations in 2008 instead of 2010. In January 2004, then-NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe announced that the space shuttle would no longer be used to service Hubble. He indicated that this decision was based primarily on safety concerns in the wake of the space shuttle Columbia accident in 2003. Many critics, however, saw it as the result of the new Vision for Space Exploration, announced by President Bush in January 2004, which focuses NASA’s priorities on human …
The Problem Of Secular Sacredness: Ronald Dworkin, Michael Perry, And Human Rights Foundationalism, Ari Kohen
The Problem Of Secular Sacredness: Ronald Dworkin, Michael Perry, And Human Rights Foundationalism, Ari Kohen
Department of Political Science: Faculty Publications
The concept of human rights ultimately rests on the premise that there are some things that ought to be done for human beings and other things that ought not to be done to human beings in light of the fact that they are human. According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, these rights stem from the “recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family” (Ishay 1997: 407). Some would argue that this notion has its roots in the natural law and natural rights tradition that is an important …