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Last week's verdict on a celebrated case of scientific misconduct describes a series of misconceived accusations, ill-considered evidence and faulty judgements. But researchers should hesitate before taking too much comfort from the outcome.
The struggle between the Congress and the White House over environmental issues provides an opportunity for improving science at the US Environmental Protection Agency, a chance that may be lost in the fray of election-year politics.
Chronologies of the earliest history of the Near East have depended on interpretation of lists of Egyptian kings and such. But the best prospect for an absolute timescale lies in dating wood from Anatolia (modern-day Turkey).