Hunt for Alien Life Tops Next-Gen Wish List for U.S. Astronomy

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November 04, 2021

Astrophysics Hunt for Alien Life Tops Next-Gen Wish List for U.S. Astronomy A major report outlining the highest priorities and recommendations for U.S. astronomy has finally been released, revealing the shape of things to come By Lee Billings

Climate Change Climate Change Is Acidifying and Contaminating Drinking Water and Alpine Ecosystems Hotter, drier mountains leach more metal into streams from abandoned mines and natural deposits By Elizabeth Miller

Particle Physics Can Sterile Neutrinos Exist? Physicists have wondered if neutrino particles come in a mysterious fourth variety. Now new experimental findings complicate the question By Clara Moskowitz

Diversity The Lost Women of Science, Episode 1: The Question Mark When physician and pathologist Dorothy Andersen confronted a slew of confounding infant deaths, she suspected the accepted diagnosis wasn’t right. Her medical sleuthing led to the world’s understanding of cystic fibrosis, a disease that affects the lungs, the pancreas and a host of other organs. But she is by no means a household name. Who was this scientist, and how did she come to quietly make such an important medical contribution? This is the Lost Women of Science podcast By Katie Hafner,The Lost Women of Science Initiative

Energy What Is a Smart Grid, and How Might One Protect Our Energy Future? Our electric grid is old and fraying, but new technology could insulate us from the possibility of widespread blackouts and cyberattacks. By Michael Tabb,Jeffery DelViscio,Andrea Gawrylewski

Climate Change U.S. Agrees to End Fossil Fuel Financing Abroad The move could shift funding toward renewable energy projects in low-income countries By Sara Schonhardt,E&E News

Vaccines Why Vaccine Doses Differ for Kids and Adults An immunologist explains how the immune system changes as people mature By Brian Peppers,The Conversation US

Policy Where Gun Stores Open, Gun Homicides Increase More oversight of dealers and investment in impoverished communities are key to reducing violence, say experts By Jim Daley

Education Weakened Tenure Protections Will Harm Students as Well as Faculty A unanimous vote by Georgia’s Board of Regents could stifle academic freedom By Kim Cobb

Vaccines Trust Us: Nurses Are at the Breaking Point The pandemic has brought the nursing profession into crisis; the solution is in the public’s hands By Beth Wathen,Amanda Bettencourt

Medicine Women's heart health is not just about hormones Heart-disease risk increases as women get older but explanations that centre on changes after menopause don’t tell the full story By Jumana Saleh

Medicine Cells or drugs? The race to regenerate the heart Researchers are debating how to convince the heart to heal itself instead of laying down scar tissue after a heart attack By Benjamin Plackett

FROM THE STORE Scientific American Mind, Volume 32, Issue 6

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FROM THE ARCHIVE This Report Could Make or Break the Next 30 Years of U.S. Astronomy A battle for the future of American stargazing is about to begin—and the stakes are sky high By Lee Billings | August 2021

QUOTE OF THE DAY "We stand at the threshold of a new golden era of discovery...Might we actually find evidence for life on another planet? This report, true to its name, lays out robust pathways to answer this question, and we can be the generation that answers it!" Heidi Hammel, vice president for science at the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy

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