Chemistry is widely recognised as a key science discipline and a major economy driver.
Whoever wins, drugs policy will continue to be a key science battleground after the election.
A European Commission study undertaken in 2007 noted "an alarming decline in young people's interest for key science studies and mathematics" despite numerous efforts to reverse the trend.
Nasa said in its announcement only that it would "provide details of key science findings from the agency's ongoing exploration of Mars".
Moreover, Main highlights a key science policy side to the story: "The government is looking to reduce the number of its non-departmental public bodies, which includes public sector research establishments, like Kew.
An analysis of four key science texts given to sixth-grade students in California showed that the books "framed climate change as uncertain in the scientific community – both about whether it is occurring as well as about its human-causation".
"The cultural and political implications of modern AI research are not some far off concern, they are things that affect the world in the here and now," according to the paper Teaching AI Ethics Using Science Fiction, which argues that key science fiction works should be included in computer science courses.
President Obama has repeatedly requested steady increases for scientific research, aimed at putting the budgets of three key science agencies — the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy's Office of Science, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology — on a path to double, by 2016, the combined $10 billion they received in 2006.
SKA1 has two key science goals.
But it's not yet known how much key science funding agencies will get.
These priorities have been synthesised into seven key science questions: 1.
