In an interview, NAE President John Anderson discusses the national and global transition to net-zero carbon emissions and how engineers — and NAE in particular — can support that shift. Energy Transitions is the theme of NAE’s annual meeting this year, taking place Oct. 2-3.

Among various sources of ocean oil pollution, oil in runoff — primarily from cities and vehicles — is the top source of oil entering the ocean, and is 20 times higher than it was 20 years ago. A new report recommends actions to better understand how oil reaches and affects ocean environments and to minimize oil pollution.

To maintain U.S. global leadership in science and technology, federal agencies should pursue a coordinated risk-management approach that protects the United States’ own capacity to innovate, rather than emphasizing the protection of specific technologies from access by competitor nations.

As the U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP27) approaches, a new report recommends steps to improve the accuracy and usability of greenhouse gas emissions information for decision-makers, including creating a global information clearinghouse.

For decades the National Academies have provided objective, expert advice to help the nation understand issues related to maternal and reproductive health, unintended pregnancy, prenatal care, racial and ethnic disparities in health care, and abortion.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry should be optimized to be a user-friendly resource and focus on improving health care quality and access for veterans and providing two-way communication between veterans who participate and the VA.

The EPA’s current framework for evaluating the scientific evidence used to set national air quality standards is effective, reliable, and scientifically defensible, according to a new National Academies report.

The Gulf Research Program (GRP) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine today announced awards totaling $3.4 million to support four projects that reduce the burden of disaster-related mental health consequences with a focus on acute disasters.

Following a national search, Victoria Sheehan will join the National Academies on Dec. 5 as the new executive director of the Transportation Research Board. Sheehan comes to the organization from the New Hampshire Department of Transportation, which she has led as its commissioner for the past seven years.

Life cycle assessments of low-carbon transportation fuels — such as electricity, biofuels, or hydrogen — are valuable tools for measuring environmental impacts, but uncertainties remain in the models that are currently used, and further research should be conducted to strengthen their reliability.

The Triennial Conference of the InterAcademy Partnership and the Worldwide Meeting of Young Academies will take place Nov. 1-3. The conference will convene the world’s senior and young science academies to explore how to make research structures and processes more inclusive, effective, and sustainable.

With a $3 million donation from the Breakthrough Prize Foundation, a high-level, international coordinating group of scientific organizations has been established to take concrete steps to support Ukraine’s scientists and research community with the aim of rebuilding a successful global science and innovation system in Ukraine.

“Reports & Events” is a monthly tip sheet for the news media that highlights selected meetings of interest and reports from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

The Gulf Research Program (GRP) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine announced awards totaling $997,523 to support 10 projects that will engage communities in co-developing full proposals to advance nature-based solutions to mitigate climate-related hazards.

With renewed attention on mining gold at both new and historical sites in Virginia, the state’s regulations and practices should be updated to protect against the potential environmental and health impacts of gold mining — though the risk of adverse impacts cannot be eliminated completely, says a new report.

Congress should take action to facilitate the participation of all land-grant colleges and universities in multistate research projects, says a new report. Funding disparities have prevented many historically Black and tribal colleges and universities from fully collaborating with other land-grant institutions.

As the COP27 climate summit begins, the National Academies’ presidents urge world leaders to forge equitable solutions to the climate crisis. “[W]e are committed to enlisting science, engineering, and medicine to inform these efforts so that together, we can create a more secure, more sustainable, and more prosperous future for all.”

A new report identifies research and possible action steps that governments, nongovernmental and philanthropic organizations, universities, and the private sector can take to operationalize the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

“Reports & Events” is a monthly tip sheet for the news media that highlights selected meetings of interest and reports from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

As part of the shift to a net-zero carbon emissions economy, industry and government should begin planning for the deployment of carbon dioxide utilization systems to turn captured CO2 into useful products, such as aviation fuel and aggregates for construction.

World leaders are gathering in Montreal for the U.N.’s COP15 global conference on biodiversity loss. The National Academies have identified opportunities for action that would help reduce the loss of critical species and lessen future climate change, discussed recently during an Academies webinar about the report “Biodiversity at Risk.”

The Transportation Research Board’s Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) has announced the winners of its annual Graduate Research Awards. The prestigious awards focus on applied research on airport and related aviation system issues to help the public sector continue to improve the quality, reliability, safety, and security of the U.S. civil aviation system.

The presidents of the U.S. National Academies warn that the Taliban’s decision to prevent Afghan women and girls from participating in higher education or attending secondary school ignores the scientific evidence on the benefits of education for women and could have “potentially disastrous consequences” for the future of Afghanistan.

Energy Secretary Jennifer M. Granholm and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg took the stage at the 2023 annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board to discuss the federal government’s plan to reach “net-zero” carbon emissions in the U.S. transportation sector by 2050.

A new roundtable will hold its first public meeting on Jan. 23 to discuss challenges associated with incorporating climate change into the macroeconomic analyses used for federal policymaking. The roundtable’s activities will inform a new White House interagency working group.

“Reports & Events” is a monthly tip sheet for the news media that highlights selected meetings of interest and reports from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Nobel Prize laureates and other esteemed experts and leaders will gather at “Truth, Trust and Hope” for a global dialogue on how to stop misinformation from eroding public trust in science. Hosted by NAS and the Nobel Foundation, the summit takes place May 24-26 in Washington, D.C., and virtually.

Higher education institutions and science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine organizations should go beyond a focus on simply increasing the numeric participation of minoritized racial and ethnic groups. To increase diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEMM fields, organizations of all sizes must act to change their cultures and environments.

Pulling from research and institutional examples, the Remediation Working Group of the Action Collaborative on Preventing Sexual Harassment in Higher Education has published a paper that examines the types of power differentials in academia, how abuses of power can take the form of sexual harassment, and strategies for preventing and remediating such abuses.

National Academy of Sciences President Marcia McNutt will deliver a lecture on the future of the research enterprise this week at the AAAS Annual Meeting. The meeting will also feature sessions and presentations focused on National Academies reports and projects.

Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti has been appointed as chair of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Executive Committee by Marcia McNutt, president of the National Academy of Sciences. Her term begins March 4, 2023.

Today the science academies of the G-7 nations released statements calling on their governments to address systemic risks and improve decision-making related to climate change, restore and recover ocean biodiversity, and deliver better health and well-being for aging populations.

Two remarkable women who made invaluable contributions to the work of the Committee on International Security and Arms Control (CISAC) died in recent months -- Catherine Kelleher and Jo Husbands. Their accomplishments and qualities have been described well by others, including especially Women in International Security (WIIS). We at CISAC want additionally to honor their work for us.

Race, ethnicity, and ancestry labels are often used in genomics and genetics research to describe human genetic differences, which is misleading and inaccurate. Researchers and scientists who utilize genetic and genomic data should rethink and justify how and why they use these descriptors in their work.

In a new NAE Perspective, authors Barbara B. Simons and Poorvi L. Vora argue that systematic manual examination of ballots, rigorous ballot accounting procedures, and public compliance audits would increase election transparency and are urgently needed.

Registration is now open for the Nobel Prize Summit “Truth, Trust and Hope,” a global conversation on how to stop misinformation from eroding public trust in science. Hosted by NAS and the Nobel Foundation, the summit takes place May 24-26 in Washington, D.C., and virtually.

The methodology used by the Census Bureau to calculate the Supplemental Poverty Measure should be updated to reflect households’ basic needs and resources to meet those needs more accurately. A new report recommends changes to better account for families’ health care, child care, and housing expenses.

Submissions are now being accepted for the 2023 Eric and Wendy Schmidt Awards for Excellence in Science Communications, which honor top science communicators, journalists, and research scientists who have developed creative, original work to communicate issues and advances in science, engineering, and medicine for the general public.

Most of the offshore oil and gas industry operating in the Gulf of Mexico has improved its management of systemic risk in recent years, according to a new report that also points out where uneven progress and critical gaps remain for industry and regulators to address.

The National Nuclear Security Administration needs to fundamentally rethink the strategy for its next generation of high-performance computing and cannot continue with ‘business as usual’ through shifting technical and geopolitical landscapes. Advanced computing capabilities help the NNSA ensure that the U.S. maintains a safe, secure, and reliable nuclear stockpile.

A new National Academies report highlights how behavioral economics has built invaluable evidence about why people may act in seemingly irrational ways, how they respond to interventions, and how public policy can be designed to help people make better decisions.

New nuclear reactor concepts could help the U.S. meet its long-term climate goals, but a range of technical, regulatory, economic, and societal challenges must first be overcome. A new report provides recommendations to start laying the foundation required for advanced reactors to become a viable part of the U.S. energy system.

Research funded by NIH that uses nonhuman primates is critical to the nation’s ability to respond adequately to public health emergencies and carry out high-impact biomedical research, but gaps in the systems that support research using these animal models are undermining national health emergency readiness.

This week, ESET experts released several research publications that shine the spotlight on a number of notable campaigns and broader developments on the threat landscape

Available as both an IDA plugin and a Python script, Nimfilt helps to reverse engineer binaries compiled with the Nim programming language compiler by demangling package and function names, and applying structs to strings

A new white paper from ESET uncovers the risks and opportunities of artificial intelligence for cyber-defenders

As the UK mulls new rules for ransomware disclosure, what would be the wider implications of such a move, how would cyber-insurance come into play, and how might cybercriminals respond?

What is the state of artificial intelligence in 2024 and how can AI level up your cybersecurity game? These hot topics and pressing questions surrounding AI were front and center at the annual conference.

Password leaks are increasingly common and figuring out whether the keys to your own kingdom have been exposed might be tricky – unless you know where to look

A facial recognition system misidentifies a woman in London as a shoplifter, igniting fresh concerns over the technology's accuracy and reliability