In its last issue, the Economist presents a survey on talent and the difficulties of finding and keeping it. As usual, it is an instructive and stimulating piece. In my case, it stimulated my thoughts about the relationships between talent and intellectual property (IP).

After months of talking, Imperial College London and the University of London set terms for their separation - a major break-up among R&D heavyweights.

Cambridge joins the ranks of universities going into print to proclaim its research excellence.

SMEs are the target for a new "portal" on the European Nanotechnology Gateway, nanoforum.org

The US Department of Energy plans to put $1.4 million for studies on the economic feasibility of producing hydrogen at nuclear plants.

Google has so many irons in the fire that it is not always easy to keep track of its projects. This is definitely not the case of the Google Library project, which proposes to scan the content of great libraries of the world and make them accessible to on-line search.

Not quite the newest technology on the block, but a new Chinese factory is ramping up productuion of tiny particles.

Unlike old generals, drug-patent wars not only do not die but do not even fade away. As reported by Reuters and other major media, on Monday, August 7, hundreds of Thais living with HIV/AIDS demonstrated in front of the Bangkok offices of drug maker GlaxoSmithKline to protest a patent application for its key anti-retroviral drug, Combid.