Drowning in Data (Spring 2011)
Monitoring the chemical content of the air near chemical plants provides valuable data, but it becomes useful only when it is paired with epidemiological data about the local population.
Read More →
The Little Reactor That Could? (Summer 2011)
As the United States and other nations consider their next steps in nuclear energy, a new movement to support small modular reactors is coming to the forefront. But how are we to envision these technologies and their role …
Read More →
Paying for Perennialism: A Quest for Food and Funding (Fall 2011)
Perennial crops hold great potential for long-term agricultural sustainability, but researchers are walking away from work on perennials because federal funding is too focused on short-term improvements and increas…
Read More →
New Voices, New Approaches (Winter 2011)
About six months ago in Tempe, Arizona, about two dozen young scientists, policy wonks, and communicators gathered for a “pitch slam.” In a hotel meeting room near the Arizona State University campus, teams that each inclu…
Read More → Making Stories Visible: The Task for Bioethics Commissions (Winter, 2011)
Narrative explanations can help us understand difficult scientific issues, but they can also mislead us. Critical skepticism is always appropriate.
Read More →