News Updates

The newly discovered coronavirus that causes a potentially deadly pneumonia-like illness and is spreading rapidly in China has now moved into the United States, prompting a parallel outbreak of misinformation spread via social media platforms. In today’s wired world, this tainted info flow might be expected, a technology entrepreneur recently noted in Issues, calling for creation of a volunteer corps of scientists and communicators to quickly provide clear and accurate information to help society navigate the medical and social challenges of an emerging pandemic.

In carrying out the wishes of President Trump, the Environmental Protection Agency is greatly reducing the extent of waterways covered by federal protection, with the biggest change rolling back coverage of smaller resources, including wetlands. This is just the type of political meddling that a longtime environmental consultant worried about in Issues recently as he traced the history of wetlands protections and proposed a set of policies and management practices that would safeguard these valuable resources while addressing the needs of an array of stakeholders.

The year 2020 may mark the beginning of commercial space tourism, with three billionaires and their companies—Jeff Bezos with Blue Origin, Elon Musk with SpaceX, and Richard Branson with Virgin Galactic—providing the literal and figurative push. Recently in Issues, a space analyst reviewing a book about these “space barons” examined what drives them; their unique approaches to realizing their visions; and in particular their desire to transcend government primacy in space travel and development.

China is closing in on the United States in science and technology, in part because it has made major advances over the past decade but even more so because the United States has fallen off the pace, a New York Times columnist says in assessing various measures of progress in both nations. In Issues, a former CIA director recently surveyed China’s technological ambitions, particularly its drive to boost innovation, and detailed ways that government, industry, and universities in the United States can strengthen its own innovative capability and maintain global leadership.

A new virus recently detected in China has now been found in a woman with pneumonia in Thailand, prompting the World Health Organization to offer guidance to hospitals worldwide about infection control in case the virus spreads. Suspected to be a type of coronavirus, the new strain doesn’t appear to be as dangerous as some in this viral family, but its outbreak makes it worth revisiting a conceptual framework proposed by a public health specialist in Issues for dealing with unexpected microbial threats that emerge naturally or through bioterrorism.

The online platform Twitter won’t delete a deceptively edited video of Joe Biden that appears to show the Democratic presidential hopeful supporting white nationalism, rekindling concerns that allowing distribution of manipulated videos could skew upcoming elections. This raises a larger question recently posed in Issues by a leading sociologist: should private companies be in charge of deciding what is acceptable on the internet? He answered no, adding that a more effective and flexible approach would have tech companies proposing standards and Congress reviewing them.

Violent conflicts over water have more than doubled over the past decade, says a comprehensive new report, with tensions fueled by dwindling supplies of fresh water in many regions due to population growth, poor resource management, and climate change. Writing in Issues, a scholar of global environmental governance saw this coming, and he proposed some policy actions that could help defuse the dangers, such as giving people a greater voice in water management, increasing water-related foreign aid, and strengthening mechanisms for resolving disputes.