News Updates

The Pentagon just released three Navy videos that for years have fueled speculation about unidentified flying objects. An accompanying statement said the goal was to “clear up any misconceptions” about whether the videos were real or complete, but offered no conclusions regarding the “aerial phenomena” depicted, noting only that they remain “unidentified.” So what’s going on? In Issues, a journalist recently took a detailed look at purported UFO sightings, including these videos, coming away skeptical and wondering what the military’s real interests in them might be.

Pandemics such as COVID-19 are increasingly likely as more people come into direct contact with wild animals through such activities as agricultural expansion, rampant deforestation, mining and infrastructure development, and unregulated wildlife trade, a group of biodiversity experts says. A conservation scientist earlier pointed this out in an Issues online exclusive, going on to propose ways to short-circuit this problematic process, including forming a global organization capable of spotting and stopping the riskiest environmental and trade practices.

As COVID-19 spreads, researchers are developing models to predict how many people will become ill and what the effect will be on the health care system. But as a New York Times article points out, the models don’t always agree, yet some politicians are treating them as precise guides for public policy. In an earlier examination of the potential and pitfalls of modeling, two analysts in Issues offer the reminder that “all models are wrong but some are useful,” and they provide a checklist to aid in developing high-quality models and putting their results to best use.

Warnings in Issues several political cycles ago—about the growing threat of US adversaries using new information technologies to undermine public faith in the nation’s leaders and values—are proving alarmingly prescient, with China most recently stepping in to use the COVID-19 pandemic to expand disinformation efforts. Some digital giants are fighting back, with plans to label some foreign-based web pages with the country of origin. Could help. But a recent Issues article raises the question of whether private companies should be solely responsible for censoring the internet.

In an early advance that might ultimately help with widespread testing for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19—a capability considered necessary before masses of people can resume everyday activities—researchers have developed an assay that uses the gene-editing tool CRISPR to provide rapid results. For an inside look at CRISPR, one of its discoverers, Jennifer Doudna, described in an Issues interview its broad potential, while also calling for input from scientists and the public to “ensure that new discoveries are applied responsibly for the benefit of society.”

The spread of COVID-19 has led to the lifting of some paywalls on published research and an expanded sharing of findings, opening scientific publishing to an extent, but the pandemic’s economic fallout might ultimately allow large commercial publishers to flourish while smaller nonprofit ones suffer, frustrating efforts to build a more accessible publishing enterprise. Bad news. In Issues, a scholar who has examined the industry concluded that profit-seeking publishers exert undue power over what scientists study and how they are judged, and he called for a “revolt by scientists, policy-makers, and the public alike.”

Upending the usual peer-review process, new websites known as preprint servers are enabling scientists to disseminate findings quickly and widely, but critics say these “first drafts” often push misleading information. Indeed, the latest Issues asks, is fast science always a good thing? Coming online soon, articles will examine problems that might come with new gene-editing tools for altering human genomes and with current agricultural research stemming from the Green Revolution, while another will explore how a state university found value in moving deliberately and collaboratively while building trusting social networks.

Human intrusion into the natural world ultimately triggered the COVID-19 pandemic, says a Bloomberg Opinion article, calling for changes in social and land-use practices so that people and animal-borne pathogens such as the coronavirus come into less frequent contact. In an Issues online exclusive, a conservation scientist recently offered a broader vision, proposing the formation of a global organization with enough “scientific heft and enforcement teeth” to identify, stop, and punish the riskiest environmental and trade practices and thus prevent future pandemics.

Using sophisticated new social media tools, Russia is capitalizing on the COVID-19 pandemic to spread misleading and hurtful information to the American public, the New York Times reports, quoting an expert on Kremlin propaganda as saying “It’s all about seeding lack of trust in government institutions.” Writing in Issues, a scholar of emerging technologies saw this coming, explaining how the United States is especially vulnerable to adversaries using “weaponized narratives” to attack beliefs and values that support the nation’s culture and resiliency.

The Trump administration is urging federal regulators to prohibit a Chinese telecom company from operating in the United States, citing national security and law enforcement risks. The action comes amid worries that China may take the global lead in developing and deploying the latest 5G wireless networks. A senior policy expert recently explored in Issues how the United States can stay ahead, including supporting domestic companies whose products will be essential to the future of 5G and working with allies who can be secure sources of critical new technology.

Facing the prospect of more and stronger storms arising from climate change, Philadelphia is creating natural systems, including unpaved areas dubbed “greened acres,” to capture rainwater that might otherwise overwhelm sewer pipes and treatment plants and cause urban flooding—and the challenges are proving both technical and social. In an expanded look at what a stormier future will require, a team of analysts laid out in Issues how the nation can boost the resiliency of its water-related infrastructure by improving both technologies and management practices.

A new Washington Post article asks, “Who gets a shot at life if hospitals run short of ventilators?” and then reviews efforts to answer the question and controversies arising. In an Issues online exclusive, a physician and bioethicist suggests that for any allocation guidelines to be perceived as fair and gain public acceptance, the process for developing them should include input from both health care professionals and broader society, including groups that are traditionally disadvantaged when scarce resources such as health care are distributed.