News Updates

China is pouring increased funding into developing nuclear fusion, CNN reports, adding that some observers “are worried America is losing its decades-long lead in the race to master this near-limitless form of clean energy.” In Issues, Michael Ford surveys the current status of public and private fusion efforts in the United States, finding that there have been “noteworthy technical achievements” and that “momentum for fusion is clearly building.” But fundamental questions remain, he writes, including which technical approach will work best, making it critical that government continue broad support for fusion research at national laboratories and universities.

Agriculture is a major driver of climate change, and NPR reports that business and government are looking to so-called regenerative agriculture for possible solutions. In Issues, Aude K. Chesnais and a group of Indigenous and allied scholars explore how traditional Native American practices, including restoring bison populations and using fire and waterscaping, can promote an important climate-protecting goal: the long-term, large-scale storage of carbon in soils. As a key step, the authors call for changes in federal “colonial policies” still controlling tribal access to geographic and agricultural data to aid local decisionmaking and sovereign land stewardship.

Artificial intelligence might turn out to be like past technology breakthroughs, eliminating some jobs while creating others, for an overall benefit, the AP reports. But in Issues, Stuart W. Elliott argues that this time could be different, and that we must look more sharply at how AI will require changes in worker education and training. If the changes are feasible, he writes, the overall impact of AI “will look like the changes we have seen with other technological innovations. However, if the necessary changes in work skills are not feasible, then it is most likely that this time will be different.”