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An Idea Whose Time Should Never Come: Using Special Forces Against the Cartels Would Be a Colossal Mistake
While this idea is not new, it has become hazardous now given the Mexican drug cartels’ increased military capacity and tactical competence.
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Bipartisan Effort to Make Plum Island a National Monument Advances in Congress
Plum Island, off the north-eastern coast of Long Island, has been, since 1954, home to a high-security biolab researching pathogens threatening humans and animals. The lab has been relocated to Manhattan, Kansas. A bill calling on the Department of the Interior to consider adding Plum Island to the National Park system is advancing in Congress.
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In 2019, Congress Finally Funded Gun Violence Research. Here’s How It’s Changed the Field
A Trace analysis of federal data found that the amount of money going to gun violence studies has soared since lawmakers lifted a de facto federal funding ban.
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Senator Slams Gun Industry’s “Invasive and Dangerous” Sharing of Customer Data with Political Operatives
In response to a ProPublica investigation, Sen. Richard Blumenthal demanded answers from the gun industry about its “covert program” to collect information on gun owners for political purposes.
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Can We Live on Our Planet without Destroying It?
With eight billion people, we use a lot of the Earth’s resources in ways that are likely unsustainable. How can we adapt our lifestyle to stay within the limits of what the Earth can give? Klaus Hubacek investigates planetary boundaries.
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High-Tech Methods to Stem the Flow of Fentanyl
Keeping up with illicit labs churning out new forms of fentanyl, nitazenes is the goal.
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Helene and Milton Upended a Key Part of the Nation’s Agriculture System
America depends on Southeastern agriculture. After two hurricanes and billions of dollars in damages, the US food supply chain faces an uncertain future.
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In 2019, Congress Finally Funded Gun Violence Research. Here’s How It’s Changed the Field
A Trace analysis of federal data found that the amount of money going to gun violence studies has soared since lawmakers lifted a de facto federal funding ban.
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Hurricanes Linked to Higher Death Rates Long After Storms Pass
U.S. tropical cyclones, including hurricanes, indirectly cause thousands of deaths for nearly 15 years after a storm. Understanding why could help minimize future deaths from hazards fueled by climate change.
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In Storms Like Hurricane Helene, Flooded Industrial Sites and Toxic Chemical Releases Are a Silent and Growing Threat
Hundreds of industrial facilities with toxic pollutants were in Hurricane Helene’s path as the powerful storm flooded communities across the Southeast in late September 2024. In disasters like these, the industrial damage can unfold over days, and residents may not hear about releases of toxic chemicals into water or the air until days or weeks later, if they find out at all.
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Did COVID Come from an Animal Market? Here’s What the New Evidence Really Tells Us
I have studied the origins of human viruses for 25 years but, having examined the evidence, I still don’t know how the COVID pandemic began. I do know that the question is important and that debating it should be encouraged, not stifled.
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World Risk Report: Where Are Natural Disasters Most Common?
The 2024 World Risk Report is out, highlighting which countries are most at risk from natural disasters, and what can be done to prevent catastrophes and mitigate the effects.
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Preparing for a Pandemic That Never Came Ended Up Setting Off Another − How an Accidental Virus Release Triggered 1977’s ‘Russian Flu’
Overreaction. Unintended consequences. Making matters worse. Self-fulfilling prophecy. There is a rich variety of terms to describe how the best intentions can go awry. Still reeling from COVID-19, the world now faces new threats from cross-species jumps of avian flu viruses, mpox viruses and others. It’s critical that we be quick to respond to these emerging threats to prevent yet another global disease conflagration. Quick, but not too quick, history suggests.
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New Method Developed to Detect Fake Vaccines in Supply Chains
The global population is increasingly reliant on vaccines to maintain population health with billions of doses used annually in immunization programs worldwide. The vast majority of vaccines are of excellent quality. However, a rise in substandard and falsified vaccines threaten global public health. Unfortunately, there is currently no global infrastructure in place to monitor supply chains using screening methods developed to identify ineffective vaccines.
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Public Trust in Drinking Water Safety Is Low Globally
A new study finds more than half of adults surveyed worldwide expect to be seriously harmed by their water within the next two years. The study sought to understand public perceptions of drinking water safety.
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The long view
What We’ve Learned from Survivors of the Atomic Bombs
Q&A with Dr. Preetha Rajaraman, New Vice Chair for the Radiation Effects Research Foundation in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.
Combatting the Measles Threat Means Examining the Reasons for Declining Vaccination Rates
Measles was supposedly eradicated in Canada more than a quarter century ago. But today, measles is surging. The cause of this resurgence is declining vaccination rates.
Social Networks Are Not Effective at Mobilizing Vaccination Uptake
The persuasive power of social networks is immense, but not limitless. Vaccine preferences, based on the COVID experience in the United States, proved quite insensitive to persuasion, even through friendship networks.
Vaccine Integrity Project Says New FDA Rules on COVID-19 Vaccines Show Lack of Consensus, Clarity
Sidestepping both the FDA’s own Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee and the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), two Trump-appointed FDA leaders penned an opinion piece in the New England Journal of Medicine to announce new, more restrictive, COVID-19 vaccine recommendations. Critics say that not seeking broad input into the new policy, which would help FDA to understand its implications, feasibility, and the potential for unintended consequences, amounts to policy by proclamation.
Are We Ready for a ‘DeepSeek for Bioweapons’?
Anthropic’s Claude 4 is a warning sign: AI that can help build bioweapons is coming, and could be widely available soon. Steven Adler writes that we need to be prepared for the consequences: “like a freely downloadable ‘DeepSeek for bioweapons,’ available across the internet, loadable to the computer of any amateur scientist who wishes to cause mass harm. With Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4 having finally triggered this level of safety risk, the clock is now ticking.”
“Tulsi Gabbard as US Intelligence Chief Would Undermine Efforts Against the Spread of Chemical and Biological Weapons”: Expert
The Senate, along party lines, last week confirmed Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National intelligence. One expert on biological and chemical weapons says that Gabbard’s “longstanding history of parroting Russian propaganda talking points, unfounded claims about Syria’s use of chemical weapons, and conspiracy theories all in efforts to undermine the quality of the community she now leads” make her confirmation a “national security malpractice.”