To better reflect the iterative collaboration necessary for scientific progress, the Nobel Prize must expand its recognition to the many contributors of winning discoveries as well as diversify the selection committee, thereby also expanding recognition of the work of underrepresented minorities, argues this Baker Institute Blog post.
Kirstin R.W. Matthews, Kenneth M. Evans, Flora Naylor, Daniel MoralíOctober 13, 2021
This year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry recognizes the development of carbon-based catalysts. S&T Policy research assistant Flora Naylor writes that their discovery emphasizes the value of federal funding in supporting fundamental scientific research.
Methane emissions are both "extraordinarily bad" and "easy to fix," so why not address them now? A federal tax of $1,500 per metric ton emitted could curb and counter the impact of U.S. methane emissions, argues this commentary piece.
Baker Institute Rice Faculty Scholar and University Professor Moshe Vardi analyzes three recent crises — the 2021 winter storm in Texas, the COVID-19 pandemic and the Boeing 737 Max software failure — that highlight the cost of valuing efficiency over resilience and provide lessons for bringing society into balance.
Lax regulation exposed electricity producers — and their customers — to failures that killed off all four of Texas’ top generating types: natural gas, wind, coal and nuclear. In this commentary experts from the Center for Energy Studies look at each technology to show what failed.
Jim Krane, Robert Idel, Peter VolkmarFebruary 19, 2021
University Professor Moshe Vardi condemns the actions taken by the U.S. government to restrict the immigration of technical workers into the country but also questions why the U.S. has become so dependent on international students as the major workforce for its academic science and engineering research enterprise. Baker Institute Blog: https://bit.ly/3llmHg2