SciDev.Net

Satellites can save lives from natural disasters but developing countries risk missing the opportunity through poor political support.

Clean technology to meet poor communities' needs must lie at the heart of any sustainable strategy to combat climate change.

Nanotechnology holds huge potential for supplying clean water to the world's poor, but many challenges must be overcome to realise it.

The World Wide Web's inventor wants to make websites more trustworthy. This should be done by encouraging good practice, not imposing strict rules.

Developing countries must adopt effective policies on technology transfer that meet the needs of all social classes, including the poorest.

Muhammad Yunus's Nobel Peace Prize should inspire those trying to link technological innovation with grass roots democracy.

A combination of factors appears to be pushing the risk-benefit balance back into nuclear's favour as an energy option for developing countries. SciDev.Net readers are invited to comment.

There is a need to link up the thousands of communications technology initiatives littered across the developing world, but is another UN technocracy the right answer?

Any effort to eliminate Iran's nuclear research facilities by force would be both a catastrophe for the region and a major setback for the 'science for development' debate.

Political deadlock over Internet governance must not overshadow the practicalities of bringing information and communication technologies (ICTs) to the people who need them.

The developed world has no right to tell developing nations how to use nuclear technology. But the latter must build their own capacity to handle the technology responsibly, both individually and collectively.

Those concerned about the potential side effects of nanotechnology should spend more time worrying about ways of ensuring that it meets the needs of the poor.

Britain's main scientific body has confirmed that there are reasons to be cautious about the potential dangers of 'nanotechnology' — the use of ultra-small devices. The main threat, however, is a lack of understanding.

Much is said about the need to bridge the 'digital divide' between the North and the South. Equally important is creating conditions in the South that let individuals exploit information technology's potential.

Much has been said about the potential offered by information and communication technologies to communicate scientific research results, for both developing and developed countries. But is often a substantial gap between theory and practice.