August 30 -- A new report from the InterAcademy Council, an organization of the world’s science academies, including the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, says that the process used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to produce its periodic assessment reports has been a success overall, but that IPCC needs to reform its management structure, strengthen its procedures, and become more transparent to handle increasingly complex climate assessments and greater public scrutiny. The report was released today at the United Nations.
August 26 -- Beginning in September, the Marian Koshland Science Museum in Washington, D.C., will offer a new season of public programs. Art Kramer, psychology professor, University of Illinois, will host a program on training your brain with video games; Carl Zimmer, award-winning author and science journalist, will talk about communicating science using new media; and there will be a science trivia night at the museum.
August 12 -- A new report by the National Research Council identifies the highest-priority research activities for astronomy and astrophysics in the next decade that will "set the nation firmly on the path to answering profound questions about the cosmos." The decadal survey -- the Research Council's sixth -- prioritizes activities based on their ability to advance science in key areas, and for the first time also takes into account factors such as risks in technical readiness, schedule, and cost.
August 11 -- A committee of the National Academy of Engineering and National Research Council that is conducting a technical analysis of the causes of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico held its first public meeting Aug. 12 and 13 to gather information on government oversight and regulation of deep water oil exploration and drilling.
August 6 -- Effective management of water produced from coalbed methane wells in some western U.S. basins is limited by complications in the regulatory framework, not because of water quality, says a new congressionally mandated report from the National Research Council that examines management of water extracted from coalbed methane basins in Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.
