The new executive order allows political appointees to undermine research they oppose, paving the way for state-controlled science
Science is under siege.
On Friday evening, the White House released an executive order called Restoring Gold Standard Science. At face value, this order promises a commitment to federally funded research that is “transparent, rigorous, and impactful” and policy that is informed by “the most credible, reliable, and impartial scientific evidence available”. But hidden beneath the scientific rhetoric is a plan that would destroy scientific independence in the US by giving political appointees the latitude to dismiss entire bodies of research and punish researchers who fail to fall in line with the current administration’s objectives. In other words: this is Fool’s-Gold Standard Science.
Colette Delawalla is a PhD candidate at Emory University and executive director of Stand Up for Science. Victor Ambros is a 2024 Nobel laureate in physiology or medicine at the Chan Medical School, University of Massachusetts. Carl Bergstrom is professor of biology at the University of Washington. Carol Greider is a 2009 Nobel laureate in medicine and distinguished professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Michael Mann is the presidential distinguished professor of earth and environmental science and director of the Center for Science, Sustainability, and the Media at the University of Pennsylvania. Brian Nosek is executive director of the Center for Open Science and professor of psychology at the University of Virginia
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
05/29/2025 - 07:00
05/29/2025 - 06:30
Geologists race to collect perishable data as Kentucky residents ‘scared to death’ over floods amid Trump cuts
The abandoned homes and razed lots along the meandering Troublesome Creek in rural eastern Kentucky is a constant reminder of the 2022 catastrophic floods that killed dozens of people and displaced thousands more.
Among the hardest hit was Fisty, a tiny community where eight homes, two shops and nine people including a woman who uses a wheelchair, her husband and two children, were swept away by the rising creek. Some residents dismissed cellphone alerts of potential flooding due to mistrust and warning fatigue, while for others it was already too late to escape. Landslides trapped the survivors and the deceased for several days.
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05/29/2025 - 05:00
Exclusive: researchers say defence spending boosts across world will worsen climate crisis which in turn will cause more conflict
A global military buildup poses an existential threat to climate goals, according to researchers who say the rearmament planned by Nato alone could increase greenhouse gas emissions by almost 200m tonnes a year.
With the world embroiled in the highest number of armed conflicts since the second world war, countries have embarked on military spending sprees, collectively totalling a record $2.46tn in 2023.
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05/29/2025 - 03:15
‘Nationally significant’ status granted to reservoirs in East Anglia and Lincolnshire with seven more planned by 2050
The government has ordered the building of two reservoirs, the first to be built in England for more than 30 years.
The lack of reservoir capacity, combined with a rising population and drier summers caused by climate breakdown, has put the country at risk of water shortages. The government warned in recent weeks of an impending drought if there was not significant rainfall soon, and reservoirs have been reaching worryingly low levels.
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05/29/2025 - 02:45
BoM prediction follows much wetter than average autumn for northern and eastern Australia, and much drier one for south
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Australia’s winter will be warmer and wetter this year, with higher than average day and night temperatures, and above-average rainfall likely in central and interior parts of the country.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s long-range forecast said parts of the tropical north, south-east and south-west could expect typical winter rainfall, including coastal areas of New South Wales affected by the May floods, and parts of South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania where there have been prolonged dry conditions.
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05/29/2025 - 02:20
‘The target is ambitious, but it’s achievable,’ expert says of Labor’s 2030 renewables goal
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Investment in big batteries hit $2.4bn in the first three months of 2025, making it the second strongest quarter for energy storage on record in Australia.
The latest data from the Clean Energy Council found six new storage projects – totalling 1.5 gigawatts capacity – reached financial close (the financial commitment that means the project is likely to be built) and a level of investment last seen in the final quarter of 2023 with a record $2.8bn.
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05/29/2025 - 01:00
A study of Yorkshire’s rivers is helping scientists understand the impact everyday pollutants are having on waterways – and the results are sobering
Photographs by Christopher Thomond
Rivers carry more than just water through Britain’s landscapes. A hidden cocktail of chemicals seeps out of farmland, passes undetected through sewage treatment works, and drains off the roads into the country’s rivers. Normally these chemicals flow through unreported, silently restructuring ecosystems as they go, but now, UK scientists are building a map of what lies within – and the damage it may be causing.
Trailing down the centre of Britain is one river whose chemical makeup scientists know better than any other. The Foss threads its way through North Yorkshire’s forestry plantations, patchworked arable land and small hamlets, before descending into the city of York, passing roads and car parks, gardens replacing farmland. Along the course of its 20-mile (32km) length, the chemical fingerprints of modern life accumulate.
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05/29/2025 - 00:35
Fortescue CEO also says suggestion Australia can lock in fossil fuel projects and claim progress on net zero is ‘concerning’
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Crossbenchers and environmental advocates are furious at the government’s decision to extend the life of one of the world’s biggest liquified natural gas projects from 2030 to 2070.
The environment minister, Murray Watt, gave the green light to Woodside Energy’s application to extend the life of the North West Shelf project from 2030 to 2070.
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05/29/2025 - 00:00
Campaign has raised more than £114m since 1965 to protect sites such as Wembury Point in Devon
Wembury Point has a colourful history. During the 20th century it was transformed from a farm into a bustling holiday camp and then converted into a military radar station and Royal Navy gunnery.
But the last 20 years have been a little gentler as it has returned to nature, a haven for rare flora and fauna and a hugely popular spot for walkers, wild swimmers and rock-poolers.
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05/28/2025 - 22:18
There are more than 130 active wildfires across the country, half of which are considered out of control
More than 17,000 people in Canada’s western Manitoba province were being evacuated on Wednesday as the region experienced its worst start to the wildfire season in years.
“The Manitoba government has declared a province-wide state of emergency due to the wildfire situation,” Manitoba’s premier, Wab Kinew, told a news conference. “This is the largest evacuation Manitoba will have seen in most people’s living memory.”
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