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DOOMSDAYTracking Down the Asteroid That Sealed the Fate of the Dinosaurs
Geoscientists have led an international study to determine the origin of the huge piece of rock that hit the Earth around 66 million years ago and permanently changed the climate. The asteroid probably came from the outer solar system.
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PATHOGENSWHO Updates List of Most Dangerous Viruses and Bacteria
The WHO recently published a report outlining the findings of its global pathogen prioritization process that involved more than 200 scientists who evaluated evidence related to 28 viral families and one core group of bacteria, covering 1,652 pathogens.
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QUANTUM TECHNOLOGYIllinois DARPA Quantum Proving Ground
A new federal- and state-funded Quantum Proving Ground (QPG) promises to combine scientific rigor with industry and academic expertise to design the future of quantum computing
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EXPERTSWhy the Experts Should Answer to the Amateurs
Tension between experts and non-experts is an inevitable part of modern organizations and societies. Highly trained experts are necessary to keep things functioning smoothly —but accountability matters. We need specialists to solve hard problems, but they need to be accountable to non-experts.
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SCIENTISTSReports: Russian Physicists Being Denied Entry to U.S.
After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the US government attempted to make it easier for Russian scientists to enter the United States. But there are reports that it has actually become more difficult.
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COVID VACCINEGround-Breaking Study Reveals How COVID-19 Vaccines Prevent Severe Disease
A landmark study by scientists at the University of Oxford, has unveiled crucial insights into the way that COVID-19 vaccines mitigate severe illness in those who have been vaccinated.
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PUBLIC HEALTHAction Needed to Improve U.S. Smallpox Readiness and Diagnostics, Vaccines, and Therapeutics: Report
A new report says that action is needed to enhance U.S. readiness for smallpox and related diseases, as well as to improve diagnostics, vaccines, and therapeutics that could be used in case of an outbreak. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed weaknesses in the ability of U.S. public health and health care systems to adapt and respond to an unfamiliar pathogen, as did challenges during the recent mpox outbreak to rapidly making diagnostics, vaccines, and therapeutics available at scale.
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BIOSECURITYCanada’s Biosecurity Scandal: The Risks of Foreign Interference in Life Sciences
In July 2019, world-renowned biological researchers Xiangguo Qiu and Keding Cheng were quietly walked out of the Canadian government’s National Microbiology Lab (NML). The original allegation against them was that Qiu had authorized a shipment to China of some of the deadliest viruses on the planet, including Ebola and Nipah. Then the story seemed to go away—until now.
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BIORISKSNew International Biosecurity Organization Launched to Safeguard Bioscience
Amid rapid advances in bioscience and biotechnology that could pose significant global security risks without effective guardrails, the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) last month launched the International Biosecurity and Biosafety Initiative for Science (IBBIS), a first-of-its-kind organization to strengthen international biosecurity governance. IBBIS, an independent organization to be headquartered in Geneva, provides tools that will allow technological innovation to flourish, safely and responsibly.
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ESPIONAGEResearch Espionage Is a Real Threat – but a Drastic Crackdown Could Stifle Vital International Collaboration
In 2024, China is a peer of the US in research and knowledge creation. We must be clear-eyed about threats to “research security”. But a one-eyed focus on China, and adopting a simplistic and heavy-handed approach to managing these threats, will only leave us worse off.
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Anne J. Manning Potential New Weapon in Battle Against Superbugs
Harvard researchers have created an antibiotic that can overcome many drug-resistant infections, which have become a growing, deadly global health menace. The synthetic molecule is highly effective against drug-resistant bacteria.
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GAIN-OF-FUNCTION RESEARCHU.S. House Approves Federal Funding Ban on GoF Research
The House of Representatives approved HR 5894, which includes a measure banning federal funding for studies that include gain-of-function research. Though the bill in question still requires Senate approval to have a chance to take effect, this move will likely be worrying to many in the scientific community.
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MONSTERSWhy the Search for the Loch Ness Monster (and Other Beasts) Continues 90 Years After That First Blurry Photograph
It’s 90 years since Hugh Gray, in April 1933, took his blurry picture — and the beginning of the obsession with finding the Loch Ness monster. As a paleobiologist, I want to explore whether the type of monster we believe Nessy to be could exist and if we should continue looking.
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CHINA WATCHThe U.S. and China May Be Ending an Agreement on Science and Technology Cooperation − a Policy Expert Explains What This Means for Research
A decades-old science and technology cooperative agreement between the United States and China was set to expire on Aug. 27, 2023, but was extended, at the last minute, by six months to allow more negotiations between the two countries. On the surface, an expiring diplomatic agreement may not seem significant. But unless it’s renewed, the quiet end to a cooperative era may have consequences for scientific research and technological innovation, as the U.S. risks being cut off from top know-how as China forges ahead.
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UFOsCrashed UFOs? Non-Human “Biologics”? Professor Asks: Where’s the Evidence?
Congressional testimony this week about reverse engineering from crashed UFOs and the recovery of non-human “biologics” sounds like science fiction. And that’s the realm in which it will remain unless scientific and other hard evidence enters the picture, says an expert.
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The long view
PATHOGENSWHO Updates List of Most Dangerous Viruses and Bacteria
The WHO recently published a report outlining the findings of its global pathogen prioritization process that involved more than 200 scientists who evaluated evidence related to 28 viral families and one core group of bacteria, covering 1,652 pathogens.