Report Backs EPA Classification of PERC as Likely Human Carcinogen

The classification of the dry-cleaning solvent tetrachloroethylene, also known as PERC, as "likely to be a human carcinogen" and as toxic to the nervous system is supported in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s draft human health assessment for the chemical, says a new National Research Council report. The report also recommends improvements for EPA's final assessment, such as using better designed studies and stronger approaches to estimate the potential for cancer and safe inhalation and oral exposures.

NAS President Addresses Climate Science Controversy

In an editorial in Science magazine, National Academy of Sciences President Ralph J. Cicerone says that the publicity surrounding the case of climate scientists’ e-mails that were stolen from a U.K. university has raised concerns about the standards of science and damaged public trust. While he says that understanding of climate change science is undiminished by this incident, he calls for action to preserve the trust between science and society.

NAS, NAE, and IOM to Hold African-American History Events

Events for African-American History Month including a lecture on Feb. 18 by Wanda M. Austin about how living by your values and working for an employer with values you admire can make a difference for communities, companies, and citizens; Counting America and the 2010 Census at the Koshland Science Museum's Family Day on Feb. 27; and a concert on Feb. 14 by Ritz Chamber Players. [more]

Natural Gas Supplies Could Be Augmented With Methane Hydrate

Naturally occurring methane hydrate may represent an enormous source of methane -- the main component of natural gas -- and could ultimately enhance conventional natural gas supplies, although some technical challenges remain before commercial production is feasible, says a new congressionally mandated report from the National Research Council. Moreover, the U.S. Department of Energy has made considerable progress toward understanding and developing methane hydrate as a possible future energy resource.

Disaster Experts Available In Wake of Haiti Earthquake

Several researchers and other experts affiliated with the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine who specialize in managing emergency operations and responding to medical and infrastructure needs when disasters strike are available to answer questions from officials leading relief and recovery efforts in Haiti. In particular, experts from the Disasters Roundtable, the Forum on Medical and Public Health Preparedness for Catastrophic Events, and the Board on Infrastructure and the Constructed Environment  may be able to provide useful information to those responding to the disaster in Haiti. [more]

Media Advisory: Jan. 24-26 Public Meeting for California Bay-Delta Study by National Research Council

A National Research Council committee reviewing the scientific basis of actions to achieve an environmentally sustainable California Bay-Delta and a reliable state water supply will hold its first meeting Jan. 24-26 at the University of California, Davis, to gather information in support of its study.

The study will focus on scientific questions, assumptions, and conclusions that underlie water-management options in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) Biological Opinion on Coordinated Operations of the Central Valley Project and State Water Project, and the National Marine Fisheries Service’s (NMFS) Biological Opinion on the Long-Term Central Valley Project and State Water Project Operations Criteria and Plan. The committee will consider whether there are any “reasonable and prudent alternatives” that, based on the best available scientific data and analysis, would have less impact on other water uses compared with those in the biological opinions, and would provide equal or greater protection for the listed fish species and their habitats. [more]

Report Offers Ways to Detect More Near-Earth Objects

A new report from the National Research Council lays out options NASA could follow to detect more near-Earth objects (NEOs) – asteroids and comets that could pose a hazard if they cross Earth’s orbit. The report says the $4 million the U.S. spends annually to search for NEOs is insufficient to meet a congressionally mandated requirement to detect NEOs that could threaten Earth. [more]

Federal Government Should Reconsider Selling Off Nation's Helium Reserve

Helium is used in applications ranging from medical devices such as MRIs to surveillance balloons for national security.  In the Helium Privatization Act of 1996, Congress directed the government to sell essentially all of the U.S. helium reserves by 2015. A new report from the National Research Council finds that selling off the reserves has adversely affected critical users of helium and recommends that the federal government reconsider whether selling the reserves is still in the nation’s best interest.

NAS Honors 17 for Major Contributions to Science

The National Academy of Sciences will honor 17 individuals in 2010 for their extraordinary scientific achievements in the areas of biology, chemistry, geology, astronomy, and psychology. Achievements include establishing the existence of the solar wind; development of a fundamental building block for nanoscience; pioneering studies of the dominant photosynthetic organisms in the sea; contributions on the theory of fluvial erosion, sedimentation, and landscape evolution; and the development of fast algorithms in mathematical physics, operator compression, and linear algebra.

More News Alerts