ScienceGeist

We need to hear about the risks directly from the experts, not through the filter of politicians

Ruthless labor exploitation? Generational betrayal? Understanding the job crisis in academia requires a look at recent history.

Some students do feel political pressure from their professors, but few change their views.

A faulty reagent in a test kit and bureaucratic hurdles have slowed testing for the virus that causes COVID-19.

The White House's attempt to impose a more disciplined approach to communications about the virus was undermined by President Trump, who complained the news media was overstating the threat.

The incident raises important questions about how institutions handle accusations of harassment that occurred at different universities - particularly in the #MeToo era.

Some publishers feared order making federally funded studies free

Academic scientists and research institutes are increasingly being evaluated using digital metrics, from bibliometrics to patent counts. These metrics are often framed, by science policy analysts, economists of science as well as funding agencies, as objective and universal proxies for scientific worth, potential, and productivity.

In a victory for science and public health, a federal court determined that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency cannot exclude scientists who have received EPA research grants - who happen to be mainly academic scientists from research universities - from serving on its advisory panels.

Here is a roundup of key takeaways from our studies of U.S. public opinion about science issues and their effect on society.

The president's new budget would cut more than $3 billion in global health programs.

Academic systems rely on the existence of a supply of "outsiders" ready to forgo wages and employment security in exchange for the prospect of uncertain security, prestige, freedom and reasonably high salaries that tenured positions entail.

The Trump administration fired a diplomatic shot across the European Commission's bow, with a public warning that it may reject an offer for the US to join the EU's next big research programme.

For years, China's Thousand Talents recruitment plan attracted U.S. scientists with its grants. Investigators now say China used the program to steal sensitive technology.

The Iowa caucus debacle proved that a 21st-century election requires 19th-century technology.

Prosecutors say Charles M. Lieber, the chair of Harvard's chemistry department, lied about contacts with a Chinese state-run initiative that seeks to draw foreign-educated talent.

The new report, Presidential Recommendations for 2020: A Blueprint for Defending Science and Protecting the Public, outlines a suite of recommendations that the next president can take to protect the health and safety of the public through restoring science to government decisionmaking processes. The report focuses on strengthening three major principles underlying science-based decisionmaking: independence, transparency, and free speech.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly vowed to "ensure" that the United States has the "cleanest air" and the "cleanest water," but his administration's efforts to slash environmental regulations have been extensive.

A man in Washington State is infected with a new respiratory virus. Federal officials plan to expand screenings for the infection at major airports.

While some talk about global science, China's skyrocketing investment in its scientific sector is causing real anxiety for Europe.

Mr. Greenwald is accused of being part of a "criminal investigation" that hacked into the cellphones of prosecutors and public officials.

In a recent letter to the White House, a group of corporate publishers and scholarly organizations implore the president to leave intact…

The post-World War II model for organizing science remains powerful, but moving beyond its limits will be necessary for assuring the contributions of science to solving a wide array of challenges.

Ivy Anderson and Jeff MacKie-Mason, who co-chair the team overseeing UC's publisher negotiations strategy, have provided the following response to a recent open letter in which a number of commercial and society journal publishers voiced their opposition to a policy, rumored to be under discussion by the U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy, that would require federally funded research be made freely available to the public immediately upon publication, rather than within 12 months as current policy stipulates.  The University of California believes the public should have access to publicly-funded research, freely and immediately upon publication. We are deeply …

As I do every year, I picked my ten favorite visualization projects. Here they are in no particular order.

Market forces are powerful-but advocacy by independent groups has played a critical role in making sure economics and market forces can do their job.

In a stinging rebuke of the Trump administration’s handling of science, an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) advisory panel has found major shortcomings in the agency’s pursuit of key regulatory rollbacks.

In three years, the administration has diminished the role of science in policymaking while disrupting research projects nationwide. Experts say the effects could be felt for years.