Presents background information on Dixy Lee Ray, chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, and on Elizabeth Scholtz, director of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. (PS)

The greatest cooperative effort of taxonomists in the United States of America and Canada to study flora of this continent has come to an abrupt end after seven years of preparatory work. Financial support from government agency has been withdrawn and all significant projects have no alternative but to be closed down. (PS)

Organized field trips in the tropics proved to be an effective way to gather new information about ferns. The areas of study covered were: systematics and ecology, cytology and gametophyte structure, and morphogenesis and physiology. (PS)

Several alternatives to long-range fuel production are given. The carbon dioxide problem resulting from the burning of coal is discussed. Emphasis is given to the topic of hydrocarbon producing plants, such as those in the genus Euphorbia, and the economics of oil production from them. (SA)

Discusses recent advances in culturing somatic cells of plants that now make it possible to apply the powerful techniques of microbial genetics to higher life forms. (Author/JR)