Concentrating solar power is a promising clean electricity source ripe for development in the United States. But policy and market barriers still hold it back from its full potential.
REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
20-week abortions bans scale back late-term abortions despite ample evidence that fetal anomalies, particularly those that are lethal, are detected between 18-24 weeks, forcing women to carry nonviable fetuses to term at their own peril.
PATENTS AND PROGRESS
Software patents are increasingly prominent in the digital economy, but a dive into the data suggests we may not yet have figured out the right balance of quantity and quality.
Amidst the president’s national “Jobs and Opportunity Tour,” the Commerce Department quietly unrolled an innovative platform to support creative coordination among technology, trade, training, and economic growth in America’s regions.
CYBER SECURITY
U.S. intelligence reports ranked cyber threats as the top danger facing the country for the first time in April, but tensions have been running high about the government’s ability to protect digital assets and intelligence for years.
ENERGY INNOVATION
Clean energy critics are using Fisker’s financial woes to criticize the Department of Energy Loan Guarantee program. But Congress, under President Bush, designed the program intentionally to fund risky but forward thinking projects.
REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
Junk science has been driving the legislative debate over “fetal pain” laws, making rational, scientific policymaking about women’s health nearly obsolete.
BIOETHICS
A story that began in 1951 and continues to play out today reminds us that it’s very difficult, if not impossible, to guarantee the long-term confidentiality of genetic information.
SMART HEALTH
As technological innovation empowers consumers to take greater control over their lives, creative new apps are helping home care workers better assist Americans with Alzheimer’s and autism.
SCIENCE IN SOCIETY
The budget sequestration is raising interesting questions about the purpose of science, in particular, on whether the pursuit of scientific knowledge can ever be usefully separated from the question of larger societal concerns.
CLIMATE SCIENCE
An elegant web video portrays chilling (or should we say warming?) satellite data about the declining volume of arctic sea ice. An ice free North Pole looks to be just around the corner.
INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Equity crowdfunding presents great potential for some entrepreneurs to more smoothly navigate the valley of death and drive innovation, and examples from Europe suggest that effective safeguards against fraud are possible.
CYBER SECURITY
Shodan is a search engine that finds unprotected devices connected to the internet. That hydroelectric dam control systems are just as vulnerable as web cams and lap tops shines a light on the risks that come along with the convenience of the internet.
NEUROSCIENCE
Whether the President’s BRAIN initiative will be the successor to the human genome project, only time will tell. But whatever the results of research, simply asking hard questions has always led to its own rewards.
OCEANS POLICY
Sound fisheries management requires sound science, and sound science costs money. With a major piece of fisheries legislation up for reauthorization, Congress is set to decide whether or not adequate funding is available to ensure America’s fisheries can be enjoyed by future generations.
SCIENCE POLITICS
Why does science so often drive irksome political debates? It could be the way science helps us better understand the boundary of what activities ought to be considered “public,” and therefore an appropriate object of government regulation, and what is “private.”
ENERGY INDUSTRY
A major oil and gas company’s will spend $20 million per to run one of the world’s largest super computers. Why the great expense? Finding and squeezing oil out of the ground has never been harder or more expensive.
SEX SCIENCE
Despite the increasing popularity, sophistication, and availability of assisted reproductive technologies, the rights and responsibilities surrounding those who take part in these processes are still largely undefined.
ONILINE POLICY
A bipartisan bill introduced last week would reform the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and grant new privacy protections for email and other data stored on the cloud.
PUBLIC HEALTH
As an increasing body of research has tied the consumption of sugary drinks to obesity, public efforts like Bloomberg’s represent one small step toward reorienting a culture where portion sizes have continued to spiral out of control.
SCIENCE AND SOCIETY
The number of scientific articles retracted due to fraud has increased tenfold since 1975, and some of these fraudulent studies have done real damage to the public’s trust in science.
Science Progress and American Progress's Doing What Works project teamed up to produce a set of policy proposals that the Obama administration and Congress can adopt to reinvest in the building blocks of American science, innovation, and economic competitiveness. Read the overview of the five reports.
Science Progress proceeds from the propositions that scientific inquiry is among the finest expressions of human excellence, that it is a crucial source of human flourishing, a critical engine of economic growth, and must be dedicated to the common good. Scientific inquiry entails global responsibilities. It should lead to a more equitable, safer, and healthier future for all of humankind.