Strategian: Science Magazine

The Strategian: Science Magazine is an open educational resource (OER) made available under a Creative Commons license. For original posts, look for the “Republish this story” graphic at the bottom of the article. Click that button to learn how to republish Strategian stories on your own online site or in print form. HTML and plain text versions of the posts are provided. Teachers (at all... The …

Whipping up fear or creating a distraction is a common tactic in politics. Providing stark, seemingly life or death choices, us versus them, scapegoating, creating a false bogeyman to distract from real problems, using lies and disinformation … fear and distraction is used because it often works. The invoked fear is often based on racism and bias. It’s those “other people”–with a different skin c…

by Jeff Masters and Bob Henson, Yale Climate ConnectionsAugust 10, 2026 Those who deny or dismiss U.S. climate change have hit a Waterloo moment of sorts. The nation just experienced its hottest month in more than 130 years of analysis, which breaks a record that had stood since the infamous Dust Bowl of the 1930s. For the 48 contiguous states, the July 2026 average of... The post The U.S. just h…

Background: “I always come back to this idea that we deserve a better class of technology and a better class of technologist. Technologies are so important and they can do so much good in the world. But technology as a kind of singular thing does not necessarily improve our lives or create a better society. It only does so when it actually serves the needs... The post Should you be a Luddite? Res…

Background: “Ghostwriting occurs when someone makes substantial contributions to a manuscript without attribution or disclosure. It is considered bad publication practice in the … sciences, and some argue it is scientific misconduct. At its extreme, … ghostwriting involves … companies hiring professional writers to produce papers promoting their products but hiding those contributions and instead…

Background: Right now, artificial intelligence is a complete mess–economically, socially, politically, culturally, environmentally, etc., and especially in the United States. Is this just a sign of an immature technology that has been labelled and presented in a very confusing way? Presented as a monolith, when it is not that at all? Maybe. Is this a sign of an immature technology foisted upon so…

Theodore J. Kury, University of Florida (from The Conversation) Many major tech companies have pledged to pay their fair share of the costs associated with generating and transmitting more electricity to serve large data centers. But ratepayers across the United States are worried about the potential costs they might have to bear. That’s because it’s not immediately clear how the cost of data cen…

Background: “Studies suggest that relying on willpower is hopeless. Instead, we must find strategies that don’t require us to be strong. In the modern era, habits have become a significant area of scientific inquiry. Psychologists have explored the genesis of habitual behavior and its impact on health and happiness. William James, echoing Aristotle, wrote, ‘All our life, so far as it has definite…

Background: “Pollution— ie, unwanted waste of human origin released to air, land, water, and the ocean without regard for cost or consequence—is an existential threat to human health and planetary health, and jeopardises the sustainability of modern societies. Pollution includes contamination of air by fine particulate matter (PM2·5); ozone; oxides of sulphur and nitrogen; freshwater pollution; c…

Neha Gour, George Mason University; Ed Maibach, George Mason University, and Luis Ortiz, George Mason University (from The Conversation) Every internet search, streamed video and AI-generated response depends on a data center somewhere. Driven by rapid growth in artificial intelligence, cloud computing and cryptocurrency, data centers have become the backbone of the modern digital economy. But th…

David Boutt, UMass Amherst (from The Conversation) About two-thirds of the U.S. is in some stage of drought in late spring 2026, yet at the same time the country has been seeing more intense downpours. It might seem contradictory, but both are symptoms of rising global temperatures. The reason has to do with the water cycle. Water influences every aspect of our lives through a... The post The US …

Featured article: *Foster, G., & Rahmstorf, S. (2026). Global warming has accelerated significantly. Geophysical Research Letters, 53(5), e2025GL118804. [PDF] [Cited by] “Recent record-hot years have caused discussion over whether global warming has accelerated. Previous analysis found acceleration (i.e., increase in warming rate) has not yet reached a 95% confidence level, given natural temperat…

Background: “Critics have long claimed that variable renewables are too unreliable: The wind doesn’t always blow, and the sun doesn’t always shine. But evidence shows that intermittency concerns are now generally unfounded. Ten proven carbon-free balancing methods already make high-renewable grids reliable and economic in many countries. One of those methods, batteries, costs 96% less today than …

Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the most important issues of our time … and it will remain so for the foreseeable future. Whether for good or for ill, it will likely impact virtually every facet of our society (technology, culture, jobs, wealth, poverty, politics, environment, democracy, education, psychology, and more) … Message #1: A story — I began my career as a librarian and... The po…

Background: “Phytoremediation uses plants to clean up environmental contamination in soil, air, and water, offering a potentially cost-effective and less environmentally disruptive alternative to traditional methods of remediation. Phytoremediation methods include phytoextraction for inorganic pollutants, phytodegradation for organic contaminants, phytovolatilization for releasing volatile substa…

Renee Obringer, Penn State and Dave White, Arizona State University (from The Conversation) When a drought turns into an urban water crisis, a city’s first step is often to limit lawn watering and launch a campaign to encourage everyone to conserve. It might raise water-use rates or offer incentives for installing low-flow devices. While demand management techniques like these have had a lot of s…

Nitrates in drinking water sources have become a chronic problem especially in areas of intensive corporate agriculture–like the U.S. Midwest. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has not updated standards for nitrates in water for decades. Research indicates that health problems can be caused by levels far below the current U.S. Federal maximum. Background: “Nitrate (NO 3−) is a compound com…

Nitrates in drinking water sources have become a chronic problem especially in areas of intensive corporate agriculture–like the U.S. Midwest. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has not updated standards for nitrates in water for decades. Research indicates that health problems can be caused by levels far below the current U.S. Federal maximum. Background: “Nitrate (NO 3−) is a compound com…

Multiple studies from different regions around the world show bird and insect populations declining precipitously. Are these declines connected? What has caused them? And what are the consequences for human society? Would it be possible for us to help birds and insects flourish again? See the research … References: *Leroy, F., Jarzyna, M. A., & Keil, P. (2026). Acceleration hotspots of North Amer…

Michael Wysession, Washington University in St. Louis (from The Conversation) The past three years have been the world’s hottest on record by far, with 2025 almost tied with 2023 for second place. With that energy came extreme weather, from flash flooding to powerful hurricanes and severe droughts. Yet, by most indicators, the planet should have been cooler in 2025 than it was. So, what happened,…