Catawba County Home Health is empowering older adults to lower their risk of falling through a new service called Smart Moves.

A bold national initiative is needed to reduce the enormous health burden of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in the United States, according to a new report from a committee of the Institute of Medicine.

Smokers who are exposed to radon appear to be at even greater risk for lung cancer, because the effects of smoking and radon are more powerful when the two factors are combined, says a new report by a committee of the National Research Council.

Radon in household water supplies increases peoples overall exposure to the gas, but waterborne radon poses few risks to human health, says a new report by a committee of the National Research Council.

The National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Education should promote routine early screenings of children for autistic spectrum disorders, much like they are promoted for vision and hearing problems, says a new report from the National Research Council of the National Academies.

Based on a thorough review of clinical and epidemiological studies, neither the mercury-based vaccine preservative thimerosal nor the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine are associated with autism, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies.

Good afternoon. On behalf of the Institute of Medicine and the entire committee, I would like to welcome reporters and guests to the release of our report, Vaccines and Autism.

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.

Increasing the minimum age of legal access (MLA) to tobacco products will prevent or delay initiation of tobacco use by adolescents and young adults, particularly those ages 15 to 17, and improve the health of Americans across the lifespan, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine.

The emerging science of gene drives has the potential to address environmental and public health challenges, but gene-drive modified organisms are not ready to be released into the environment and require more research in laboratories and highly controlled field trials, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

While scientists have made remarkable advancements in astronomy and astrophysics since the beginning of this decade – notably the first detection of gravitational waves and the discovery of distant Earth-like planets – unforeseen constraints have slowed progress toward reaching some of the priorities and goals outlined in the Academies’ 2010 decadal survey of these disciplines, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

A new book from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine outlines how educators can develop and adapt student assessments for the classroom that reflect the approach to learning and teaching science described in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and similar standards.

Efforts to control brucellosis in the Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA) should focus on reducing the risk of transmission from elk, which are now viewed as the primary source of the infection in new cases occurring in cattle and domestic bison, says a new report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) is making progress toward achieving its statutory mission and goals, says a new congressionally mandated report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

A new congressionally mandated report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine takes a comprehensive look at evidence on the human health effects of e-cigarettes.

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.

The emergence of inexpensive small unmanned aircraft systems (sUASs) that operate without a human pilot, commonly known as drones, has led to adversarial groups threatening deployed U.S. forces, especially infantry units.

The U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) asked the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to review the draft Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4) – a congressionally mandated report that evaluates the state of climate science and the broad range of impacts of climate change in the United States every four years – and the draft Second State of the Carbon Cycle Report (SOCCR2) – a report that feeds into the overall assessment process developed by the USGCRP.

Sexual harassment in science, engineering, and medicine diminishes the integrity of the U.S. research enterprise.

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.

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.

If the dilute and dispose approach for disposing of the surplus plutonium in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) is fully implemented, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) should use two independent review teams to develop public trust in and improve its decisions, says a new interim report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Along with participation in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project – a large, international burning plasma experiment – the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) should start a national program of accompanying research and technology to build a compact pilot plant that produces electricity from fusion at the lowest possible capital cost, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine have joined with over 40 colleges, universities, and research institutions to launch an Action Collaborative on Preventing Sexual Harassment in Higher Education.

Assessments of a person’s ability to function at work provide important information for disability determinations, and many validated tests are available to assess work-related physical and mental functions.

A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine finds that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys (EPA) approach to its ongoing Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) assessment plan is appropriate for synthesizing the scientific evidence and quantifying estimates of inorganic arsenic toxicity.

In light of the present situation in the U.S., we believe that it is essential to explore a wide range of options for treating the increasing numbers of very ill patients with COVID-19 respiratory illness.

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

Federal agencies, including the National Science Foundation (NSF), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the Office of Naval Research (ONR), and Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), should better coordinate their activities in plasma science research if the United States is to remain a leader in plasma science and engineering (PSE), says a new decadal report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Most U.S. colleges and universities are struggling to adjust to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Historically Black Colleges and Universities — known as HBCUs — are facing their own unique challenges.

A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine provides a blueprint and eight overarching strategies for improving health care for the approximately 100,000 people in the United States living with sickle cell disease (SCD).

The Action Collaborative on Preventing Sexual Harassment in Higher Education, a group of over 60 colleges, universities, and research institutions working to prevent sexual harassment, has released a repository of information on their efforts, along with an annual report on the Action Collaborative’s activities.

This summer, as COVID-19 continued its spread across the U.S., the National Academies brought together engineers, virologists, public health experts, and others for a meeting to dive into the rapidly evolving science of COVID-19 airborne transmission.

In 2010 a group of researchers conducted an experiment in which they pretended to be students, emailing 6,500 professors in nearly 90 academic fields at 259 universities with a request to discuss research before applying for a doctoral program. The text of the messages was identical, but the sender’s name was varied to signal race and gender, such as Brad Anderson, Latoya Brown, and Mei Chen.

Significantly reducing lead emissions from gasoline-powered aircraft will require the leadership and strategic guidance of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and a broad-based and sustained commitment by other government agencies and the nation’s pilots, airport managers, aviation fuel and service suppliers, and aircraft manufacturers, says a new congressionally mandated report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

The National Academies’ Action Collaborative on Preventing Sexual Harassment in Higher Education has launched a new Partner Network to include a range of higher education-focused organizations in sharing their work to prevent and address sexual harassment in higher education. Thirteen organizations have joined the Partner Network as an inaugural group.

For people who use wheelchairs, air travel comes with many hardships. A new report assesses the feasibility of securing travelers’ personal motorized wheelchairs in the cabin of an airplane as well as the safety and other considerations that must be analyzed.

This Guidance Document is a product of the National Academies’ Action Collaborative on Preventing Sexual Harassment in Higher Education, which presents information and identifies guidance based on existing research literature.

In many university departments, graduate students may be wholly dependent on their advisers for funding and academic support — a difference in power that raises the risk of sexual harassment. At a recent summit of the Action Collaborative on Preventing Sexual Harassment in Higher Education, speakers explored how to diffuse those power differences.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should make changes to its integrated risk information system (IRIS) assessments handbook to ensure it provides clear operational instructions for those conducting assessments, and transparency regarding the assessment process, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress — which produces the “Nation’s Report Card” and other critical education data — should make changes to understand and reduce its costs and open the door to innovation.

Assessing the success of ecological restoration efforts since the Deepwater Horizon platform explosion and oil spill in 2010 will require continued improvements in data analysis and coordination across the Gulf of Mexico region.

The Action Collaborative on Preventing Sexual Harassment in Higher Education today released three new individually authored publications to serve as resources for higher education institutions as they work to prevent sexual harassment and mitigate the damage it causes.

This perspective paper addresses the recommendations of a 2018 report by the National Academies on sexual harassment by exploring how a procedural justice framework could help guide improvements and revisions to policies, processes, and practices within higher education institutions with the potential to mitigate the negative experiences and outcomes of those affected by sexual harassment.

Recidivism is an inadequate measurement of a person’s success after release from prison. Researchers should develop supplementary measures that evaluate multiple areas of a person’s life — including employment, housing, health, social support, and personal well-being — and that examine interactions with the criminal justice system with more nuance.

A range of ‘climate-smart’ farming practices have the potential to lower greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and help sequester carbon dioxide emitted by other parts of the economy. A recent webinar explored how to expand use of these practices.

EPA should conduct an ecological risk assessment of ultraviolet filters used in sunscreens, given the evidence that aquatic ecosystems in the U.S. and possibly endangered species are exposed to these UV filters, and given the importance of these ingredients in skin cancer prevention.

This perspective paper is a product of the Action Collaborative on Preventing Sexual Harassment in Higher Education of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. It is intended to identify and discuss a topic in need of research.

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.