Latest National Research Council Stories
NEW YORK, July 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board on Infrastructure and the Constructed Environment (BICE), an operating unit of the Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences of the National Research Council (NRC), has elected Janice L. Tuchman, editor-in-chief of Engineering News-Record (ENR), to serve as the Board's new expert on built environment disciplines. Jan Tuchman is one of four new members recently named to this independent forum, which advises executive and legislative...
To raise science education to same level of importance as math and readingState, national, and local policymakers should elevate science education in grades K-12 to the same level of importance as reading and mathematics, says a new report from the National Research Council. The report recommends ways that leaders at all levels can improve K-12 education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.The report responds to a request from Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) for the National Science...
With an Overall Risk-Characterization FrameworkA new report from the National Research Council lays out a framework for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to systematically evaluate and compare the public health consequences of its decisions concerning a wide variety of products. Moreover, the risk-assessment framework provides a common internal language to discuss potential options and draws extensively on well-vetted risk literature to define the relevant health dimensions for FDA...
NOVATO, Calif., May 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- A panel of scientists convened by the National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academy of Sciences today released their review of the draft Bay-Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP), identifying numerous critical flaws and gaps and validating years of similar criticisms by The Bay Institute. The report, A Review Of The Use Of Science And Adaptive Management In California's Draft Bay-Delta Conservation Plan, finds fault with the BDCP on several...
The Chesapeake Bay Program is a cooperative partnership between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and jurisdictions in the bay watershed to oversee the restoration of the bay, with a major focus on controlling the extent of pollutants -- such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment -- entering it. A new report from the National Research Council assesses the framework used by these partners for tracking pollution control practices and their two-year milestone strategy, which...
A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency draft assessment of the potential health effects associated with formaldehyde exposure needs substantial revision, says a new report from the National Research Council, which recommends improvements for EPA's final assessment. The report finds that EPA supports its conclusions that formaldehyde can cause irritation to the eyes, nose, and throat; lesions in the respiratory tract; and genetic mutations at high concentrations. Furthermore, the report finds...
By elevating its life and physical sciences research program, NASA could achieve the biological understanding and technical breakthroughs needed to allow humans to be sent deeper into space, including to Mars, says a new National Research Council report. In addition, access to the space environment -- for example, on the International Space Station -- will open up further opportunities for groundbreaking research in the physical and life sciences. The report, one of a series of decadal...
INRS University, NRC Canada, and University of Ottawa make a scientific breakthroughAnother step has been taken in matter imaging. By using very short flashes of light produced by a technology developed at the national infrastructure Advanced Laser Light Source (ALLS) located at INRS University, researchers have obtained groundbreaking information on the electronic structure of atoms and molecules by observing for the first time ever electronic correlations using the method of high harmonic...
Unmanned missions to Mars and one of Jupiter's moons should be the top priorities for the American space program starting in 2013, a team of experts said on Monday.The National Research Council (NRC) released what Associated Press (AP) reporters have dubbed a "wish list" of missions that NASA should prioritize in the decade running 2013 through 2022.The study, which was sponsored by NASA and the National Science Foundation (NSF), polled experts and asked them to recommend possible...
A review released Tuesday by a panel of scientific experts casts doubt on FBI evidence that Bruce Ivins, a U.S. Army researcher, committed the deadly anthrax mailings of 2001.The report by the National Research Council (NRC), part of the National Academy of Sciences, questioned the link between a flask of anthrax bacteria in Ivins' Maryland laboratory and the anthrax-laced letters mailed to lawmakers and members of the news media in New York City and Washington, D.C., which killed five people...
