“Thirty percent of science students drop out of science programs after their freshman year in college, which is a really alarming statistic” said Nature Publishing Group SVP Vikram Savkar. In some countries, he added, such programs don’t exist at all. ¶ At stake, he says, could be nothing less than the survival of our species. ¶ “If you take a global view of the problems that humanity is facing over the next 50 years, so many of them involve science deeply — sustainability, solving tropical diseases and so on — and so as a company that’s invested in science, we’re very concerned that the next generation is not being adequately trained,” he said. ¶ To hit that generation where they live, Nature Publishing Group proffers Scitable, an “online learning space for science” consisting of three components ranging from basic information to more elaborate treatises: a library of freely-accessible textbooks on genetics, with cell biology and ecology next in line and other sciences to follow over the next few years; a social network where students, teachers and interested lay-people can interact with faculty and researchers; and tools for using the first two in classrooms around the world, or as part of a as part of a self-guided scientific education — all for free.” - × × ×