The 24 inaugural recipients of the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Awards for Excellence in Science Communication have been announced. Given by the National Academies in partnership with Schmidt Futures, the awards recognize science journalists and research scientists who have developed creative, original work about issues and advances in science, engineering, and medicine.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry should be optimized to be a user-friendly resource and focus on improving health care quality and access for veterans and providing two-way communication between veterans who participate and the VA.

The EPA’s current framework for evaluating the scientific evidence used to set national air quality standards is effective, reliable, and scientifically defensible, according to a new National Academies report.

Following a national search, Victoria Sheehan will join the National Academies on Dec. 5 as the new executive director of the Transportation Research Board. Sheehan comes to the organization from the New Hampshire Department of Transportation, which she has led as its commissioner for the past seven years.

Life cycle assessments of low-carbon transportation fuels — such as electricity, biofuels, or hydrogen — are valuable tools for measuring environmental impacts, but uncertainties remain in the models that are currently used, and further research should be conducted to strengthen their reliability.

With a $3 million donation from the Breakthrough Prize Foundation, a high-level, international coordinating group of scientific organizations has been established to take concrete steps to support Ukraine’s scientists and research community with the aim of rebuilding a successful global science and innovation system in Ukraine.

Congress should take action to facilitate the participation of all land-grant colleges and universities in multistate research projects, says a new report. Funding disparities have prevented many historically Black and tribal colleges and universities from fully collaborating with other land-grant institutions.

To reduce racial disparities in the U.S. criminal justice system, policymakers at all levels should explore ways to decrease police stops and searches, jail detention, prison admission, and long sentences through coordinated policy reforms.

Nearly 100 students, faculty, and other experts recently gathered online for the first-ever Fall Forum of the Gulf Scholars Program, a pilot program of the National Academies’ Gulf Research Program aimed at preparing undergraduate students to address environmental, health, energy, and infrastructure challenges in the Gulf of Mexico region.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

A new National Academies report highlights how behavioral economics has built invaluable evidence about why people may act in seemingly irrational ways, how they respond to interventions, and how public policy can be designed to help people make better decisions.

The news article suggests that the donations from the Sacklers presented a conflict of interest for the National Academies’ studies on chronic pain, opioid use, and ways to combat the opioid epidemic. The Sackler funds were never used to support an advisory study on these issues.

Research funded by NIH that uses nonhuman primates is critical to the nation’s ability to respond adequately to public health emergencies and carry out high-impact biomedical research, but gaps in the systems that support research using these animal models are undermining national health emergency readiness.

Much digital ink has been spilled on artificial intelligence taking over jobs, but what about AI shaking up the hiring process in the meantime?

Ticketmaster seems to have experienced a data breach, with the ShinyHunters hacker group claiming to have exfiltrated 560 million customer data

Don’t get hacked in the first place – it costs far less than dealing with the aftermath of a successful attack

While AI can liberate us from tedious tasks and even eliminate human error, it's crucial to remember its weaknesses and the unique capabilities that humans bring to the table

These five formidable bits of kit that can assist cyber-defenders in spotting chinks in corporate armors and help hobbyist hackers deepen their understanding of cybersecurity

Scammers gonna scam scam scam, so before hunting for your tickets to a Taylor Swift gig or other in-demand events, learn how to stop fraudsters from leaving a blank space in your bank account

Here’s how to spot and dodge scams when searching for stuff on the classified ads website that offers almost everything under the sun

ESET analysts dissect a novel phishing method tailored to Android and iOS users

Android malware discovered by ESET Research relays NFC data from victims’ payment cards, via victims’ mobile phones, to the device of a perpetrator waiting at an ATM

In the digital graveyard, a new threat stirs: Out-of-support devices becoming thralls of malicious actors

Demystifying CVE-2024-7262 and CVE-2024-7263

Would a more robust cybersecurity posture impact premium costs? Does the policy offer legal cover? These are some of the questions organizations should consider when reviewing their cyber insurance options

Sometimes there’s more than just an enticing product offer hiding behind an ad

CosmicBeetle, after improving its own ransomware, tries its luck as a RansomHub affiliate

ESET researchers also find that CosmicBeetle attempts to exploit the notoriety of the LockBit ransomware gang to advance its own ends

Keep your cool, arm yourself with the right knowledge, and other tips for staying unshaken by fraudsters’ scare tactics

Despite their benefits, awareness campaigns alone are not enough to encourage widespread adoption of cybersecurity best practices

ESET research examines the group's malicious wares as used to spy on targets in Ukraine in the past two years

Building efficient recovery options will drive ecosystem resilience

The world needs more cybersecurity professionals – here are three great ways to give you an ‘in’ to the ever-growing and rewarding security industry

Ever alert to fresh money-making opportunities, fraudsters are blending physical and digital threats to steal drivers’ payment details

ESET research dives deep into a series of attacks that leveraged bespoke toolsets to compromise air-gapped systems belonging to governmental and diplomatic entities

Watch out for schemes where fraudsters trick people into sharing verification codes so they can gain access to their phone numbers

You may not always stop your personal information from ending up in the internet’s dark recesses, but you can take steps to protect yourself from criminals looking to exploit it