Issues in Science and Technology

Science for Policy

Supplying State Legislatures With Scientific Expertise

Adam C. Jones, Jonathan Z. Kaye, Harvey V. Fineberg

A national network of state-based science and technology policy fellows can strengthen the exchange of information between scientists and policymakers.

Science Fellows

15 Years of California’s Science & Technology Policy Fellowship

Bruce M. Alberts, Sarah Brady, Keleigh Friedrich, Amber Mace, Maxine Savitz

Lessons from a thriving Sacramento-based program can help similar initiatives improve decisionmaking across the nation.

The David Lecture

K–12 Education in the Age of AI

Shuchi Grover

As powerful AI tools begin to affect our lives, what should learners and teachers understand in order to use them in ways that are empowering and equitable?

Animal Minds

When That Chickadee Is No Longer “A Machine With Feathers”

Brandon Keim

New research on animal intelligence is leading to a clash of worldviews that has implications for policy.

Gallery

If These Walls Could Talk

Kathryn Freeman, Matt Moment

In her enchanting narrative paintings, Kathryn Freeman imagines a world where people coexist with flora and fauna in moments of leisure and creativity.

Trust in Science

The Strange New Politics of Science

M. Anthony Mills, Price St. Clair

The polarization of trust in science is a complex phenomenon shaped by—and increasingly also shaping—American political identities.

The Ongoing Transformation

Taylor Spicer Empowers Scientists and Engineers to Engage Locally

Taylor Spicer, Lisa Margonelli

Taylor Spicer shares how her organization, Engineers and Scientists Acting Locally, helps scientists and engineers get involved in local policy—and why this involvement is so important.

Editor’s Journal

Who Owns Science?

Lisa Margonelli

Why has the public not shown much outrage at—or even interest in—the dismantling of the national research project that they’ve been bankrolling for the past 75 years?

Rey Velasquez Sagcal's illustration for "The Minnesota Diet"

In a future city complete with vertical farms, rooftop gardens, and no carbon footprint, the city’s survival still depends on regular food deliveries from the outside. What happens when those deliveries suddenly stop showing up?

The Strange New Politics of Science

Vol. XLI, No. 3, Spring 2025

Solving the disconnects between science and society will require much more than good ideas and good intentions—it will require the political will to bring the fragmented institutions of science together. Today’s political environment precludes the science community from making its old pitches to Congress; it will need to break old habits, build new bonds at personal, local, and regional levels, and reconsider the way it works.

Browse the Issue

From This Issue

Supplying State Legislatures With Scientific Expertise

Adam C. Jones, Jonathan Z. Kaye, Harvey V. Fineberg

15 Years of California’s Science & Technology Policy Fellowship

Amber Mace, Keleigh Friedrich, Maxine Savitz, Sarah Brady, Bruce M. Alberts

The Ozempic Era Could Shift Blame for Obesity From Individuals to Commercial Food Systems

Laura A. Schmidt, Luc L. Hagenaars

If These Walls Could Talk

Matt Moment, Kathryn Freeman

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In response to essays published in Issues, our readers weigh in on critical topics in policy related to science, technology, and society.

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Spring 2025
Preparing US Workers for Advanced Manufacturing
A Discussion of
Could an ARPA Help Resurrect US Manufacturing?
Responses By
Roy F. Richardson, Nicholas S. Vonortas Arun Seraphin Sujai Shivakumar Steve Trimberger Charles Wessner
Spring 2025
Unions Help Protect Postdocs
A Discussion of
Postdocs Demanding Better—Together
Responses By
Ximena Anleu Gil William A. Herbert Vikas Malik

Beyond the Headlines

Cities Turning the Tap on Wastewater Reuse

Phoenix is building an advanced water purification plant to convert wastewater into drinking water, joining a number of western cities looking to prepare for a drier future. While “potable reuse depends on… Read More

Space Debris Increasingly Threatens Satellites

If the growing buildup of space debris is not controlled, government and private companies will be unable to safely operate satellites for communication, navigation, and research, the European Space Agency predicts. Compounding… Read More

Looking Beyond “De-extinction” to Protect Biodiversity

A biotechnology company claims to have “successfully de-extincted” prehistoric dire wolves, CNN reports. But in Issues, the zoologist John O’Brien questions this approach to protecting the planet’s biodiversity. “Resurrecting an extinct… Read More

Mitigating River Flooding By Working With Nature

Unrelenting rains across the US South and Midwest are causing numerous rivers to flood, and more damage is likely to come, the AP reports. Drawing lessons from previous floods, Richard A. Haeuber… Read More

Collection

Climate and Health

Expore the Collection

Climate change poses a significant threat to human health. Extreme heat, stronger storms, new pathogens, food and water insecurity, and many other stressors pose dangers to human well-being. In addition, these health risks are not evenly distributed: They will affect society’s most vulnerable people most. What can be done to keep all people healthy on a warmer planet?

Foiling the Growing Threat of Fungal Pathogens

Angel N. Desai, George R. Thompson III

Climate change, changing migration patterns, and our agriculture system have created a perfect environment for fungal pathogens to thrive.
Channels for Arctic Diplomacy

Nataliya Shok, Katherine Ginsbach

Illustration by Shonagh Rae During the summer of 2016, in Russia’s arctic Yamal Peninsula, a heat wave resurfaced anthrax bacteria long buried in the permafrost. The bacteria then killed thousands of reindeer… Read More
Behind the Bougainvillea Curtain: Wildfires and Inequality

Michael Méndez

More equitable approaches to preparation and relief efforts for wildfires and other disasters must include undocumented Latino and Indigenous migrants.
A Climate Equity Agenda Informed by Community Brilliance

Jalonne L. White-Newsome

With every heat wave and flood, the failure to translate climate science into insight and action puts the health and well-being of people in vulnerable communities at risk. Intentional partnerships between residents, scientists, government, industry, and philanthropy can fix this disconnect.

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Future Tense Fiction

Future Tense Fiction is a speculative fiction series that uses imagination to explore how science and technology will shape our future. It features short stories written by acclaimed authors across a wide range of styles. Each story is paired with original artwork by Rey Velasquez Sagcal and a response essay from an expert who connects the fictional narrative to real-world policy debates.

The 28th

Mark Stasenko

In a future legal system in which the investigators, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, and juries are all replaced or supervised by artificial intelligence, who can be trusted? And are the contradictions and flaws inherent in human decisionmaking actually an asset?
Automated Justice?

Elizabeth Joh

The emerging applications of artificial intelligence promise huge social benefits: significant gains in detecting breast cancer that allow radiologists to focus on other patient needs, the deciphering of text inside a 2,000-year-old… Read More

Response
The Minnesota Diet

Charlie Jane Anders

In a future city complete with vertical farms, rooftop gardens, and no carbon footprint, the city’s survival still depends on regular food deliveries from the outside. What happens when those deliveries suddenly stop showing up?
Can We Insulate Ourselves From Food Shortages?

Christopher Wharton

A food systems and security researcher responds to Charlie Jane Anders’ short story “The Minnesota Diet.”

Response
Coda

Arula Ratnakar

When Ray discovers a secret that a powerful quantum computing company would rather keep hidden, she’s forced to question the very nature of her reality—and the memories that make it up.
Computing Consciousness

Cristopher Moore

What is the connection between consciousness, computation, and complex systems?

Response