Network inference is the process of learning the properties of complex networks from data. Besides using information about known links in the network, node attributes and other forms of network metadata can help to solve network inference problems. Indeed, several approaches have been proposed to introduce metadata into probabilistic network models and to use them to make better inferences. However, we know little about the effect of such metadata in the inference process. Here, we investigate this issue. We find that, rather than affecting inference gradually, adding metadata causes abrupt transitions in the inference process and in our ability to make accurate predictions, from a situation in which metadata does not play any role to a situation in which metadata completely dominates the inference process. When network data and metadata are partly correlated, metadata optimally contributes to the inference process at the transition between data-dominated and metadata-dominated regimes.

The new polymer bank note, shown in an image provided by the Bank of England, was unveiled to the public nearly two years after officials first announced it would honor Turing. The new polymer bank note, shown in an image provided by the Bank of England, was unveiled to the public nearly two years after officials first announced it would honor Turing. The Bank of England has unveiled the new £50 note featuring mathematician and computer science pioneer Alan Turing, who helped the Allies win World War II with his code-breaking prowess but died an outcast after facing government persecution over his homosexuality. The bank revealed the note's design and features -- which include a number of clever visual references to Turing's work -- on Thursday, nearly two years after first announcing that it would honor Turing. The banknote will officially enter circulation on June 23, Turing's birthday.

Science and technology curricula in UK schools are'not fit for purpose' and need to be updated to help pupils'change the world for the better', teachers have warned. Polls taken amid COVID-19 on behalf of the Amazon Longitude Explorer Prize found 47 per cent of teachers think the technology curriculum, specifically, is out of date. More than half of teachers said they had not the support to ensure lessons kept pace with advances and 59 per cent said resource shortages were limiting lesson plans. And 59 per cent said the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) curricula constrain their ability to help students reach their potential. The findings also flagged issues that have arisen specifically as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic -- including the impact such has had on practical teaching.

When members of the scientific community gathered at the AAAS Annual Meeting in February, they did so in front of laptops and tablets from their home offices and dining tables. They presented over Zoom, submitted questions via chat, and caught up with colleagues over social media. The 2021 AAAS Annual Meeting was unlike any other in the meeting's 187-year history, but the fully virtual setting did not dampen enthusiasm for sharing science in keeping with the “Understanding Diverse Ecosystems” meeting theme. Dozens of scientific sessions shared new research in areas ranging from microbiomes to space travel. More than 40 workshops offered attendees the opportunity to discuss strategies for working in the ecosystems of academia and science policy. Plenary and topical lecturers covered timely topics, including Ruha Benjamin on how technology can deepen inequities, Anthony Fauci on the next steps for COVID-19 response, Mary Gray on research ethics, and Yalidy Matos on immigration policies. “The quality of the speakers was absolutely undeniable, and the diversity of the speakers—across gender, race, region—was just extraordinary,” said Sudip Parikh, chief executive officer of AAAS and executive publisher of the Science family of journals. “That is what our vision of the world looks like in a place where science is done with creativity and innovation and excellence.” Selecting a diverse meeting program is grounded in AAAS's values, but it is not without concerted effort, according to Claire Fraser. Fraser, who served as AAAS president through February and now serves as chair of the AAAS Board of Directors, selected the meeting theme and led the AAAS Meeting Scientific Program Committee, which oversees selection of the meeting's speakers. “The diversity doesn't happen by accident. I think it reflects the very strong commitment on the part of the Scientific Program Committee to make sure that not only is the science presented timely and excellent, but the diversity of speakers and participants is as broad as it possibly can be,” said Fraser, director of the Institute for Genome Sciences at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Diversity isn't an afterthought—it's a deliberate part of the very first review of potential scientific sessions, according to Andrew Black, chief of staff and chief public affairs officer. When hundreds of volunteer reviewers evaluate the quality of the submissions before sending the best for consideration by the Scientific Program Committee, they are also looking for diversity across many dimensions, Black said. Among those dimensions are diversity of scientific discipline—befitting AAAS's multidisciplinary membership—but also gender, race and ethnicity, geographic diversity, career stage, and type of institution, including all types and sizes of universities, industry, and government. “Who do you see, who do you hear, and what kind of voices are in dialogue with each other? That's part of our assessment process,” said Agustín Fuentes, professor of anthropology at Princeton University and a member of the Scientific Program Committee. The review process offers opportunities for applicants to diversify their sessions. Applicants are often encouraged to look beyond their own networks to add a range of voices to their presentation to best communicate their ideas to the broader scientific community, Fuentes said. “We need to think very carefully in this moment in time about how do we not only redress past biases and discriminatory practices but how do we create a space, a voice, and a suite of presenters that is very inviting to a diverse audience,” Fuentes said. Added Fraser, “What you end up with is even better because you have such broad perspectives represented.” The committee also emphasized the importance of ensuring that a diverse group of decision-makers have a seat at the table. Members of the Scientific Program Committee, who are nominated from across AAAS and its 26 disciplinary sections and approved by the AAAS Board, represent a broad range of groups and perspectives, Fraser said. “What I firmly believe is that you can't come up with a diverse program like we had this year and like we've had in previous years without that diversity in the program committee,” Fraser said. Commitment to diversity across many axes is part of AAAS Annual Meeting history. In the 1950s, AAAS refused to hold meetings in the segregated South. In 1976, under one of AAAS's first female presidents, Margaret Mead, the Annual Meeting was fully accessible to people with disabilities for the first time. According to the AAAS Project on Science, Technology, and Disability, wheelchair ramps were added to the conference hall, programs were made accessible for hearing-impaired and visually impaired attendees, and Mead's presidential address was simultaneously interpreted in sign language. In 1978, AAAS's Board of Directors voted to move the following year's Annual Meeting out of Chicago because Illinois had not ratified the Equal Rights Amendment. In 1993, AAAS moved its 1999 meeting from Denver after Colorado voters adopted a constitutional amendment to deny residents protection from discrimination based on sexual orientation. Leaders at AAAS note that there is always more work to be done in the present and future—both at the Annual Meeting and year-round. AAAS continues to focus on its own systemic transformation in areas of diversity, equity, and inclusion and on the breadth of initiatives in its new Inclusive STEM Ecosystems for Equity & Diversity program, all to ensure that the scientific enterprise reflects the full range of talent. That goal resonated with many 2021 AAAS Annual Meeting speakers, too. A more diverse group of scientists creating artificial intelligence systems can improve those systems, said Ayanna Howard, a roboticist who leads The Ohio State University's College of Engineering, during her topical lecture, “Demystifying AI Through the Lens of Fairness and Bias.” Said Howard, “We as people are diverse and we're different and it makes us unique and beautiful, and our AI systems should be designed in such a way.” Nalini Nadkarni, a University of Utah biologist who delivered a topical lecture on “Forests, the Earth, and Ourselves: Understanding Dynamic Systems Through an Interdisciplinary Lens,” shared how she reaches young girls to let them know that science—and her own scientific specialty—is a space where they can thrive. She and her students created and distributed “Treetop Barbie,” dressing a doll in fieldwork clothes and creating a doll-sized booklet about canopy plants. The Annual Meeting offers a chance to show that science is best when it is for everyone, regardless of background or perspective, whether they're a kid or just a kid at heart. Said Parikh, “The AAAS Annual Meeting is where the pages of Science literally come alive. It's a place where scientists, no matter what discipline or industry they decided to pursue, can pull back and just fall in love with the idea of science again—like we did when we were kids.”

Air pollution from fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is increasingly driving the global burden of disease ([ 1 ][1]), and diesel-powered vehicles are substantial contributors. Recognizing the public health impacts of diesel PM2.5 (DPM) ([ 2 ][2]), many countries have reduced emissions of DPM from both on- and off-road mobile sources over the past three decades. The previous US federal administration, however, changed course by eliminating or weakening policies and standards that govern these emissions. In contrast, the State of California has continued to reduce mobile-source DPM emissions using the state's long-standing authority under the Clean Air Act (CAA) to regulate air pollution more stringently than the federal government. Our analysis of mobile-source DPM emissions suggests that many California sector-based policies have been highly effective relative to the rest of the US. To improve health in communities disproportionately affected by these emissions, we point to opportunities to further reduce DPM emissions in California, in the US more broadly, and in parts of the world where countries have less aggressive vehicle emissions policies than the US ([ 3 ][3]). The US has targeted emissions of nitrogen oxides (NO x ) and DPM from diesel trucks and buses, railway locomotives, marine vessels, and off-road engines used in construction and agriculture through successively tighter emissions standards phased in since 1994 (table S1). These standards require low- and ultralow-sulfur diesel fuels (LSDF and ULSDF), establish emissions limits, and institute systems for portable emissions measurement and onboard diagnostics (table S1). The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimated that full implementation of Obama-era US emissions standards by 2030 would prevent some 12,000 premature deaths annually ([ 4 ][4]). Despite this, EPA leadership disbanded the PM review panel ahead of the scheduled 2020 update of federal PM standards; it also rolled back, or attempted to roll back, 85 federal air pollution policies ([ 5 ][5]) and moved to restrict the ability of states to set more stringent emissions standards ([ 6 ][6]). California, whose economy would rank fifth largest in the world if it were a sovereign nation, hosts the country's two largest ports and moves 60% of its container cargo (see supplementary materials). With the associated truck and rail traffic, California stands out as the largest emitter of DPM in the country. At the same time, California has also led the nation with the largest overall reduction in metric tons of DPM emissions from mobile sources. Over the past three decades, California's policies have systematically targeted high-emitting sectors, reducing mobile-source DPM emissions by, for example, substituting electric for diesel power where feasible, tightening emissions limits for new and existing diesel engines, and requiring ULSDF, which emits substantially less PM2.5 than higher-sulfur fuels upon combustion and can be combined with particle filters to further reduce emissions. To understand the impact of California's portfolio of policies, we used DPM emissions data from the EPA National Emissions Inventory (NEI), which assembles a comprehensive estimate of air pollution emissions using data reported by states, combined with modeled and measured inputs. We compared mobile-source DPM emissions in California versus the rest of the US for the period 1990 to 2014, the earliest and most recent year for which consistent NEI data are available ([ 7 ][7]). During that time, California reduced overall mobile-source DPM emissions by 78% while the rest of the US saw only a 51% reduction. These reductions came despite a concurrent steady rise in diesel fuel consumption: 20% in California and 28% in the rest of the US (data S1). Emissions reductions from heavy-duty diesel vehicles (HDDVs)—commercial trucks and buses—caused most of this decline, accounting for 67% of DPM emissions reductions in California and 57% in the rest of the US. Although the federal phase-in of ULSDF, off-road emissions standards, and the Heavy-Duty Engine and Vehicle Rule has reduced HDDV emissions across the US, California's reductions from HDDVs have been steeper and contribute even more to the overall reductions than would be predicted from the sector's size. Analyses of DPM emissions over time and the relative contributions made by each sector point to the effectiveness of California's policies that require diesel engine retrofits (adding emissions controls to existing HDDVs) and early replacement of older engines with newer, cleaner engines. Our analysis identifies three distinct phases in mobile-source DPM emissions between 1990 and 2014. Emissions fell overall from 1990 to 2001 in California and from 1990 to 2005 in the rest of the country. Reduced emissions from HDDVs contributed the largest share of the overall drop (see the figure and data S1). These changes are attributable to the introduction of LSDF nationwide, and to California's new requirements for vehicle inspections (table S2). Then, from 2001 to 2005 in California and from 2005 to 2008 in the rest of the country, emissions rose during an economic boom, driven primarily by increasing emissions from HDDVs and marine sources. Finally, overall DPM emissions once again fell, beginning in California in 2005 and in the rest of the US in 2008. The recession played a role in the early part of this drop ([ 8 ][8]), but emissions reductions continued through 2014 despite the economic recovery and the corresponding upturn in diesel use. During this final phase, California's 67% drop in DPM emissions outpaced the 40% reduction seen in the rest of the country (see the figure and data S1). Our analysis of individual sectors and each state's HDDV emissions suggests that California policies specifically targeting emissions from HDDVs and marine sources drove this decline. The later phases of California's emissions reductions correspond to the implementation of two overarching plans by the California Air Resources Board (CARB): the Diesel Risk Reduction Plan and the Emission Reduction Plan for Ports and Goods Movement (Goods Movement Plan), both of which encompassed multiple policies governing emissions from trucks and buses, ports, and off-road engines (table S2). Key policies targeting on-road HDDVs took effect in 2006 and 2007, further lowering the sulfur content of diesel fuel to 15 ppm (table S2) and tightening DPM emissions standards by 90% for new HDDVs (table S2). Beginning in 2010, with a rolling compliance period starting in 2015, all on-road HDDVs that operate in California were required to either retrofit existing engines with particle filters or replace engines older than the 2007 model year (table S2). By comparison, federal policies do not require retrofit or replacement of old diesel engines to meet emission standards, and HDDV engines typically operate for almost two decades, or about a million miles, before retirement. Our state-level analysis shows that by 2014 California HDDVs were emitting 139 metric tons of DPM for every billion vehicle-miles traveled (VMT), far less than the next-closest state (Oklahoma, 250 metric tons DPM per billion VMT) and the average in the rest of the country (345 metric tons DPM per billion VMT) (data S1). Although HDDVs remain California's largest source of DPM emissions, regulatory actions by CARB (over and above federal standards) have reduced HDDV emissions by 85% since 1990. If California's HDDV sector had followed the trajectory of other US states and DC, HDDV emissions in the state would have dropped only 58% (95% confidence interval, 52 to 64%) in that period (data S1). Also notable is the impact of two key CARB policies targeting marine sources. The 2007 At-Berth rule requires that oceangoing vessels switch to electric shore power while in port or use alternative control technologies to reduce emissions by an equivalent amount (table S2). The Cleaner Ocean Vessel fuel policy, finalized in 2008, requires that ships within 24 nautical miles of California's shoreline replace heavy fuel oil in their main engines with lower-sulfur fuels (table S2). Between 2008 and 2014, marine DPM emissions in the state dropped 51% overall (see the figure and data S1), and by 2018 emissions measured at the Port of Los Angeles had declined by 37% (fig. S3, A and B, and data S1). ![Figure][9] California versus the rest of the United States: Mobile-source DPM emissions declined differently Mobile-source diesel PM2.5 (DPM) emissions by sector in California versus the rest of the US from 1990 to 2014. HDDV, heavy-duty diesel vehicle; LDDV, light-duty diesel vehicle. All percentage changes reflect values relative to 1990 values. GRAPHIC: N. CARY/ SCIENCE By contrast, California has struggled to target diesel emissions from agriculture (table S2). The sector is responsible for up to 18% of the state's total DPM emissions from mobile sources, but it accounted for less than 1% of the total emissions reductions in California between 1990 and 2014. Although these figures do not reflect gains from voluntary tractor engine replacements that are reported differently, opportunities remain to reduce off-road farm emissions in the nation's leading agricultural state. Voluntary programs have further reduced DPM emissions beyond California's regulatory requirements. Incentives to bring engines and equipment to a standard cleaner than required by law are estimated to have reduced DPM emissions by more than 6000 metric tons since 2001 (table S2). A program established in 2006 has provided $1 billion in grants to update trucks, locomotives, and ships at berth, eliminating an estimated 2200 metric tons of DPM emissions (table S2). Like other policies targeting emissions along goods-movement corridors, this program particularly benefits neighboring communities, which tend to be lower-income communities of color (table S4). Taken together, CARB's policies reduced emissions to the extent that by 2014 California was emitting less than half the DPM that would be expected had the state followed the same trajectory as the rest of the US (fig. S2 and data S1). Correspondingly, we estimate that more than twice as many Californians would have died from DPM-attributable cardiopulmonary disease in 2014 alone if the state had not so markedly reduced emissions (data S1). The impact of targeted emissions regulation is also evident nationally, but it has come later and never as meaningfully as in California. Farming and construction emissions fell following the 2007 EPA Heavy Duty Engine and Vehicle Rule and the 2008–2015 phase-in of Tier 4 standards targeting off-road emissions from farm and construction equipment (table S1). Federal requirements for LSDF in the 1990s and ULSDF beginning in 2006 reduced HDDV emissions from both nonroad and on-road sources (table S1). In the marine sector, US coastal areas caught up to California's fuel standards in 2012 when ULSDF was required for smaller marine engines (table S1) and in 2015 for the largest vessels when requirements for lower-sulfur marine diesel came into effect in the North American Emissions Control Area established by the International Maritime Organization (table S1). By contrast, California has taken not only earlier action on marine emissions but also aggressive steps to target emissions from the many engines that pollute the air near ports, including marine auxiliary engines, short-haul trucks, cargo-handling cranes, and yard trucks (table S2). Individual states that have reduced HDDV emissions more than the national average are more likely to have adopted California's standards, as permitted under the CAA (table S5 and data S1), and the rest of the US could do the same. Coordination across states and between state and federal agencies means that methodological differences in data collection are unlikely to account for the observed differences in DPM emissions between California and the rest of the US (see supplementary materials). But how do we know that emission inventories are accurate and, furthermore, that CARB policies are responsible for the observed reductions? Field studies measuring changes in concentrations of DPM serve to ground-truth emissions inventories and substantiate the link between policy interventions and observed outcomes (table S4). For example, following the suite of interventions under the 2006 Goods Movement Plan, California communities in close proximity to goods-movement corridors saw significantly greater air quality improvements relative to non–goods-movement corridors and control areas monitored during the same time period (table S4). These findings show specific, local impacts of regulations targeting high-emitting sectors, distinguishing those changes from secular trends in air pollution and demonstrating their potential to advance environmental justice. The 2007 CARB regulation requiring retrofit or replacement of older HDDV engines for short-haul “drayage trucks” that operate at ports and railyards corresponded to a 70% reduction in black carbon emissions (a DPM proxy) and a 75% reduction in PM mass specific to drayage trucks measured in and around the ports of Oakland and Los Angeles between 2009 and 2011 (table S4). These changes mirror the emissions reductions measured in laboratory testing of the low-sulfur fuels and retrofit technologies used to meet the drayage truck standards (table S3). Likewise, the 2009 CARB requirement for low-sulfur fuels in oceangoing vessel engines operating within 24 nautical miles of the California coastline was associated with a measured 64% drop in San Francisco Bay Area concentrations of vanadium, a marker for combustion of heavy fuel oil (table S4). Sampling conducted by aircraft flying in the exhaust plume of a container ship approaching the coast showed that the fuel switch, combined with a required speed reduction, dropped DPM emissions by 90% (table S4). That these changes all occurred in the setting of continued growth in California's population, gross state product, and diesel consumption (figs. S4 and S5) further supports the assertion that the observed reductions track to the policies targeting DPM emissions. Observed emissions reductions are further corroborated by epidemiological data that link specific CARB policies to regional reductions in children's exposure to particle pollution and show corresponding improvements in both lung function and development in children with and without asthma ([ 9 ][10]). Finally, comparing HDDV sector emissions in California to the rest of the country likely underestimates the actual impact of CARB policies, which apply not only to the nearly half-million trucks and buses registered in California but also to the same number of out-of-state HDDVs estimated to drive California's highways each year ([ 10 ][11]). This requirement reduces emissions outside of California as well, although those reductions are attributed to federal policy. In California, cleaner air has not come at the expense of the state's economy, which in recent years has grown at double the average national rate ([ 11 ][12]). CARB estimates that every dollar the state has spent controlling air pollution has generated $38 in benefits attributable to reduced air pollution–related illness, premature death, and lost productivity. California's overall economic gain from health benefits linked to air pollution reduction, including CARB rules and programs, is estimated to have exceeded $250 billion between 1973 and 2014 ([ 12 ][13]). The link between PM2.5 exposure and increased risk of hospitalization and death from COVID-19 ([ 13 ][14]) further underscores the public health importance of cleaner air, particularly for communities of color that are disproportionately affected by both. California could benefit from additional measures to reduce emissions from off-road sectors, such as construction and agriculture, which CARB has not tackled as aggressively ([ 14 ][15]). Indeed, the nation as a whole could reduce mobile-source DPM emissions by requiring ships at berth to use shore power, and by requiring replacement or retrofit of existing on-road and off-road HDDVs in advance of fleet turnover. Given the long service life of older, dirty diesel engines, the current federal policy of mandating engine upgrades only with vehicle turnover is simply too slow. As the US initiates new federal rule-making on the proposed Cleaner Trucks Initiative to reduce NO x emissions from HDDVs, industry and environmental groups are calling on EPA to address NO x and DPM emissions in tandem and to create consistent “50-state” standards ([ 15 ][16]). In doing so, the EPA should align with CARB rules. EPA should also remove federal preemption of state emissions limits for off-road engines used in construction and agriculture. Even absent more aggressive federal policy, states' authority to set and implement their own stricter emissions standards must be protected. [science.sciencemag.org/content/371/6536/1314/suppl/DC1][17] 1. [↵][18]GBD 2017 Risk Factor Collaborators, Lancet 392, 1923 (2018). [OpenUrl][19][CrossRef][20][PubMed][21] 2. [↵][22]California Air Resources Board, “Overview: Diesel Exhaust & Health”; [ww2.arb.ca.gov/resources/overview-diesel-exhaust-and-health][23]. 3. [↵][24]European Union Directorate-General for Internal Policies, Comparative Study on the Differences Between the EU and US Legislation on Emissions in the Automotive Sector (2016); [www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2016/587331/IPOL\_STU(2016)587331\_EN.pdf][25]. 4. [↵][26]DieselNet, “Emission Standards, United States”; [www.dieselnet.com/standards/us/index.php][27]. 5. [↵][28]1. J. M. Samet, 2. T. A. Burke , Annu. Rev. Public Health 41, 347 (2020). [OpenUrl][29] 6. [↵][30]1. C. Davenport , “Trump to Revoke California's Authority to Set Stricter Auto Emissions Rules.” New York Times, 17 September 2019; [www.nytimes.com/2019/09/17/climate/trump-california-emissions-waiver.html][31]. 7. [↵][32]US Environmental Protection Agency, “National Emissions Inventory (NEI)”; [www.epa.gov/air-emissions-inventories/national-emissions-inventory-nei][33]. 8. [↵][34]1. D. Q. Tong et al ., Atmos. Environ. 107, 70 (2015). [OpenUrl][35] 9. [↵][36]1. F. Gilliland et al ., “The Effects of Policy-Driven Air Quality Improvements on Children's Respiratory Health” (2017); [www.healtheffects.org/system/files/GillilandRR190.pdf][37]. 10. [↵][38]California Air Resources Board, “Staff Report: Initial Statement of Reasons for Proposed Rulemaking: Proposed Regulation for In-Use On-Road Diesel Vehicles” (2008); . 11. [↵][39]Next10, 2017 California Green Innovation Index (2017); [www.next10.org/publications/2017-gii][40]. 12. [↵][41]California Air Resources Board, Fifty Year Air Quality Trends and Health Benefits; [ww3.arb.ca.gov/board/books/2018/020818/18-1-2pres.pdf][42]. 13. [↵][43]1. X. Wu, 2. R. C. Nethery, 3. M. B. Sabath, 4. D. Braun, 5. F. Dominici , Air pollution and COVID-19 mortality in the United States: Strengths and limitations of an ecological regression analysis. Sci. Adv. 6, eabd4049 (2020). 10.1126/sciadv.abd4049pmid:33148655 [OpenUrl][44][FREE Full Text][45] 14. [↵][46]California's construction emissions declined markedly from 2008 to 2011. Although industry likely lowered emissions in anticipation of deadlines in the 2008 In-Use Off-Road Diesel-Fueled Fleet Regulation (table S2), the majority of the decline is likely attributable to CARB's 2011 construction inventory revision prompted by the regulated industry. In that year, the regulation was also amended to delay implementation by 4 years and to lower required emission reductions. 15. [↵][47]US Environmental Protection Agency, “Control of Air Pollution From New Motor Vehicles: Heavy-Duty Engine Standards” [proposed rule]; [www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/01/21/2020-00542/control-of-air-pollution-from-new-motor-vehicles-heavy-duty-engine-standards#citation-4-p3307][48]. Acknowledgments: We thank K. Peterson (University of California, Berkeley) for data visualization; K. Karparos, C. Parmer, and B. Holmes-Gen (CARB) for manuscript review; M. Houyoux, J. Godfrey, and M. Aldrich (EPA) for assistance with NEI data; and J. Austin, R. Boyd, T. Brasil, J. Cao, M. Diaz, R. Furey, J. Herner, S. Huber, M. Komlenic, R. Krieger, T. Kuwayama, N. Lowery, N. Motallebi, S. Pournazeri, S. Yoon, S. Zelinka, and L. Zhou (CARB) for assistance with CARB regulations and data. This research was supported in part by California Breast Cancer Research Program grant 23QB-1881. J.B. serves as the Physician Member of CARB. A.A. is a former employee of CARB. 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SCI COMMUN### Leadership President Joe Biden last week nominated former Senator Bill Nelson (D–FL) to lead NASA, a job that would require him to balance returning humans to the Moon with sending robots to observe Earth, Mars, and beyond. Nelson, who flew as a civilian on the space shuttle in 1986, was a lead Senate sponsor of NASA's new Moon rocket, the Space Launch System, which last week had the first successful test of its engines. Some advocates have called for replacing the delayed project, which has spent $20 billion so far, with privately operated rockets; but Nelson's nomination appears likely to cement the program. He has little track record of engagement with the agency's science programs, which have enjoyed rising budgets in recent years, especially for planetary science. But many members of Congress support an ambitious project to recover rock samples drilled by the Perseverance rover on Mars. Nelson is also seen as a backer of climate research, and earth scientists hope he will help reverse a long-term drop in NASA's spending on that discipline. 50% —The increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide since preindustrial times. The gas, which contributes to global warming, crossed that threshold for the first time when its concentration reached 417 parts per million this month (U.K. Met Office). ### Biodiversity Ecologists involved in mapping life on Earth have taken the next step: predicting where to find the 85% of the planet's species waiting to be discovered. Worried that conservation efforts usually ignore these hidden species, Mario Moura, an ecologist at the Federal University of Paraèba in Brazil, created an interactive map showing biodiversity hot spots with the richest potential for hosting unknown, land-dwelling species of mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. He and ecologist Walter Jetz of Yale University built it using data about known vertebrates' size, habitat, and nine other attributes that influence the likelihood of discovery at a particular location. For example, large mammals living near people are much more likely to be found than tiny frogs in a remote jungle. The map predicts that Brazil has more mystery species, 10% of all, than any other country. Colombia, Indonesia, and Madagascar account for 5% each, Moura and Jetz reported this week in Nature Ecology & Evolution . ### COVID-19 The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last week named as a “variant of concern” a spreading strain of the pandemic coronavirus identified in California in January. The variant, which comes in two slightly different forms called B.1.427 and B.1.429, becomes the fourth given that designation by CDC. A variant of concern may evade immunity, drugs, and diagnostic tests; make people sicker; and be more transmissible than the original virus. A recent preprint study indicated that the new variant flagged by CDC resists antibodies generated by vaccines and natural infection. In the past 30 days, the variant has accounted for some 61% of the samples sequenced in California and 65% of sequences in Nevada. Also last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration updated its emergency use authorization for the monoclonal antibody bamlanivimab to indicate that when used alone, it is unlikely to be effective against the new variant. ### Infectious diseases In countries that bear a heavy burden of tuberculosis (TB), diagnosis and treatment for the disease declined markedly in 2020 because health care facilities closed or diverted resources to COVID-19, a nonprofit group said last week. The Stop TB Partnership collected data from nine countries, seven of them in Asia, that account for 60% of the global TB burden. It found that TB diagnosis and treatment fell on average by 23%; at least 1 million fewer new cases were treated, the lowest level since 2008. In 2019, TB was the world's leading infectious killer, with 1.4 million deaths, more than 95% of them in developing countries. The Stop TB Partnership predicts that in 2020, TB remained the leading infectious killer in these countries even though COVID-19 surpassed it globally. The group urges health systems to simultaneously test for and tackle COVID-19 and TB, both infectious respiratory diseases. ### Climate change It's back! The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week relaunched a web page focused on climate change that former President Donald Trump's administration dismantled 4 years ago. The agency says it plans to add new, updated information in coming months about climate science and its actions to curb global warming. In 2017, then-EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt erased the page, which had existed for some 20 years, along with many other mentions of climate science on the agency's website. ### Agriculture The golden apple snail ( Pomacea canaliculata ), an invasive pest that costs rice farmers in Asia more than $1 billion a year, has been documented in continental Africa for the first time. Farmers in Kenya's Mwea irrigation area, a 10,000-hectare region that produces more than 70% of the country's rice, noticed the 2-centimeter snails, which were later confirmed by DNA tests, researchers report this week in CABI Agriculture and Bioscience . The snails are eating 90% of seedlings, the farmers say. The snail species is native to the Americas. To help prevent its spread in Africa, researchers say Kenya should consider restricting movement of farm machinery and host plants from the infected area. ### Biomedicine The founding director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health's (NIH's) center focusing on the translation of basic science into treatments is stepping down. Neurologist and geneticist Christopher Austin, who led the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), will become a partner at the venture capital firm Flagship Pioneering. NIH Director Francis Collins persuaded Congress to create NCATS in 2011, despite skepticism from industry. Under Austin, the center's efforts included screening small molecules for drug candidates, developing treatments for rare diseases, and streamlining clinical trials at academic health centers. Some observers say NCATS never had the budget to realize its ambitions ( Science , 27 September 2019, p. [1363][1]). But the government's role in drug development may soon grow, with President Joe Biden expected to reveal details for a health agency modeled after the applications-oriented Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. ### Drug development A late-stage drug trial that had buoyed the hopes of families afflicted by Huntington disease, a devastating, incurable neurological illness, was stopped on 22 March by the manufacturer, Roche. A data monitoring committee had recommended the move after weighing benefits and risks of the drug, tominersen (formerly called IONIS-HTTRx and RG6042). The company said no new safety issues had emerged during the trial, but provided no additional details. Tominersen is an antisense oligonucleotide, a snippet of genetic code designed to interfere with production of a protein—in this case, the mutant protein called huntingtin that causes the inherited disease. The drug was developed by Ionis Pharmaceuticals, which licensed it to Roche in 2017, shortly after an early human trial showed it caused dose-dependent reductions in huntingtin ( Science , 24 August 2018, p. [742][2]). The sudden cessation stunned trial leaders, who had finished enrolling nearly 800 people in April 2020 and expected results in 2022. ![Figure][3] In Focus The stems, air bladders, and blades of giant kelp ( Macrocystis pyrifera ), the world's largest seaweed, form a golden still life. With fronds reaching more than 30 meters, the species thrives in cold, clear water, forming dense forests that host diverse ecosystems. This prize-winning image is part of an outdoor exhibit about algae at the University of Nottingham that can be seen at . PHOTO: ERASMO EMACAYA ### Animal behavior Adult mountain gorillas, including male silverbacks, often adopt motherless or orphaned young members of their social groups—a behavior previously thought to be rare in mammals other than humans—a study reports. Chimpanzees and other social mammals that lose their mothers face a greater risk of dying, and gorillas often kill orphans from different social groups. But thanks to the in-group communal care, gorillas who were motherless or orphaned survived as well as youngsters whose mothers were still around. This week in eLife , scientists describe the analysis, which used a remarkable 53 years of data on mountain gorillas collected at the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund's Karisoke Research Center in Rwanda, in one of the longest field studies. Scientists found that 59 motherless or orphaned gorillas also suffered no long-term decline in social rank or ability to reproduce. Older sisters and peers of orphans joined males, including dominant silverbacks, in frequent child care. Some motherless males who spent lots of time with the silverback in their social group did well: They grew up to become its dominant ape. ### Climate science The Biden administration last week appointed Jane Lubchenco, who headed the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under former President Barack Obama, to serve as its top climate scientist in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. A marine ecologist and advocate for the ocean, Lubchenco will work as deputy director for climate and the environment, coordinating climate science across federal agencies and the U.S. Global Change Research Program. Lubchenco's focus will be to spur research and action on climate mitigation that can also benefit the U.S. economy. ### Science policy In Sweden, a national code uses 44,000 words to define research misconduct and discuss scientific values. Next door, Norway's equivalent is a brisk 900 words. An analysis of scientific integrity policies in 32 European nations has found wide differences not only in length, but in standards and definitions of research misconduct. The nonbinding European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity, issued by the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities in 2017, was intended to promote consistency; it also allows countries to add language to fit their circumstances. But only two of 32 countries examined—Bulgaria and Luxembourg—have adopted the code wholesale, according to a study last month in Bioethics . And there's just one principle that all countries have agreed on: that fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism of data and findings constitute research misconduct. Research ethicists say the differences threaten to create confusion and disputes for multinational scientific collaborations as they decide which country's rules apply. ### Microbiology Soil bacteria called Streptomyces are guardian angels of the microbial world: They produce antibiotics that humans depend on and protect plants from harmful microbes. But because they lack self-propulsion, researchers have long puzzled over how they find the plants they defend. Now, scientists have discovered that the microbe's dormant spores typically hitch rides on the whiplike flagella of other, mobile soil microbes heading for plant roots, researchers reported last week in The ISME Journal: Multidisciplinary Journal of Microbial Ecology . A few other species of bacteria and a fungus are known to catch rides on other microbes. But the observed piggybacking on microbes by spores—previously known to latch on to insects and other small animals for travel—is a first, says co-author Alise Muok of Leiden University. With this mystery solved, researchers may one day modify the hitchhiking to improve plant protection, she adds. [1]: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/365/6460/1363 [2]: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/361/6404/742 [3]: pending:yes

NASA's Artemis program will mark a significant milestone in US space flight history when it lifts off in late 2024. Not only will it be the first time that American astronauts have travelled further than LEO since the 1970s, and not only will it be the first opportunity for a female astronaut to step foot on the moon. The Artemis mission will perform the crucial groundwork needed for humanity to further explore and potentially colonize our nearest celestial neighbor as well as eventually serve as a jumping-off point in our quest to reach Mars. Given how inhospitable space is to human physiology and psychology, however, NASA and its partners will face a significant challenge in keeping their lunar colonists alive and well. Back in the Apollo mission era, the notion of constructing even a semi-permanent presence on the surface of the moon was laughable -- largely because the numerous lunar regolith samples collected and returned to Earth during that period were "found to be dry as a bone," Rob Mueller, Senior Technologist in Advanced Projects Development at NASA said during a SXSW 2021 panel.

The Federal Statistical Office (FSO) is joining forces with the Swiss Data Science Center, a joint venture between the two federal institutes of technology, to encourage the use of data science and artificial intelligence within the administration. As society becomes more digitalized, institutions need more and more data science skills. This includes the integration of tools arising from artificial intelligence in a way that is safe and beneficial to society as a whole. To this end, as a pioneer within the federal administration, the FSO is teaming up with the Swiss Data Science Center (SDSC), a joint venture between the two federal institutes of technology. "I am extremely enthusiastic about this strategic partnership in a joint flagship project between our two institutes and the FSO," said Martin Vetterli, President of the EPFL.

The UK has finally unveiled its Alan Turing bank note, and it's a fitting tribute to the pioneering computer scientist in both what it represents and the technology behind it. To start, the durable polymer £50 bill completes the Bank of England's "most secure" set of notes to date with anti-counterfeiting features appropriate for the legendary WWII codebreaker, including a metallic hologram as well as windows themed around Bletchley Park and a microchip. The imagery is a nod to Turing's many achievements, including some deep cuts that you might not immediately recognize. The mathematical formula you see comes from Turing's influential 1936 paper "On Computable Numbers," a foundational work for computer science. You'll also see pictures of the Automatic Computing Engine Pilot Machine (the trial model for a very early computer) and schematics for the British Bombe codebreaking machine Turing specified.

AI Daily Roundup starts today! We are covering the top updates from around the world. The updates will feature state-of-the-art capabilities in artificial intelligence, Machine Learning, Robotic Process Automation, Fintech, and human-system interactions. We will cover the role of AI Daily Roundup and its application in various industries and daily lives. Omnispace, the company that is redefining mobile communications by building a global hybrid network, announced the successful demonstration of 5G satellite capability with the National Security Innovation Network (NSIN), along with the Navy and Marine Corps.