The Rise and Fall of Peer Review
Why the greatest scientific experiment in history failed, and why that's a great thing.
Send us a link
Why Jonny Can't Read: The Great Disconnect Between Reading Science and Policy
Kathy Hirsh-Pasek and Roberta Michnick Golinkoff discuss the deficiencies in reading proficiency recently observed in the United States, provide an overview of possible culprits, and recommend how to solve the issue.
Rethinking the Origins of Life
Life may have originated in deep sea vents, without the need for DNA or RNA
Science Policy Trust Deficit
Many people in the bureaucratic machinery have little interest in research
Fears for Academic Freedom As Indonesia Doubles Down on Scientists' Ban
Fears for Academic Freedom As Indonesia Doubles Down on Scientists' Ban
JAKARTA - Indonesian academics have called out the government for banning five foreign scientists after they questioned official claims of an increase in the country's orangutan population, warning that the move sets a disturbing precedent for academic freedom. In a statement to the government, scientists grouped under the Academic Freedom Advocacy Team called the ban […]
American Trust in Science & Institutions in the Time of COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic prompted many discussions about how people's trust in science shaped our ability to address the crisis. Early in the pandemic, our research team set out to understand how trust in science relates to support for public health guidelines, and to identify some trusted sources of science. In this essay, we share our findings and offer ideas about what might be done to strengthen the public's trust in science. Notably, our research shows a stark partisan divide: Republicans had lower support for public health guidelines, and their trust in science and institutions such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health eroded over time. Meanwhile, Democrats' trust in science has remained high throughout the pandemic. In the context of this divide, we explore how trust in various information sources, from governmental institutions to the media, relates to trust in science, and suggest that the best avenue for rebuilding trust might be through empowering local institutions and leaders to help manage future crises.
Uninterrupted writing time is rare. That’s why I ‘microwrite’
As I learned to savor my limited slivers of writing time, my childhood love for it returned.
How Can We Achieve Europe's Ambitions in terms of Research?
The ERA was launched in January 2000, in the year that the EU set itself the ambitious goal to become by 2010, "the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world", as part of its Lisbon strategy. One of the key planks of the strategy was to raise overall R&D investment within the European Union to 3% of GDP.
Academics Engaging in Knowledge Transfer and Co-Creation: Push Causation and Pull Effectuation?
Academics Engaging in Knowledge Transfer and Co-Creation: Push Causation and Pull Effectuation?
Although academics are increasingly engaging with businesses, some fundamental aspects of this phenomenon (i.e., their motivations, decision-making approaches, and the interplay between the two) remain understudied.
We Are Putting Science, Innovation and Evidence at the Heart of the Home Office
We Are Putting Science, Innovation and Evidence at the Heart of the Home Office
Dr Jason Dewhurst talks 'embedding a scientifically inquisitive and analytically curious culture across the Home Office'
How to Edit the Genes of Nature's Master Manipulators
CRISPR, the Nobel Prize-winning gene editing technology, is poised to have a profound impact on the fields of microbiology and medicine, again.
Alternatives to Animal Testing: Science, Ethics and the Law
Laura Rego Alvarez, Head of Science Policy & Regulation, Cruelty Free International, discusses the science and ethics behind alternatives to animal testing
A Landscape of Open Science Policies Research
This literature review aims to examine the approach given to open science policy in the different studies.
How an Early Oil Industry Study Became Key in Climate Lawsuits
For decades, 1960s research for the American Petroleum Institute warning of the risks of burning fossil fuels had been forgotten. But two papers discovered in libraries are now playing a key role in lawsuits aimed at holding oil companies accountable for climate change.
Bird Declines Boost Case for Transformative Biodiversity Agreement in Montreal
The world is losing species alarmingly fast. The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), an independent science and policy group, says a million species face extinction. Few animals bring these unsettling losses into sharper focus than birds: Populations of 49% of avian species are decreasing, according to a September 2022 report by […]
Science and Multilateralism to Deliver Change
The recently concluded climate COP also demonstrated how science is integral to multilateralism. Yes, the outcome was a mixed bag. The language on 1.5 degrees C and ending fossil fuels was weak, but we did see history made with a loss and damage fund.
Space and Technology Were Big Winners at China's 20th Party Congress
China's top leadership changes reflect the prioritization of space, science, and technology.
Are We Entering The Golden Age Of Climate Modeling?
Thanks to the advent of exascale computing, local climate forecasts may soon be a reality. And they're not just for scientists anymore.
A CERN Model for Studying the Information Environment
CERN has been a model for how to support large-scale research collaboration. Given the challenges facing democracy today related to the information environment, a similar level of effort is required for research on the information environment.
From Anti-Government to Anti-Science: Why Conservatives Have Turned Against Science
From Anti-Government to Anti-Science: Why Conservatives Have Turned Against Science
Empirical data do not support the conclusion of a crisis of public trust in science. They do support the conclusion of a crisis of conservative trust in science: polls show that American attitudes toward science are highly polarized along political lines. In this essay, we argue that conservative hostility toward science is rooted in conservative hostility toward government regulation of the marketplace, which has morphed in recent decades into conservative hostility to government, tout court. This distrust was cultivated by conservative business leaders for nearly a century, but took strong hold during the Reagan administration, largely in response to scientific evidence of environmental crises that invited governmental response. Thus, science-particularly environmental and public health science-became the target of conservative anti-regulatory attitudes. We argue that contemporary distrust of science is mostly collateral damage, a spillover from carefully orchestrated conservative distrust of government.
Research Spending Could Be Lone Bright Spot for U.S. Science After Election Sets Up Divided Government
Research Spending Could Be Lone Bright Spot for U.S. Science After Election Sets Up Divided Government
Likely Republican control of the House presages fiery hearings attacking Biden, but also gridlock
Writers Envision the Next 75 Years of Science Policy
"The Next 75 Years of Science Policy," a collection of essays presents a wide range of visions for how science might serve society in the coming years.
Australia to update science frameworks in renewed commitment to evidence-based policymaking
Australia to update science frameworks in renewed commitment to evidence-based policymaking
Programming in Parallel Universes
Quantum computers have the potential to change the world as profoundly as electricity did.
Technical Reports Provide Scientific Evidence to Underpin Africa's Case at COP27
In this article, the Oppenheimer Generations Research and Conservation team's Dr Duncan MacFadyen and Rendani Nenguda write about the technical reports developed through the African Group of Negotiators Expert Support, which provides an armful of scientific evidence to underpin Africa's case at COP27.
The Promise of Impact Science
Imagine if nonprofit leaders, philanthropists, and policy makers no longer had to guess what works but could predict success with scientific certainty. Enter the field of impact science.
How to Revive the Right to Science
Scientific research and its impact are closely linked with the promotion and protection of Human rights. It is imperative to act upon the unequal access to scientific benefits and to guarantee full access to scientific literature and knowledge for all.
The Many Facets of Safety in Research Infrastructures
The dedicated Safety Policy spans all areas of occupational health and safety, including environmental protection and the safe operation of CERN's facilities. Continuous exchanges with similar research infrastructures on best practices and techniques ensure that we maintain the highest standards.
×