Research and Development

TARGETING SCIENCEA Siege on Science: How Trump Is Undoing an American Legacy
By Sachi Kitajima Mulkey
In its first 100 days, the Trump administration has slashed federal agencies, canceled national reports, and yanked funding from universities. The shockwaves will be felt worldwide.
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TARGETING SCIENCEFreezing Funding Halts Medical, Engineering, and Scientific Research
By Liz Mineo
The Trump administration’s decision to freeze more than $2 billion in long-term research grants to Harvard has put a halt to work across a wide range of medical, engineering, and scientific fields. The projects focus on issues from TB and chemotherapy to prolonged space travel and pandemic preparedness.
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TRGETING SCIENCETrump’s War on Measurement Means Losing Data on Drug Use, Maternal Mortality, Climate Change and More
By Alec MacGillis
By slashing teams that gather critical data, the administration has left the federal government with no way of understanding if policies are working — and created a black hole of information whose consequences could ripple out for decades.
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TARGETING SCIENCEMore Than 1,900 Scientists Warn of Trump’s Attacks on Science
More Than 1,900 members of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine signed an open letter, warning the American people about the danger posed by the Trump administration’s sustained attacks on science.
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R&DMIT Lincoln Laboratory Is a Workhorse for National Security
By Kylie Foy
The US Air Force and MIT renew contract for operating the federally funded R&D center, a long-standing asset for defense innovation and prototyping.
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BIOSECURITYAI Tools Can Enhance U.S. Biosecurity; Monitoring and Mitigation Will Be Needed to Protect Against Misuse
A new report recommends ways for the U.S. to reap the benefits of artificial intelligence in biotechnology while minimizing risks that AI may be misused to develop harmful biological agents.
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SCIENCE“America Can’t Be Great Without Great Science. That Is Where the Academies Can Help.”
By Molly Galvin
Recent actions by the federal government affecting agencies that fund science in the United States have sent shock waves through the research community. “My biggest concern is for the pipeline of talent: We might not have the educated students to meet the needs of the greater STEMM workforce…. I’m concerned that with the cuts in science budgets and the federal workforce, we will not see the same number of students being trained,” says the president of the National Academy of Sciences.
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SCIENCE“Wholesale Assault on U.S. Science”: Scientists Say Administration’s Policies Pose Serious Threats to U.S. Science
More than 1,900 members of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine signed an open letter warning Americans that the administration is engaging in a “wholesale assault on U.S. science” that could set back research by decades and that threatens the health and safety of Americans.
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UNCERTAINTY & R&DPolitical Uncertainty Leads to Growth, Innovation: Research
By Sheri Irwin Gish
Research suggests that political uncertainty, often seen as a hindrance to economic stability, may actually have a silver lining.
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R&DHow Progress Happens
By Alvin Powell
On Feb. 7, the National Institutes of Health issued a notice, effective Feb. 10, to cap reimbursements for indirect costs (IDC) associated with its grants. The world’s largest public funder of biomedical research, the NIH supports investigations into, among other things, efforts to fight cancer, control infectious disease, understand neurodegenerative disorders, and improve mental health. Harvard’s vice provost for research details crucial role of NIH support in science and medicine.
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MISINFORMATIONScience Misinformation, Its Origins and Impacts, and Mitigation Strategies
A new report provides a comprehensive assessment of the literature on science misinformation, its origins and impact, and strategies for mitigating its spread and potential harms.
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CRISIS FORECASTINGMultipurpose Model Enhances Forecasting Across Epidemics, Energy, and Economics
A new machine learning (ML) model from Georgia Tech could protect communities from diseases, better manage electricity consumption in cities, and promote business growth, all at the same time.
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EPIDEMICSMathematical Models Tackle Covid Infection Dynamics
Even years after the emergence of the COVID-19 global pandemic, the workings of SARS-CoV-2 infection inside the human body, including the early activity of the virus and the role of the body’s immune response, has proved difficult to precisely ascertain.
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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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