Issues in Science and Technology

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Small Businesses

Reauthorizing the Small Business Innovation Research Program Isn’t Enough

Reforms to America’s seed fund should be a catalyst for policies that help more small businesses bring new technologies to market.

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Book Review

Roving the Prairies

Charles N. Herrick

Charles N. Herrick navigates the science and art of American grassland restoration in his review of George Frazier’s Riverine Dream.

interview

“The Key Lever for Increasing the Productivity of our Workforce Is Learning.”

Matt Sigelman, Molly Galvin

Burning Glass Institute president Matt Sigelman shares his insights about the worth of a college degree, the future of work in an age of artificial intelligence, and revitalizing the American dream.

Research Universities

How the American Research University Survives

Robert A. Brown, Bruce R. Guile

Despite their focus on institutional research excellence, US research universities are well down a path of eroding public value and research prowess. University leadership needs to shift attention from chasing prestige to crafting strategies for long-term success.

Pluralistic Intelligence

Building Pluralistic Intelligence Into the American Research University

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

To respond to challenges in society, sustainability, and governance, universities must first deal with the mismatch between how knowledge is actually generated and what academia recognizes and teaches.

Space Policy

A Vision for America’s Next Era in Space

Brian Babin

Maintaining the United States’ leadership in space requires discipline, continuity, and a clear division of responsibilities between government and industry.

The Ongoing Transformation

The Future of Making Babies

Emily Packard Dawson, Jason Lloyd

Assisted reproductive technologies have helped many people have children, but the egg donors behind this process are often overlooked. Emily Packard Dawson discusses donors and the donation process, along with the ethical and policy challenges raised by advances in reproductive technologies.

The Ongoing Transformation

Edward You Protected America From Bioterror

Edward You, Lisa Margonelli

Edward You worked at an unexpected place for science policy: the FBI. He shares how his experience as an agent helped reframe how the country protects biosecurity and supports innovation.

Grand Challenges

Repurposing Grand Challenges in Tumultuous Times

Martin Ho, Pramod P. Khargonekar, Eoin O’Sullivan

As research budgets tighten, priorities evolve, and new funding models emerge, the grand challenge framework can restore coherence, direction, and shared purpose across the scientific enterprise.

building bridges for technological sovereignty

Tech Sovereignty

Building Bridges—Not Walls—for Technological Sovereignty

Anwar Aridi, Henning Kroll

Today’s emerging economies need to carefully manage tradeoffs to achieve technological sovereignty and a globally competitive position.

Restoring US manufacturing leadership requires a culture shift in how engineers, technologists, and technicians translate ideas into production.

Engineering Culture

Who Will Build It?

Winifred Opoku

Restoring US manufacturing leadership requires a culture shift in how engineers, technologists, and technicians translate ideas into production.

Digital Infrastructure

Why the Cloud Needs Competition

Asad Ramzanali

To ensure the nation’s leadership in artificial intelligence, cloud computing infrastructure must be regulated to encourage competition and enable innovation, building on lessons from other sectors.

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Weaving Data and Community

Vol. XLII, No. 3, Spring 2026

There are big, open questions about the changing relationship between science and society: How should the public fund science, and what kind of science should it fund? What should society expect in return for its support? What is the role of research universities in the scientific ecosystem? And the relationship between science and society looks very different at the local, or even personal, level—and the questions are different too: How can research improve the quality of life in my community? Should I be worried about the refinery in my neighborhood? Is my town able to assist the most vulnerable when the power goes out during a storm? The essays in the Spring 2026 Issues explore all these questions to better understand how the social contract with science is evolving.

Browse the Issue

From This Issue

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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Spring 2026
What’s Missing in Animal Welfare Efforts?
A Discussion of
Water Breathing Is a Blind Spot in Animal Welfare Science
Responses By
Kathy Hessler Becca Franks Lynne U. Sneddon Craig Callender
Spring 2026
What’s Possible When a State Invests in Science-Informed Policymaking
A Discussion of
Research That Solves North Carolina’s Problems
Responses By
Rachel K. Owen Darrell T. Allison Hallie Thompson

Beyond the Headlines

Enlisting Cacti to Fight Drought

Much of the United States is seeing record drought for this time of year, the AP reports, raising worries about wildfires, food prices, and water supply. In a modest but intriguing look… Read More

Shooting for the Moon—and Beyond

Following its Artemis II lunar-looping mission, NASA is preparing the next steps aimed at landing humans back on the Moon, the AP reports. In Issues, Brian Babin details why the United… Read More

Teaching AI to Learn as Humans Do

Reflecting her pioneering role in bringing “spatial intelligence” to artificial intelligence—teaching AI to learn visually as humans do—USA Today named Fei-Fei Li one of its 2026 Women of the Year. In… Read More

Record Heat Wave Threatening Much of US

After setting records across the Southwest, a “gigantic heat dome,” likely fueled by climate change, is heading east “and may end up being one of the most expansive heat waves in American… 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.

The Pocket Box™

Gunnar Anderson

What happens when a technology moves from groundbreaking scientific discovery to mass consumer product? Gunnar Anderson’s story explores a mysterious new discovery that breaks the bounds of physics as we once understood them. But quickly, scientific awe morphs into commercial prospecting—with little regulation and horrifying consequences.
What Happens When a Groundbreaking Invention Falls Victim to Human Impulse?

Torie Bosch

Even inventions with the loftiest of goals can be commandeered for unscrupulous—or nefarious—ends. Where does that leave the inventors?

Response
What Would Akanda Do?

Samit Basu

An Indian actor in a future Mumbai has authorized politicians, entertainers, and businesses to use his likeness. When he discovers his image is being used as a tool for repression—and when two kids he’s close to disappear—the actor is forced to confront what he really gave away.
The Dividing Towers of Mumbai

Moira Shourie

Moira Shourie returns to Mumbai, the city she once called home while working at MTV India. She reflects on how a culture of celebrity, rampant inequality, and complex urban design divide some residents and bring others together.

Response
Deficiency Agent

Andrew Liptak

How will artificial intelligence transform warfare? Andrew Liptak’s story brings us to the front lines to see how a glitchy combat AI deals with the tricky task of balancing the demands of a mission with the unpredictability of the battlefield.
The Algorithmic Fog of War

Candace Rondeaux

What happens as AI systems become embedded in military operations? Candace Rondeaux explores how command structures are already reorganizing around AI black boxes—and what it would look like to design decisionmaking structures that combine technical capacity with human expertise.

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.