Educating the Worker of the Future
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.
From the Hill
From the Hill – Summer 2015
“From the Hill” is adapted from the e-newsletter Policy Alert, published by the Office of Government Relations of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (www.aaas.org) in Washington, DC. House Appropriations… Read More
Perspectives
Regulating Genetic Engineering: The Limits and Politics of Knowledge
For many people based in the United Kingdom, as we are, memories of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease, remain vivid. We recall, in particular, that during the… Read More
Features
Climate Clubs to Overcome Free-Riding
Climate clubs are a policy option that will put pressure on countries to participate in global agreements—or pay a price. Much progress has been made by scientists and economists in understanding the… Read MoreFusion Research: Time to Set a New Path
The inherent limitations of the tokamak design for fusion power will prevent it from becoming commercially viable, but the lessons from this effort can inform future research. Burning wood was an important… Read MoreCoordinating Technology Governance
A new institutional mechanism is needed to serve as an issue manager to coordinate and inform responses to emerging technologies with powerful social implications. This spring, a new but widely available technology… Read MorePreparing Students for Life and Work
Employers, educational policymakers, and others are calling on schools and colleges to develop “21st century skills,” such as teamwork, problem-solving, and self-management that are seen as valuable for success in the workplace,… Read MoreThe Value of Sub-baccalaureate Credentials
Access to reliable data will help students and their parents—as well as government policymakers—make informed educational decisions. Students, their families, and taxpayers invest in higher education for a variety of reasons. But… Read MoreStorm Clouds on the Career Horizon for Ph.D.s
When I was about to graduate from college in the late 1980s, I went to the office of my favorite economics professor to ask about the job prospects for Ph.D.s in economics.… Read MoreThe Pauling-Teller Debate: A Tangle of Expertise and Values
This historic debate from the height of the Cold War provides a refreshing perspective on science and politics. By 1958, Americans had been living under threat of nuclear attack for more than… Read MoreHeirs of the Body
You can’t barf in a Cadwallader, Swaine & Taft conference room, definitely not when a client is due. Even when staring at photos of smiling octogenarian heads stitched to muscular, teenage bodies.… Read MoreEducating the Future Workforce
Work ain’t what is used to be, and in the future it won’t be what it is now. Standardization, mechanization, electrification, and now robotification and computerization have driven constant upheaval. At each… Read More
Book Reviews
Bomb Control
The provocative title for this provocative book by Elaine Scarry at once declares that humanity’s most destructive weapons of mass destruction are in too few (often just two) hands, and declaims against… Read More
Wiki-ki Yay? Not so Fast
For people who work with information, Wikipedia is endlessly fascinating because of its swift emergence as an everyday source of usually reliable facts and observations about people, places, and things. Yet despite… Read More
Archives – Summer 2015
Skeletal Reflections Chico MacMurtrie’s Skeletal Reflections is an interactive robot sculpture that has stored in its memory a library of body postures from classic painting and sculpture. A camera/computer attached to the… Read More