Issues in Science and Technology

The ISSUES Interview

“There Are Two Possible Futures for American Science.”

Simons Foundation president David Spergel talks about the evolving landscape for science philanthropy, his outlook for the research enterprise, and remaining hopeful in an uncertain time.

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.

Gender-Affirming Care

The Heart Is Not Neutral

Adam Briggle

The highly polarized debate over health care for transgender youth demonstrates why the pursuit of so-called scientific neutrality so often fails to bring about social consensus.

Poetry

Heat Map

Richard Siken

“The neurologist takes out a folder, a picture. He points at my brain with a finger, says here. It looks like a map of a city on fire, a snapshot of weather.”

"Queer Anatomies: Aesthetics and Desire in the Anatomical Image, 1700–1900" by Michael Sappol

Book Review

Anatomy has long been recognized as a field at the crossroads of politics, medicine, crime, taboo, professionalism, modesty, racism, sexism, and much else. A new book goes beyond these issues in exploring anatomy’s past, asking if early anatomical illustration could have been a space for the exploration of homoerotic desire, hidden in plain sight.

The Ongoing Transformation

How ADHD Affects Adults

David Goodman, Sara Frueh

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is the second most prevalent psychiatric disorder in adults. David Goodman explains how ADHD affects adults, the complexities in how it’s diagnosed and treated, and open questions for research in the field.

Science Diplomacy

What Happens When the Nuts and Bolts of Science Diplomacy Come Loose?

Cole Donovan

The United States has focused on preventing the transfer of sensitive technology to adversarial nations rather than on improving its ability to collaborate internationally.

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.

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Working Proofs for State-Level Science

Vol. XLII, No. 2, Winter 2026

The past year’s cuts to science funding, haphazard layoffs and rehires at federal agencies, and myriad threats to federal support for research universities have left many researchers demoralized. In fast-moving and deeply uncomfortable times like this, the science community searches for a story about where we are going. Maybe it’s time to find a new narrative—one that emphasizes states as the places where transformative ideas about the relationship between science and the public can emerge. After nearly 80 years of federally driven science policy, the stories in this issue show how states may be able to offer new models to connect the research enterprise with the public’s needs.

Browse the Issue

From This Issue

“There Are Two Possible Futures for American Science.”

David Spergel, Molly Galvin

Forum

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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Fall 2025
Think Imaginatively About Local Entrepreneurship
A Discussion of
Cultivating Mastery in Place
Response By
Ilana Goldowitz
Fall 2025
Expand Data Access!
A Discussion of
The Real Returns on NIH’s Intramural Research
Response By
Christopher Steven Marcum

Beyond the Headlines

Action Plan for Saving Coral Reefs

Baby corals conceived in a laboratory using assisted reproduction hold promise for restoring lost natural coral reefs in the coastal waters of the Dominican Republic, the AP reports. Coral reefs also are… Read More

Best Fix for the Student Debt Dilemma

Following a long political and legal battle, the US Department of Education has proposed ending the Saving on a Valuable Education, or SAVE, student debt repayment plan and moving current borrowers into… Read More

Advancing Sustainable Chemistry to Protect Public Health

Americans are exposed to potentially dangerous levels of chemicals called phthalates, which are widely used to make plastics pliable, the Washington Posts reports. Such public exposures reinforce the need to move toward… Read More

To Guide AI’s Impact, Seek Input From Workers

Artificial intelligence already can replace 11.7% of the US labor market, according to a new study reported by CNBC. To help the nation cope with AI’s impact on the workforce, Amanda Ballantyne,… Read More

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.

Bonum Certamen

Andrés Martinez

Would you trust artificial intelligence to coach your favorite sports team? This month’s Future Tense Fiction story brings us straight to the pitch, where a soccer team is battling its way toward the Premier League with the help of an unusual, technologically enabled manager.
Can an AI Manage the “Beautiful Game”?

Deji Bryce Olukotun

Sports teams are turning to artificial intelligence to gain a competitive advantage. Will they alienate their fans in the process?

Response
A Lion Roars in Longyearbyen

Margrét Helgadóttir

Following the mass extinction of most species, the animals that fill a zoo in a future Arctic metropolis are lab-made—with one exception: an aging lion. When the lion escapes in the middle of the city’s Christmas festivities, a complex hunt ensues.
The Dawn of the Synthetic Age

Christopher Preston

An expert in environmental philosophy and wildlife recovery responds to Margrét Helgadóttir’s “A Lion Roars in Longyearbyen.”

Response
Subsidence

E. G. Condé

The AI boom means more demands on data centers—and running a data center requires complex technical infrastructure, vast environmental resources, and experienced human talent. In E. G. Condé’s story, a labyrinthine data center is in the middle of a massive outage. When the corporation that owns the center fails to diagnose the problem provoking the outage with its fancy technical systems, it’s forced to turn to human intuition to sniff out a more fundamental dilemma.
Can We Cool Down Data?

Claire L. Evans

The energy demands of data centers—accelerated by artificial intelligence—are steering us toward disaster. Could biology help bring us back from the brink?

Response

Collection

Perspectives on Science’s “Social Contract”

Explore the Collection

Over four decades, Issues has hosted many articles discussing science’s “social contract”—the idea, as physicist Harvey Brooks articulated it in 1988, that the scientific enterprise would provide “social benefits in exchange for an unusual degree of self-governance and financial support free of strings.” Today, this contract is clearly defunct: The federal government has cut funding for science, cast doubt on scientific findings, and prioritized investment in research outside the university system. Whatever the future of federally funded science is, it’s no longer “free of strings.” As the scientific enterprise tries to decide how to respond, it first needs to figure out what happened. The collection of these articles is part of an exploration of science’s social contract that is generously supported by The Kavli Foundation.

Discussing Science’s “Social Contract”

Ian Banks, Heather E. Douglas, David H. Guston, C. Brandon Ogbunu, Bina Venkataraman

If the public funds science and gives it autonomy to govern itself, then benefits such as economic growth, innovation, and national security will follow. This unwritten social contract was long thought to underpin policymakers’ relationship to the scientific enterprise, but recent events suggest those days are over.
No Longer Free of Strings

Lisa Margonelli

Why has the idea of an implicit social contract between society and science had a hold on scientists’ imaginations for so long? And what does it mean now that the relationship has frayed?
It’s Time for Universities to Redesign Their 75-Year-Old Contract

Michael M. Crow, William B. Dabars, David V. Rosowsky

American research universities have unleashed an age of massive technical innovation—but they’ve failed to innovate their own designs to meet the changing needs of society.
“The More Inclusion We Have in Science, the Better Outcomes We’ll Get.”

Eddie Bernice Johnson, Molly Galvin

Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson spent five decades in public service, during which she ushered through landmark science and technology legislation and helped to advance opportunities for all Americans.