The Four Most Pressing Science Priorities for the Next President

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January 12, 2021

Dear Reader, Joe Biden and his administration face the enormous task of repairing damage from a predecessor who was hostile to science, dismissed evidence, spread conspiracy theories and rejected reality itself. Meanwhile a plague is raging. The planet is warming. Social trust is abysmal. But there is much the new president can do immediately, starting with the steps laid out in the special report from our February issue.

Sunya Bhutta, Senior Editor, Audience Engagement @sunyaaa

Policy & Ethics The Four Most Pressing Science Priorities for the Next President By THE EDITORS

Policy & Ethics To Control COVID, Biden Needs to Marshal Federal Resources--and Change Attitudes The incoming U.S. president must help skeptics see benefits in masks and persuade Congress to spend more money on testing and protective gear By Tanya Lewis

Environment Record Drop in U.S. Emissions Is No Cause for Celebration The pandemic drove a 10.3 percent decline in greenhouse gases last year but experts expect levels to rebound in 2021 By Benjamin Storrow,E&E News

Space Did We Receive a Message from a Planet Orbiting the Nearest Star? A radio blip, seemingly from Proxima Centauri, where an Earth-size planet world orbits in the habitable zone, is tantalizing—but it's probably not a signal from aliens By Avi Loeb

Climate Climate Deniers Shift Tactics to 'Inactivism' Fossil fuel interests are trying to blame climate change on individuals while also sowing division, says Michael Mann, one of their prime targets By Richard Schiffman

Physics The Mind-Expanding Power of Complementarity Embracing divergent perspectives at the same time is a key to understanding reality By Frank Wilczek

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FROM THE ARCHIVE Scientists Relieved as Joe Biden Wins Tight U.S. Presidential Election The new president has the opportunity to reverse four years of anti-science policies—but he has a hard road ahead as he inherits a nation divided By Jeff Tollefson,Nature magazine | November 2020

QUOTE OF THE DAY "[Joe Biden] inheriting a dire situation from his predecessor, who resisted some of the most important measures to contain the new coronavirus, such as prompt testing and tracing and mask wearing, and who appeared unconcerned as a winter surge of infections devastated the country." Tanya Lewis, senior editor, health and biology at Scientific American

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