# science policy (blogs) — RSS Amplifier Recent posts from the 7 feeds in the RSS Amplifier directory that cover science policy. Page: Feed: --- ## [Breakthrough: New Type of Matter Discovered](https://backreaction.blogspot.com/2026/08/breakthrough-new-type-of-matter.html) _2026-08-20 · Sabine Hossenfelder · Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction_ Scientists have discovered a new type of matter. Inside a cooled crystal, structures spontaneously arranged themselves into a three dimensional weave, and they did it at around room temperature. The researchers can even rewrite parts of the pattern with a laser. News like this doesn't come every day. Let's take a look. ## [New Universes Can Form Inside Dying Stars, Physicists Show](https://backreaction.blogspot.com/2026/08/new-universes-can-form-inside-dying.html) _2026-08-19 · Sabine Hossenfelder · Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction_ Could our universe have been born inside a collapsing star? That idea recently made headlines, and I got a lot of questions about it. The paper behind them describes a new solution to Einstein's equations in which a collapsing star expands on the inside and never forms a black hole. Let's take a look. ## [Alien Spacecraft Are On the Moon, Astronomers Claim. Seriously now?](https://backreaction.blogspot.com/2026/08/alien-spacecraft-are-on-moon.html) _2026-08-18 · Sabine Hossenfelder · Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction_ A group of astronomers say they've spotted more than twenty giant unidentified objects racing around the Moon, some of them forty kilometres across, and that the Moon serves as a base for them. The daily mail loved it. My bullshit meter did not survive it. But underneath all this nonsense there's a serious question that almost nobody is looking into. Let's take a look. ## [Two Dimensions of Time Explain Quantum Physics, Physicist Argues](https://backreaction.blogspot.com/2026/08/two-dimensions-of-time-explain-quantum.html) _2026-08-17 · Sabine Hossenfelder · Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction_ You've probably heard that quantum mechanics is spooky, that measuring one particle instantly affects another across any distance. A physicist now says there's a reason: the universe doesn't have one dimension of time, but two. It sounds absurd, but he's got the maths and even a way to test it. Genius or nonsense? Let's take a look. ## [Plot Twist: Life on Earth had TWO Origins!](https://backreaction.blogspot.com/2026/08/plot-twist-life-on-earth-had-two-origins.html) _2026-08-16 · Sabine Hossenfelder · Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction_ The origin of life is one of the biggest mysteries left in science. Now a group of researchers says there wasn't just one originsttr, there were two. And I want to explain why, despite how impossibly long ago it all happened, I'm actually optimistic that we'll one day work out how life began. Let's take a look. ## [The Science Policy Scoop (Week of August 10, 2026)](https://spiritofsciencepolicy.substack.com/p/the-science-policy-scoop-week-of-715) _2026-08-16 · Tasha Mohseni · Science Policy Insights in Research & Technology (SPIRIT)_ Focused on the most relevant agency actions and enforcement signals ## [Scientists Solve Mystery of Earth’s Continents](https://backreaction.blogspot.com/2026/08/scientists-solve-mystery-of-earths.html) _2026-08-15 · Sabine Hossenfelder · Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction_ How special is Earth? It's one of those questions that runs through all of science, and here's a version of it most people have never thought about: why does our planet even have continents? A group of geologists now says the answer lies somewhere unexpected, in the shape of the Milky Way itself. Let's take a look. ## [The War on AI Has Begun](https://backreaction.blogspot.com/2026/08/the-war-on-ai-has-begun.html) _2026-08-13 · Sabine Hossenfelder · Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction_ The war on artificial intelligence is no longer just online arguments and complaints about data centers. Something has shifted, and law enforcement has noticed. Where did this new anti-technology movement come from, who's behind it, and where is it heading next? Let's take a look. ## [IRB Compliance Explorer: A New, Free Tool](https://spiritofsciencepolicy.substack.com/p/irb-compliance-explorer-a-new-free) _2026-08-13 · Tasha Mohseni · Science Policy Insights in Research & Technology (SPIRIT)_ You'll definitely want to bookmark this if you review or conduct human subjects research. ## [Neuroscientists Have Been Misreading Brain Scans for Decades](https://backreaction.blogspot.com/2026/08/neuroscientists-have-been-misreading.html) _2026-08-12 · Sabine Hossenfelder · Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction_ Neuroscientists have long assumed that when a brain region becomes more active, more blood flows to it. That assumption is the entire basis of functional magnetic resonance imaging. A new paper now says it's wrong for about 40% of the signals, and it isn't the only recent study to find that a lot of what we thought we knew about the brain rests on bad measurements. Let's take a look. ## [Watch Chovy Code Live (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/5Hht99d2r5g1) _2026-08-12 · **Sponsored**_ Join live coding streams with real-time collaborative screen sharing, open source and free. ## [From Lab to Pharmacy: What Actually Happens in Phase 1, 2, and 3 Clinical Trials?](https://spiritofsciencepolicy.substack.com/p/from-lab-to-pharmacy-what-actually) _2026-08-12 · Meghana karnaty · Science Policy Insights in Research & Technology (SPIRIT)_ Understanding the Journey Behind Every New Medicine ## [Dunning Kruger Effect Wrong, Scientists Claim](https://backreaction.blogspot.com/2026/08/dunning-kruger-effect-wrong-scientists.html) _2026-08-11 · Sabine Hossenfelder · Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction_ The dumber you are, the more certain you are that you aren't. That's the Dunning-Kruger effect, and it's been used to explain everything from bad politicians to the state of social media. Now psychologists have gone back to the biggest dataset we have and come out with the opposite conclusion. But there's a reason both sides can look at the same dots and see the opposite thing. Let's take a look. ## [Our Most Dangerous Labs Have a Problem No One Wants to Fix](https://backreaction.blogspot.com/2026/08/our-most-dangerous-labs-have-problem-no.html) _2026-08-07 · Sabine Hossenfelder · Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction_ A worker at a US government lab got bitten by a monkey carrying a deadly virus, and it turned out nobody knew what to do about it. Around the same time, someone from the same lab tried to smuggle outbreak samples into the country. All of this while everyone's worried about AI making bioweapons. Let's take a look. ## [The Science Policy Scoop (Week of August 3, 2026)](https://spiritofsciencepolicy.substack.com/p/the-science-policy-scoop-week-of-784) _2026-08-07 · Tasha Mohseni · Science Policy Insights in Research & Technology (SPIRIT)_ Focused on the most relevant agency actions and enforcement signals ## [Book Review: How Wildlife Is Returning to the East](https://undark.org/2026/08/07/book-review-beasts-of-the-east/) _2026-08-07 · Richard Schiffman · Undark Magazine_ In “The Beasts of the East,” journalist Andrew Moore charts the natural history of the East and the people who have dedicated their careers to restoring several long lost species to what remains of their original habitats. ## [The Fermi Paradox Just Got Much Worse](https://backreaction.blogspot.com/2026/08/the-fermi-paradox-just-got-much-worse.html) _2026-08-06 · noreply@blogger.com (Sabine Hossenfelder) · Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction_ ## [Physicists Say They’ve Found The Origin Of Causality](https://backreaction.blogspot.com/2026/08/physicists-say-theyve-found-origin-of.html) _2026-08-04 · noreply@blogger.com (Sabine Hossenfelder) · Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction_ ## [Origin of Time Tested in Experiment With Mini-Universe](https://backreaction.blogspot.com/2026/08/origin-of-time-tested-in-experiment.html) _2026-08-02 · noreply@blogger.com (Sabine Hossenfelder) · Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction_ ## [When the Grant Runs Out, Who Pays for Science?](https://spiritofsciencepolicy.substack.com/p/when-the-grant-runs-out-who-pays) _2026-08-02 · Tasha Mohseni · Science Policy Insights in Research & Technology (SPIRIT)_ What a marmot OnlyFans account reveals about the ethics of desperate fundraising. ## [Inside Advocacy Behind the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) (August 2026)](https://spiritofsciencepolicy.substack.com/p/inside-advocacy-behind-the-responsible-3b6) _2026-08-02 · Tasha Mohseni · Science Policy Insights in Research & Technology (SPIRIT)_ Volume 1 | Edition 3 ## [Ship software peacefully (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/LfGdUwK8qQGt) _2026-08-02 · **Sponsored**_ Deploy apps from your repo with auto-config, instant previews, scaling, and monitoring. ## [Russia Is Drilling 8 km Down to Prove Oil Never Runs Out](https://backreaction.blogspot.com/2026/08/russia-is-drilling-8-km-down-to-prove.html) _2026-08-01 · noreply@blogger.com (Sabine Hossenfelder) · Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction_ ## [(untitled)](https://backreaction.blogspot.com/2026/07/everywhere-it-turns-out-is-warming.html) _2026-07-31 · noreply@blogger.com (Sabine Hossenfelder) · Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction_ ## [(untitled)](http://backreaction.blogspot.com/2026/07/everywhere-it-turns-out-is-warming.html) _2026-07-31 · Sabine Hossenfelder · Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction_ Everywhere, it turns out, is warming faster than the rest of the world. Every region, every country, all of them, faster than the rest. You may sense a slight problem with this. The headlines are real, the papers are real, and yet something doesn't add up. Let's take a look. ## [Book Review: The Case for the AI-Powered Global Brain](https://undark.org/2026/07/31/book-review-the-god-test/) _2026-07-31 · Anil Ananthaswamy · Undark Magazine_ In “The God Test,” Robert Wright considers a future in which human consciousness becomes infused with AI. “We have to think seriously about a future in which there is something that increasingly resembles a global brain, and its neurons increasingly consist not just of human brains but of AIs,” he writes. ## [A Four-Year Pilot Won't Outrun a Fixed-Term Visa and a Faster Rival](https://spiritofsciencepolicy.substack.com/p/a-four-year-pilot-wont-outrun-a-fixed) _2026-07-30 · Tasha Mohseni · Science Policy Insights in Research & Technology (SPIRIT)_ NSF just modernized the American PhD. DHS just made it harder to finish one here. And China just proved a doctorate can be a product, not a dissertation. ## [The Federal and Congressional Scoop on Research (July 2026)](https://spiritofsciencepolicy.substack.com/p/the-federal-and-congressional-scoop-3f0) _2026-07-27 · Tasha Mohseni · Science Policy Insights in Research & Technology (SPIRIT)_ Volume 1; Edition 5: Focused on the most relevant agency actions and enforcement signals ## [The Science Policy Scoop (Week of July 20, 2026)](https://spiritofsciencepolicy.substack.com/p/the-science-policy-scoop-week-of-e33) _2026-07-24 · Tasha Mohseni · Science Policy Insights in Research & Technology (SPIRIT)_ Focused on the most relevant agency actions and enforcement signals ## [Interview: How Tragedy Changed the FDA](https://undark.org/2026/07/23/interview-mikkael-sekeres/) _2026-07-23 · Sara Talpos · Undark Magazine_ As an FDA advisory committee prepares to weigh whether specialized pharmacies should be allowed to dispense seven unapproved peptides, Mikkael A. Sekeres, a scientist and former adviser, discusses the history and nuances of FDA oversight, including its process for screening advisory committee members for conflicts of interest. ## [Human Research Standards Organization (HRSO) and Human Research Accreditation Canada (HRA Canada)](https://spiritofsciencepolicy.substack.com/p/human-research-standards-organization) _2026-07-21 · Tasha Mohseni · Science Policy Insights in Research & Technology (SPIRIT)_ An interview with the CEO: Dr. Janice Parente ## [You probably misunderstand the double slit experiment](https://backreaction.blogspot.com/2026/07/you-probably-misunderstand-double-slit.html) _2026-07-20 · noreply@blogger.com (Sabine Hossenfelder) · Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction_ ## [Save with community-voted codes (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/OsIpxQZnNFXj) _2026-07-20 · **Sponsored**_ Search thousands of community-verified coupon codes — 100% free, no account needed. ## [Academia's Dirty Secret Is Going to Court](https://backreaction.blogspot.com/2026/07/academias-dirty-secret-is-going-to-court.html) _2026-07-19 · noreply@blogger.com (Sabine Hossenfelder) · Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction_ ## [Scientists Have Figured Out How to Make Antigravity](https://backreaction.blogspot.com/2026/07/scientists-have-figured-out-how-to-make.html) _2026-07-17 · noreply@blogger.com (Sabine Hossenfelder) · Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction_ ## [Aliens Can Talk To Us Through Psychedelics, Scientists Claim](https://backreaction.blogspot.com/2026/07/aliens-can-talk-to-us-through.html) _2026-07-16 · noreply@blogger.com (Sabine Hossenfelder) · Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction_ ## [Will AI Fix Prior Authorization — or Make It Worse?](https://undark.org/2026/07/15/medicare-prior-authorization-ai/) _2026-07-15 · Joshua Cohen · Undark Magazine_ The Trump administration is currently piloting a program in six states that expands Medicare prior authorizations using AI tools in an effort to reduce unnecessary medical spending. But it remains to be seen whether this new approach, which the administration has called “broken” in the private sector, will be effective without causing dangerous delays for Medicare recipients. ## [Mathematicians Explain The Universe’s Expansion Without Dark Matter](https://backreaction.blogspot.com/2026/07/mathematicians-explain-universes.html) _2026-07-14 · noreply@blogger.com (Sabine Hossenfelder) · Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction_ ## [The Electric Car Revolution Is Not Going Well](https://backreaction.blogspot.com/2026/07/the-electric-car-revolution-is-not.html) _2026-07-12 · noreply@blogger.com (Sabine Hossenfelder) · Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction_ ## [This New Laser Is Based On Black Hole Physics](https://backreaction.blogspot.com/2026/07/this-new-laser-is-based-on-black-hole.html) _2026-07-11 · noreply@blogger.com (Sabine Hossenfelder) · Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction_ ## [Physicists Just Broke One Of Quantum Physics’ Biggest Restraints](https://backreaction.blogspot.com/2026/07/physicists-just-broke-one-of-quantum.html) _2026-07-09 · noreply@blogger.com (Sabine Hossenfelder) · Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction_ ## [Our Solar System Lost Two Planets](https://backreaction.blogspot.com/2026/07/our-solar-system-lost-two-planets.html) _2026-07-08 · noreply@blogger.com (Sabine Hossenfelder) · Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction_ ## [Physicists Say They Know the Origin of Gravity](https://backreaction.blogspot.com/2026/07/physicists-say-they-know-origin-of.html) _2026-07-07 · noreply@blogger.com (Sabine Hossenfelder) · Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction_ ## [The Biggest Argument for Dark Matter Just Died](https://backreaction.blogspot.com/2026/07/the-biggest-argument-for-dark-matter.html) _2026-07-02 · noreply@blogger.com (Sabine Hossenfelder) · Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction_ ## [Biologists Should Articulate Their Position on AI](https://undark.org/2026/07/02/opinion-biologists-leiden-declaration/) _2026-07-02 · C. Brandon Ogbunu · Undark Magazine_ Last month, mathematics researchers released the Leiden Declaration, a treatise on how to handle the challenges that artificial intelligence poses to their field. C. Brandon Ogbunu argues that biologists should learn from the mathematics community and work on their own version. ## [Strange Things Are Happening in Quantum Computing](https://backreaction.blogspot.com/2026/06/strange-things-are-happening-in-quantum.html) _2026-06-30 · noreply@blogger.com (Sabine Hossenfelder) · Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction_ ## [Consciousness Comes From Quantum Processes, Physicist Claims](https://backreaction.blogspot.com/2026/06/what-if-your-consciousness-comes-from.html) _2026-06-27 · noreply@blogger.com (Sabine Hossenfelder) · Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction_ ## [Review: What Animals Can Teach Humans About Caregiving](https://undark.org/2026/06/26/book-review-creatures-guide-to-caring/) _2026-06-26 · Jennifer Weeks · Undark Magazine_ From seahorses and birds to beetles and killer whales, journalist Elizabeth Preston finds a lot of common ground between human and animal parenting in “The Creatures’ Guide to Caring,” a sweeping survey of the evolution of caregiving and the dizzying array of survival strategies in the animal kingdom. ## [The MAHA Movement’s Worrisome Embrace of Ibogaine](https://undark.org/2026/06/25/opinion-maha-ibogaine-addiction/) _2026-06-25 · Zoe Adams · Undark Magazine_ The MAHA movement has been promoting the plant-based substance ibogaine as a remedy for opioid addiction, despite the lack of clinical trials on its safety and efficacy. One physician who practices addiction medicine discusses the risks of ibogaine and argues for the need to support proven treatments. ## [The Future of AI No One Wants to Talk About](https://backreaction.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-future-of-ai-no-one-wants-to-talk.html) _2026-06-24 · noreply@blogger.com (Sabine Hossenfelder) · Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction_ ## [Advocacy Groups Express Mixed Views on Embryo Editing](https://undark.org/2026/06/24/embryo-editing-disease-advocacy/) _2026-06-24 · Ashley Smart · Undark Magazine_ At least two new start-up companies, Preventive and Origin Genomics, say they are developing strategies that combine gene editing with in vitro fertilization to correct disease-causing mutations. Advocacy groups for people living with these genetic disorders have been quiet on the developments. ## [Controversy Erupts over Expansion of Universe: Nobel Prize Awarded in Error?](https://backreaction.blogspot.com/2026/06/controversy-erupts-over-expansion-of.html) _2026-06-23 · noreply@blogger.com (Sabine Hossenfelder) · Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction_ ## [Interview: California Lawmaker Calls for a Peptide Working Group](https://undark.org/2026/06/19/interview-joe-patterson-peptides/) _2026-06-19 · Sara Talpos · Undark Magazine_ Amid a national push to ease restrictions on certain peptides, California legislator Joe Patterson has introduced a state-level bill that would to establish a working group tasked with making recommendations to allow physicians and hospitals, among others, to prescribe and study promising peptides.