The United States is at risk of ceding its leadership in science, a number of physicists said, though there was less of a consensus on a clear solution to the problem. Five physicists shared their worries about America’s scientific future during a panel discussion at the April 2012 meeting of the American Physics Society, agreeing…
Legislation making its way through U.S. Congress would allow anyone to invest in the latest cool idea, with the prospect of making a profit one day. The Crowdfund Act, which passed the Senate in March, would let anyone invest up to 5% of their annual income, or $2,000, in a project or firm that is…
The Environmental Protection Agency and the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, which reviews all proposed federal regulations, have never used job figures as part of the calculus of the costs and benefits of rule-making, largely because there is no accepted methodology for assessing them. But the Institute for Policy Integrity at New…
Traditional measures showing strong economic growth in Brazil and India over nearly two decades fail to take account of the depletion of their natural resources, scientists and economists at the “Planet Under Pressure” conference in London said. Scientists and environment groups have been pressuring governments to include the value of their countries’ natural resources –…
This is truly the era of the megafoundation. The private-philanthropic sector in the United States has experienced an explosion in the net worth and annual-giving potential. According to the Foundation Center, as of March 8, 2012, total foundation giving in the United States (circa 2010) was about $20.5 billion.
The Rockefeller Foundation and the Institute for the Future have invited gamers from all walks of life to join them on the Catalysts for Change platform to help identify new solutions to global poverty. Participants will leverage 140-character messages to play a game of cards, with each card capturing an idea. Game participants will use…
Increasing production and declining consumption of oil and gas have unexpectedly brought the United States markedly closer to a goal that has tantalized presidents since Richard Nixon: independence from foreign energy sources, a milestone that could reconfigure American foreign policy, the economy and more. In 2011, the country imported just 45 percent of the liquid…
As the seas rise, so will the costs associated with them. The impact of climate change on oceans alone could cost $2 trillion by the end of the century, according to a report by the Stockholm Environment Institute in Sweden. That figure comes from a scenario in which Earth’s temperature rises 4 °C by 2100,…
The dream of using hydrogen gas as a clean fuel, on a large scale, just got a little bit closer. Chemists have developed a new molecule that can drive chemical reactions to store and release hydrogen under mild temperatures and pressures. No harmful emissions are released when hydrogen is burned; only water and energy are…
Americans are less likely to believe in man-made climate change as economic conditions get tougher, new research shows. Lyle Scruggs, associate professor of political science at the University of Connecticut, says the public’s belief in climate change dropped significantly as the economy dipped and unemployment climbed in the late 2000s. And the suddenness and timing…