Science

Dozens of lawmakers are prepared to stand behind a bill that would deny public money to institutions that conduct research on human embryos. The bill is a threat to the University of Minnesota, where officials announced that they will pursue embryonic stem cell research.

The Red River Valley is best known for growing wheat and sugar beets. But North Dakota officials hope to produce a bumper crop of high tech jobs in the next decade. Many of those jobs will be built around a nanotechnology research initiative at North Dakota State University.

There are only a few places in the country considered hotbeds for emerging biotechnology industries. Minnesota isn't one of them. Gov. Pawlenty hopes to change that with an initiative to strengthen a biotech corridor in the Twin Cities and Rochester. But some say biotech businesses could also spur economic development in rural Minnesota. Leaders in Bemidji are exploring ways to develop a mini biotech cluster of their own.

The University of Minnesota will seek private funds to expand current stem cell research to a controversial use of embryonic cells. Researchers are hoping to avoid clashes with abortion opponents and investigate cures of diseases.

Governor Pawlenty has outlined a series of proposals to help Minnesota's emerging biotech industry. Pawlenty has made biotech a top priority of his administration. But the governor's recommendations don't go as far as the proposals from the biosciences council he created last year. Industry experts say even if Pawlenty's package passes in its entirety, Minnesota will have to do more down the road to be a major player in the biotech industry.

Four hundred years ago, the brain first displaced the heart as the seat of human identity. A journalist finds fresh insight into the body's most mysterious organ by looking at the work of a 17th century scientist.

"Spirit," the Mars rover that landed Saturday night, is sitting inside the huge Gusev crater, which scientists believe may have contained a lake about four billion years ago. One of the rover's missions will be to scratch rocks and move soil around to see if any minerals exist on Mars that are water-related.

One year after the space shuttle Columbia accident, Columbia Remembered...Atlantis, Go For Launch looks back on the shuttle tragedy and looks ahead to the planned flight of Space Shuttle Atlantis. Hear from the Columbia astronauts and re-live the tragic loss of the shuttle. Get the inside story of the recovery of the shuttle's flight data recorder from the man who found it.

Will Steger is packing up his sled again. This December, the Minnesotan begins a journey back to the Arctic -- this time to bring attention to what global warming is doing to the top of the earth. Like his last journey to the region, this one will be documented on the Internet.

Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham addresses the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. He announces a prioritized list of major, new scientific facilities needed over the next 20 years to support research in areas that have been the traditional responsibility of the department.