Throwback Thursday: Science, Evolution, and Creationism

Science, Evolution, and Creationism explains the fundamental methods of science, documents the overwhelming evidence in support of biological evolution, and evaluates the alternative perspectives offered by advocates of various kinds of creationism, including “intelligent design.” The book explores the many fascinating inquiries being pursued that put the science of evolution to work in preventing and treating human disease, developing new agricultural products, and fostering industrial innovations.

Our Evolution Collection details the extensive evidence that exists in support of biological evolution, stresses the importance of biodiversity and ecosystem management, and evaluates the alternative perspectives offered by various kinds of creationism. These reports also focus on how science and religion can be viewed as different ways of understanding the world, rather than as frameworks that are in conflict with each other.

Science, Evolution, and Creationism

Science, Evolution, and Creationism

How did life evolve on Earth? The answer to this question can help us understand our past and prepare for our future. Although evolution provides credible and reliable answers, polls show that many people turn away from science, seeking other …

Mitigating the Misuse of Life Sciences Research

Dual Use Research of Concern in the Life Sciences: Current Issues and Controversies examines the U.S. strategy for reducing biosecurity risks in life sciences research and considers mechanisms that would allow researchers to manage the dissemination of the results of research while mitigating the potential for harm to national security.

On October 20th, members of the authoring committee for the report, Arturo Casadevall and Claire Fraser, participated in a Reddit AMA discussing the misuse of life sciences research and ways to mitigate this threat. Read the archive here.

Learn more about biosecurity with our collection.

Dual Use Research of Concern in the Life Sciences: Current Issues and Controversies

Dual Use Research of Concern in the Life Sciences: Current Issues and Controversies

The potential misuse of advances in life sciences research is raising concerns about national security threats. Dual Use Research of Concern in the Life Sciences: Current Issues and Controversies examines the U.S. strategy for reducing biosecurity risks in life sciences research and …

Gain-of-Function Research: Summary of the Second Symposium, March 10-11, 2016

Gain-of-Function Research: Summary of the Second Symposium, March 10-11, 2016

On March 10-11, 2016, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine held a public symposium on potential U.S. government policies for the oversight of gain-of- function (GOF) research. This was the Academies’ second meeting held at the request of the U.S. government to provide …

Challenges and Opportunities for Education About Dual Use Issues in the Life Sciences

Challenges and Opportunities for Education About Dual Use Issues in the Life Sciences

The Challenges and Opportunities for Education About Dual Use Issues in the Life Sciences workshop was held to engage the life sciences community on the particular security issues related to research with dual use potential. More than 60 participants from almost 30 countries took part and …

Understanding Biosecurity: Protecting Against the Misuse of Science in Today's World

Understanding Biosecurity: Protecting Against the Misuse of Science in Today’s World

Drawing on the work of the National Academies, this booklet introduces some of the issues at the intersection of science and security. The life sciences offer tremendous promise for meeting many 21st century challenges. But with opportunities come responsibilities. An important aspect of …

The Great ShakeOut

Did you participate in the Great ShakeOut earthquake drill today? It is imperative that communities and the nation consider the difficult fiscal, social, cultural, and environmental choices about the best ways to ensure basic security and quality of life against earthquakes. These books present a roadmap for increasing our national resilience to earthquakes and outline additional information, data, gaps, and obstacles that need to be addressed in order to do so.

The Cascadia Megaquake webinar series focused on the science and engineering associated with the earthquake source, the hazards, current strategies to mitigate loss of life, and emerging opportunities in early warning and reducing uncertainty.

National Earthquake Resilience: Research, Implementation, and Outreach

National Earthquake Resilience: Research, Implementation, and Outreach

The United States will certainly be subject to damaging earthquakes in the future. Some of these earthquakes will occur in highly populated and vulnerable areas. Coping with moderate earthquakes is not a reliable indicator of preparedness for a major earthquake in a populated area. The recent, …

Disaster Resilience: A National Imperative

Disaster Resilience: A National Imperative

No person or place is immune from disasters or disaster-related losses. Infectious disease outbreaks, acts of terrorism, social unrest, or financial disasters in addition to natural hazards can all lead to large-scale consequences for the nation and its communities. Communities and the nation …

Tsunami Warning and Preparedness: An Assessment of the U.S. Tsunami Program and the Nation's Preparedness Efforts

Tsunami Warning and Preparedness: An Assessment of the U.S. Tsunami Program and the Nation’s Preparedness Efforts

Many coastal areas of the United States are at risk for tsunamis. After the catastrophic 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean, legislation was passed to expand U.S. tsunami warning capabilities. Since then, the nation has made progress in several related areas on both the federal and state levels. …

The Future of Energy

Electricity is indispensable to modern society, but emissions resulting from many forms of electricity generation create environmental risks that continue to threaten significant negative economic, security, and human health consequences. How can we balance the affordability and reliability of more traditional methods with the low emissions of cleaner power generation? Our reports discuss options and opportunities to move towards increasingly clean electric power technologies.

The Power of Change: Innovation for Development and Deployment of Increasingly Clean Electric Power Technologies

The Power of Change: Innovation for Development and Deployment of Increasingly Clean Electric Power Technologies

Electricity, supplied reliably and affordably, is foundational to the U.S. economy and is utterly indispensable to modern society. However, emissions resulting from many forms of electricity generation create environmental risks that could have significant negative economic, security, and human …

Enhancing the Resilience of the Nation's Electricity System

Enhancing the Resilience of the Nation’s Electricity System

Americans’ safety, productivity, comfort, and convenience depend on the reliable supply of electric power. The electric power system is a complex “cyber-physical” system composed of a network of millions of components spread out across the continent. These components are owned, operated, …

Overcoming Barriers to Deployment of Plug-in Electric Vehicles

Overcoming Barriers to Deployment of Plug-in Electric Vehicles

In the past few years, interest in plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) has grown. Advances in battery and other technologies, new federal standards for carbon-dioxide emissions and fuel economy, state zero-emission-vehicle requirements, and the current administration’s goal of putting millions of …

Utilizing the Energy Resource Potential of DOE Lands

Utilizing the Energy Resource Potential of DOE Lands

The potential for energy resource development on Department of Energy (DOE)-managed lands remains a topic of interest within DOE, Congress, and with private developers interested in siting projects on DOE lands. Several previous studies have estimated the energy resource development potential …

Commercial Aircraft Propulsion and Energy Systems Research: Reducing Global Carbon Emissions

Commercial Aircraft Propulsion and Energy Systems Research: Reducing Global Carbon Emissions

The primary human activities that release carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere are the combustion of fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, and oil) to generate electricity, the provision of energy for transportation, and as a consequence of some industrial processes. Although aviation CO2 …

An Assessment of the Prospects for Inertial Fusion Energy

An Assessment of the Prospects for Inertial Fusion Energy

The potential for using fusion energy to produce commercial electric power was first explored in the 1950s. Harnessing fusion energy offers the prospect of a nearly carbon-free energy source with a virtually unlimited supply of fuel. Unlike nuclear fission plants, appropriately designed fusion …

Addressing the Energy-Water Nexus: 2013-2014 Meetings in Brief

Addressing the Energy-Water Nexus: 2013-2014 Meetings in Brief

Adequate water and energy are critical to the continued economic security of the United States. The relationship between energy and water is complex, and the scientific community is increasingly recognizing the importance of better understanding the linkages between these two resource domains. …

Free Resources to Support High-Quality Cancer Care

In the United States, more than 1.6 million people are diagnosed with cancer each year. However, rising costs are making cancer care less affordable for patients and their families and there are growing shortages of health professionals skilled in providing cancer care. In recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we’ve gathered a comprehensive list of reports that explore detection, treatment, and support related to all types of cancer.

Delivering High-Quality Cancer Care: Charting a New Course for a System in Crisis

Delivering High-Quality Cancer Care: Charting a New Course for a System in Crisis

In the United States, approximately 14 million people have had cancer and more than 1.6 million new cases are diagnosed each year. However, more than a decade after the Institute of Medicine (IOM) first studied the quality of cancer care, the …

The Drug Development Paradigm in Oncology: Proceedings of a Workshop

The Drug Development Paradigm in Oncology: Proceedings of a Workshop

Advances in cancer research have led to an improved understanding of the molecular mechanisms underpinning the development of cancer and how the immune system responds to cancer. This influx of research has led to an increasing number and variety …

Assessing and Improving the Interpretation of Breast Images: Workshop Summary

Assessing and Improving the Interpretation of Breast Images: Workshop Summary

Millions of women undergo screening mammography regularly with the hope of detecting breast cancer at an earlier and more curable stage. But the ability of such screening to accurately detect early cancers depends on the quality of mammography, …

Breast Cancer and the Environment: Questions and Answers: English Version

Breast Cancer and the Environment: Questions and Answers: English Version

Throughout their lives, women have experiences and make decisions that can influence their chances of getting breast cancer. While we have little control over some of these risk factors, we can sometimes make choices – good or bad – that affect …

Ovarian Cancers: Evolving Paradigms in Research and Care

Ovarian Cancers: Evolving Paradigms in Research and Care

In an era of promising advances in cancer research, there are considerable and even alarming gaps in the fundamental knowledge and understanding of ovarian cancer. Researchers now know that ovarian cancer is not a single disease–several distinct …

Cancer Care for the Whole Patient: Meeting Psychosocial Health Needs

Cancer Care for the Whole Patient: Meeting Psychosocial Health Needs

Cancer care today often provides state-of-the-science biomedical treatment, but fails to address the psychological and social (psychosocial) problems associated with the illness. This failure can compromise the effectiveness of health care and …

Throwback Thursday: Convergence

Convergence of the life sciences with fields including physical, chemical, mathematical, computational, engineering, and social sciences is a key strategy to tackle complex challenges and achieve new and innovative solutions. However, institutions face a lack of guidance on how to establish effective programs, what challenges they are likely to encounter, and what strategies other organizations have used to address the issues that arise.

Published in 2014, Convergence investigates examples of organizations that have established mechanisms to support convergent research. This report summarizes the lessons learned and provides organizations with strategies to tackle practical needs and implementation challenges in areas such as infrastructure, student education and training, faculty advancement, and inter-institutional partnerships.

Convergence: Facilitating Transdisciplinary Integration of Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Engineering, and Beyond

Convergence: Facilitating Transdisciplinary Integration of Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Engineering, and Beyond

Convergence of the life sciences with fields including physical, chemical, mathematical, computational, engineering, and social sciences is a key strategy to tackle complex challenges and achieve new and innovative solutions. However, institutions face a lack of guidance on how to establish …

Watch the Video

This video explains what convergence is and how this new approach to problem solving could open up new pathways to research advances.

Throwback Thursday: Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention

When it was published in 2012, Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention stated that one-third of adults and 17 percent of children were obese. Recent national data has shown that these rates have stabilized, however they are still alarmingly high compared with a generation ago.

Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention presents five key recommendations that, independently, can accelerate progress, but urges a systems approach of many strategies working in concert to maximize progress in accelerating obesity prevention. The recommendations in this publication include major reforms in access to and opportunities for physical activity; widespread reductions in the availability of unhealthy foods and beverages and increases in access to healthier options at affordable, competitive prices; an overhaul of the messages that surround Americans through marketing and education with respect to physical activity and food consumption; expansion of the obesity prevention support structure provided by health care providers, insurers, and employers; and schools as a major national focal point for obesity prevention.

Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention: Solving the Weight of the Nation

Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention: Solving the Weight of the Nation

One-third of adults are now obese, and children’s obesity rates have climbed from 5 to 17 percent in the past 30 years. The causes of the nation’s obesity epidemic are multi-factorial, having much more to do with the absence of sidewalks and the limited availability of healthy and affordable …

Explore the Infographic

The corresponding infographic displays causes and solutions for obesity prevention. Download it here. Purchase a pack of 10 here.

Documentary Series: The Weight of the Nation

The Weight of the Nation is a presentation of HBO and the Institute of Medicine. This four-part documentary series features case studies: interviews with our nation’s leading experts, and individuals and their families struggling with obesity.

Take Our Resources on Bullying Back to School

Bullying is not a normal part of childhood and is considered to be a serious public health problem. Recognizing that bullying behavior is an issue that demands the concerted and coordinated time and attention of parents, educators and school administrators, health care providers, policy makers, families, and others concerned with the care of children, Preventing Bullying Through Science, Policy, and Practice evaluates the state of the science on biological and psychosocial consequences of peer victimization and the risk and protective factors that either increase or decrease peer victimization behavior and consequences. This publication is free to read or download.

Preventing Bullying Through Science, Policy, and Practice

Preventing Bullying Through Science, Policy, and Practice

Bullying has long been tolerated as a rite of passage among children and adolescents. There is an implication that individuals who are bullied must have “asked for” this type of treatment, or deserved it. Sometimes, even the child who is bullied …

Related to this publication are several resources, which are also free:

Preventing Bullying: A Toolkit of Resources – this interactive, online toolkit provides information and guidance on preventing and reducing bullying, with guides tailored for different audiences: youth, parents, teachers, school administrators, community-based leaders, health care providers, policymakers, and researchers. Spanish-language versions of the guides for parents and community-based leaders are also available.
Videos – “Bullying: Through a Teacher’s Eyes” and “Science Unscrambled”
Archived webinars – presentations and discussion from the authoring committee on the Resources tab of: https://www.nap.edu/scienceonbullying.

Cancer: Resources for Improving Care and Advancing Research

With the risk of more than one in three people getting cancer during a lifetime, each of us is likely to experience cancer or know someone who has suffered from it. Our publications provide information for cancer care teams, patients and their families, researchers, quality metrics developers, and payers, as well as HHS, other federal agencies, and industry to work together to develop a higher quality care delivery system. By working toward this shared goal, the cancer care community can improve the quality of life and outcomes for people facing a cancer diagnosis.

Delivering High-Quality Cancer Care: Charting a New Course for a System in Crisis

Delivering High-Quality Cancer Care: Charting a New Course for a System in Crisis

In the United States, approximately 14 million people have had cancer and more than 1.6 million new cases are diagnosed each year. However, more than a decade after the Institute of Medicine (IOM) first studied the quality of cancer care, the barriers to achieving excellent care for all cancer …

From Cancer Patient to Cancer Survivor: Lost in Transition

From Cancer Patient to Cancer Survivor: Lost in Transition

With the risk of more than one in three getting cancer during a lifetime, each of us is likely to experience cancer, or know someone who has survived cancer. Although some cancer survivors recover with a renewed sense of life and purpose, what has often been ignored is the toll taken by cancer and …

The Drug Development Paradigm in Oncology: Proceedings of a Workshop

The Drug Development Paradigm in Oncology: Proceedings of a Workshop

Advances in cancer research have led to an improved understanding of the molecular mechanisms underpinning the development of cancer and how the immune system responds to cancer. This influx of research has led to an increasing number and variety of therapies in the drug development pipeline, …

Comprehensive Cancer Care for Children and Their Families: Summary of a Joint Workshop by the Institute of Medicine and the American Cancer Society

Comprehensive Cancer Care for Children and Their Families: Summary of a Joint Workshop by the Institute of Medicine and the American Cancer Society

Childhood cancer is an area of oncology that has seen both remarkable progress as well as substantial continuing challenges. While survival rates for some pediatric cancers present a story of success, for many types of pediatric cancers, little progress has been made. Many cancer treatments are …

Cancer Care in Low-Resource Areas: Cancer Prevention and Early Detection: Workshop Summary

Cancer Care in Low-Resource Areas: Cancer Prevention and Early Detection: Workshop Summary

Though cancer was once considered to be a problem primarily in wealthy nations, low- and middle-income countries now bear a majority share of the global cancer burden, and cancer often surpasses the burden of infectious diseases in these countries. Effective low-cost cancer control options are …

Cancer Care in Low-Resource Areas: Cancer Treatment, Palliative Care, and Survivorship Care: Proceedings of a Workshop

Cancer Care in Low-Resource Areas: Cancer Treatment, Palliative Care, and Survivorship Care: Proceedings of a Workshop

Though cancer was once considered to be a problem primarily in wealthy nations, low- and middle-income countries now bear a majority share of the global cancer burden, and cancer often surpasses the burden of infectious diseases in these countries. Effective low-cost cancer control options are …

Ovarian Cancers: Evolving Paradigms in Research and Care

Ovarian Cancers: Evolving Paradigms in Research and Care

In an era of promising advances in cancer research, there are considerable and even alarming gaps in the fundamental knowledge and understanding of ovarian cancer. Researchers now know that ovarian cancer is not a single disease–several distinct subtypes exist with different origins, risk …

10 Years with the iPhone: Science on Digital Media Devices

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the introduction of the first iPhone. This innovation is one of many in recent years that have yielded significant advances in computing and communication technologies. Our publications consider the promise and uncertainties of digital media devices, and their impacts on our daily lives.

Continuing Innovation in Information Technology: Workshop Report

Continuing Innovation in Information Technology: Workshop Report

The 2012 National Research Council report Continuing Innovation in Information Technology illustrates how fundamental research in information technology (IT), conducted at industry and universities, has led to the introduction of entirely new product categories that ultimately became …

Health Literacy and Consumer-Facing Technology: Workshop Summary

Health Literacy and Consumer-Facing Technology: Workshop Summary

The proliferation of consumer-facing technology and personal health information technology has grown steadily over the past decade, and has certainly exploded over the past several years. Many people have embraced smartphones and wearable health-monitoring devices to track their fitness and …

The National Academies Keck Future Initiative: The Informed Brain in a Digital World: Interdisciplinary Research Team Summaries

The National Academies Keck Future Initiative: The Informed Brain in a Digital World: Interdisciplinary Research Team Summaries

Digital media provide humans with more access to information than ever before—a computer, tablet, or smartphone can all be used to access data online and users frequently have more than one device. However, as humans continue to venture into the digital frontier, it remains to be known whether …

The Promises and Perils of Digital Strategies in Achieving Health Equity: Workshop Summary

The Promises and Perils of Digital Strategies in Achieving Health Equity: Workshop Summary

Health care is in the midst of a dramatic transformation in the United States. Spurred by technological advances, economic imperatives, and governmental policies, information technologies are rapidly being applied to health care in an effort to improve access, enhance quality, and decrease …

Flexible Electronics for Security, Manufacturing, and Growth in the United States: Summary of a Symposium

Flexible Electronics for Security, Manufacturing, and Growth in the United States: Summary of a Symposium

Flexible Electronics for Security, Manufacturing, and Growth in the United States is the summary of a workshop convened in September 2010 by Policy and Global Affairs’ Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy to review challenges, plans, and opportunities for growing a robust …

Public Response to Alerts and Warnings Using Social Media: Report of a Workshop on Current Knowledge and Research Gaps

Public Response to Alerts and Warnings Using Social Media: Report of a Workshop on Current Knowledge and Research Gaps

Following an earlier NRC workshop on public response to alerts and warnings delivered to mobile devices, a related workshop was held on February 28 and 29, 2012 to look at the role of social media in disaster response. This was one of the first workshops convened to look systematically at the …

Geotargeted Alerts and Warnings: Report of a Workshop on Current Knowledge and Research Gaps

Geotargeted Alerts and Warnings: Report of a Workshop on Current Knowledge and Research Gaps

Geotargeted Alerts and Warnings: Report of a Workshop on Current Knowledge and Research Gaps is the summary of a February, 2013 workshop convened by the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board of the National Research Council to examine precise geotargeting of public alerts and …

Communications and Technology for Violence Prevention: Workshop Summary

Communications and Technology for Violence Prevention: Workshop Summary

In the last 25 years, a major shift has occurred in the field of violence prevention, from the assumption that violence is inevitable to the realization that violence is preventable. As we learn more about what works to reduce violence, the challenge facing those who work in the field is how to …

Distracted Driving Countermeasures for Commercial Vehicles

Distracted Driving Countermeasures for Commercial Vehicles

TRB’s Commercial Truck and Bus Safety Synthesis Program (CTBSSP) Synthesis 24: Distracted Driving Countermeasures for Commercial Vehicles examines driving distractions, as well as any protective (safety-enhancing) effects of particular devices. Distracted driving for commercial drivers is …

Consumer Health Information Technology in the Home: A Guide for Human Factors Design Considerations

Consumer Health Information Technology in the Home: A Guide for Human Factors Design Considerations

Every day, in households across the country, people engage in behavior to improve their current health, recover from disease and injury, or cope with chronic, debilitating conditions. Innovative computer and information systems may help these people manage health concerns, monitor important …

Wireless Technology Prospects and Policy Options

Wireless Technology Prospects and Policy Options

The use of radio-frequency communication–commonly referred to as wireless communication–is becoming more pervasive as well as more economically and socially important. Technological progress over many decades has enabled the deployment of several successive generations of cellular telephone …