Sharing Water: Making Decisions About Sustainable Water Management
Water: we need it every day, and use it in countless ways. As the world enters the second decade of the 21st century, the human community finds itself searching for new paradigms for water supply and management in response to expanding populations, sprawling development, climate change, and the limits of existing conventional supplies. The following [...]
State of the Union 2012 Highlights
In Tuesday’s State of the Union address, the President touched on important issues facing our country. Reports from the National Academies can inform debate and guide decision making in areas of public policy, science, engineering, and education. All are free to download. Remarks of President Barack Obama in State of the Union Address Mr. Speaker, [...]
Cybersecurity: Issues in Defending Networks and Systems from Cyberattack and Cyberespionage
Last week the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reported that it was a target of a cyber break-in, an attack designed to infiltrate the IMF in order to gain sensitive insider privileged information. Intrusions into secure networks of organizations such as the IMF focus the public’s attention on the subject of cybersecurity. We asked Herb Lin, [...]
More than 4,000 National Academies Press PDFs Now Available to Download for Free
The National Academies—National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council—are committed to distributing their reports to as wide an audience as possible. Since 1994 we have offered “Read for Free” options for almost all our titles. In addition, we have been offering free downloads of most of our [...]
Commercial Mobile Alert System: The Future of Emergency Warning Notification
In emergency situations it is critical to obtain accurate information quickly. As our technology has evolved, so have our abilities to communicate. In the 1950’s, the state of Kansas instituted a basic tornado alert system of fire station sirens to warn residents of small towns to take shelter, saving many lives. Recent emergency communication capabilities, [...]
State of the Union Highlights
In Tuesday’s State of the Union address, the President touched on many important issues facing our country. To learn more about those issues, we are pleased to offer authoritative resources from the National Academies in the areas of public policy, science, engineering, and medicine. Remarks of President Barack Obama in State of the Union Address [...]
America’s Energy Future Wins 2010 Choice Magazine Outstanding Academic Titles Award
America’s Energy Future: Technology and Transformation was selected by Choice Magazine as one of 2010′s Outstanding Academic Titles. The book is a joint effort of the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and National Research Council, and represents the culmination of the first phase of the America’s Energy Future Project. The authoring committee, [...]
The Global HIV/AIDS Crisis: Resources to Inform Decision Making
In 2008, more than 33 million people across the globe had HIV/AIDS, 67 percent of whom were in Africa. In addition, more than 90 percent of the 2.7 million new infections reported that year occurred in Africa, and only half of Africans who should have received antiretroviral therapy (ART) according to World Health Organization guidelines [...]
Getting Personal: Balancing Privacy and Security in the Fight Against Terrorism
Recent debate over full-body scanners at airport security checkpoints once again highlights the issues we face in balancing security with privacy. We are observed at work, in stores, and on the street by security systems. By our own choice, we use online resources to bank, shop, contact friends and family, and apply for loans. In [...]
Biosafety and Research: Controversy in Kansas
Monday, the National Research Council released a report that finds “several major shortcomings” in a U.S. Department of Homeland Security assessment of risks associated with operating the proposed National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) in Manhattan, Kan. The National Research Council review of the DHS risk assessment finds that there is nearly a 70 percent [...]
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