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Schools look at making science more hands-on - Columbia Daily Tribune, May 21, 2012
Tired surgical residents may up error risk: study - Reuters, May 21, 2012
Retrospective - Robert R. Sokal (1926–2012) - Science, May 18, 2012
Coalition Begins Push for U.S. Schools to Adopt Voluntary Science Standards - Science, May 18, 2012
High cost doesn't equal better care Florida Times-Union, May 18, 2012
Enbridge enlarging pipeline that ruptured in 2010 - CBS News, May 17, 2012
The future of America is obese
- ABC News, May 17, 2012
Needless conflict - Nature, May 17, 2012
Exiting 'obesogenic' age is personal task - Sacramento Bee, May 17, 2012
An unsettling prediction on obesity - Florida Times-Union, May 16, 2012
Public invited to hear uranium-mining study results - Virginian Pilot, May 15, 2012
Fat attack? New Slurpee flavors slash calories, sugar - Los Angeles Times, May 14, 2012
HBO's 'Weight of the Nation': A New Solution to an Old Problem? - ABC News, May 14, 2012
Review: HBO's 'Weight of the Nation' pounds away at obesity - Los Angeles Times, May 14, 2012
Height, weight — BMI? Doctors urged to treat body mass index as a vital sign - Washington Post, May 12, 2012
Chronicling the Pounds, Their Risks and Causes - New York Times, May 11, 2012
A Systems Approach to Solving America's Obesity Problem Forbes, May 11, 2012
Breaking: National Academy study says chemical plants could do more to reduce risks of toxic disasters - Charleston Gazette, May 11, 2012
Shocking New Oil Propaganda Plan to Fool Americans - Huffington Post, May 8, 2012
Will Obesity Reverse Rise in U.S. Life Expectancy? - PBS News Hour, May 8, 2012
'Weight of the Nation' declares war on obesity - CNN, May 8, 2012
Weather, Climate Forecasts Imperiled As Programs Cut - OPB News, May 8, 2012
Holding steady on US obesity rate could save nearly $550 billion, report finds - MSNBC, May 7, 2012
James Bovard: Don't Worry (About GDP), Be Happy - Wall Street Journal, May 6, 2012
An Open Letter to State Farm About Climate Denial - Huffington Post, May 6, 2012
Satellites at risk - Washington Post, May 6, 2012
What we don't know about earth - Minnesota Public Radion, May 4, 2012
Teachers Endure Balancing Act Over Climate Change Curriculum - PBS NewsHour, May 2, 2012
How Researchers Came Up With Nutrition Requirements (It's More Interesting Than You Think) - The Atlantic, May 2, 2012
The Cost of Premature Birth: For One Family, More than $2 Million - Time, May 2, 2012
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May 21, 2012
 Discipline-based education research (DBER) investigates how students learn in particular scientific disciplines and identifies ways to improve instruction. This research is emerging in many scientific disciplines, including physics, chemistry, biology, the geosciences, and astronomy, as well as in engineering. DBER has generated insights that could help improve undergraduate education in science and engineering, but these findings have not yet prompted widespread changes in teaching practice, says a new report from the National Research Council. It recommends that institutions, disciplinary societies, and professional societies should support faculty efforts to use evidence-based teaching strategies in their classrooms.
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May 14, 2012
 The National Academy of Engineering has elected a chair, home secretary, and four members to its governing Council. All terms begin July 1, 2012.
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May 14, 2012
 The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs provide tens of millions of meals to school children each day. School districts receive reimbursements from USDA for each child that qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, and so must determine the percentage of eligible children through formal applications or periodic household surveys. A new report from the National Research Council says that the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey could provide such information, reducing the burden on families and schools and potentially increasing the number of eligible children who participate in the programs.
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May 11, 2012
 Bayer CropScience sought to reduce risks associated with the manufacturing and storage of the toxic chemical methyl isocyanate at its processing plant in Institute, W.Va., says a new congressionally mandated report from the National Research Council. However, the company did not make an effort to incorporate all possible hazard control methods, and the report found that not all chemical manufacturing plants have adopted safer processes that aim to minimize or eliminate hazards.
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May 10, 2012
 National science academies from 15 countries issued joint statements today calling on world leaders who are about to meet at the upcoming G8 Summit and other international gatherings this year to give greater consideration to the vital role science and technology could play in addressing some of the planet's most pressing challenges. The "G-Science" statements recommend that governments engage the international research community in developing systematic, innovative solutions to three global dilemmas: how to simultaneously meet water and energy needs; how to build resilience to natural and technological disasters; and how to more accurately gauge countries' greenhouse gas emissions to verify progress toward national goals or international commitments.
The statements were signed by the leaders of the national science academies of Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, Russia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States, which is hosting this year's G8 Summit. For the past seven years, science academies representing countries attending the summit have issued statements in advance to inform delegates to the summit of important science and technology matters. This year, for the first time, the academies used the term G-Science to describe their statements because they are intended to inform not only leaders attending the G8 summit but also those who will attend the G20 summit, the Rio+20 environmental summit, and other important events.
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May 10, 2012
 A new National Research Council report explores forecasting and monitoring technologies that could help predict weather events unique to urban environments. The high density of people and infrastructures in urban areas makes these zones particularly vulnerable to weather-related events such as severe thunderstorms, heat waves, and air pollution. Moreover, urban settings consist of large areas covered by buildings of varying of heights, paved streets, and parking areas. These and other elements often combine in various ways to create distinct local weather environments that include heat island effects, urban flooding, changes in precipitation patterns, elevated levels of gaseous pollutant and aerosols, and street canyon winds. The report examines how this information could benefit users such as municipal and public safety officials, local utility companies, public and private service providers, urban planners, transportation officials, public health officials, and emergency responders.
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May 8, 2012
 America's progress in arresting its obesity epidemic has been too slow, and the condition continues to erode productivity and cause millions to suffer from potentially debilitating and deadly chronic illnesses, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine. Solving this complex, stubborn problem requires a comprehensive set of solutions that work together to spur across-the-board societal change, said the committee that wrote the report. It identifies strategies with the greatest potential to accelerate success by making healthy foods and beverages and opportunities for physical activity easy, routine, and appealing aspects of daily life.
The report focuses on five critical goals for preventing obesity: integrating physical activity into people's daily lives, making healthy food and beverage options available everywhere, transforming marketing and messages about nutrition and activity, making schools a gateway to healthy weights, and galvanizing employers and health care professionals to support healthy lifestyles. The committee assessed more than 800 obesity prevention recommendations to identify those that could work together most effectively and reinforce one another's impact.
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May 2, 2012
 In Aging in Asia: Findings from New and Emerging Data Initiatives, a new compilation of peer-reviewed papers, researchers discuss emerging data about the various aspects of aging in Asia. The papers were presented at conferences held in Beijing and New Delhi during 2011 as part of a collaborative effort by NAS, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Indian National Science Academy, Indonesian Academy of Sciences, and the Science Council of Japan to prepare for the challenges of population aging.
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May 2, 2012
 A new National Research Council report says that budget shortfalls, cost-estimate growth, launch failures, and changes in mission design and scope have left U.S. earth observation systems in a more precarious position than they were five years ago. The report cautions that the nation's earth observing system is beginning a rapid decline in capability, as long-running missions end and key new missions are delayed, lost, or cancelled.
The report comes five years after the Research Council published Earth Science and Applications From Space: National Imperatives for the Next Decade and Beyond, a decadal survey that generated consensus recommendations from the earth and environmental science and applications community for a renewed program of earth observations. The new report finds that although NASA responded favorably and aggressively to the decadal survey, the required budget was not achieved, greatly slowing progress.
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May 1, 2012
 The National Academy of Sciences elected 84 new members and 21 foreign associates from 15 countries in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. Election to the Academy is considered one of the highest honors that can be accorded a U.S. scientist or engineer.
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May 1, 2012
 Problems associated with some drugs that have been approved for the market, such as the pain reliever Vioxx and anti-diabetes drug Avandia, illustrate the need for a more systematic and transparent process to collect, assess, and act on data about a medication's benefit-risk profile throughout its entire "life cycle" from approval until it is no longer marketed, says a new report by the Institute of Medicine. One of the committee's key recommendations is that FDA should create a benefit and risk assessment and management plan for each drug. This would be a single, comprehensive, publicly available document that serves as a central repository of information for each product from its approval throughout its entire time on the market.
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April 30, 2012
 During a ceremony at the annual meeting of the National Academy of Sciences, economist Harold T. Shapiro was honored "for his ability to distill, debate, and resolve the complex aspects of controversial scientific issues." NAS honored 16 other individuals, as well, for their outstanding scientific achievements.
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April 27, 2012
 The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine are collaborating with the USA Science and Engineering Festival to present Decisiontown, a hands-on exhibit designed to show how citizens can use science, engineering, and medicine to make informed decisions in their daily lives. Decisiontown will be one of more than 3,000 exhibits at the festival, a free public event which takes place in Washington, D.C., on April 28 and 29.
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April 24, 2012
 A new book co-authored by Judith Salerno, Leonard D. Schaeffer Executive Officer of the Institute of Medicine, examines the forces driving the obesity epidemic in the U.S. and offers practical tips to those who want to make healthier choices in spite of these pressures. The book, The Weight of the Nation: To Win We Have to Lose, complements a multipart HBO documentary on obesity in America, presented in collaboration with IOM, which will debut on May 14 and 15. The executive producer of the documentary, John Hoffman, co-authored the book with Salerno, along with co-producer Alexandra Moss.
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April 18, 2012
 Research to date on the effect of capital punishment on homicide rates is not useful in determining whether the death penalty increases, decreases, or has no effect on these rates, says a new report from the National Research Council. This research should not be used to inform policy decisions about capital punishment. The key question is whether capital punishment is less or more effective as a deterrent than alternative punishments, such as a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
Yet none of the research that has been done accounted for the possible effect of noncapital punishments on homicide rates. The committee that wrote the report recommended new avenues of research that may provide broader insight into the deterrent effect of both capital and noncapital punishments.
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April 17, 2012
 The Space Shuttle Discovery flew over Washington, D.C., on the back of a NASA 747 en route to its final destination at the Smithsonian’s Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va. The National Research Council's Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board and Space Studies Board have produced several reports about NASA’s shuttle program and the agency’s future in the post-shuttle era.
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April 13, 2012
Meeting of Committee Reviewing Scientific Needs and Options for NBAF Facility
 Listen to the April 13 meeting webcast for a National Research Council committee reviewing examining the scientific needs and possible alternatives for a foreign animal and zoonotic disease research laboratory in the United States. Currently, a site in Manhattan, Kan., is the proposed location for the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF), which would study dangerous foreign animal diseases as well as diseases that can be transmitted between animals and people. The facility would replace the aging Plum Island Animal Disease Center (PIADC) located approximately 2 miles off of Long Island, N.Y. The Research Council committee will look at various options for a foreign animal and zoonotic disease research laboratory, including building NBAF as currently designed, building a scaled-back version of NBAF, and maintaining current capabilities at PIADC while leveraging BSL-4 laboratory capacity of foreign laboratories.
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April 10, 2012
 To improve America's lackluster performance on health outcomes compared with its peer nations and to maintain its international competitiveness, the United States needs to invest more in its chronically underfunded public health system and spend public health dollars more efficiently, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine. The report proposes a two-pronged approach to reforming public health financing. It calls for more effective and efficient use of money already earmarked for public health, but notes that additional resources need to be directed toward the kinds of population health strategies that public health departments can provide.
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April 10, 2012
 An IOM committee conducting an independent assessment of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) held a daylong public meeting on April 10 in Irvine, Calif. The committee will issue a report later this year with recommendations aimed at improving the performance of CIRM.
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April 4, 2012
 Many low- and middle-income nations do not have technologically advanced regulatory systems, which limits their oversight of the safety of foods and drugs at a time when they are producing increasing volumes of these products for the global market, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine. The report proposes a series of actions that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other U.S. and international stakeholders can take over the next three to five years to boost the regulatory capacity of developing nations. These steps aim to increase investment in regulatory systems; encourage open dialogue among government, industry, and academia; promote voluntary sharing of inspection results; and support surveillance. Together, these actions would improve product safety in the United States, as well as improve public health around the world, the report says.
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March 30, 2012
 The United States is now in a better position than at any time in the past to maintain a safe and effective nuclear weapons stockpile without testing and to monitor clandestine nuclear testing abroad, says a new report from the National Research Council. The report, requested by the Office of the Vice President and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, reviews and updates a 2002 study that examined the technical concerns raised about the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). The report does not take a position on whether the U.S. should ratify the treaty.
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March 30, 2012
 An estimated 2.2 million people in the United States live with epilepsy, a complex brain disorder characterized by sudden and often unpredictable seizures. Epilepsy affects people of all socio-economic backgrounds, yet the common disorder is widely misunderstood, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine. Additionally, while effective treatments for epilepsy are available, access to treatment and timely referrals to specialized care are often lacking. The report highlights numerous gaps in the knowledge and management of epilepsy and recommends actions for improving the lives of those with epilepsy and their families and promoting better understanding of the disorder.
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March 29, 2012
 Attaining a reliable water supply for California while protecting and rehabilitating its Bay-Delta ecosystem cannot be achieved simultaneously until better planning can identify necessary trade-offs when water is limited, says a new report from the National Research Council. Recent efforts have been ineffective in meeting these co-equal goals because management is distributed among many agencies and organizations, which hinders development and implementation of an integrated, comprehensive plan. Additionally, it is impossible to restore the delta habitat to its pre-disturbance state because extensive physical and ecological changes have already taken place, including those due to multiple environmental stressors.
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March 29, 2012
 A proposed study could help determine if there is a link between living near U.S. nuclear facilities and having a higher risk of cancer, but challenges and limitations exist, says a new report from the National Research Council. To evaluate the feasibility of such a study, the report recommends that a pilot study of seven nuclear facilities be completed first, although the ultimate decision about whether to perform either would be the responsibility of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
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March 28, 2012
 The traditional separation between primary health care providers and public health professionals is impeding greater success in meeting their shared goal of ensuring the health of populations, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine. Integration of these fields will require national leadership as well as substantial adaptation at the local level, said the committee that wrote the report. The report recommends ways that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Health Resources and Services Administration could foster integration between primary care and public health through funding, policy levers, and other means.
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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 2011.
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