Pressure is mounting for enhanced governance of two powerful biotechnologies — genome editing and pathogen-enhancing research.
The big picture: Gene editing for the treatment of diseases is rapidly advancing, while the controversy over the origin of the COVID-19 virus is increasing scrutiny on how to manage the risks and benefits of dual-use research that can be used for scientific discoveries and misused by bad actors.
The next in a series of relentless heat waves is taking shape across parts of the West and northern Plains, with temperatures set to vault into the triple-digits once again from Idaho and Montana north into Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Why it matters: The West has already been extremely hot so far this summer, with a series of heat waves of unparalleled intensity for some regions.
IBM and the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS) are piloting the development of an international organization to assess and prepare for future potential threats — including pandemics, climate change catastrophes, cyber hacking and other risks.
Why it matters: As the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates, the biggest threats humanity faces don't respect national borders — and they demand scientific expertise. Creating a standby global network of talent and technical capacity could give a jump-start when the next disaster strikes.
Seventy-one large wildfires burning across the West have scorched more than 1 million acres so far this year in the U.S. Nine new large fires were added to the roster Thursday, as federal officials raised the national firefighting preparedness level to the highest posture as of Thursday.
Why it matters: In the midst of a relentless series of heat waves taking place in a region plagued by the worst drought so far in the 21st century, the forests and grasses located in western states are a tinderbox. The fire season is only expected to get worse from here.
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin has selected 18-year-0ld Oliver Daemen to fly aboard the first crewed suborbital flight of its New Shepard space system on July 20.
Why it matters: This flight will represent the culmination of years of work for Blue Origin, which has the goal of helping to build a future in which millions of people live and work in space.
California officials say a wildfire has erupted near the site of the deadliest blaze in recent American history, burning out of control across some 1,200 acres and prompting evacuation warnings in Butte County.
What's happening: While the Dixie fire is currently moving away from Paradise, was on Thursday just 10 miles from the town that was devastated by the 2018 Camp fire. Residents are worried flames could attack the town again, per AP
Researchers in California announced Wednesday that they have successfully accessed the brain waves of a man unable to speak due to severe paralysis and transformed his thoughts into sentences.
Why it matters: This is the first known "successful demonstration of direct decoding of full words from the brain activity of someone who is paralyzed and cannot speak," neurosurgeon Edward Chang, senior author on the study, said in a statement from the University of California, San Francisco.
Smoke from wildfires burning across the West has clogged skies in the U.S. and Canada and prompted air quality warnings in several states, the National Weather Service (NWS) said Wednesday.
Segments of the Amazon rainforest now emit more carbon dioxide than they can absorb because of human-caused disturbances, according to a study published in the journal Nature on Wednesday.
Why it matters: The Amazon region hosts the world's largest tropical rainforests and stores vast quantities of CO2, the primary long-lived greenhouse gas. Accelerating rates of deforestation and climate shifts due to human-caused global warming have damaged the region's effectiveness as a climate change buffer.
The Biden administration has appointed a new head of the National Climate Assessment (NCA), a pivotal, congressionally mandated report on how human-caused global warming is affecting the U.S.
Driving the news: The next NCA will be overseen by Allison Crimmins, an environmental scientist who has spent a decade at the EPA and has expertise in scientific communication.
A "wobble" in the moon's orbit will combine with rising sea levels due to the Earth's warming to bring "a decade of dramatic increases" in high-tide coastal floods across the U.S. in the 2030s, NASA warns in a new study.
Why it matters: Low-lying areas near sea level already increasingly at risk from flooding will see their situation "only get worse," per a statement from NASA administrator Bill Nelson.
