That means that in principle, humanity could crowdsource threat identification. Instead of warning the world about a new threat, scientists who are very concerned about a particular way that biology could be used to cause harm could contact a curator of the secure DNA system and say, “I’m really worried about this.” If the curator agrees, they can... See more

Almost uniformly, the starting point is one of very low power. That’s true for psychology in general, clinical and sports and exercise psychology in particular, ecology, global change biology (the field that studies how ecosystems are impacted by climate change), eco -nomics, and political science.

A study from earlier this year found that, in studies where the authors wrote that they’d be happy to share their data on request, only 6.8% actually did so when emailed.

In 2019 there were about 648 million people living in extreme poverty, subsisting on the equivalent of $2.15 per day or less. Those 648 million people made up 8.4% of world population — representing an improvement over 1990, when 35.9% of people lived on that little.

If the plan passes this quality control — and the review -ers might suggest all sorts of changes before they agree that it’s a good study design — the journal commits to publish it, regardless of whether the results are pos -itive or negative.

A group of roughly 140 scientists (as well as lawyers and physicians) met at The Asilomar Conference on Recombinant DNA in February 1975 to draft voluntary guidelines for research on recombinant DNA. The meeting set stringent standards to ensure research on recombinant DNA could proceed without endangering public health

o, in 1964, McNamara declared a new nuclear policy, stating — in very similar terms to the Navy’s strategy of a few years earlier — that the U.S. needed only enough weapons to kill roughly 30 per -cent of the Soviet Union’s population and half of its industrial capacity. At that point, all of the major cities would be destroyed; launching any more... See more

This result is exciting, in part because it suggests that something inherently positive — wider representation and democracy — is also conducive to eco -nomic growth.

But just because the Russians and Chinese are wasting their money on more nuclear weapons than they need doesn’t mean the Americans have to follow suit.