One of the wonderful things about science is that research results cannot be consistently anticipated. That’s why we do the research. That research doesn’t always come out how we expect…
By Roger Pielke Jr. | February 24, 2025
In his classic 1960 book, The Semisovereign People, political scientist E.E. Schattschneider identified a dilemma of democracy: All of us are ignorant about most things, making each of us unsuitable to…
By Roger Pielke Jr. | February 18, 2025
An important new paper published this week in Nature Communications looks at the historical record of fire in North America — A fire deficit persists across diverse North American forests despite recent increases…
By Roger Pielke Jr. | February 12, 2025
Last week, in a classic Friday evening news dump, the Trump administration set off one of those frantic controversies that seem to be our fate for the next few years.…
By Yuval Levin | February 10, 2025
The application of artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine is expanding at an astonishing pace, mirroring the rapid advances in AI technology itself. Some experts within the field predict that in…
By Scott Gottlieb, MD | February 10, 2025
Millions of Americans face diseases that lack treatment options, while many more face impairments in independence as a result of inadequately treated medical conditions. Innovation in the life sciences offers…
By Brian J. Miller | Ted Cho | February 5, 2025
Ahead of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation hearings, New York Times Opinion invited experts and leaders across disciplines and ideologies to share questions they believe Mr. Kennedy must answer before…
By M. Anthony Mills | January 29, 2025
Last year the world experienced the most major hurricane landfalls since records are available, tying only 2015, with 11 storms. Does last year indicate that we have reached a new…
By Roger Pielke Jr. | January 27, 2025
When Makena, a drug designed to prevent preterm births, hit the market in 2011 at $1,500 per dose, it drew rife backlash. The drug was based on an active ingredient…
By Scott Gottlieb, M.D. | December 30, 2024
In my courses on policy analysis I teach my students to focus on problem definition before even thinking about policy options. The problem facing major American research universities, as characterized…
By Roger Pielke Jr. | December 23, 2024
I am the answer to a trivia question. Who is the only person to appear in the leaked 2009 Climategate emails and in the 2016 Hillary Clinton Wikileaks emails? That’d…
By Roger Pielke Jr. | December 16, 2024
The leader of the Republican Party and our country’s next president has tapped a pro-choice scion of the country’s most famous Democratic dynasty to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. In keeping…
By M. Anthony Mills | December 2, 2024
Roger Federer spent 24 years as a professional tennis player. Roger Clemens played 24 years in the major leagues. And at the end of next month, I’ll leave my position as tenured, full…
By Roger Pielke Jr. | November 25, 2024
Astronomer Carl Sagan observed in his popular 1980 television show Cosmos, “There are many hypotheses in science that are wrong. That’s perfectly all right; it’s the aperture to finding out what’s…
By Roger Pielke Jr. | November 25, 2024
The US government has acted as major contributor to science research since the mid-20th century, both in terms of broad basic research and targeted projects. As industrial policy has gained…
By James Pethokoukis | M. Anthony Mills | November 19, 2024