An Expert on Voting Machines Explains How They Work

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November 03, 2020

Dear Reader, It's Election Day in the United States, but around 100 million ballots have already been cast. Serious political tensions and fears of COVID-19 have led record-breaking numbers of Americans to vote early this year, either by mail or in person. The process of counting these votes relies on machines that vary a great deal from state to state and even from county to county. In our main story, an expert explains how voting machines work, their vulnerabilities, and what to expect on and after Election Day. In addition to our election coverage, today's roundup also features a piece by our senior editor Gary Stix on his experience donating convalescent plasma that might help in treating COVID-19 patients. And, sadly, scientists and engineers will soon determine the fate of the International Space Station. If humans don't retire it, eventually the hazards of space will.

Computing An Expert on Voting Machines Explains How They Work Election officials also rely on high-speed scanners, envelope openers and good old-fashioned paper By Sophie Bushwick

Policy & Ethics Seven Ways the Election Will Shape the Future of Science, Health and the Environment Climate change, nuclear arms control, the pandemic and more will be determined by whoever wins the White House and Congress By Andrea Thompson,Tanya Lewis,Lee Billings,Sophie Bushwick,Clara Moskowitz,Kate Wong

Policy & Ethics Climate Change—and Research—Raced Forward as Trump Turned His Back The U.S. has seen numerous climate-fueled disasters in the last four years, just as scientists have made leaps in climate science By Chelsea Harvey,E&E News

Policy & Ethics Change Species Names to Honor Indigenous Peoples, Not Colonizers, Researchers Say New Zealand scientists make a case for updating long-held scientific names to incorporate more meaningful terms By Kate Evans

Space The International Space Station Is Doomed to Die by Fire Twenty years after the famed orbital outpost went up, scientists and engineers are deciding how and when it will come back down By Meghan Bartels,SPACE.com

Behavior & Society Why Hatred and 'Othering' of Political Foes Has Spiked to Extreme Levels The new political polarization casts rivals as alien, unlikable and morally contemptible By Christie Aschwanden

Public Health How to Avoid COVID while Voting Epidemiologists offer tips for U.S. voters and poll workers to limit their chances of getting infected By Jim Daley

FROM THE STORE Playing Politics: The Science of Elections Politics makes strange bedfellows, and that becomes even more apparent when trying to analyze the science of politics. Pulling from an array of disciplines, including social science, behavioral science and mathematics, this eBook analyzes key factors in the process of electing a leader.

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FROM THE ARCHIVE On November 3, Vote to End Attacks on Science Choosing Donald Trump for president is choosing fiction over fact—a fatal mistake By THE EDITORS | October 2020

QUOTE OF THE DAY "The vote is precious. It is the most powerful non-violent tool we have in a democratic society, and we must use it." John Lewis, U.S. congressman and civil rights icon

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