The Council of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is concerned about the confusion caused by a petition being circulated via a letter from a former president of this Academy.

Reducing one of the nations leading causes of death and injury – medical errors – will require rigorous changes throughout the health care system, including mandatory reporting requirements.

Darkly colored, carotene-rich fruits and vegetables -- such as carrots, sweet potatoes, and broccoli -- provide the body with half as much vitamin A as previously thought.

To enhance the vitality and overall operation of the nations patent system, federal officials should take decisive steps to increase the systems flexibility, openness, and reliability, says a new report from the National Academies National Research Council.

Although most people who receive and manage Social Security benefits on behalf of other individuals perform their duties well.

While every mode of transportation in the U.S. will be affected as the climate changes, potentially the greatest impact on transportation systems will be flooding of roads, railways, transit systems, and airport runways in coastal areas because of rising sea levels and surges brought on by more intense storms, says a new report from the National Research Council.

The National Research Council today released its assessment of U.S. doctoral programs, which includes data on over 5,000 programs in 62 fields at 212 universities nationwide.

As of today all PDF versions of books published by the National Academies Press will be downloadable to anyone free of charge. This includes a current catalog of more than 4,000 books plus future reports produced by the Press.

The aging of the U.S. population will have broad economic consequences for the country, particularly for federal programs that support the elderly, and its long-term effects on all generations will be mediated by how -- and how quickly -- the nation responds, says a new congressionally mandated report from the National Research Council.

On average, Americans die sooner and experience higher rates of disease and injury than people in other high-income countries, says a new report from the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine.

The U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society, the national science academy of the U.K., released a joint publication today in Washington, D.C., that explains the clear evidence that humans are causing the climate to change, and that addresses a variety of other key questions commonly asked about climate change science.

A new report from the National Research Council recommends best practices that law enforcement agencies and courts should follow to improve the likelihood that eyewitness identifications used in criminal cases will be accurate.

It is now possible to estimate the influence of climate change on some types of extreme events, such as heat waves, drought, and heavy precipitation, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Today President Obama signed a Presidential Memorandum to address climate change and national security. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine look forward to taking the lead in engaging the academic community in efforts to guide this initiative, and are well-positioned to tap the broad, multidisciplinary expertise of researchers across the nation.

A new congressionally mandated report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine proposes updated revisions to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) to better align with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and promote and support breast-feeding.

The U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) has made significant accomplishments to advance the science of global environmental change and improve the understanding of its impact on society through activities such as developing Earth-observing systems, improving Earth-system modeling capabilities, and advancing understanding of carbon-cycle processes, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Assistive products and technologies – such as wheelchairs, upper-limb prostheses, and hearing and speech devices – hold promise for partially or fully mitigating the effects of impairments and enabling people with disabilities to work, but in some cases environmental and personal factors create additional barriers to employment, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

With growing risks to the nation’s electrical grid from natural disasters and as a potential target for malicious attacks, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) should work closely with utility operators and other stakeholders to improve cyber and physical security and resilience, says a new congressionally mandated report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Producing more precise county-level estimates of crops and farmland cash rents will require integrating multiple data sources using model-based predictions that are more transparent and reproducible, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

The ocean plays a critical role in climate and weather, serving as a massive reservoir of heat and water that influences tropical storms, El Nin~o, and climate change.

The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) today announced that more than 130 organizations across the U.S. -- including associations, hospital and medical systems, universities, and professional societies -- have joined NAM in declaring their commitment to reducing burnout and promoting well-being among clinicians.

The Gulf Research Program (GRP) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine today announced grant awards for seven new projects totaling $5.3 million.

While the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provides mental health care of comparable or superior quality to care provided in private and non-VA public sectors, accessibility and quality of services vary across the VA health system, leaving a substantial unmet need for mental health services among veterans of the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, says a new congressionally mandated report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

The U.S. should take bold steps to improve measurement, monitoring, and inventories of methane emissions caused by human activities, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Joint statements from the national science academies of the G7 nations were released today in advance of the G7 Summit to be held in La Malbaie, Canada, on June 8 and 9, 2018.

Introducing drone operations into the nation’s airspace can provide substantial benefits to society, such as preventing derailments, inspecting cell phone towers, delivering medical devices to patients in cardiac distress, and assisting firefighters, says a new congressionally mandated report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

A systemwide change to the culture and climate in higher education is needed to prevent and effectively respond to sexual harassment, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

The Gulf Research Program (GRP) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine today announced a new grant opportunity focused on enhancing coastal community resilience and well-being in the Gulf of Mexico region.

As new evidence about climate change and sea-level rise in South Florida continues to emerge, agencies responsible for the restoration of the Everglades should conduct a mid course assessment that rigorously analyzes scenarios of future change to the region’s ecosystem in its planning, says a new congressionally mandated report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

To achieve goals for climate and economic growth, “negative emissions technologies” (NETs) that remove and sequester carbon dioxide from the air will need to play a significant role in mitigating climate change, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Centering science instruction around investigation and design can improve learning in middle and high schools and help students make sense of phenomena in the world around them.

Over the next several decades as the global population grows, society will be faced with pressing challenges such as providing reliable supplies of food and water, diminishing climate change and adapting to its impacts, and building healthy, resilient cities.

The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) announced today that more than 100 organizations across the U.S. — including community organizations, hospital and medical systems, academia, nonprofits, and health professional societies — have joined NAM in declaring their commitment to reversing national trends in opioid misuse and overdose.

Recently, questions have been raised about climate science. The National Academies have addressed many of these questions in our independent, evidence-based reports. We are speaking out to support the cumulative scientific evidence for climate change and the scientists who continue to advance our understanding.

A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine – which reviews a separate report by a federally funded laboratory that examines options for treating low-activity radioactive waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation -- is available for public comment until Oct. 31.

Sethuraman “Panch” Panchanathan, executive vice president and chief research and innovation officer at Arizona State University (ASU), and ASU’s named representative to the National Academies’ Government-University-Industry-Research Roundtable (GUIRR), has been nominated by President Trump to serve as the next director of the National Science Foundation.

Healthy People 2030 (HP2030) – which will set national objectives for improving the health of all Americans from 2020 to 2030 – should include in its Leading Health Indicators (LHIs) voting as a measure of civic engagement, the health effects of climate change, and indicators of racial and ethnic residential segregation, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine says that enhancements to the geodetic infrastructure are needed to answer important questions about sea level rise, water resources, geological hazards, and more over the next decade.

A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine finds K-12 teachers face new expectations and more demands from policymakers, parents, students, and schools, including addressing changes in curriculum standards, the emergence of more explicit teaching goals, and shifts in what it means to support all students in their development.

In 1943, the town of Hanford in Washington State was selected by the Manhattan Project to be home to the first full-scale plutonium production reactor in the world.

A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine urges systemic action to change the culture in STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine) to address the underrepresentation of women in these fields.

A new rapid expert consultation from a standing committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine responds to questions from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) regarding survival of the COVID-19 virus in relation to temperature and humidity and potential for seasonal reduction and resurgence of cases.

Over the next five years, the U.S. Department of Defense’s Biological Threat Reduction Program (BTRP) should encourage and be among co-leaders in the federal government’s development of an enduring interagency mechanism to address an array of biological threats – including natural disease outbreaks, accidental releases, and intentional attacks -- to deployed U.S. forces and to the nation itself, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

The 1.3 million nursing home residents in the U.S. make up less than 0.5 percent of the nation’s population, but represent approximately 15 percent of COVID-19 related deaths to date.

The Department of Toxic Substances Control is claiming that FedEx Ground has mishandled hazardous materials in packages. ; Credit: Thomas Hawk/via Flickr

State regulators have sued FedEx Ground, claiming the company mishandled hazardous chemicals at facilities throughout California during the last 5 years.  

An investigation into a fire four years ago in San Diego prompted a wider inquiry into how FedEx handles restricted chemicals in statewide shipping at all of its facilities.

Regulators claim FedEx didn’t handle thousands of damaged and hazardous packages properly. The state’s complaint claims FedEx would remove damaged packages from shipping and store them for lengthy periods of time in salvage drums, which were moved from hubs to terminals within the company’s network of facilities.  

These packages contained goods ranging from insecticides and acids to old batteries and other flammable and toxic materials – pretty small shipments, less than 65 pounds, but investigators say they’ve found problems with more than 20 tons of goods shipped over a 5-year period.

Each violation alleged in the state’s lawsuit carries a penalty of up to 25-thousand dollars. In a written statement, FedEx spokeswoman Katie Wassmer says the company "complies with all applicable local, state and federal reporting requirements." 

The state-court complaint is the latest legal salvo in a dispute among California and local officials and FedEx.

Earlier this spring, FedEx sued the DTSC and district attorneys from three cities, including Los Angeles, seeking a declaration that federal law pre-empts California's waste handling laws, and that state officials are incorrectly interpreting laws governing FedEx. 

"To preserve our rights as a federally-registered motor carrier, FedEx Ground filed suit in federal court" said Wassmer. "We are confident that a thorough review of the regulatory framework through the judicial process will support our position."

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

A screencap from NBCLA of the rapidly spreading, 4,300-acre vegetation fire in the Pope Valley area of Napa County, which by Thursday had destroyed two homes and prompted the mandatory evacuation of hundreds of others.; Credit: NBCLA

Today's dryku comes from H. Hanson of Pyro Spectaculars:

Because it's so dry
Professional fireworks shows
Are the way to go

Hanson actually wrote no less than five excellent drykus about the importance of professional fireworks shows during the drought. His company will be doing the fireworks at the Rose Bowl Friday night. You can get more information about that and other shows at our Fireworks FAQ. And remember to keep sending your #drykus to @kpccdryku.

Fire:

• Firefighters continue to battle a wildfire burning near Napa. Thousands of acres have burned, and more than 200 homes have been evacuated. Fire officials said the intensity is due to the bone-dry conditions. (KPCC)

Hunger:

• Tulare County and other areas hit hard by the drought have been providing food assistance to people who've lost work because of the drought. Supplies are running short, because need is more than anticipated.

Pickers aren’t the only workers hurt by the drought. Food banks are seeing some truck drivers, too. Less picking means less product to ship.

“We think [this] is going to have a devastating effect on our families,” said Wynn, adding that Visalia Emergency Aid passed out more than 500 boxes in about three weeks. “We only have 87 boxes left to last us through the rest of summer, and we serve over 800 families a month.” (Visalia Times-Delta)

Wildlife:

• The drought is driving insects from the desert into more urban areas. They're coming in search of water and nourishment. The good news is we might see more butterflies. The bad news?

Also, expect to see more roaches, black widows and ants during the summer, when they are most active, according to David Wilcox, owner of the Yucca Valley-based Sahara Pest Control that services the Coachella Valley. (The Desert Sun)

• Lakes and rivers are lower, which means less water to warm, which means warmer water, which means less oxygen in the water, which means a lot of people worried about fish. (Fresno Bee)

Wine:

• Finally, because we need some good news this morning, some wine growers/makers say that the drought is stressing their vines perfectly. That means the wine this year should be of good quality, even if there's less of it. Stock up. (CBS Sacramento)

How has your community been affected by the drought? Share your story with a photo on Twitter or Instagram. Tag it #mydrought. For more details on our photo project, click here.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

India-based merchant payment and lending service provider BharatPe has announced disbursing funds...

New entrance at The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. ; Credit: Tim Street-Porter/The Huntington

For years, I’d feared the worst. Behind that intrusive belt of chain link and green canvas fence, with all the hidden noise of power digging machines, smashing jackhammers and growling tractors going on behind it, and heaps of dirt piled high, I dreaded that something terrible was going on in the dark, hidden heart of our dear old Huntington.

We were promised a new visitor center, a new store, a new cafe and restaurant. I imagined the Disney-fied worst: Henry Huntington’s Roller Coaster Red Car Ride; Pinky’s Pinkberry Parlor. The Blue Boy Fashion Center. Maybe even a giant Rem Koolhaas-LACMA style amoeba of purple reinforced concrete sprawling all over the lawns between the library and the old gallery.

My fears were groundless. The $68 million (not much more than the Getty paid for its new Manet) 52,000 square foot Education and Visitor Center addition is in perfect harmony with the early 20th Century original library and art gallery, perhaps more so than some previous increments, such as the nearby and blankly imposing Munger Research Center. 

The addition is named after outgoing Huntington chief Steven S. Koblik, who engineered much of the funding and planning for the facility. He’s got something to be proud of in his retirement: a new garden-centered segment of new facilities that founder, pioneer transit tycoon Henry Huntington, would probably have enthused over.

(The Huntington Store at The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Photo: Tim Porter-Street/The Huntington)

With its mighty $400 million endowment and the muscular fundraising power that enticed squillionaire Charlie Munger to donate hugely to this project (not to mention that research center), the venerable Huntington institution could have easily erected something expensively and grandiloquently modern.  

But its directorate and patrons seem to understand an important fact about the place: Most visitors don’t go there to be dazzled. We go there to be enthralled, even comforted by the century-old institution’s enduring and deeply reassuring ambiance that we are privileged to inhabit during our visits to its galleries of great art, its acreage of exquisite gardens and Arcadian vistas.

The Huntington possesses what designer Sheryl Barton, who co-created the new landscaping with the Huntington’s Jim Folsom, spoke of at the opening press conference as “the choreography of experience.”

That experience includes the new California-Mediterranean groves and gardens and the low-lying new structure that includes an expanded store, new classrooms, courts, cafes and an auditorium. With its simple, Tuscan-columned loggias and red-tiled roofs (and, oh, yes, even that showy glass dome on the Rose Hills Foundation Garden Court), it all effortlessly blends into the traditional whole.

Although the Huntington doesn’t seem to be planning on a new influx of visitors, it’s hard to see this new, more user-friendly front office isn’t going to attract more people to its San Marino location than the current 600,000 per year.

Particularly considering how regional museum attendance in general has boomed over recent decades. Will this abate the quiet private experience many of us Huntington fans have shared and treasured over the years?

(The Huntington will be installing this Alexander Calder sculpture, the  Jerusalem Stabile, this spring. Here, it's seen at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Calder Foundation; gift of the Philip & Muriel Berman Foundation to the Calder Foundation. Copyright © 2015 Calder Foundation /Artists Rights Society (ARS) Used with permission of The Huntington)

Probably. But there will also be important new things to see — like  Alexander Calder’s 12-by-20-foot Jerusalem Stabile, which beckons you into the new addition, and two powerful, newly acquired murals by the great 20th Century California artists Millard Sheets and Doyle Lane. Plus a new and glorious vista from the cafe’s terrace over to the original old Huntington villa — now gallery — where all this began, over a century ago.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

; Credit: Shoreline/Flickr

We’ve all done it. Gone to the beach. Hunkered up against the cliffs to get out of the sun. And not thought about what’s right above us.

“Even though you’re sitting amongst store fronts, large communities, private residences, it still is a wild place,” said Brian Ketterer, Coastal Division Chief for California State parks. 

It’s normal for cliffs to erode as water, wind and human contact all work to break them down.

“If you’re going to be that close that you can see cracks and fissures in the soil content itself, that probably means that you’re sitting or standing too close to that bluff area,” said Ketterer 

Look out for posted signs and ask life guards if it’s safe, but know that this isn’t going to get better over time. Sea level rise – part of our climate crisis –could mean more erosion, which could mean even more cliff collapses.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.