News Updates

11/27/17 – The United Nations recently held its first official discussions on how to prevent the use of fully autonomous lethal weapons that can identify and destroy targets without human control. But critics dinged the pace of progress, warning that a “killer robot” arms race is already under way. In Issues, two analysts have approached this matter from a broader perspective, looking at whether and how any devices that rely fundamentally on artificial intelligence should be regulated, and they cited AI-aided lethal weapons as the obvious and most critical place to begin.

11/25/17 – Black men are sentenced to far more time in prison than white men for committing similar crimes, says a new report from an independent agency of the US judicial branch, and racial disparities in sentencing appear to have increased over the past two decades. The findings seemingly align with observations that people of color are overrepresented in US prisons and jails, as a sociologist and a former judge recently explained in Issues, and that mass incarceration disproportionally hurts communities of color in a variety of ways.

11/19/17 – Despite its stated goal of dramatically reducing carbon emissions by aggressively pursing clean energy technologies and phasing out fossil fuels, Germany is still burning lots of an especially dirty form of coal and is likely to badly miss its upcoming emission-reduction targets. In Issues, a renewable energy expert who worked as a manager at a large German utility group recently took an in-depth look at the problems Germany has encountered in moving to a clean and affordable energy system and offered lessons that other nations can learn from its experiences.

10/18/17 – As one of a number of companies looking to provide fast and affordable access to space, Boeing is developing a “spaceplane” called the Phantom Express to carry satellites routinely into orbit while operating much like its passenger jet cousins. Indeed, Issues recently examined the increasing role of private companies in space activities and how the US government will need to adjust its space programs and policies to capitalize on shifting opportunities.

11/16/17 – One idea for cooling the atmosphere and curbing climate change is to “brighten” marine clouds by seeding them with saltwater, thereby increasing their ability to reflect solar rays. Indeed, federal policy-makers recently examined how government might play a role in advancing the research. And from another perspective, a professor working on this technology joined with two professors of ethics and religion to suggest in Issues that researchers of climate engineering should be chosen not only for their technical skills but also for their moral habits of character.

11/14/17 – A congressional subcommittee recently held hearings on the potential of geoengineering to keep climate change in check. But two dozen prominent thinkers in the field cautioned in a letter to the lawmakers that though this approach may hold promise, “Any consideration of a federally funded and coordinated research program into geoengineering must be in the context of a strategic portfolio of responses to climate change, which leads with climate science, mitigation and adaptation.” Two of the letter’s signers have also argued this case here and here in Issues.

11/7/17 – Contrary to statements by President Trump and many of his advisers, the global climate has warmed considerably over the past century and it is “extremely likely” than human activities are the “dominant cause,” according to a major new report. But even as wrangling continues, there are practical climate-related policy and technology options available, described in Issues here and here, that could appeal to government officials and private citizens all along the political spectrum.

11/2/17 – The Trump administration is reportedly considering raising federal motor fuel taxes, perhaps by seven cents per gallon, to pay for its infrastructure investment plan. But a sustainable-energy analyst recently argued in Issues that it would be better to institute a tax based on vehicle miles traveled, which would more accurately track with vehicle-caused road damage and offer a wider range of options for navigating the looming revolutions of electric, autonomous, and shared vehicles.

11/1/17 – The increasing span of social media is raising dramatically the ability of adversaries of the United States to spread “weaponized narratives” aimed at undermining public faith in the nation’s culture and institutions, a scholar who studies the ethical and social dimensions of emerging technologies recently observed in Issues. Now comes new data on just how big this has become, with Facebook telling Congress that Russia-linked divisive posts about the 2016 presidential election may have reached 126 million people and Twitter saying that Russia-generated tweets reached 288 million people.

10/31/17 – The US government should mount a comprehensive effort to study the ocean on a sustained basis over 10 years to gain information essential for monitoring and forecasting changes in Earth’s climate, says a new report from an influential science advisory group. In the same spirit, a policy analyst has argued in Issues for paying added attention to the ocean and its role in a variety of national concerns, recommending that the job be assigned to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which would be greatly expanded using funds redirected from NASA.

10/30/17 – Scientists in China have now used the gene-editing tool CRISPR/Cas 9 to produce pigs that can better regulate their body temperatures by burning fat, resulting in leaner animals that can survive better in cold weather. But in a cautionary note, two researchers argued recently in Issues that society should not focus narrowly on the “pursuit of our scientific capacity to engineer animals for consumption,” but should also address the “ethical challenges of our relationships with animals,” recognizing that “far from being merely editable genetic material and edible flesh, they are also living individuals that merit our serious moral consideration.”

10/29/17 – In a bid to catalyze new high-tech companies, Canada is now marketing itself as more welcoming than the United States for skilled foreign workers looking to set up shop. Issues has examined this international action from various angles, exploring the outsized role of immigrants as entrepreneurs and inventors in the United States and detailing how the US government can reform its visa and immigration policies to capitalize on the talents of foreign scientists and engineers while remaining fair for native-born students and workers.