The Global Battle Over Biotech Foods
Every issue explores cutting-edge developments in technology, medicine, education, climate change, and much more. Articles provide in-depth analyses of science and technology’s impact on public policy, the economy, and society—bringing today’s best minds to bear on tomorrow’s most critical topics.
Editor's Journal
The Hidden Presidential Campaign Issues
I’m for mom, apple pie, and science. Al Gore and George W. Bush both recognize that American voters like science. It strengthens the economy, keeps our military one step ahead of everyone… Read More
From the Hill
From the Hill – Fall 2000
Greater cooperation sought in protecting critical infrastructure In a further effort to improve the security of the nation’s computer infrastructure, a bill has been introduced in the House that would encourage private-sector… Read More
Perspectives
Eliminating Tuberculosis: Opportunity Knocks Twice
It is said that opportunity knocks only once, but when it comes to the opportunity to eliminate tuberculosis (TB) in the United States, we have been given a second chance. If the… Read More
Features
Archives – Fall 2000
The Birth of Military Aviation Research When it entered World War I in April 1917, the United States had an air service of negligible size. In June 1917, the Signal Corps, which… Read MoreNew Threat to Coral Reefs: Trade in Coral Organisms
Coral reef ecosystems are a valuable source of food and income to coastal communities around the world. Yet destructive human activities have now put nearly 60 percent of the world’s coral reefs… Read MoreSuburban Decline: The Next Urban Crisis
The old urban crisis, characterized by the decline of central cities, still has not been addressed adequately by federal, state, and local policymakers. The problems facing central cities have proved extremely difficult… Read MoreThe Science of Biotechnology Meets the Politics of Global Regulation
These are difficult times for agricultural biotechnology. Outside the United States, there is widespread public and political opposition to importing grains grown from recombinant DNAengineered, or “gene-spliced,” seeds. Governments have imposed moratoriums… Read MoreEnhancing the Postdoctoral Experience
In recent years, this nation’s science and engineering research has come to depend increasingly on the work of postdoctoral scholars, or postdocs: junior researchers who have a Ph.D. and are pursuing further… Read MoreThe Human Genome and the Human Community
In 1957, the year I entered college, the American Medical Association issued its “Principles of Medical Ethics.” Section 10 stated “The honored ideals of the medical profession imply that the responsibility of… Read MoreThe UN’s Role in the New Diplomacy
As a new form of international diplomacy develops to deal with a number of emerging issues in which science and technology play a central role, the United Nations (UN) risks being relegated… Read MoreFall 2000 Update
Key steps taken to preserve the U.S.’s marine heritage In the relatively short time since Issues published two articles on the state of marine conservation [“Saving Marine Biodiversity,” by Robert J. Wilder,… Read More
Book Reviews
Environmental politics
In the 1970s, environmentalism was not uncommonly castigated by leftists as a program of white upper-middle-class suburbanites largely concerned with preserving their own amenities and oblivious to the plight of the urban… Read More
The Superfund Debate
In Calculating Risks, James Hamilton and Kip Viscusi apply sophisticated statistical techniques to information on contaminated sites to try to evaluate the effectiveness of the nation’s Superfund program. To accomplish this,… Read More
Technology and People
Have you ever been in an airline lounge so crowded that you couldn’t avoid overhearing people in a loud, spirited, and arcane critique of wrong-headed colleagues? That’s the flavor of much of… Read More
The Ecosystem Illusion
The protection of nature is a goal easier to embrace than to explain. If by “nature” we mean everything in the universe—all that is bound by the laws of physics—then our protection… Read More