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Editor’s Journal

who does science and technology policy

Science Policy: No Longer an “Exotic Nice-to-Have Thing”

Lisa Margonelli

The community of people who do science and tech policy has long been something of a cipher. In 1964, political scientist Robert C. Wood described the “consistently influential” science policymakers as “an apolitical elite” of just a few hundred people. But was this description ever true?Read More

Real Numbers

who does science and technology policy

Who Does Science and Technology Policy?

Josh Trapani, Katherine Santos Pavez

To celebrate the magazine’s fortieth year of publication, the Issues team wanted a better understanding of who does science and technology policy, and what it means to even say you’re doing it. So earlier this year, they conducted a survey to gain a deeper understanding of the field of science and technology policy today, exploring career paths, motivations, activities, and opinions on how the field is changing.Read More

The Ongoing Transformation

Uncovering Hidden Bias in Clinical Research

Lisa Bero, Monya Baker

Lisa Bero has been at the forefront of understanding how corporate funding biases research and how to assess what scientific evidence is reliable. She talks about her investigations into the tobacco and pharmaceutical industries, and the importance of independent research to inform policy.Read More

The ISSUES Interview

Katalin Karikó portrait by Shonagh Rae

“You Learn More From Failure—When Things Are Not Working Well.”

Katalin Karikó, Sara Frueh

Nobel Prize–winning biochemist Katalin Karikó is a pioneer in research on messenger RNA and its medical possibilities, which were revealed on a global scale during the COVID-19 pandemic.Read More

Climate Art

A Very Different Voice

Xavier Cortada’s The Underwater is a series of public art installations that reveals the vulnerability of Florida’s coastal communities to rising seas. His work has helped Jennifer Jurado, the chief resilience officer of Broward County, Florida, engage the public on climate solutions.Read More

Book Review

Cover of DISCOUNTING THE FUTURE by Liliana Doganova

The Puzzle of Pricing the Future

R. David Simpson

The economic concept of discounting plays an important role in climate change policymaking. But discounting also raises social, political, ethical, and other issues. A recent book critiques the theory and application of discounting from these various perspectives.Read More

Future Tense Fiction

Future Tense Fiction is a speculative fiction series that features short stories from acclaimed authors across a wide range of styles. Each story is paired with original artwork and a response essay from an expert who connects the fictional narrative to real-world policy debates.

"Patrons" illustration by Rey Velasquez Sagcal

Patrons

Cassidy McFadzean

This week in Future Tense Fiction, Cassidy McFadzean imagines extraterrestrials who selectively lift humans from Earth and transport them to a deep-space artists’ colony. As they do, the distant visitors dramatically shift the terrestrial communities where they touch down.Read More

The FALL Issue

Fall 2024 Issues in Science and Technology cover
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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.

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.

California Okays First Carbon-Capture Project

Nobel Prizes Feature Work in Artificial Intelligence

How Researchers Can Fight Misinformation

California Outlaws Octopus Farming

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