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Assesses the way Caltech handled two apparently unrelated cases of alleged scientific research fraud in the lab of biologist Leroy Hood. Comparisons to how the so-called Baltimore scientific fraud case was handled; Apparently falsified research paper figure of two research postdocs, Vipin Kumar and James Urban; Kumar's defense of his actions; Hood's decision to notify various agencies and universities involved with Kumar; Lingering concerns about Caltech's handling of cases.

A husband-wife ecologist team of David and Deborah Clark's 20-year study of tropical rainforests yielded a wealth of insights that suggests that global warming could be worse than expected.In a paper published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the Clarks and atmospheric scientists Charles D. Keeling and Stephen Piper of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California, report that in hot years, the trees at La Selva grow less and the world's tropics emit lots of carbon dioxide. The Clarks were absolutely essential to making La Selva one of the world's top tropical forest research and education sites, says botanist Donald Stone, a longtime OTS director and professor emeritus at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. The Clarks focused their research on the demographics of La Selva's more than 300 tree species, only three of which had been studied in detail.

Describes the work of three US Geological Survey seismologists in California, who have recently published a paper forecasting an earthquake of magnitude 5.5 to 6 on the Calaveras fault near San Jose, California in the next few years. Fault's past behavior.

This article profiles Nick Cozzarelli, who served the U.S. National Academies for more than a decade as editor in chief of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. During that time he turned the journal around and it was not an easy task. When Nick came aboard in 1995, members of the Academy were fond of their ability to sponsor papers for colleagues or to get their own published and some objected to the institution of more formal and rigorous peer review. Nick came to his editorial job during a distinguished scientific career in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of California, Berkeley, California. He managed to combine those commitments in a way that was continuously productive on both fronts, a source of admiration for those who try these things only one at a time.

Reveals that two researchers in the lab of Caltech biologist Leroy Hood are under investigation for two apparently unrelated instances of possible research fraud. Two recent papers have had to be retracted from journals.