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Federal biofuel mandate flawed, report finds - LA Times, Oct. 4, 2011
Parts of Ethanol Fuel Plan Likely a Bust, Science Panel Says - USA Today, Oct. 4, 2011
Anthrax Antibiotics Pre-position Plan Needed, Says Report - CNN, Sept. 30, 2011
Science Manual for Judges Updated - Law Technology News, Sept. 29, 2011
Googling the Future of Education and Healthcare - IEEE Spectrum, Sept. 22 , 2011
Science Fiction Dreams Meet Reality At NAE Frontiers Of Engineering Symposium - IEEE Spectrum, Sept. 22 , 2011
Searching for New Ideas - Technology Review, Sept. 22 , 2011
Military Surveillance Data: Shared Intelligence - Nature, Sept. 21, 2011
Q-and-A: The Quest of the Earth Scientist - NY Times Blog, Sept. 16 , 2011
Four Years, 1,630 Posts and a Nice Award - NY Times Blog, Sept. 15 , 2011
Koshland Museum opens exhibit on climate change - Washington Post, Sept. 15 , 2011
Report: NASA needs to keep more astronauts on hand - Associated Press, Sept. 7, 2011
NASA needs more astronauts, report says - Washington Post, Sept. 7, 2011
Though Shuttles Are Retired, NASA Needs More Astronauts, Panel Says - NPR, Sept. 7, 2011
Scientists warn NASA to deal with space junk
- USA Today, Sept. 6, 2011
Space Junk Problem Is More Threatening Than Ever, Report Warns - Space.com, Sept. 1, 2011
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Oct. 6, 2011
 A new Institute of Medicine report provides the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services with a set of criteria and methods to develop a package of essential health benefits that will cover many health care needs, promote medically effective services, and be affordable to purchasers. The package will establish the minimum benefits that certain health insurance plans must cover under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
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Oct. 5, 2011
 National Academy of Engineering member Daniel Shechtman has been awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of quasicrystals.
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Oct. 4, 2011
 National Academy of Sciences members Saul Perlmutter, Brian P. Schmidt, and Adam G. Riess have won the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics for their research on the accelerating expansion of the universe.
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Oct. 4, 2011
 Unless innovative technologies are developed or policies change, it is unlikely the U.S. will meet certain biofuel mandates under the current Renewable Fuel Standard by 2022, says a new congressionally requested report from the National Research Council, which adds that the standard may be an ineffective policy for reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. Achieving this standard would likely increase federal budget outlays as well as have mixed economic and environmental effects.
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Oct. 3, 2011
 Bruce Beutler and the late Ralph Steinman, members of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine, were recipients of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, together with Jules A. Hoffmann, a foreign associate of the NAS. Beutler and Hoffmann were awarded half the prize "for their discoveries concerning the activation of innate immunity," and Steinman received the other half "for his discovery of the dendritic cell and its role in adaptive immunity.”
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Oct. 3, 2011
 The Institute of Medicine released a workshop report today exploring a critical issue in health care -- how patients and their families can more effectively become partners in their care. The report summarizes discussions at an expert meeting held in April last year to consider how improving patient engagement can reduce costs, improve the quality of care, and contribute to continuous learning and improvement in health care.
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Sept. 30, 2011
As part of preparations for a possible large-scale anthrax attack, public health officials at the state and local levels should determine where and how anthrax-preventing antibiotics should be stored in their communities, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine. The report provides guidance to state, local, and tribal health officials to evaluate how well they are served by existing anthrax preparedness measures, and whether adopting strategies for storing antibiotics in local stockpiles, workplace caches, or homes would be appropriate. However, the report discourages broad use of a home storage strategy for the general population due to possible antibiotic misuse and higher costs.
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Sept. 29, 2011
 Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2010, the latest report in the Institute of Medicine's biennial review of the evidence on health problems that may be linked to exposure to herbicides sprayed during the Vietnam War, reached almost all the same conclusions as the previous report. These reviews, conducted at the request of Congress, rank the strength of the evidence for possible links between specific health problems and exposure to herbicides or the dioxin-like compounds that contaminated them. The authoring committee determined that data from new research completed since the 2008 update coupled with information from earlier studies was inadequate to reach different conclusions about the evidence strength for any of the health effects studied. However, the 2010 update notes that early-onset peripheral neuropathy is not necessarily transitory as it had been characterized previously.
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Sept. 28, 2011
 Members of the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine are well-represented among the winners of the 2011 National Medal of Science and National Medal of Technology and Innovation. All seven recipients of the National Medal of Science are members of NAS, NAE, and/or IOM -- winner Shu Chien is a member of all three. Of the five recipients of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, three are members of the National Academy of Engineering.
Members honored are:
National Medal of Science
Jacqueline K. Barton (NAS)
California Institute of Technology
Ralph L. Brinster (NAS, IOM)
University of Pennsylvania
Shu Chien (NAS, NAE, IOM
University of California, San Diego
Rudolf Jaenisch (NAS, IOM)
Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Peter J. Stang (NAS)
University of Utah
Richard A. Tapia (NAE)
Rice University
Srinivasa S.R. Varadhan (NAS)
New York University
National Medal of Technology and Innovation
Rakesh Agrawal (NAE)
Purdue University
B. Jayant Baliga (NAE)
North Carolina State University
Yvonne C. Brill (NAE)
RCA Astro Electronics (retired)
Other winners of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation are C. Donald Bateman of Honeywell and Michael F. Tompsett of TheraManager.
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Sept. 28, 2011
 The National Research Council released today the third edition of the Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence, developed to guide judges as they encounter scientific evidence at trials. Produced in collaboration with the Federal Judicial Center, the manual includes new chapters on areas such as neuroscience, mental health, and forensic science.
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Sept. 27, 2011
 A new report from the National Research Council says that an Army contractor's strategy for conducting a site-specific risk assessment (SSRA) for the proposed Medical Countermeasures Test and Evaluation Facility at Fort Detrick, Md., is not sufficiently robust to help the Army design a facility that will reduce potential hazards. The separation of the risk assessment from facility design reduces the overall usefulness of the assessment to decision making. In addition, the report urges the Army to go beyond risk communications and undertake community engagement in which the public has the opportunity to identify potential failure scenarios. The Army should also make clear that it will listen to the public’s concerns and use its
risk findings to make the laboratory safer.
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Sept. 19, 2011
 A growing number of jobs -- not just those in professional science -- require knowledge of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, says Successful K-12 STEM Education: Identifying Effective Approaches in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, a recent report from the National Research Council. The report identifies key elements of high-quality STEM education to which policymakers could target improvements. Listen to a convocation being hosted by the National Science Foundation at Drexel University in Philadelphia, where educators and government leaders will share lessons learned about successful K-12 STEM education and discuss ways to put recommendations from the report into action.
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Sept. 16, 2011
 President Obama has signed into law the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, which introduces some of the most significant reforms to the U.S. patent system in decades. The law enacts key recommendations of a 2004 National Research Council report, A Patent System for the 21st Century. Provisions in the new law that were recommended in the report include providing an "open review" procedure for third parties to challenge recently issued patents before U.S. Patent and Trademark Office administrative judges and converting to a first-inventor-to-file priority system to reduce disputes over who invented first and bring the U.S. patent system into conformity with patent systems of other nations.
Several other recommendations in the 2004 report have already been addressed in administrative actions and federal court decisions intended to raise patent quality, reduce litigation costs, and improve USPTO efficiency.
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Sept. 15, 2011
 Recipients of the 2011 Communication Awards were announced today by the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. Supported by the W.M. Keck Foundation since 2003 as part of the Keck Futures Initiative, these prestigious awards -- each of which includes a $20,000 prize -- recognize excellence in reporting and communicating science, engineering, and medicine to the general public. The winners will be honored during a ceremony on Oct. 14 at the National Academies' Keck Center in Washington, D.C.
Selected from more than 300 print, broadcast, and Internet entries, the recipients of the awards for works published or aired in 2010 are:
Book:
Rebecca Skloot (author) for The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (Crown Books, a division of Random House)
A compelling and graceful use of narrative that illuminates the human and ethical issues of scientific research and medical advances.
Film/Radio/TV:
Alexa Elliott (producer) and WPBT2 Production Team for "Changing Seas: Sentinels of the Seas," South Florida Public Television (WPBT2)
What Florida's bottlenose dolphins tell us about the health of coastal waters and our own exposure to chemical contaminants.
Magazine/Newspaper:
Amy Harmon, New York Times national correspondent, for "Target: Cancer," The New York Times
The promises and realities of clinical drug trials as seen through the eyes of passionate researchers and worried, sometimes desperate patients.
Online:
Andrew Revkin, senior fellow for environmental understanding, Pace University, and New York Times blogger, for "Dot Earth" Blog, The New York Times
Pioneering social media about the issues of climate and sustainability with worldwide readership and impact.
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Sept. 15, 2011
 Earth Lab: Degrees of Change, a new exhibit at the Koshland Science Museum of the National Academy of Sciences, opens Sept. 15. The exhibit's interactive components allow visitors to explore the impacts of climate change and take on the role of decision makers who identify priorities, evaluate trade-offs, and decide how to respond to climate change. The exhibit is based in part on the recent suite of reports, America’s Climate Choices.
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Sept. 9, 2011
 We join our fellow citizens in remembering the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and their families on the 10th anniversary of that tragic day. We are grateful to the nation’s first responders, and recall the heroism of emergency workers at Ground Zero in New York City and here at the Pentagon. And we are thankful to all those who have served to defend and protect our nation over the past decade.
In the aftermath of Sept. 11, our scientific, engineering, and medical communities took on a heightened responsibility to pursue research aimed at strengthening the security of the United States. Within a year of the attacks, the National Research Council issued the report Making the Nation Safer: The Role of Science and Technology in Countering Terrorism. Other reports and workshops since then have helped to better protect the country from terrorism and prepare for future emergencies.
We will never forget the tragic losses of Sept. 11.
Ralph J. Cicerone
President, National Academy of Sciences
Charles M. Vest
President, National Academy of Engineering
Harvey V. Fineberg
President, Institute of Medicine
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Sept. 9, 2011
 A new report from the National Research Council identifies eight questions that will drive scientific research in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean over the next two decades and opportunities to sustain and enhance the National Science Foundation’s U.S. Antarctic Program. The questions cover topics related to global climate and fundamental discoveries, including examining how Antarctica will contribute to changes in global sea level and what the region can help reveal about space weather, such as solar storms.
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Sept. 8, 2011
 Factoring health and related costs into decision making is essential to enhancing public well-being, says a new report from the National Research Council, which adds that a health impact assessment (HIA) is a promising tool to evaluate public health consequences of proposed projects -- such as building a major roadway, urban planning, or developing national agricultural policies. The report offers guidance to officials in the public and private sectors on conducting HIAs and suggests actions that could minimize adverse health impacts and optimize beneficial ones.
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Sept. 7, 2011
 NASA should take steps to maintain a highly trained U.S. astronaut corps to meet International Space Station (ISS) crew requirements while accounting for unexpected attrition or demands of other missions, says a new report by the National Research Council. NASA's current plans for astronaut staffing do not provide sufficient flexibility to reliably meet projected ISS mission needs.
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Sept. 1, 2011
 Although NASA has used its resources wisely, the agency’s management structure has not kept pace with increasing hazards posed by meteoroids and orbital debris, says a new report by the National Research Council. The report recommends that NASA develop a formal strategic plan to better allocate resources devoted to the management of orbital debris.
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Aug. 31, 2011
 A new report from the National Research Council recommends that federal and state policymakers strengthen efforts to improve adult literacy in the U.S. Teaching, materials, and assessments should be consistent with available research on effective instructional approaches, the report says. It notes that the most recent national survey of adult literacy found that more than 90 million adults in the United States are estimated to lack the literacy skills needed for negotiating many aspects of modern life.
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Aug. 29, 2011
 Hurricane Irene stormed up the east coast last weekend, triggering dangerous floods and causing widespread power outages. Although it was downgraded to a tropical storm before reaching New York and New England, Irene still wreaked havoc there. The National Research Council has produced numerous reports and workshops to help the nation in times of hazards and disasters. Recent reports and workshop proceedings deal with lessons learned from previous hurricanes, emergency evacuations, water security, community disaster resilience, and more.
Selected Reports:
Also of Interest:
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Aug. 25, 2011
 Leaders from industry, universities, and NASA gathered to explore critical issues related to NASA’s aeronautics research agenda. The new National Research Council roundtable heard from NASA Administrator Charles Bolden (pictured to the right).
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Aug. 25, 2011
 An analysis of more than 1,000 research articles concluded that few health problems are caused by or clearly associated with vaccines. A committee of experts convened by the Institute of Medicine to review the scientific literature on possible adverse effects of vaccines found convincing evidence of 14 health outcomes -- including seizures, inflammation of the brain, and fainting -- that can be caused by certain vaccines, although these outcomes occur rarely. It also found indicative though less clear data on associations between specific vaccines and four other effects, such as allergic reactions and temporary joint pain. In addition, the evidence shows there are no links between immunization and some serious conditions that have raised concerns, including Type 1 diabetes and autism.
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Aug. 24, 2011
 A “grand challenge” to understand the manifestation of change in floods and droughts faces climate and water science researchers, says a new report from the National Research Council based on proceedings from a workshop. A coherent picture of how these phenomena will shift due to changes in climate and land use has yet to emerge, but better understanding could be achieved through greater exchange of research findings among climate scientists, water scientists, and engineers.
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Aug. 23, 2011
This afternoon the Washington metropolitan area experienced an earthquake with a reported magnitude of 5.9. In late March, the National Research Council released a report that presents a 20-year road map to increase the nation's capacity to maintain important community functions, improve awareness and monitoring, and recover quickly following damaging earthquakes. The report was mostly written prior to the March 11 earthquake in Japan, but the committee of experts who authored it noted that the Japanese experience is a reminder of the devastation that can occur even in a country acknowledged as a leader in implementing earthquake-resilience measures.
Also of Interest:
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Aug. 2, 2011
 A new report from the National Research Council presents a framework for incorporating sustainability into the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s principles and decision making. Requested by EPA, the framework is intended to help the agency better assess the social, environmental, and economic impacts of various options as it makes decisions.
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Aug. 1, 2011
Health plans will be required to cover without copayment an array of preventive health services for women, including screening for the virus that can cause cervical cancer, breast pumps for nursing mothers, and birth control, announced Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, today. The new requirements follow the guidance in an Institute of Medicine report released last month, which identified eight preventive health services that clinical evidence shows are effective in promoting women’s optimal health and well-being but that are not among the preventive services that would be covered under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. The new requirements will largely take effect Jan. 1, 2013.
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July 29, 2011
 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration should gather the information needed to develop a new regulatory framework to replace the 35-year-old 510(k) clearance process for medical devices, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine. The 510(k) process is not a reliable premarket screen of the safety and effectiveness of moderate-risk Class II devices and cannot be transformed into one, concluded the committee that wrote the report. FDA's finite resources would be better invested in developing a new framework that uses both premarket clearance and improved postmarket surveillance of device performance to provide reasonable assurance of the safety and effectiveness of Class II devices throughout the duration of their use.
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July 25, 2011
 E. William (Bill) Colglazier, recently retired executive officer of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Research Council, has been selected as Science and Technology Adviser to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Colglazier will lead the Office of the Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary, which provides the secretary and other senior State Department officials with scientific and technical expertise in support of the development and implementation of U.S. foreign policy. The post of science and technology adviser was established in response to a recommendation in a 1999 National Research Council report, The Pervasive Role of Science, Technology, and Health in Foreign Policy: Imperatives for the Department of State.
The adviser serves as an advocate for science-based policy at the State Department and helps identify and evaluate scientific and technical issues that are likely to affect U.S. strategic and foreign policy interests. The adviser also provides outreach to the U.S. and international scientific community, helps facilitate scientific cooperation between the United States and other countries, and promotes scientific and technological capacity-building in developing countries and science-based policymaking internationally.
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July 19, 2011
 A new report from the Institute of Medicine recommends that eight preventive health services for women be added to the services that health plans will cover at no cost to patients under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. The act requires plans to cover the services listed in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' comprehensive list of preventive services; at the agency's request, an IOM committee identified critical gaps in preventive services for women as well as measures that will further ensure women's health and well-being.
The eight services are: screening for gestational diabetes; human papillomavirus (HPV) testing as part of cervical cancer screening for women over 30; counseling on sexually transmitted infections; counseling and screening for HIV; contraceptive methods and counseling to prevent unintended pregnancies; lactation counseling and equipment to promote breast-feeding; screening and counseling to detect and prevent interpersonal and domestic violence; and yearly well-woman preventive care visits to obtain recommended preventive services.
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More News
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The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences media and communications office web site can be found here.
Inquiries should be sent to PNASnews@nas.edu.
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View the latest Report to Congress that details the National Academies work for 2010.
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