News Updates

A top research center, the Harvard-affiliated Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, plans to retract or correct numerous scientific papers amid allegations that the authors falsified data by manipulating images. In Issues, the science reporter Richard Harris examines some of the core elements of today’s research culture, including pressure to publish papers in order to obtain grants and promotions, that can contribute to such misconduct. Wide-ranging efforts will be needed, he writes, that constantly encourage researchers “to put the delight of discovery above the ambition to get yet another grant and add yet another publication to their curriculum vitae.”

Three start-up companies are reportedly planning to deploy fleets of totally self-driving semitrucks starting this year, in what would be a departure from current testing programs that require having a human backup driver on board. Advocates see driverless trucks as offering improved productivity. But in Issues, sociologist Steve Viscelli worries that a too-hasty shift to robot trucks might turn them into “sweatshops on wheels.” Government regulators and the industry, he argues, should pay major attention to the compensation and safety of human truckers, as well as to trucking’s impacts on infrastructure and the environment.