For 15 years, scientists have benefited from data gleaned by U.S. classified satellites of natural fireball events in Earth's atmosphere but a recent U.S. military policy decision now explicitly states that these observations are classified.

The U.S. mistakenly made public a confidential 266-page report intended for the IAEA that gives detailed information about hundreds of the nation’s civilian nuclear sites and programs. The Obama administration is trying to improve its compliance with IAEA regulations to boost its credibility when asking Iran to do the same.

The Bush administration is taking wide measures to tighten scientific secrecy in the hope of keeping weapons of mass destruction out of unfriendly hands.