Multiple studies have advocated for improving and modernizing the U.S. rail network as a way to spur economic growth, rein in sprawl, and make a strong commitment to sustainability. One such report, focusing on Boston, found that quality regional transportation [...]
FINANCING SCIENCE
Increased federal funding of basic research must be accompanied by thoroughgoing reform of the grant process to create a new generation of American researchers.
Members of Congress and others are calling for independent investigations into the federal oversight system for food production facilities in light of new revelations about chronic problems at the Peanut Corp. of America peanut-processing plant in Blakely, Georgia. Those calls [...]
SCIENCE, CULTURED
All the things I didn’t get to say to Stephen Colbert, and other thoughts on the comedics of science.
GLOBAL WARMING
A flood of recent reports indicate that as a result of global warming, oceans levels are creeping upward far faster than originally predicted. Coastal residents around the world must adapt, and poor nations will need swift help.
Okay, so according to the Lyndsey Layton in today’s Washington Post, the FDA has issued clear information that major brands of jarred peanut butter on grocery shelves are not subject to the recall. But there are hundreds of products affected–so [...]
Stephen Colbert points to the helpful assistance that Bush administration policymakers provided to researchers while talking with Contributing Editor Chris Mooney last night: Mooney points out that science and scientists make regular appearances on popular Comedy Central shows, and that’s [...]
Revisionist history is one of many threats to protecting human rights and punishing violators. To preserve interviews conducted with members of the International Criminal Tribunal, which recently convicted leaders responsible for the 1994 Rwandan genocide, computer researchers from the University [...]
President Obama’s pledge that his administration will “restore science to its rightful place” is already echoing through several significant policies that undo years of Bush-era antiscientific partisanship. Last week, he lifted the “global gag rule“; today he will direct the [...]
WEISS'S NOTEBOOK
Part of the problem behind the recent spread of Salmonella-infected peanut paste products is a disastrously underfunded FDA.
Monday Science Progress Contributing Editor Chris Mooney will be on the the Colbert Report. ITIF: “Crafting an Effective Broadband Stimulus Package” Russell Senate Building, Room 485, 12 noon AMS: “Coming to Grips with Sustainable Practices: Where Do We Go from [...]
As we wrote last week, the current stimulus legislation moving through the House can help boost the economy by providing funds that support scientific research. In particular, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act would allocate $2 billion for biomedical research [...]
Andrew Pollack at The New York Times reports that biotech company Geron has won approval for its Phase I trial of a hESC-derived therapy, which will treat spinal cord injuries: Geron’s trial will involve 8 to 10 people with severe [...]
FINANCING SCIENCE
Innovation to boost economic prosperity requires new ways to get more funding to our most talented young researchers.
The National Academies’ highest award, the Public Welfare Medal, will go this year to Neal Lane. The medal honors the “extraordinary use of science for public good.” Lane is the Malcolm Gillis University Professor and Senior Fellow at the James [...]
A recent report from the World Bank assessing the threat of sea level rise to poor nations ranked Vietnam as the most vulnerable country. One meter of sea level rise could potentially displace 8.6 million people [correction: this originally said [...]
SCIENCE, CULTURED
Despite the inauguration of a new administration, conservatives have left a damaged scientific system and an archaic way of thinking about science policy. The outgoing policymakers cannot rewrite history for their own purposes.
WEISS'S NOTEBOOK
The United States boasts a huge corps of public-servant scientists devoted to going where the evidence takes them and who, as of Wednesday, will for the first time in years be respected by the highest officials in the land for what they do.
INNOVATION
The proposed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act recognizes that science, technology and innovation have long provided the foundation for America’s prosperity, and are crucial to boosting an economy in crisis.
The stories of research involving human embryonic stem cells and the policy governing that work are intertwined and stretch back into the mid-1970s. Shortly after the Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade, discussions began about how to conduct ethical [...]
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.