BIOETHICS
In his recent book, Three Generations, No Imbeciles: Eugenics, the Supreme Court, and Buck v. Bell, Lombardo investigates the history behind the 1927 Supreme Court ruling that upheld a Virginia law allowing state-mandated sterilizations for citizens deemed “socially inferior.”
SCIENCE, CULTURED
Are science and environmental advocates as happy with Obama’s OIRA choice as his other appointments?
We’re announcing this in conjunction with the American Meteorological Society: For Immediate Release – January 14, 2009 Author Chris Mooney Honored by American Meteorological Society Chris Mooney, author of Storm World: Hurricanes, Politics, and the Battle over Global Warming, has [...]
The Scientist this month features an excerpt from Nobelist and former National Institutes of Health director Harold Varmus’s forthcoming book, The Art and Politics of Science. In it he describes some of the subtly to accounting for research money applied [...]
The United States is one of only three industrialized nations that lack a national innovation policy. Most international competitors boast recently created or long-standing innovation agencies in addition to scientific research bodies. But not only is U.S. innovation policy disorganized, [...]
INNOVATION
Inventions are being created at an ever-increasing pace and have grown increasingly complex, but the rules governing patents have not seen substantial change in decades. As a result, the system is bogged down, hampering investment and job creation. Here’s how to fix things.
INNOVATION
Sometimes there is no substitute for just being there—being where exciting work is taking place, where high-content unstructured conversations take place, and where the unexpected may be explored and spark something new.
EDITORIAL
U.S. science and technology policymaking will be critical to carrying our deeply troubled economy back to the forefront of global innovation in the 21st century.
EDITORIAL
America’s use of the patent system has a special quality beyond rewarding the individual—as a way to construct the common good through socially shared innovation.
INNOVATION
In the new print edition: Developing Regional Centers of Innovation, Tackling the Challenge of Patent Reform, and Government Contracting Run Amok.
WEISS'S NOTEBOOK
A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel has deemed a drug from a genetically engineered animal to be safe and effective even though the agency has not yet decided what the rules for such approvals should be.
GLOBAL INNOVATION
After a decade of overtly focusing on innovation economics, Britain appears to be moving ahead of the United States with regard to the innovation of innovation policy.
SCIENCE POLICY
While many nations have taken the innovation challenge to heart and put in place a host of policies to spur innovation, the United States has done little, consequently falling behind in innovation policies and risking falling behind in innovation performance as well.
SCIENCE POLICY
The new administration should create a National Innovation Foundation—a new, federally funded organization whose sole responsibility would be to promote innovation.
INNOVATION ECONOMICS
Regional centers such as Silicon Valley and Boston cultivate technology-based economic development through a dynamic mix of researchers, entrepreneurs, investors, and infrastructure. Drawing lessons from their success can help revitalize the U.S. economy.
PATENT REFORM
Scientific research and technological development have long been mainstays of American economic and military strength. Today more than ever, the global economic crisis and the prospect of a long and deep U.S. recession call for a reinvigoration of America’s scientific, engineering, and manufacturing enterprises.
LEGAL POLICY
By far, the most significant and destabilizing change in the patent environment since 2003 has been the dramatic increase in the growth, financing, and patent acquisitions of so called non-practicing entities, or “patent trolls.”
FINANCING SCIENCE
As the new Obama administration develops its innovation, economic development, and workforce policies, it should look to build and sustain regional and networked efforts, rather than only crafting broad national policies.
FINANCING SCIENCE
The Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse was formed in 2000 as a focused incubator to provide capital investments and customized company formation. A focused incubator provides deep knowledge of global industry trends, national networks, and corporate collaborations to identify investment opportunities.
ADMINISTRATIVE POLICY
Critical to the continued effectiveness of the U.S. patent and trademark system is a well-functioning U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, which is currently a bureau of the Department of Commerce. Alas, the office does not function well today.
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.