Energy Conundrums
Every issue explores cutting-edge developments in technology, medicine, education, climate change, and much more. Articles provide in-depth analyses of science and technology’s impact on public policy, the economy, and society—bringing today’s best minds to bear on tomorrow’s most critical topics.
From the Hill
From the Hill – Summer 2006
Regulatory regime for greenhouse gases discussed The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held an all-day conference on April 4 on the issues involved in creating a program to regulate the greenhouse… Read More
Perspectives
Let Engineers Go to College
The challenges that engineers will face in the 21st century will require them to broaden their outlooks, have more flexible career options, and work closely and effectively with people of quite different… Read More
Features
Power Play: A More Reliable U.S. Electric System
The United States ranks toward the bottom among developed nations in terms of the reliability of its electricity service. Catastrophic events, such as the August 14, 2003, blackout that put 50 million… Read MoreArchives – Summer 2006
Transport II Transport II shows a theoretical simulation of the flow pattern for electrons traveling over a nanoscale landscape. The total area seen here corresponds in size to a typical bacterium and… Read MoreThe Myth of Energy Insecurity
The current national debate on energy policy is held together by the proposition that increasing reliance on foreign oil is a national security threat that requires urgent action. Only the character of… Read MoreA Healthy Mind for a Healthy Population
Each year, more than 33 million U.S. residents receive health care for mental problems and/or for conditions resulting from the use of alcohol, illegal drugs, or prescription medications. The total comprises approximately… Read MoreThe Pentagon’s Defense Review: Not Ready for Prime Time
The trouble with our times is that the future is not what it used to be. This witty observation by 19th century French poet Paul Valery captures precisely the ever-changing nature of… Read MoreNew Nukes
For the first time in decades, nuclear power is back on this country’s list of possible energy sources. New nuclear power plants are on the drawing board. Public opinion is shifting in… Read MoreDEE-FENSE! DEE-FENSE!: Preparing for Pandemic Flu
Vaccination to prevent viral and bacterial diseases is modern medicine’s most cost-effective intervention. Were a vaccine to be available quickly after the onset of the widely predicted pandemic from an H5N1 strain… Read MoreNuclear Waste and the Distant Future
Although most of the radioactive material generated by nuclear energy decays away over short times ranging from minutes to several decades, a small fraction remains radioactive for far longer time periods. Policymakers,… Read MoreNatural Gas: The Next Energy Crisis?
The day after President Bush’s State of the Union address on January 31, 2006, the headline in many U.S. newspapers and in the electronic media was: “America Addicted to Oil.” Indeed, a… Read More
Book Reviews
Containing the fire
Now that American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin has won the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize, it… Read More