A recent discussion explored the possible risks and benefits and the need for more research

The use of high-risk radioactive materials in medical, research, and commercial applications has increased by about 30 percent in the U.S. in the last 12 years, and the government should improve security, tracking, and accountability to reduce health and security risks — while also supporting the development of nonradioactive alternatives to replace them — says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

As NASA prepares to send astronauts to the moon and Mars, it is revisiting the latest research on cancer risk from space radiation. A new report recommends NASA proceed with setting a new radiation exposure limit, and improve how it communicates cancer risk to astronauts.

Scientific thinking and knowledge are essential to democracy and the workforce, but science education is not the national priority it needs to be. The White House, with leadership from OSTP, should encourage federal agencies, state and local governments, and others to focus resources on increasing the quality and accessibility of science education.

The Gulf Research Program (GRP) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine today announced it is now accepting applications for the Offshore Energy Safety track of the 2021 Early-Career Research Fellowship (ECRF).

Congress should consider requiring all projects that are candidates for federal funding undergo resilience assessments to account for natural hazards and the changing risks stemming from climate change.

After more than a year of isolation, remote school, and disrupted routines, how can schools support students’ mental health and development? Read what youth have to say about how they’re doing, and what they need as they return to the classroom.

To explore the complex interactions between the natural world and society and enhance our understanding of Earth’s systems, the National Science Foundation should create a next-generation Earth systems science initiative.

Using lessons learned from COVID-19, a new report outlines recommendations to strengthen the U.S. Public Health Emergency Medical Countermeasures Enterprise (PHEMCE) to better protect the nation from future threats, and ensure it can deliver the vaccines, medicines, and personal protective equipment needed during a public health emergency.

Eleven years after the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the Gulf Research Program’s Offshore Situation Room event examined how to make sure another offshore oil spill doesn’t happen — and how we can be better prepared if it does.

The United States should create a national strategy by end of 2022 to reduce its outsized and increasing contribution to plastic waste in the world’s oceans.

The U.S. Coast Guard should issue a range of new guidelines and requirements to ensure the safety of passengers and crew on DUKWs or “duck boats”— those familiar amphibious vehicles often used for touring the streets and waters of many cities.

Six scientists have been selected for the Offshore Energy Safety track of the Early-Career Research Fellowship (ECRF), announced the Gulf Research Program of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Every year, nearly 5 million Americans are evaluated for traumatic brain injury (TBI). But many individuals and their caregivers don’t get needed follow-up support after initial injury. A new report recommends structural changes to improve TBI research and care over the next decade.

The COVID-19 pandemic and more frequent wildfires have highlighted the need for respiratory protection for the public and all types of workers, including essential and gig economy workers. A new report recommends frameworks to ensure both groups receive timely access to appropriate respiratory protective devices and guidance on their effective use.

A new report says wind turbine generators used in offshore wind farms can interfere with navigational radar used by ships to avoid collisions, posing challenges for safe maritime navigation.

Rapid advances in small satellite technology and associated launch and production capabilities have transformed the space industry. A new report recommends ways the government can partner with commercial entities to enhance national missions and make transformative science advancements.

The National Institutes of Health should adopt new practices and standardized language to collect data about sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation from survey respondents or research participants. Better measurements will improve data quality, as well as NIH’s ability to identify and understand LGBTQI+ populations.

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.

The Institute of Education Sciences should make changes to research activities at the National Center for Education Research and National Center for Special Education Research to meet new priorities in education, including improving equity and the usefulness of research.

The National Center for Education Statistics should make strategic changes to meet new education data needs by investing in a culture of innovation, new types of data, and expanded data access services, says the final report in a series written for the Institute of Education Sciences.

To modernize the consumer price index — the most widely used measure of inflation in the U.S. — the Bureau of Labor Statistics should accelerate its use of new sources of data and develop price indexes based on different income levels, says a new report.

To enhance and coordinate its research on autoimmune diseases, the National Institutes of Health should create an Office of Autoimmune Disease/Autoimmunity Research and a plan that spans all institutes and centers to provide an overall NIH strategy for autoimmune disease research.

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.

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.

With renewed attention on mining gold at both new and historical sites in Virginia, the state’s regulations and practices should be updated to protect against the potential environmental and health impacts of gold mining — though the risk of adverse impacts cannot be eliminated completely, says a new report.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

New nuclear reactor concepts could help the U.S. meet its long-term climate goals, but a range of technical, regulatory, economic, and societal challenges must first be overcome. A new report provides recommendations to start laying the foundation required for advanced reactors to become a viable part of the U.S. energy system.

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

Blanket bans on ransomware payments are a much-debated topic in cybersecurity and policy circles. What are the implications of outlawing the payments, and would the ban be effective?

Building efficient recovery options will drive ecosystem resilience

However, telecom operators associations COAI recently said private 5G network deployments by system integrators may lead to operational inefficiencies, capital burden, and eventually prove to be counter-productive.

Ratan Tata, the recently deceased patriarch of the Tata Group, symbolized India's industrial evolution and global ambitions. Despite mixed successes in global ventures like Corus Group and Jaguar Land Rover, he pushed for India’s integration into global markets, diverging from the local focus of current government policies.

In a call with analysts, CEO Pat Gelsinger attributed their slower uptake to software related to Gaudi and a recent transition from the second to third generation of the chip.

According to a new study by scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego, a large earthquake on one fault can trigger large aftershocks on separate faults within just a few minutes. These findings have important implications for earthquake hazard prone regions like California where ruptures on complex fault systems may cascade and lead to mega-earthquakes.

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The European Commission in September opened investigations to assess whether Microsoft's Bing, Edge and Microsoft Advertising as well as Apple's iMessage should be subject to the Digital Markets Act (DMA).

Create a one-of-a-kind beautiful and festive wreath to add to your holiday decorations. Greens from the Garden’s global plant collection and other natural adornments are included as well as a reusable wire wreath form.We recommend you bring your own hand pruners and gardening gloves.All other materials will be provided.

Create a one-of-a-kind beautiful and festive wreath to add to your holiday decorations. Greens from the Garden’s global plant collection and other natural adornments are included as well as a reusable wire wreath form. We recommend you bring your own hand pruners and gardening gloves. All other materials will be provided.

Come have a fabulous time enjoying light refreshments and finding beautiful and unusual gifts for the holidays at our special holiday shopping party in the Garden’s Julia Morgan Hall. Choose from a unique selection of gifts from local vendors as well as unique hand-crafted gifts from the Garden. We currently have 2 arrival time windows to choose from: 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm and 5:30 pm - 7:00pm. Please enter the number of people in your group for selected entry time and plan on arriving during that timeframe. Each member is allowed two additional non-member.Special Event Give-Away!If you register and attend, you will be entered into our $50 Garden Shop gift certificate give-away!Learn more and register here

Just in time for Thanksgiving and the start of the holiday season, join us for Stefani Bittner’s Fragrant Herbal Wreath class at the Botanical Garden! Participants will spend this hands-on session learning to craft beautiful, aromatic wreaths using fresh herbs and seasonal plants. The class explores the art of combining fragrant and culinary herbs. Bittner guides participants through the wreath-making process, emphasizing techniques to create durable, visually pleasing arrangements that can be used for holiday décor or as edible accents. All materials provided to go home with a beautiful 12-15 inch wreath of your own design. Garden admission and light refreshments included. Buy Stephani’s book, The Fragrant Flower Garden, at the Garden or from our Online Garden Shop!

Explore the art of natural perfumery at the UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley with Jessica Mennella of FLWR Napa Valley. Learn the foundation and techniques of natural perfumery using the Slow Scent® method of perfuming developed by renowned perfumer Mandy Aftel. Jessica Mennella, trained by Aftel, will be your instructor for this hands-on and interactive class. During the workshop, you will have the opportunity to explore 18 botanicals whose complexity of scent is linked directly to the plants and flowers from which they are derived. You will also learn the basic structure of Slow Scent® natural perfume formulation and blending techniques. No prior experience is necessary, and all materials will be provided. By the end of the workshop, you will have created your own signature perfume using the formula you developed in class. Additionally, you will receive a guide to the process of making natural perfumes. The art of natural perfumery is rooted in the history and beauty of botanical materials. And among our senses, scent has the unique ability to instantly transform our mood and life experience. Come perfume in the gardens and discover for yourself how scent can take you to another place and time. Whether you are new to natural perfumery or have attended previous workshops, you are welcome to join us!

The newest tropical depression in the northwestern Pacific Ocean formed Sunday, Sept. 11 far to the east of the big island of Japan. Tropical Depression 17W didn't have a long life, however, as the final warning on the system was issued 12 hours later. By Sept. 12 the storm lost its tropical characteristics.

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