Harnessing Scientific Evidence and Decision Making to Accelerate the SDGs
A joint statement summarizes insights from the first-ever Science Day held to accelerate progress on the SDGs.
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Co-benefits of Climate-SDG Synergies Far Outweigh Trade-offs: UN Report
Co-benefits of Climate-SDG Synergies Far Outweigh Trade-offs: UN Report
A UN report prepared by a group of independent experts calls for governments to tackle the climate and sustainable development crises together, to maximize the impact of policies and actions.
Why Meta-regulation Matters for Public Health: the Case of the EU Better Regulation Agenda
Why Meta-regulation Matters for Public Health: the Case of the EU Better Regulation Agenda
Meta-regulation - the rules that govern how individual policies are developed and reviewed - has not received much attention in the study of health policy. Far from value-free and objective, they have however significant potential to shape policy outputs and, as such, health outcomes.
The World's Goals to Save Humanity Are Hugely Ambitious - but They Are Still the Best Option
The World's Goals to Save Humanity Are Hugely Ambitious - but They Are Still the Best Option
Not one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals looks set to be achieved by 2030. But deadlines can help focus the mind, and scientists should double down on their work to support the goals.
Quantum Information Science is Rarely Taught in High School - Here's Why That Matters
Quantum Information Science is Rarely Taught in High School - Here's Why That Matters
A former physics teacher says America could lose its technological edge if it doesn't do a better job of teaching quantum information science - starting in high school.
The Home Science Labs of English Noblewomen
In the eighteenth century, elite women with a scientific bent often turned to distilling medicines, a craft that helped them participate in experimentation.
Scientists Are Trying to Teach AI How to Smell
A team from the US taught a neural network how to map and describe popular smells, with the hopes of digitizing them someday.
How Science Bolstered a Key European Climate-change Case
A group of older women in Switzerland has taken the government to court over its inaction on climate change. Our experience of preparing evidence for the case offers six lessons for researchers.
Scientists Celebrate As UK Rejoins Horizon Europe Research Programme
UK researchers had been frozen out of the scheme for two years, amid disagreements over Brexit.
Riding the Whirlwind: BMJ's Policy on Artificial Intelligence in Scientific Publishing
Riding the Whirlwind: BMJ's Policy on Artificial Intelligence in Scientific Publishing
BMJ will consider content created with artificial intelligence only if the use is clearly described and reasonable
Artificial intelligence (AI) can rival human knowledge, accuracy, speed, and choices when carrying out tasks. The latest generative AI tools are trained on large quantities of data and use machine learning techniques such as logical reasoning, knowledge representation, planning, and natural language processing. They can produce text, code, and other media such as graphics, images, audio, or video. Large language models (LLMs), which are a form of AI, are able to search, extract, generate, summarise, translate, and rewrite text or code rapidly. They can answer complex questions (called prompts) at search engine speeds that the human mind cannot match.
AI is transforming our world, and we are not yet fully able to comprehend or harness its power. It is a whirlwind sweeping up all before it. Availability of LLMs such as ChatGPT, and growing awareness of their capabilities, is challenging many industries, including academic publishing. The potential benefits for content creation are clear, such as the …
"Just Get the Admin to Do It." Why Research Managers Are Feeling Misunderstood
"Just Get the Admin to Do It." Why Research Managers Are Feeling Misunderstood
Science benefits when there is mutual respect between academics and research managers. Team Science, a six-part series, begins by examining a key workplace relationship.
Viewpoint: Will AI Help Big Tech Dominate Science?
Only a very few global actors like Microsoft, Google and Apple may end up dominating the AI market, due to their scale and market power. How this will shape the future of science, the source of AI's power, has only begun to be discussed.
Calls for New Manhattan Projects Overlook Crucial Aspects of the World War II Crisis Innovation Model
Calls for New Manhattan Projects Overlook Crucial Aspects of the World War II Crisis Innovation Model
The Manhattan Project is often invoked as a model for mission-driven research projects, such as the search for a Covid-19 vaccine. Daniel P. Gross and Bhaven N. Sampat argue that the broader U.S. approach to mobilising science and technology in World War II, led by the Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD), provides a better analogy for some contemporary R&D problems.
How the UK and EU Did a Deal over Horizon Europe
The UK now has guarantees that it won't have to make more than a 16% net contribution to Horizon Europe, according to UK and EU sources, a reassurance that has allowed today's deal to go ahead. Since February, negotiators have been locked in discussions over a technical part of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), agreed back in 2020 setting out post-Brexit relations, including what the UK will pay for association.
UK finally rejoins Horizon Europe research funding scheme
After years of excruciating delays, elated scientists welcome the new agreement.
The Slippery Slope of Scientific Ethics
A new biopic of J. Robert Oppenheimer emphasizes the personal and political over the scientific, missing an opportunity to deeply engage with scientific ethics.
Ivanova's To-do List: Time to Lay the Foundations for the Next EU Research Programme
Pending Parliament's approval, Iliana Ivanova will take the reins as commissioner for research, innovation and education later this month. With European elections due in June 2024, interest groups in Brussels now want her to look beyond what will be a short tenure and focus on the first phases of shaping the next EU research framework programme, due to start in 2028.
UN Invasive Species Report Reveals Scale of Threat to Nature and People - and How to Manage It
UN Invasive Species Report Reveals Scale of Threat to Nature and People - and How to Manage It
Not all alien species are a significant hazard to people and ecosystems.
Three Institutional Pathways to Envision the Future of the IPCC - Nature Climate Change
Three Institutional Pathways to Envision the Future of the IPCC - Nature Climate Change
The IPCC has been successful at building its scientific authority, but it will require institutional reform for staying relevant to new and changing political contexts. Exploring a range of alternative future pathways for the IPCC can help guide crucial decisions about redefining its purpose.
Plan S: Stay the Course
Five years after launching, the Plan S open-access initiative must retain its founding principles.
Betting Against Worst-case Climate Scenarios is Risky Business
How much change can human systems tolerate before society collapses?
Comparing Data Policy Priorities Around the World
There are important differences in how countries treat and value data. This report compares key data policies in China, India, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the European Union.
US Extends Science and Technology Agreement with China, Buying Time to Renegotiate the Deal
US Extends Science and Technology Agreement with China, Buying Time to Renegotiate the Deal
The US has extended a historic science and technology agreement (STA) with China by six months, but now needs to renegotiate the deal to mollify concerns that it aids Beijing's technological and military rise and fails to ensure a reciprocal research relationship.
White House seeks input on tightening rules for risky pathogen research
Request for comment suggests government may soften controversial proposed restrictions.
Austrian Minister Calls for Science to Be Better Conveyed to Public
Austrian Minister Calls for Science to Be Better Conveyed to Public
Austria's Martin Polaschek pushes for move to combat public scepticism.
U.S.-China Tensions Could Complicate Effort to Renew Key Research Pact
U.S.-China Tensions Could Complicate Effort to Renew Key Research Pact
Rising tensions between the United States and China could derail the renewal of a 44-year-old agreement on scientific cooperation between the two countries. Last week, U.S. President Joe Biden invited China to spend the next 6 months discussing changes to the broad agreement, first signed in 1979, that enables joint research.
Work on Creating a Single European Market for Research Enters the Next Phase
Work has started on the 2025 - 2027 policy agenda of the European Commission's ERA Forum for Transition, the expert group set up to shape the European Research Area (ERA) and create a borderless, single market for research, science and technology.
Closer ties for German U15 and Canadian Unis
The German U15 group of research-intensive universities has signed a long-term agreement to support closer ties between researchers and universities at its Canadian counterpart, U15 Canada.
The Excellence Dilemma
Are equity, diversity and inclusion criteria and sustainable development goals compatible with academia's obsession with excellence?
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