

The growing movement to host a presidential debate focused on science has reached a new milestone. The organizers of Science Debate 2008 have set a date, April 18, and a venue, the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. With the details firm, the four remaining presidential candidates Democrats Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton along with Republicans John McCain and Mike Huckabee, have received their invitations. There is no word yet on which candidates plan to attend, but we'll keep you updated as (we hope) the RSVPs come in.

Wired.com has expressed public support for Science Debate 2008, joining a long list of other institutions that believe the candidates' ability to set smart policies on scientific issues is a key component of their fitness for the presidency.

For more background on Science Debate 2008, you can check out our previous coverage here on Wired Science and a longer article from Sarah Lai Stirland, Wired.com's crack political reporter. Sarah had a great quote from Lawrence Krauss, a physics professor at Case Western, noting the host of science-based topics that have serious policy significance–stem cell research, climate change, science education, and biotechnology. (And Loretta, I'm sure, would add the future of space exploration).

UPDATE (1:50pm): I left Mike Gravel and Ron Paul off my shortened list of "the remaining" presidential candidates. They are still running, but were not invited to the debate. I'm sorry, Paul fans. I struck through the "the".

Image: flickr/Ctd 2005