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| The latest news from the Academies
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Feb. 9 -- 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.
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Feb. 4 -- 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 scientists' understanding of climate change is undiminished by this incident, he calls for action to preserve the trust between science and society.
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Feb. 1 -- The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine will hold a series of events for African-American History Month including a lecture on Feb. 18 by Wanda M. Austin (NAE) 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.
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Jan. 12 -- The National Academy of Sciences’ governing Council has selected Dr. Eugenie C. Scott to receive its most prestigious award, the Public Welfare Medal. Established in 1914, the medal is presented annually to honor extraordinary use of science for public good. The NAS Council chose Scott for championing the teaching of evolution in the United States and for providing leadership to the National Center for Science Education.
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| Breaking stories in science
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Feb. 4 -- The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Economic Council this week began collecting public input on science and technology challenges that could help shape our future. The initiative, designed to foster sustainable economic growth and create high-quality jobs, was partly inspired by the National Academy of Engineering’s Grand Challenges for Engineering.
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Jan. 12 -- Last week the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed new legislation that would impose stricter air-quality standards for ground-level ozone concentrations. If implemented, counties and states would have up to 20 years to comply with the new regulations, which would work in tandem with other regulations, such as those on vehicle fuel economy, to reduce health risks and curb greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming trends.
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Jan. 7 -- People in the U.S. often take safe drinking water for granted until a severe weather event, like a flood or drought, endangers its availability. Water potability is not a subject that’s well-understood by the public, and few realize that the everyday activities of industry, people, and nature are constantly affecting the safety and reliability of what comes out of our water taps.
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Dec. 7 -- Leaders from across the globe convened today in Copenhagen for a United Nations conference to discuss a plan to combat climate change. One of the goals of the summit, which runs through Dec. 18, is to work on a follow-up treaty to the Kyoto Protocol that expires in 2012.
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Dec. 4 -- After four years of collaboration, researchers have nearly completed sequencing the B73 corn genome, cataloging over 32,000 genes (more genes than are in human DNA) and 2.3 billion base nucleotides. Corn is one of the most widely grown grains in the world, and the B73 strain -- one of the most common -- has the largest genetic blueprint discovered for any plant species mapped to date. The completed mapping has implications for developing higher yield, disease resistant, drought resistant, and more nutritious crop strains.
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