News Updates

A cloud-modifying method proposed for blocking some sunlight in order to cool western coastal areas of the United States could work, at least initially, but also could cause severe adverse effects in the region and across other nations, according to a Guardian report on a new modeling study. The cautionary findings reinforce David W. Keith’s call in Issues for strengthening research on both solar geoengineering and possible policy and governance options. “Only an integrated research program,” he writes, “can hope to achieve the multiple objectives instrumental to making the science, policy, and politics of solar geoengineering work.”

The Stanford Internet Observatory, known for investigating online misinformation, is greatly slashing its efforts, though vowing to continue some work with a reduced staff. In Issues, Claire Wardle offers a deep look at misinformation—and its especially devious kin, disinformation—and how to meet the challenges for society. One key is to look beyond gauging the accuracy of individual posts. “By focusing narrowly on problematic content,” she writes, “researchers are failing to understand the increasingly sizable number of people who create and share this content, and also overlooking the larger context of what information people actually need.”

A panel of geologists recently rejected designating current decades as the start of the Anthropocene, or “Age of Humans.” But many scientists and laypeople are sticking with the label, maintaining that it reflects humanity’s profound impact on the planet and its residents, the Washington Post reports. In Issues, Ritwick Ghosh argues for circumventing the semantics to focus on improving government climate and environmental policies. “Pinning policy actions on official scientific declarations,” he writes, “may limit ambitions and crimp views of consensus and could steer policymakers toward grand gestures, pulling focus from more impactful incremental and local change.”

In two recent firsts, Boeing’s Starliner rocket carried two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station, and SpaceX completed a full test flight of its powerful new Starship rocket. The events reflect what Bhavya Lal calls in Issues “the profound shift underway in the US space enterprise: the privatization of functions previously considered inherently governmental.” This transformation, she argues, will provide costs savings to the nation and drive greater innovation that “may ultimately push the boundaries of the art-of-the-possible and expand the human footprint in space.”