SCIENCE….

Vladimir Danilov, the head of the thermophysics center at the Technical University of Krasnoyarsk, was thrown in jail in February and charged with espionage last week. Danilov, 53, is accused of passing secrets to China. Danilov joins Igor Sutyagin, Vladimir Moiseev, Aleksandr Nikitin, Grigory Pasko, Edmond Pope and John Tobin (the last two Americans) in the list of persons accused as spies–or in the case of Tobin, a spy-trainee. Danilov’s colleagues say there was nothing secret about his work, which studied the effect of solar activity on satellites and satellite communications. Danilov shared some of his work product as part of a two-year old contract between his institute and a Chinese company. The spate of charges seems aimed at warning Russian scientists away from unauthorized contacts or contracts with foreign institutions.