From the editor

I was not expecting President Barack Obama to mention science and technology in his inaugural speech. But he actually did. When he promised to "restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology\´s wonders to raise health-care\´s quality and lower its cost," I was impressed. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown echoed, in his address to the University of Oxford on February 27, 2009, that science is a key element to Britain\´s recovery from the economic downturn; therefore, he would not let science become "a victim of the recession."