A New Model for the American Research University
The Spring 2015 Issues in Science and Technology includes a cover article by Arizona State University president Michael M. Crow and research fellow William B. Dabars, who argue that the nation needs a new type of university that merges the quest for discovery and knowledge production with a commitment to providing a quality education to more students from highly diverse demographic and socioeconomic backgrounds.
Editor's Journal
Science Fiction? Yes!
In the Spring 2014 Issues, we published our first science fiction story. Physicist Gregory Benford’s story “Eagle” explored how radical environmentalists might respond to the launch of a geoengineering project to… Read More
From the Hill
From the Hill – Spring 2015
“From the Hill” is adapted from the newsletter Science and Technology in Congress, published by the Office of Government Relations of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (www.aaas.org) in Washington,… Read More
Perspectives
Informing Public Policy with Social and Behavioral Science
Many of the challenges facing our society today—from military preparedness to climate change—have a social or behavioral dimension, as do the policies considered by government officials to address them. A better understanding… Read MoreHave Universities Overbuilt Biomedical Research Facilities?
In a September 10, 2010, Science editorial, Bruce Alberts called attention to what he perceived to be an overbuilding of biomedical research facilities by the nation’s universities and medical schools, driven by… Read MoreClimate Redux: Welcome to the Anthropocene
There are few topics as politically and ideologically contentious as anthropogenic climate change and the possibility of responding by deploying geoengineering technologies. Despite, or because of, all the Sturm und Drang,… Read More
Features
A New Model for the American Research University
Headlines and pundits proclaiming a crisis in American higher education seem to proliferate on a daily basis. Accounts of skyrocketing sticker prices at our nation’s colleges and universities vie for attention with… Read MorePhysics Envy: Get Over It
Physics studies different things, and in different ways, than other sciences. Understanding those differences is important if we are to have effective science policies. Physics has long been regarded as the model… Read MoreClean Energy Diplomacy from Bush to Obama
The Bush administration didn’t get everything wrong about climate change, and the Obama administration isn’t getting everything right. A truly effective climate policy would include the best elements of each approach. Among… Read MoreClimate Models as Economic Guides: Scientific Challenge or Quixotic Quest?
In the polarized climate change debate, cost-benefit analyses of policy options are taking on an increasingly influential role. These analyses have been presented by authoritative scholars as a useful contribution to the… Read MorePythia of Science
Sophia wakes to find her SocialStream full of supportive texts, toots, bleets, and bumps, including one from Noah. gr8 luck today, babe! His message grates her, negating the positive vibes from her… Read More
Book Reviews
Where Does it Hurt?
Pain compels sufferers to “pay attention.” Suddenly, the person in pain becomes aware of her body—the clutching at the throat, the rough thump-thump in the region of the heart, the rumbling of… Read More
Machine Smart
The subject of intelligent machines that decide that they don’t have much use for us has haunted our species at least since golems first were mentioned in the Talmud. And more recently,… Read More