Planetary science is in the midst of a revolution. As recently as the early 1990s, “the planets” consisted of just nine famous objects in our solar system that every school kid learned to recognize by name and appearance. But then, advances in astronomical technology unleashed an explosion of new planetary discoveries on two fronts. One of these fronts involved a bewildering variety of planets discovered around other stars. In rapid succession, we learned about extrasolar pulsar planets, hot Jupiters, superEarths and more. And there is now a widespread scientific consensus that the 300...

Gerd Gigerenzer is director of the Center for Adaptive Behavior and Cognition at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin. He is also director of the Harding Center for Risk Literacy in Berlin. He studies how people can make effective decisions given limited time and information. Gigerenzer also explores ways to improve statistical understanding and communication. He has trained U.S. federal judges and physicians in several countries on how to understand risk and uncertainty. Behavioral sciences writer Bruce Bower asked Gigerenzer about statistical illiteracy ...

We have a well-honed ability for branding the undesirable attributes of “others.” This natural human tendency has evolved and persists for a reason: The definition of an outcast group helps society to delineate its “normal” boundaries. But this inclination can also breed counterproductive stigmas that are rooted in ignorance and that too often translate into staggering individual, social and economic costs. This makes the need to understand and confront these types of stigmas much more than a purely academic goal. Sociologists like Gerhard Falk are quick to distinguish ...

Steven Chu, director of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and a Nobel laureate in physics, has advocated for energy thrift. During a September visit to Washington, D.C., he spoke with senior editor Janet Raloff about how he believes the United States can tackle what he sees as a looming energy crisis. You’ve said the United States needs to launch an energy research program that’s comparable to the Apollo mission. What did you mean? That we need big investments and that our country needs to act quickly. In that respect, the programs would be similar. But the Apollo mission was essent... (p. 32)

In 1993, the U.S. Congress cut off funds for the Superconducting Super Collider, or SSC. After years of planning, two years of major construction and $2 billion spent, the most enduring achievement of the stillborn project was a tunnel from nothing to nowhere near Waxahachie, Texas. The SSC would have enabled us to explore nature in more extreme conditions — higher concentrations of energy — than ever before. It would have yielded fundamental new insights into the origin of the universe and the nature of matter, space and time. Thousands of scientists devoted big parts...

Eugene Spafford is executive director of Purdue University’s Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security, one of the world’s leading centers for information security. His research focuses on issues related to securing computers, networks and their data against criminal activities and failures. He has testified before various congressional committees, advised agencies within the executive branch and worked with the U.S. military and the FBI. Here, freelance science writer Susan Gaidos questions Spafford about computer security issues.   You’v...

In the July 19 Comment, Dudley Herschbach, winner of the 1986 Nobel Prize in chemistry, discusses how to infuse scientific ideas into humanities education with an aim of increasing overall scientific literacy. Herschbach is Frank B. Baird, Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard University and is chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Society for Science & the Public.

Nobel laureate Thomas R. Cech discusses the conclusions of ARISE, a new report that emphasizes the need for grant support for early-career scientific researchers and basic science research that may have no immediate tangible benefit. Cech is chair of the ARISE report panel and president of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Comment from David Applegate, chair of the National Science and Technology Council's Subcommittee on Disaster Reduction and senior science adviser for earthquake and geologic hazards at the U.S.Geological Survey.