Looking for a way to decrease your college’s or universities’ carbon footprint? Rather than purchasing carbon offsets from businesses with unproven track records, schools can instead look to their own backyards. The students at Oberlin College have cut out the middle man and guaranteed their carbon offset efforts are effective by investing directly in their community.
In a surprising move last week, the Environmental Protection Agency sided with science, environmentalists, and America’s children. It has been 30 years since the United States saw a reduction in lead emissions standards, but on October 15, EPA reduced the limits from 1.5 micrograms per cubic meter to 0.15. Here’s a timeline of lead regulation in the United States over the past 100 years.
It’s been about a year since MRSA, or drug-resistant staph, last made major headlines. But the news this October is about a form of Streptococcus pneumoniae, or pneumococcus, that is causing meningitis, pneumonia, and bloodstream infections, according to a report in The New York Times. Rather than resisting antibiotics, the organisms in this case may have outmaneuvered a proven vaccine.
Abrupt climate changes happen. To better understand these potential threats to humanity, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research recently launched the Investigation of the Magnitudes and Probabilities of Abrupt Climate Transitions program.
Some new products built on advances in nanotechnology improve people’s quality of life. So how come nobody’s ever heard of these wonderful new advancements? A new report released reveals that almost half of U.S. adults have heard nothing about nanotechnology. Even fewer have heard about synthetic biology.
Here’s a roundup of some of the science and technology policy events happening around Washington, D.C. from September 29 to
October 3.
No one is expecting an executive order mandating federal regulation of greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act between now and January, but it is promising to have the Senate Committee on Environmental and Policy Works addressing the issue this morning.
STEM CELLS
In the past year, stem cell research has taken great strides forward. Advocates and researchers alike are pushing for the federal government to expand its support.
A recent RAND Corporation report called the country a “dominant leader” in global science and technology, but according to a paper released yesterday, the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation found the RAND study off-color, offering a rosy assessment where none was warranted.
The biggest scientific experiment in human history is getting hyped like a Harry Potter book release. But instead of nine-year-olds lining up outside of the bookstore for hours, a generation of physicists watched the live Web cast of CERN’s Large Hadron Collier as it started up today at 3 a.m. EST.
Milk and meat from cloned animals could be in the U.S. food supply, and the Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Department of Agriculture can’t detect it, says an FDA official, despite a USDA “voluntary moratorium.” But products from cloned animals may have been in the food supply for a while.
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.