鈥淪cientific research must be encouraged and promoted, so long as it does not harm other human beings, whose dignity is inviolable from the very first stages of existence.鈥�
Pope Benedict XVI endorses adult stem cell research, distinguishing it from that using embryonic stem cells, which the Roman Catholic Church condemns (AFP, 27 June)
鈥淲e can鈥檛 watch the neurons making connections, but we can watch a child鈥檚 smile disappear.鈥�
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Rebecca Landa, author of a report in Archives of General Psychiatry that suggests children as young as 14 months can develop autism (, 3 July)
鈥淐ontrary to popular belief, and their sharp teeth, piranhas are omnivores. They are scavengers more than predators.鈥�
Anne Magurran; of the University of St Andrews, UK, presents research that shows the fish have an undeserved reputation (TimesOnline, 2 July)
鈥淢ost of us remain fair-weather environmentalists.鈥�
Phil Downing of pollsters Ipsos Mori, which found that many British people remain unconvinced about the severity of climate change (Press Association, 3 July)
鈥淲e are at a crossroads like the start of the Renaissance, where you couldn鈥檛 just leave reading and writing to the kings and priests any more. Ordinary people have to keep up. In the world we live in you have to become scientifically literate or you will fall quickly from view.鈥�
Natalie Angier, science editor of The New York Times, warns against a perceived growing public scientific illiteracy (The Observer, London, 1 July)