Tag Archives: technology

Free PDF Downloads, Audio, Video and More for January 2011

As we begin a new year, the National Academies Press offers you the following selection of books, videos, and podcasts free of charge. Start collecting free resources for your personal STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) library today.

	Implementing the New Biology: Decadal Challenges Linking Food, Energy, and the Environment: Summary of a Workshop, June 3-4, 2010 As the second decade of the 21st century begins, the challenge of how to feed a growing world population and provide sustainable, affordable energy to fulfill daily needs, while also improving human health and protecting the environment, is clear and urgent…
	The Science of Adolescent Risk-Taking: Workshop Report (Prepublication Available) Adolescence is a time when youth make decisions, both good and bad, that have consequences for the rest of their lives. Some of these decisions put them at risk of lifelong health problems, injury, or death. The Institute of Medicine held three public workshops between 2008…
	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…
	Report of the Panel on Implementing Recommendations from the New Worlds, New Horizons Decadal Survey (Prepublication Available) The 2010 Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey report, New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics (NWNH), outlines a scientifically exciting and programmatically integrated plan for both ground- and space-based astronomy and astrophysics in…
	Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing: Summary of a Workshop Today, scores of companies, primarily in the United States and Europe, are offering whole genome scanning services directly to the public. The proliferation of these companies and the services they offer demonstrate a public appetite for this information and…
	Avoiding Technology Surprise for Tomorrow’s Warfighter–Symposium 2010 The Symposium on Avoiding Technology Surprise for Tomorrow’s Warfighter is a forum for consumers and producers of scientific and technical intelligence to exchange perspectives on the potential sources of emerging or disruptive technologies and behaviors…
	Evaluation of U.S. Air Force Preacquisition Technology Development (Prepublication Available) From the days of biplanes and open cockpits, the air forces of the United States have relied on the mastery of technology. From design to operation, a project can stretch to 20 years and more, with continuous increases in cost. Much of the delay and cost…
	The Prevention and Treatment of Missing Data in Clinical Trials Randomized clinical trials are the primary tool for evaluating new medical interventions. Randomization provides for a fair comparison between treatment and control groups, balancing out, on average, distributions of known and unknown factors among the…
	Sex Differences and Implications for Translational Neuroscience Research: Workshop Summary (Prepublication Available) Biological differences between the sexes influence not only individual health but also public health, biomedical research, and health care. The Institute of Medicine held a workshop March 8-9, 2010, to discuss sex differences and their implications for…
	State Assessment Systems: Exploring Best Practices and Innovations: Summary of Two Workshops Educators and policy makers in the United States have relied on tests to measure educational progress for more than 150 years, and have used the results for many purposes. They have tried minimum competency testing; portfolios; multiple-choice items, brief…
	Preparing for the Future of HIV/AIDS in Africa: A Shared Responsibility (Prepublication Available) HIV/AIDS is a catastrophe globally but nowhere more so than in sub-Saharan Africa, which in 2008 accounted for 67 percent of cases worldwide and 91 percent of new infections. The Institute of Medicine recommends that the United States and African nations move toward a strategy…
	Measuring the Group Quarters Population in the American Community Survey: Interim Report Following several years of testing and evaluation, the American Community Survey (ACS) was launched in 2005 as a replacement for the census “long form,” used to collect detailed social, economic, and housing data from a sample of the U.S. population as part…

FREE VIDEO

	Lights at Night Explore images of Earth at night and compare images from 1993, 1997 and 2003 to infer changes in population, energy consumption, energy efficiency and economic activity.

	Landscapes on the Edge: New Horizons for Research on Earth’s Surface Chemical, physical, biotic, and human processes constantly reshape Earth’s surface from particles to continents, over timescales from nanoseconds to millions of years. In this video, Dr. Dorothy Merritts describes the research agenda laid out in this recent National Research Council book.

	Adolescent Health Services: Missing Opportunities Adolescence is a time when youth establish health habits, both good and bad, that often last a lifetime, yet the U.S. health care system today is not designed to help young people develop healthy routines, behaviors, and relationships to prepare them for adulthood. Learn more in this video.

	The Bone Detective Diane France loves bones. Why? Because they talk to her. Every skeleton she meets whispers secrets about the life and death of its owner. Diane France can hear those secrets because she’s a forensic anthropologist, a bone detective. Watch this video to learn about the work of this world-renowned bone detective.

FREE AUDIO

Listen to Sounds of Science podcasts on topics ranging from energy to metagenomics free-of-charge today.

Featured Podcasts:

Weight Gain During Pregnancy: How Much Is Too Much?

Progress in Preventing Childhood Obesity: How Do We Measure Up?

School Meals: Building Blocks for Healthy Children

The podcasts above are based on books published by the National Academies Press. To receive a 20% discount on the print version of these titles, visit our Special Offers page.

MORE FREE RESOURCES

	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. Read more

	What You Need To Know About Infectious Disease This publication from the Institute of Medicine examines the relationship between humans and microbes. The booklet discusses how infection works, identifies disease threats, and explores global challenges. Learn more

Engineer Your Life
This web site, designed for high school girls, promotes engineering as a career choice. It features tips on preparing for an engineering career and includes profiles of women engineers, as well as resources for teachers and counselors.

Evolution Resources
The Evolution Resources web site explains the 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 site includes reports, publications, and resources for teaching evolution.

Take 5: Top 5 Books on Science and Technology

The scientists and engineers on your list may not always be the easiest people to shop for during the holidays. It should come as no surprise that we have recommendations. Take five and finish your holiday shopping with our most-recommended books for the scientifically-minded.

	Ensuring the Integrity, Accessibility, and Stewardship of Research Data in the Digital Age As digital technologies are expanding the power and reach of research, they are also raising complex issues. These include complications in ensuring the validity of research data; standards that do not keep pace with the high rate of innovation; restrictions…
	Science and Decisions: Advancing Risk Assessment Risk assessment has become a dominant public policy tool for making choices, based on limited resources, to protect public health and the environment. It has been instrumental to the mission of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as well as other…
	Technology, Policy, Law, and Ethics Regarding U.S. Acquisition and Use of Cyberattack Capabilities The United States is increasingly dependent on information and information technology for both civilian and military purposes, as are many other nations. Although there is a substantial literature on the potential impact of a cyberattack on the societal…
	Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future In a world where advanced knowledge is widespread and low-cost labor is readily available, U.S. advantages in the marketplace and in science and technology have begun to erode. A comprehensive and coordinated federal effort is urgently needed to bolster U.S….
	Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward Scores of talented and dedicated people serve the forensic science community, performing vitally important work. However, they are often…

Herb Lin Speaks About Cyberattack and Stuxnet

Stuxnet is a quickly mutating computer worm that has been infiltrating computers in Iran. Discovered in June, Stuxnet has been found in over 45,000 computers in various countries, but the vast majority of infected systems are in Iran.

The 2009 title Technology, Policy, Law and Ethics Regarding U.S. Acquisition and Use of Cyberattack Capabilities provides insight and a context with which to view the Stuxnet situation. We asked Herb Lin, the Study Director and one of the editors of the book, for his perspective.

“Stuxnet is the first reported incident of malware aimed at computerized industrial control systems that (allegedly) seeks to cause actual damage to these systems, rather than just extracting information from them. That is, it appears to be an instrument of cyberATTACK and not just one of cyberEXPLOITATION. (The difference between cyberattack and cyberexploitation is addressed in the 2009 report on cyberattack.)

The 2009 report also provides the necessary background to understand many aspects of the Stuxnet incident, including the difficulty of attributing the source of a cyberattack, the intelligence support needed for a successful cyberattack to occur, the significance of nation state involvement, and the potential utility of cyberattack as an instrument of clandestine national policy.”

Technology, Policy, Law, and Ethics Regarding U.S. Acquisition and Use of Cyberattack Capabilities is available to download at no charge online at the NAP website. Links to this title and other National Academies reports that may also interest you are listed below.

	Technology, Policy, Law, and Ethics Regarding U.S. Acquisition and Use of Cyberattack Capabilities The United States is increasingly dependent on information and information technology for both civilian and military purposes, as are many other nations. Although there is a substantial literature on the potential impact of a cyberattack on the societal…
	Proceedings of a Workshop on Deterring CyberAttacks: Informing Strategies and Developing Options for U.S. Policy In a world of increasing dependence on information technology, the prevention of cyberattacks on a nation’s important computer and communications systems and networks is a problem that looms large. Given the demonstrated limitations of passive cybersecurity…
	Toward Better Usability, Security, and Privacy of Information Technology: Report of a Workshop Despite many advances, security and privacy often remain too complex for individuals or enterprises to manage effectively or to use conveniently. Security is hard for users, administrators, and developers to understand, making it all too easy to use,…
	Toward a Safer and More Secure Cyberspace Given the growing importance of cyberspace to nearly all aspects of national life, a secure cyberspace is vitally important to the nation, but cyberspace is far from secure today. The United States faces the real risk that adversaries will exploit…

New Publications Released This Week

It’s Friday, which means we take our weekly look back at the new publications on the NAP website. We’re spotlighting the prepublication of Surrounded By Science: Learning Science in Informal Environments, and just below that is a list of all the publications that have hit the website in the past week.

Feel free to use the icons at the bottom of this post to share it on Facebook, Twitter or other social sharing and bookmarking sites.

Featured Publication

Surrounded by Science: Learning Science in Informal Environments (prepublication)

Practitioners in informal science settings–museums, after-school programs, science and technology centers, media enterprises, aquariums, zoos, and botanical gardens–are interested in finding out what learning looks like, how to measure it, and what they can do to ensure that people of all ages, from different backgrounds and cultures, have a positive learning experience.

Surrounded by Science: Learning Science in Informal Environments, is designed to make that task easier. Based on the National Research Council study, Learning Science in Informal Environments: People, Places, and Pursuits, this book is a tool that provides case studies, illustrative examples, and probing questions for practitioners. In short, this book makes valuable research accessible to those working in informal science: educators, museum professionals, university faculty, youth leaders, media specialists, publishers, broadcast journalists, and many others.

All Publications This Week

Nanotechnology in Food Products: Workshop Summary (final)

A Review of the NIOSH Roadmap for Research on Asbestos Fibers and Other Elongate Mineral Particles (prepublication)

A Transportation Research Program for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Conserving Energy Special Report 299 (prepublication)

An Assessment of NASA’s National Aviation Operations Monitoring Service (prepublication)

Frontiers in Crystalline Matter: From Discovery to Technology (final)

Technology, Policy, Law, and Ethics Regarding U.S. Acquisition and Use of Cyberattack Capabilities (final)

Reengineering the Survey of Income and Program Participation (final)