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Lewis Thomas. Photograph by Bernard Gotfryd, courtesy the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

The Lives of Lewis Thomas

Joseph J. Fins

When Joseph Fins was a medical student, the physician-humanist and writer Lewis Thomas gave a lecture to his class. Fins recalls that Thomas “reminded us that we had all chosen to come to the school that day. Then, pointing up from the lecture hall toward the hospital, he said that none of the patients chose to be there—our future workplace was ultimately a place of sickness. That lesson helped shape my career as a physician and bioethicist, as well as my sense of the fragility of life and the obligations of care.”Read More

The Ongoing Transformation

The Hidden Engineering That Makes New York Tick

Guru Madhavan, Lisa Margonelli

New York City is the perfect place to understand the importance of modern engineering, but the most valuable lessons won’t be found at the Empire State Building or in Central Park.Read More

Artificial Intelligence

who is responsible for ai copyright infringement?

Who Is Responsible for AI Copyright Infringement?

Michael P. Goodyear

As artificial intelligence evolves and strains the bounds of copyright and other areas of the law, a creative legal approach can strike the proper balance between regulating and encouraging this new technology.Read More

Labor Unions

Illustration for "A Vision for Centering Workers in Technology Development" by Shonagh Rae

A Vision for Centering Workers in Technology Development

Amanda Ballantyne, Jodi Forlizzi, Crystal Weise

Including workers’ perspective in AI research and development is crucial to building both effective, equitable technology and public trust.Read More

Public Health

Tribal Health Equity Requires Tribal Data Equity

Meghan Curry O’Connell

Tribal Epidemiology Centers, tasked with analyzing the health data of American Indian and Alaska Native communities and reducing health disparities, are often prevented from accessing public health data that are necessary to respond effectively to crises.Read More

Future Tense Fiction

"A Time Between" illustration by Rey Velasquez Sacgal

A Time Between

Kevin Galvin

Detectives digging into evidence of a tragic death find themselves confronted with two different versions of the past—and, perhaps, the present.

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The FALL Issue

Fall 2024 Issues in Science and Technology cover
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The Future of Nuclear Power

The US Department of Energy and big tech companies such as Google and Amazon have announced their support for the development of advanced nuclear reactors. Do their efforts prefigure a nuclear renaissance? And what would such a renewal of the nuclear sector mean for society?

Nuclear Innovation

An Ambidextrous Approach to Nuclear Energy Innovation

An Ambidextrous Approach to Nuclear Energy Innovation

Florian Metzler, Jonah Messinger

Tension between the promise of new nuclear technologies and uncertainty about their feasibility requires a diversified, balanced research portfolio that can be adjusted locally in concert with global progress.Read More

Engineering Education

Educating Engineers for a New Nuclear Age

Aditi Verma, Katie Snyder, Shanna Daly

Radical designs for fission and fusion energy systems require engineers who are grounded in technical knowledge, adept at engaging communities in participatory design, and fluent in ethical, equity-centered communication.Read More

Decentralized Nuclear?

Can Nuclear Power Go Local?

Jessica Lovering, Suzanne Hobbs Baker

With origins in the Cold War military-industrial complex, nuclear power struggles to reinvent itself as part of the inclusive, democratic future envisioned by progressives.Read More

Nuclear Waste

nuclear regulatory commission

Deep Time: The End of an Engagement

Başak Saraç-Lesavre

For all its flaws, US nuclear waste policy at least relied on a sense of a moral responsibility toward the present and future. That may now be changing.Read More

News

Connecting today’s headlines with deeper policy analyses from the Issues archives.

preparing for a nuclear renaissance

Preparing for a Nuclear Renaissance

Including Workers in Technology Development

Overcoming “Yuck” in Recycling Wastewater Into Drinking Water

Pulling New Energy Technologies Into the Market

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