Issues in Science and Technology

What happens when the job of a chef is taken over by a robot? Erin K. Wagner’s #FutureTenseFiction story explores that question, pondering what we really crave in a culinary experience—and how the mechanization of labor could transform the restaurant industry. https://lnkd.in/gCZeCegP

Katie Picchione and Lauren Finegan, PE argue that an integrated, interdisciplinary national research strategy is urgently needed to strengthen the country’s efforts to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters. https://lnkd.in/gjVQW8N5

Within just a few months over the past year, Hurricane Helene devastated Appalachian communities and the Palisades and Eaton fires burned greater Los Angeles. Rod Schoonover, Daniel Aldrich, and Daniel Hoyer note that although these disasters were “on opposite edges of the continent, ... they both expose the same underlying global crisis. As Earth’s system dynamics shift, hazards are not just intensifying but also converging.” https://lnkd.in/g9xH_CvP

“With the extraordinary advances that have been made in machine learning and artificial intelligence,” writes Michael Stebbins, PhD, “there is a fantastic opportunity to mine grant applications to address some vexing challenges.” https://lnkd.in/gQdXWpvA

”As Earth’s system dynamics shift, hazards are not just intensifying but also converging,” argue Rod Schoonover, Daniel Aldrich, and Daniel Hoyer. “The impacts of these events have grown while the time between shocks has shortened, leading to cascading risk: A pandemic weakens a community’s capacity to handle a flood, a flood weakens the government’s capacity to respond to a wildfire.” https://lnkd.in/g9xH_CvP

Khahlil Louisy argues that investing in modernizing public health data infrastructures could be key to preventing the next public health emergency.

“The 3-D printer worked overtime sculpting lemon trees complete with bees on budding flowers....” Read Roger Sedarat’s translation of Haji Khavari’s poem: https://lnkd.in/gVu8DzUd

The COVID-19 pandemic showed that the US public health system is capable of rapid innovation at scale. Khahlil Louisy argues that a similar transformation of public health data infrastructure must occur to control threats before they become full-blown emergencies. https://lnkd.in/guWJqXpS

“Scientific discoveries now demand we see animals not only as deserving ethical treatment because they feel, but increasingly as self-directing agents,” writes Cédric Sueur in response to Brandon Keim’s essay. “This evolution in thinking is not simply philosophical; it has practical implications for how science is conducted.” https://lnkd.in/gESfznjt

Your weekend reading: What happens when the job of a chef is taken over by a robot? Erin K. Wagner’s “The Middle,” this month’s #FutureTenseFiction story, explores that question, pondering what we really crave in a culinary experience—and how the mechanization of labor could transform the restaurant industry. https://lnkd.in/gCZeCegP