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Scientific Evidence Supporting Evolution Continues To Grow - Nonscientific Approaches Do Not Belong In Science Classrooms

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and Institute of Medicine (IOM) today released SCIENCE, EVOLUTION, AND CREATIONISM, a book designed to give the public a comprehensive and up-to-date picture of the current scientific understanding of evolution and its importance in the science classroom.




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Badly Fragmented Forensic Science System Needs Overhaul - Evidence to Support Reliability of Many Techniques is Lacking

A congressionally mandated report from the National Research Council finds serious deficiencies in the nations forensic science system and calls for major reforms and new research.




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The National Academies Press Makes All PDF Books Free to Download - More Than 4000 Titles Now Available Free to All Readers

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.




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Report Calls for Creation of a Biomedical Research and Patient Data Network For More Accurate Classification of Diseases, Move Toward Precision Medicine

A new data network that integrates emerging research on the molecular makeup of diseases with clinical data on individual patients could drive the development of a more accurate classification of disease and ultimately enhance diagnosis and treatment, says a new report from the National Research Council.




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Daniel Kahnemans Thinking, Fast and Slow Wins Best Book Award From Academies - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Slate Magazine, and WGBH/NOVA Also Take Top Prizes in Awards 10th Year

Recipients of the 10th annual Communication Awards were announced today by the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine.




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Population Aging Will Have Long-Term Implications for Economy - Major Policy Changes Needed

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.




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Electric Power Grid Inherently Vulnerable to Terrorist Attacks - Report Delayed in Classification Review, Will Be Updated

The U.S. electric power delivery system is vulnerable to terrorist attacks that could cause much more damage to the system than natural disasters such as Hurricane Sandy, blacking out large regions of the country for weeks or months and costing many billions of dollars, says a newly released report by the National Research Council.




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Rates of Physical and Sexual Child Abuse Appear to Have Declined Over the Last 20 Years - Rates of Child Neglect Show No Decline, Constitute 75 Percent of Reported Cases, Says New IOM Report

Rates of physical and sexual abuse of children have declined over the last 20 years, but for reasons not fully understood, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine. Yet, reports of psychological and emotional child abuse have risen in the same period, and data vary significantly as to whether child neglect is increasing, decreasing, or remaining constant.




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Extensive Study on Concussions in Youth Sports Finds Culture of Resistance for Self-Reporting Injury - Not Enough Evidence to Support Claim That Helmets Reduce Concussion Risk

Young athletes in the U.S. face a culture of resistance to reporting when they might have a concussion and to complying with treatment plans.




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U.S. Should Significantly Reduce Rate of Incarceration - Unprecedented Rise in Prison Population ‘Not Serving the Country Well,’ Says New Report

Given the minimal impact of long prison sentences on crime prevention and the negative social consequences and burdensome financial costs of U.S. incarceration rates, which have more than quadrupled in the last four decades, the nation should revise current criminal justice policies to significantly reduce imprisonment rates, says a new report from the National Research Council.




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Report Urges Caution in Handling and Relying Upon Eyewitness Identifications in Criminal Cases, Recommends Best Practices for Law Enforcement and Courts

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.




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Young Adults Ages 18 to 26 Should Be Viewed as Separate Subpopulation - In ‘Critical Development Period,’ They Face Economic and Social Challenges While Brain Is Still Maturing, Says New Report

Young adults ages 18-26 should be viewed as a separate subpopulation in policy and research, because they are in a critical period of development when successes or failures could strongly affect the trajectories of their lives, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council.




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Climate Intervention Is Not a Replacement for Reducing Carbon Emissions - Proposed Intervention Techniques Not Ready for Wide-Scale Deployment

There is no substitute for dramatic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions to mitigate the negative consequences of climate change, a National Research Council committee concluded in a two-volume evaluation of proposed climate-intervention techniques.




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Increase in the Number of Children Who Receive Federal Disability Benefits for Speech and Language Disorders Similar to Trends in the General Population, Says New Report

The increase in the number of children from low-income families who are receiving federal disability benefits for speech and language disorders over the past decade parallels the rise in the prevalence of these disorders among all U.S. children, says a new report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.




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Clinical Investigations of Mitochondrial Replacement Techniques Are ‘Ethically Permissible’ If Significant Conditions Are Met, Says New Report

Conducting clinical investigations of mitochondrial replacement techniques (MRT) in humans is ethically permissible as long as significant conditions and principles are met, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.




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Biomarker Tests for Molecularly Targeted Therapies Need Better Evidence, Oversight

Potentially useful biomarker tests for molecularly targeted therapies are not being adopted appropriately into clinical practice because of a lack of common evidentiary standards necessary for regulatory, reimbursement, and treatment decisions, says a new report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.




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Latest and Final Biennial Review of Health Problems That May Be Linked to Agent Orange Exposure During Vietnam War

The latest and final in a series of congressionally mandated biennial reviews of the evidence of health problems that may be linked to exposure to Agent Orange and other herbicides used during the Vietnam War changed the categorization of health outcomes for bladder cancer, hypothyroidism, and spina bifida and clarified the breadth of the previous finding for Parkinson’s disease.




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New Report Recommends Research to Improve Understanding of Relationship Between Fatigue and Crash Risk for Truck and Bus Drivers

Insufficient sleep can decrease a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) driver’s level of alertness, which may increase the risk of a crash, yet little is known about effective ways to minimize that risk, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.




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New Report Identifies Six Practices to Improve Health Care for Disadvantaged Populations

A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine identifies six promising practices to improve health care for individuals with social risk factors for poor health care outcomes, such as people who are in a low socio-economic position, reside in disadvantaged neighborhoods, identify as a racial or ethnic minority, or possess limited health literacy.




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Defining and Classifying Crime – New Report

Since 1930, the FBI has served as central coordinator of data on known criminal offenses, combining reports from approximately 18,000 local law enforcement agencies under the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program.




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Global Commissions That Reflected on Ebola Outbreak Highlight Overlapping Conclusions in New PLOS Medicine Piece

To make the world safer against future infectious disease threats, national health systems should be strengthened, the World Health Organization’s emergency and outbreak response activities should be consolidated and bolstered, and research and development should be enhanced, says a new Policy Forum article that appears in the May 19 edition of PLOS Medicine.




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Sustaining Strong Safety Culture for Offshore Oil and Gas Operations Requires Collective Action Among Industry and Regulators

To transform the offshore oil and gas industry’s safety culture, operators, contractors, subcontractors, associations representing these groups, and federal regulators should collaborate to foster safety throughout all levels of the industry and confront challenges collectively, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.




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Possible to Account for Disadvantaged Populations in Medicare’s Value-Based Payment Programs and Improve Payment Status Quo, Says New Report

A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine says that Medicare’s value-based payment programs could take into account social risk factors – such as low socio-economic position, residence in disadvantaged neighborhoods, or race and ethnicity – but any proposal to do so will entail both advantages and disadvantages that need to be carefully considered.




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General Support for Science Does Not Always Correlate With Attitudes Toward Specific Science Issues, Says New Report

U.S. adults perform comparably to adults in other economically developed countries on most measures of science knowledge and support science in general, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.




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National Academy of Medicine Launches Action Collaborative to Promote Clinician Well-Being and Combat Burnout, Depression, and Suicide Among Health Care Workers

In response to alarming evidence of high rates of depression and suicide among U.S. health care workers, the National Academy of Medicine is launching a wide-ranging “action collaborative” of multiple organizations to promote clinician well-being and resilience.




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New Report Calls for Forward-Looking Analysis and a Review of Restoration Goals for the Everglades

To ensure the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) is responsive to changing environmental conditions like climate change and sea-level rise, as well as to changes in water management, a new report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine calls for a re-examination of the program’s original restoration goals and recommends a forward-looking, systemwide analysis of Everglades restoration outcomes across a range of scenarios.




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Federal Regulatory Agencies Need to Prepare for Greater Quantity and Range of Biotechnology Products

A profusion of biotechnology products is expected over the next five to 10 years, and the number and diversity of new products has the potential to overwhelm the U.S. regulatory system, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.




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New Report Lays Plan to Eliminate 90,000 Hepatitis B and C Deaths by 2030

Hepatitis B and C kill more than 20,000 people every year in the United States.




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New Report Calls on Federal and State Collaboration to Address Brucellosis Transmission From Elk

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.




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New Report Calls for NSF to Develop Strategic Plan Specifying Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Research Priorities

The social, behavioral, and economic (SBE) sciences make significant contributions to the National Science Foundation’s mission to advance health, prosperity and welfare, national defense, and progress in science, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.




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New Report Recommends Construction of Four New Polar Icebreakers of the Same Design as the Lowest-Cost Strategy for Protecting U.S. Interests in Arctic and Antarctic

The U.S. lacks icebreaking capability in the Arctic and Antarctic and should build four polar icebreakers with heavy icebreaking capability to help minimize the life-cycle costs of icebreaker acquisition and operations, says a new congressionally mandated letter report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.




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New Report Lays Out Strategy to Evaluate Evidence of Adverse Human Health Effects From Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals at Low Doses

A new report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine proposes a strategy that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should use to evaluate the evidence of adverse human health effects from low doses of exposure to chemicals that can disrupt the endocrine system.




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New Report Outlines Research Agenda to Better Understand the Relationship Among Microbiomes, Indoor Environments, and Human Health

New Report Outlines Research Agenda to Better Understand the Relationship Among Microbiomes, Indoor Environments, and Human Health




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Statement Regarding National Academies Study on Potential Health Risks of Living in Proximity to Surface Coal Mining Sites in Central Appalachia

In an August 18 letter, the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement informed the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that it should cease all work on a study of the potential health risks for people living near surface coal mine sites in Central Appalachia.




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NASA Should Continue its Large Strategic Missions to Maintain United States’ Global Leadership in Space

NASA’s large strategic missions like the Hubble Space Telescope, the Curiosity rover on Mars, and the Terra Earth observation satellite are essential to maintaining the United States’ global leadership in space exploration and should continue to be a primary component of a balanced space science program that includes large, medium, and smaller missions, says a new report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.




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Policies Governing Dual-Use Research in the Life Sciences Are Fragmented - Most Scientists Have Little Awareness of Issues Related to Biosecurity

A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine examines policies and practices governing dual-use research in the life sciences – research that could potentially be misused to cause harm – and its findings identify multiple shortcomings.




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DOE Should Take Steps Toward Facilitating Energy Development on Its Public Lands

The U.S. Department of Energy should place a higher priority on developing an accurate and actionable inventory of agency-owned or managed properties that can be leased or sold for energy development, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.




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Substantial Gap Exists Between Demand for Organ Transplants in U.S. and Number of Transplants Performed - New Report Offers Ethical, Regulatory, and Policy Framework for Research to Increase Quantity & Quality of Organs For Transplantation, Save Lives

The number of patients in the U.S. awaiting organ transplantation outpaces the amount of transplants performed in the U.S., and many donated organs are not transplanted each year due to several factors, such as poor organ function, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.




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U.S. Ocean Observation Critical to Understanding Climate Change, But Lacks Long-Term National Planning

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.




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Consumer Access to Affordable Medicines Is a Public Health Imperative, Says New Report - Government Negotiation of Drug Prices, Prevention of ‘Pay-for-Delay’ Agreements, and Increased Financial Transparency Among Recommendations

Consumer access to effective and affordable medicines is an imperative for public health, social equity, and economic development, but this need is not being served adequately by the biopharmaceutical sector, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.




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U.S. Has Lost Its Dominance in Highly Intense, Ultrafast Laser Technology to Europe and Asia

The U.S. is losing ground in a second laser revolution of highly intense, ultrafast lasers that have broad applications in manufacturing, medicine, and national security, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.




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Report Offers Framework to Guide Decisions About Spirit Lake and Toutle River System at Mount St. Helens - Inclusive Decision-Making Process Is Needed

A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine offers a framework to guide federal, tribal, state and local agencies, community groups, and other interested and affected parties in making decisions about the Spirit Lake and Toutle River system, near Mount St. Helens in southwest Washington state.




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NIOSH, BLS, and OSHA Should Strengthen Coordination for Occupational Injury, Illness, and Exposure Surveillance

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) should lead a collaborative effort with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the states to establish and strengthen regional occupational safety and health surveillance programs, says a new report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.




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Unclassified Version of New Report Predicts Small Drone Threats to Infantry Units, Urges Development of Countermeasures

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.




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NAS, NAE, and NAM Presidents Honor American 2017 Nobel Laureates

NAS President Marcia McNutt, NAE President C. D. Mote, Jr., and NAM President Victor J. Dzau honored U.S. 2017 Nobel Prize recipients Barry Barish, Joachim Frank, Michael Rosbash, Kip Thorne, and Michael Young at a reception on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, April 18. U.S. Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Christopher Coons (D-Del.) co-hosted the event.




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Academic Institutions Should Prepare Undergraduates for a Data-Driven Workplace, New Report Recommends

All U.S. undergraduate students should develop a basic understanding of data science to prepare them adequately for the workforce, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.




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Public Transit Agencies Should Not Have to Disclose Safety Planning Records in Court, Similar to Laws for State Highway Agencies and Passenger Railroads, Says New Report

To enable public transit agencies to engage in more rigorous and effective safety planning, their safety planning records should not be admissible as evidence in civil litigation, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.




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National Academies Launch “New Voices” Project to Engage Next-Generation Leaders in Science, Engineering, and Medicine

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine are launching the “New Voices in Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine” initiative to identify outstanding early-career science, engineering, and medicine (SEM) leaders.




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To Increase Protection of Miners from Black Lung Disease, A Comprehensive Report on Underground Coal Mine Dust Exposure Says Monitoring and Sampling Should Go Beyond Regulatory Compliance

Black lung disease cases in coal miners have been increasing since 2000 for uncertain reasons.




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NASA Should Update Policies That Protect Planets and Other Solar System Bodies During Space Exploration Missions, New Report Says

The current process for planetary protection policy development is inadequate to respond to increasingly complex solar system exploration missions, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.