Issues in Science and Technology

Better Biosecurity for the Bioeconomy David R. Gillum makes the case for a National Biosafety and Biosecurity Agency to deal with evolving biosecurity threats.

A recent Issues in Science and Technology piece explores how creating a National #Biosafety and #Biosecurity Agency that oversees the entire research life cycle can help manage risks and build public trust while allowing scientists to continue doing good work.

Read: https://ow.ly/Tgpc50Xt8AG

In case you missed it, the 5th and final-for-this-season episode of NOT NOW BUT SOON, the podcast I host at @issuesinst.bsky.social, came out yesterday! Search "The Ongoing Transformation" to find the series wherever you get your podcasts or click below ⬇️

Thursday, November 13. 5:00 PM ET. Henry and Bryna David Lecture 2025. Beware the Funhouse Mirror: How Social Media Misleads Us About Public Opinion. Jay Van Bavel. To the left is a headshot of Jay Van Bavel.

How does social media distort our understanding of what the public thinks? Join us on November 13 for the 2025 #DavidLecture with Jay Van Bavel, PhD about how technology and psychology interact to create a funhouse mirror version of public opinion: https://ow.ly/uaPk50XiyHF

Of Pandas and Science Curricula Twenty years ago, a landmark court case held that intelligent design cannot be taught in science classrooms. What lessons does it offer for conflicts in education?

In 2005, the Panda Trial held that intelligent design cannot be taught in science classrooms. 20 years later, @monyab.bsky.social revisits the trial and the people involved, finding insights into conflicts around community, religion, science, and education. Read the story: issues.org/science-curr...

Coser y Cantar | Future Tense Fiction Gabriela Damián Miravete’s Future Tense Fiction story explores labor, fast fashion, and the textile industry.

Our new #FutureTenseFiction story is here! “Coser y Cantar” by Gabriela Damián Miravete, translated by Will Vanderhyden, explores fast fashion, AI, and corporate accountability. Read it here: issues.org/futuretensef... #speculativefiction

Better Biosecurity for the Bioeconomy David R. Gillum makes the case for a National Biosafety and Biosecurity Agency to deal with evolving biosecurity threats.

“There is no question that oversight of high-consequence biological research is needed. But what kind, and how much?”

David Gillum makes the case for a National Biosafety and Biosecurity Agency: issues.org/biosecurity-... #biosafety #biosecurity

IS

My opinion on the decline of our national pandemic preparedness and risks to biosecurity in @issuesinst.bsky.social @nationalacademies.org

issues.org/unprepared-p...

Better Biosecurity for the Bioeconomy David R. Gillum makes the case for a National Biosafety and Biosecurity Agency to deal with evolving biosecurity threats.

Great new article by David Gillum in @issuesinst.bsky.social
Better Biosecurity for the Bioeconomy

issues.org/biosecurity-...

Not Now, But Soon: Losing Your Country Nasir Andisha, Afghan ambassador to the UN, shares the story of what it’s like to lose his nation, but continue to advocate for its people.

NEW EPISODE DAY! In this edition of NOT NOW BUT SOON, I talk to my friend Nasir Andisha, ambassador and permanent representative of Afghanistan to the United Nations, where he represents the people—not the current government—of a country that has been navigating disaster for decades.

AI Companions Are Not Your Teen’s Friend Despite broad agreement that teens should be protected from threats posed by AI companions, federal regulation is dangerously limited.

“Examples of chatbots promoting antisocial behavior, violence, and self-harm have multiplied across platforms since large language models came into wide usage,” @jbbranch.bsky.social writes. Read his piece on regulatory pathways for enforcing AI safety standards: issues.org/ai-companion...

A new article in Issues in Science and Technology explores a new directive to build a #nuclear reactor on the Moon, why past U.S. #SpaceNuclear programs have failed, and what is needed to ensure that this time is different.

Read: https://ow.ly/PqjR50XhOTm

No Longer Free of Strings Federally funded science now comes with strings attached—scientists must understand what happened before they can respond.

The much-discussed “social contract” between science and the federal government, once described by physicist Harvey Brooks as “free of strings,” is now “clearly defunct,” @lisamargonelli.bsky.social writes in her Editor’s Journal for the Fall ISSUES. issues.org/science-soci...

Three Months on the Way to FAIR When NIH announced caps on indirect costs, the Joint Associations Group (JAG) developed a new FAIR model for handling F&A costs.

The story of how, in three months, 10 research organizations developed a new model for funding indirect costs—and of a $26 slice of carrot cake—as told by Kelvin Droegemeier, Barbara Snyder, @scipolguy.bsky.social, Nancy Andrews, Willie May, Kurt Marek, & Farin Kamangar: issues.org/indirect-cos...

Field Notes on Moving Focused Research Organizations Forward Lessons from four years of building a new kind of focused scientific organization to create fundamental technologies and accelerate discovery.

What does it take to identify critical science & tech capability gaps—and then build organizations dedicated to addressing them?

@adammarblestone.bsky.social, @anastasiag.bsky.social, Mary Wang, & @josephfridman.bsky.social on creating @convergentresearch.bsky.social: issues.org/focused-rese...

A Strategy for Building Space Nuclear Systems That Fly Bhavya Lal and Roger M. Myers assess what it will take for NASA to design, build, and deploy a nuclear reactor on the Moon by 2030.

“History shows that when it comes to space nuclear power, the United States is far better at setting goals than seeing them through.”

@b-lal.bsky.social and Roger Meyers on what it will actually take to get a high-powered nuclear reactor working on the Moon by 2030: issues.org/space-nuclea...

A Coordinated Approach to Cannabis Policy and Product Safety The United States urgently needs a coordinated approach to regulating cannabis use that prioritizes product safety and patient well-being.

Also see Max's new #SciPol piece in @issuesinst.bsky.social on improving cannabis analytics, health, and safety in the United States: issues.org/coordinated-... 🧪

A Coordinated Approach to Cannabis Policy and Product Safety The United States urgently needs a coordinated approach to regulating cannabis use that prioritizes product safety and patient well-being.

The disconnect between federal and state regulation of cannabis has far-reaching consequences, Symone T. Griffith, Marisa L. Kreider, & @leung-lab.bsky.social write—for the cannabis industry, product safety, scientific research, and the health and safety of patients. issues.org/coordinated-...

It was a pleasure working with Symone Griffith (ASU Presidential Scholar & Ph.D. student in @asuhealthsolutions.bsky.social) and Marisa Kreider, Ph.D. (Stantec) in an article, "A Coordinated Approach to Cannabis Policy and Product Safety" (doi.org/10.58875/NLN...) 🌿 🔬 🧑‍🔬 🎓 🧵 1/3

“The Ability to Produce Is Just as Important as the Ability to Innovate.” National Academy of Engineering president Tsu-Jae Liu discusses how engineers can help the United States translate new ideas into practical benefits for the nation.

“Rather than saying, as we have traditionally, that engineering is only for people who are good at math and science... It should be more like: ‘Who’s interested in helping invent new things that will solve problems for people?’”

—Tsu-Jae Liu, @nationalacademies.org issues.org/engineering-...

“The ability to produce is just as important as the ability to innovate.”

In a new interview for Issues in Science and Technology, Tsu-Jae Liu discusses how engineers can help the U.S. translate new ideas into practical benefits for the nation.

Read: https://ow.ly/HxQM50X6tK8

Not Now, But Soon: The Food System is Rigged Thin Lei Win discusses growing up in Myanmar, and how that has shaped how she sees the intersection between food, climate, and disasters.

Listen to the latest episode of my new @issuesinst.bsky.social podcast, NOT NOW BUT SOON, in which I talk to @thinink.bsky.social about global food systems, the authoritarian takeover of Myanmar, and other disasters. Search "The Ongoing Transformation" wherever you get your podcasts!

Introducing our new podcast miniseries: “Not Now, But Soon”!

In the first episode, @boriscrito.bsky.social talks with host @older.bsky.social about his academic life researching data centers, his #speculativefiction life, & how those worlds collide in his book SOLIDEZ. issues.org/hurricane-of...

@older.bsky.social invited me on her podcast mini-series to talk about disaster. It's rare that I get a chance to bring my research on the environmental impact of computing, AI, data centers into conversation with my speculative fiction - especially when it comes to Puerto Rico. #datacenters 🌀🚀✍️

Not Now, But Soon: A Hurricane of Data Steven Gonzalez compares the sudden devastation of hurricanes with the overlooked disasters tied to supporting our internet infrastructure.

The 1st episode of the new pod-miniseries I'm hosting at
@issuesinst.bsky.social is out now! I talk with spec-fic writer & anthropologist of tech @boriscrito.bsky.social about the slow disaster of data centers, the rapid disasters of hurricanes in the Caribbean & the ways we envision the future:

Not Now, But Soon — a new miniseries from @IssuesInST.bsky.social — will challenge the stories we often tell about #disasters and explore how we can use #SpeculativeFiction to create better futures and policies.

Learn more and tune in for the September 16 premiere: buff.ly/SDqyE38

"In a #PublicHealth system that is outdated and reactive, Americans are left vulnerable to the next outbreak."

Lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic and other recent outbreaks can teach us how better prevent the next #pandemic.

Learn more from @IssuesInST.bsky.social: buff.ly/BpB6bcm

Learning From Grant Applications Should all applications to federal research grants—funded and unfunded—be openly accessible to the public? Readers discuss.

In our Forum section, @stebbins.bsky.social responds to @stuartbuck.bsky.social &
@csmarcum.sciences.social.ap.brid.gy’s piece on unfunded grant applications. Read the discussion:
issues.org/learning-fro...

Updating Mental Models of Risk Disasters are no longer isolated events. This demands a fundamental change in how we think about and respond to complex risk.

To understand modern risk, we have to grapple with emergent and novel aspects of hazard, vulnerability, exposure, and response that comprise risk.

Find out more in a new article with @danielaldrich.bsky.social and Daniel Hoyer, just out in @issuesinst.bsky.social.

issues.org/mental-model...

Preventing the Next Public Health Emergency During the COVID-19 pandemic, small shifts in health data regulation revealed big insights for how to prevent the next pandemic.

“Early detection, effective surveillance, and accurate reporting are essential for controlling [health] threats before they become full-blown public health emergencies,” @khahlil.bsky.social writes. “These are all areas of chronic underinvestment in the United States.” issues.org/public-healt...

A Nation of Innovators The story of how the federal government became an innovation evangelist in the 1960s is an account of fits, starts, and ideological ambiguity.

The story of how the federal government became an innovation evangelist in the 1960s is an account of fits, starts, and ideological ambiguity. Read an adapted excerpt from "Every American an Innovator" by Matthew Wisnioski: issues.org/nation-of-in... @issuesinst.bsky.social