Registration is now open for the Third International Summit on Human Genome Editing, to be held March 6-8, 2023, in London. The three-day summit is being organized by the Royal Society and U.K. Academy of Medical Sciences, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Medicine, and the World Academy of Sciences.

National Academy of Sciences President Marcia McNutt has been awarded an honorary doctorate from the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine for her “significant contributions to the development of science and international scientific collaboration.”

As part of the shift to a net-zero carbon emissions economy, industry and government should begin planning for the deployment of carbon dioxide utilization systems to turn captured CO2 into useful products, such as aviation fuel and aggregates for construction.

NAS and the Polish Academy of Sciences have launched a new grant program that would allow teams of Ukrainian scientists, engineers, and researchers to continue their work at Polish academic or research institutes. The program was established with the aim of sustaining and eventually rebuilding a healthy research system in Ukraine.

Recent incidents have exposed vulnerabilities in the U.S. electric power system, which is made up of millions of components distributed across the continent. The National Academies have many resources aimed at better understanding the grid’s susceptibility, and how it can be improved and made more resilient to physical and cyberattacks, natural disasters, and other adverse events.

World leaders are gathering in Montreal for the U.N.’s COP15 global conference on biodiversity loss. The National Academies have identified opportunities for action that would help reduce the loss of critical species and lessen future climate change, discussed recently during an Academies webinar about the report “Biodiversity at Risk.”

The Transportation Research Board’s Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) has announced the winners of its annual Graduate Research Awards. The prestigious awards focus on applied research on airport and related aviation system issues to help the public sector continue to improve the quality, reliability, safety, and security of the U.S. civil aviation system.

Advanced manufacturing brings the potential for positive transformational change to a variety of areas, including the defense industry. It is essential that universities, companies, and the government take steps to better prepare the next generation of engineers to work with these emerging technologies.

The American Geophysical Union’s 2022 fall meeting, taking place Dec. 12-16, features several presentations from National Academies staff and experts on recent reports and ongoing studies on the environment, climate change, higher education, and space.

Among the many facets of the economy being challenged by warming global temperatures is the insurance industry. As damaging extreme events increase in frequency and intensity, insurance companies face larger financial risks and costs, and policy holders face higher premiums. A webinar explored how industry, policymakers, and consumers are responding.

The presidents of the U.S. National Academies warn that the Taliban’s decision to prevent Afghan women and girls from participating in higher education or attending secondary school ignores the scientific evidence on the benefits of education for women and could have “potentially disastrous consequences” for the future of Afghanistan.

“Reports & Events” is a monthly tip sheet for the news media that highlights selected meetings of interest and reports from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Confucius Institutes are Chinese government-funded language and culture centers located worldwide. A new report proposes a set of criteria for the U.S. Department of Defense to consider in developing a waiver process that would potentially allow U.S. institutions of higher education to receive DOD funding while hosting a Confucius Institute.

The Gulf Research Program (GRP) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine announced today its 2022-2024 cohorts of Early-Career Research Fellows in the Offshore Energy Safety and Education Research tracks.

Energy Secretary Jennifer M. Granholm and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg took the stage at the 2023 annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board to discuss the federal government’s plan to reach “net-zero” carbon emissions in the U.S. transportation sector by 2050.

Shalanda Baker, director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Economic Impact and Diversity, delivered a lecture in December on racial injustice in the U.S. energy system and opportunities for change during the transition away from fossil fuels.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, wastewater surveillance has provided advance indications of community-level outbreaks, sometimes weeks before other indicators. A new report says that wastewater surveillance is worthy of investment and outlines a vision for the future of a national system.

A new roundtable will hold its first public meeting on Jan. 23 to discuss challenges associated with incorporating climate change into the macroeconomic analyses used for federal policymaking. The roundtable’s activities will inform a new White House interagency working group.

The insufficient supply of seeds from native plants is a major barrier to ecological restoration and other revegetation projects across the U.S., especially as climate change increases the possibility of extreme weather events that can damage natural areas.

“Reports & Events” is a monthly tip sheet for the news media that highlights selected meetings of interest and reports from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

The COVID-19 pandemic shined a spotlight on the continuing, decades-long problem of medical product supply chain disruptions. Drug and medical device shortages — life-threatening for some — also affect the entire U.S health care system, costing millions of dollars annually. New resources from the National Academies offer insights.

Nobel Prize laureates and other esteemed experts and leaders will gather at “Truth, Trust and Hope” for a global dialogue on how to stop misinformation from eroding public trust in science. Hosted by NAS and the Nobel Foundation, the summit takes place May 24-26 in Washington, D.C., and virtually.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s facilities should be modernized to ensure that the agency can continue to deliver measurement science and standards that advance U.S. innovation and competitiveness on national technology priorities. Substandard facilities brought about through lack of investment have created ongoing problems that affect research.

In a new NAE Perspective, Idalis Villanueva Alarcón argues that engineering must recognize and permanently remove negative hidden curriculum. It is only then that engineering can create a new image, one where everyone is equitably welcomed, valued, invested in, and sustained for generations to come.

Higher education institutions and science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine organizations should go beyond a focus on simply increasing the numeric participation of minoritized racial and ethnic groups. To increase diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEMM fields, organizations of all sizes must act to change their cultures and environments.

As U.S. life expectancy falls and the nation struggles to achieve health outcomes on par with other high-income countries, the VA and HHS should collaborate to create a national Center for Whole Health Innovation to support, scale, and spread whole health care nationally across health systems.

The final agenda is now available for the Third International Summit on Human Genome Editing, to be held March 6-8 in London and virtually. The National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Medicine are among the international partners hosting the summit.

As the one-year anniversary of the war in Ukraine approaches, NAS President Marcia McNutt and the presidents of the national science academies of Poland and Ukraine urge the scientific community around the world to continue helping scientists from and in Ukraine, and to plan for the post-war recovery of science there.

Pulling from research and institutional examples, the Remediation Working Group of the Action Collaborative on Preventing Sexual Harassment in Higher Education has published a paper that examines the types of power differentials in academia, how abuses of power can take the form of sexual harassment, and strategies for preventing and remediating such abuses.

The U.S. should renew its investments in high energy density science facilities and workforce capacity and improve collaboration, in order to achieve advances in areas such as fusion power and materials science and help address significant national needs.

National Academy of Sciences President Marcia McNutt will deliver a lecture on the future of the research enterprise this week at the AAAS Annual Meeting. The meeting will also feature sessions and presentations focused on National Academies reports and projects.

“Reports & Events” is a monthly tip sheet for the news media that highlights selected meetings of interest and reports from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine have released a new proceedings of a symposium that explored how research and higher education institutions should transform in the next 75 years to better address complex global challenges such as responding to pandemics, advancing innovation, and building and nurturing research capacity.

Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti has been appointed as chair of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Executive Committee by Marcia McNutt, president of the National Academy of Sciences. Her term begins March 4, 2023.

The Gulf of Mexico region faces numerous complex challenges, from extreme weather events to potential offshore oil spills. The National Academies’ Gulf Research Program is enlisting serious gaming as part of its strategy to help the region prepare and respond.

Today the science academies of the G-7 nations released statements calling on their governments to address systemic risks and improve decision-making related to climate change, restore and recover ocean biodiversity, and deliver better health and well-being for aging populations.

Two remarkable women who made invaluable contributions to the work of the Committee on International Security and Arms Control (CISAC) died in recent months -- Catherine Kelleher and Jo Husbands. Their accomplishments and qualities have been described well by others, including especially Women in International Security (WIIS). We at CISAC want additionally to honor their work for us.

Race, ethnicity, and ancestry labels are often used in genomics and genetics research to describe human genetic differences, which is misleading and inaccurate. Researchers and scientists who utilize genetic and genomic data should rethink and justify how and why they use these descriptors in their work.

In a new NAE Perspective, authors Barbara B. Simons and Poorvi L. Vora argue that systematic manual examination of ballots, rigorous ballot accounting procedures, and public compliance audits would increase election transparency and are urgently needed.

Strengthening and expanding critical safety net programs is necessary to address the COVID-19 pandemic’s effects on children and families, says a new report that examines the substantial toll the pandemic has taken on their health and well-being, especially those in marginalized communities.

Registration is now open for the Nobel Prize Summit “Truth, Trust and Hope,” a global conversation on how to stop misinformation from eroding public trust in science. Hosted by NAS and the Nobel Foundation, the summit takes place May 24-26 in Washington, D.C., and virtually.

The methodology used by the Census Bureau to calculate the Supplemental Poverty Measure should be updated to reflect households’ basic needs and resources to meet those needs more accurately. A new report recommends changes to better account for families’ health care, child care, and housing expenses.

With a call for a concerted effort to build a more robust native seed supply and industry, a recent National Academies report helped spur important local, state, and federal action. The momentum continues as native seed stakeholders gather in Washington, D.C., for the 2023 National Native Seed Conference.

Submissions are now being accepted for the 2023 Eric and Wendy Schmidt Awards for Excellence in Science Communications, which honor top science communicators, journalists, and research scientists who have developed creative, original work to communicate issues and advances in science, engineering, and medicine for the general public.

Most of the offshore oil and gas industry operating in the Gulf of Mexico has improved its management of systemic risk in recent years, according to a new report that also points out where uneven progress and critical gaps remain for industry and regulators to address.

The global community is in a crucial window for taking steps to address the numerous threats that climate change poses. Climate Crossroads is a major new initiative at the National Academies to help the nation meet the challenges of climate change.

The National Nuclear Security Administration needs to fundamentally rethink the strategy for its next generation of high-performance computing and cannot continue with ‘business as usual’ through shifting technical and geopolitical landscapes. Advanced computing capabilities help the NNSA ensure that the U.S. maintains a safe, secure, and reliable nuclear stockpile.

To mark Earth Day, the National Academies are highlighting a selection of our projects and activities aimed at addressing climate change, protecting the environment and natural resources, and advancing progress toward a more sustainable planet for everyone.