Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced today that the military security clearance process will no longer include questions about mental health care history. This is a significant step in attempting to remove the stigma of receiving mental health care among military members, particularly in a time of war when post-traumatic stress disorder is affecting a staggering number of servicemen and women. While DOD has been paying major lip service to the need to reduce the stigma of mental health care, this is the first tangible step forward in what will hopefully be a line of many. The intensive security clearance...

Craig Venter, the force behind the private effort to complete the Human Genome Project, is again pushing the boundaries of science in unexpected ways. He has filed for a patent for Synthia, a group of genes that he thinks are essential for life. He thinks that if these genes are left alone they will evolve into viable life. As reliable as Venter, the ETC Group of Canada is leading calls against the patent. A google search returns little more information than this. Maybe public reactions to science are becoming predictable. Maybe new actors are needed to lead these debates, or...

Nicole Farkouh, MPP candidate 2008 at the Goldman School, is working in Nepal all summer for The Advocacy Project. This non-profit organization campaigns for peace in Nepal, a country recovering from 10 years of civil conflict. A beautiful though terribly poor country, Nepal descended into violence as Maoist guerillas declared war on the monarchic government. The conflict has caused huge human suffering and postponed any real economic and social development, although some political development is finally occurring. Last year the rebels and government signed an agreement by which political reforms are being made and peace slowly returning to the country....

A recent Supreme Court ruling is generating some interesting and important discussion on the role of patents in innovation and economic growth. Some sectors see the ruling as "an attack on patents" that will hurt small business, devalue patents and retard innovation and growth, as described by Small Times. The Boston Globe on the other hand sees it as a victory for software companies, implying a certain loss to consumers. The ruling changes Supreme Court thinking on what makes an invention obvious. If an invention is obvious, then it should not be protected by a patent (check here for a...