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Since 1990, a large and dynamic global science system has evolved, based on grass roots collaboration, and resting on the resources, infrastructure and personnel housed by national science systems. Euro-American science systems have become intensively networked in a global duopoly; and many other countries have built national science systems, including a group of large- and middle-sized countries that follow semi-autonomous trajectories based on state investment, intensive national network building, and international engagement, without integrating tightly into the global duopoly. The dual global/national approach pursued by these systems, including China, South Korea, Iran and India, is not always fully understood in papers on science. Nevertheless, China is now the number two science country in the world, the largest producer of papers and number one in parts of STEM physical sciences. The paper investigates the remarkable evolution of China's science funding, output, discipline balance, internationalisation strategy and national and global networking. China has combined global activity and the local/national building of science in positive sum manner, on the ground of the nationally nested science system. The paper also discusses limits of the achievement, noting that while China-US relations have been instrumental in building science, a partial decoupling is occurring and the future is unclear.

Increased water scarcity and drought frequency are creating water management challenges for many communities in the western U.S. In response, the Western Association of Agricultural Experiment Station Directors sponsored a virtual summit in August 2020 to develop a framework for identifying and addressing the most pressing water issues in the western United States (the West). Summit attendees were research scientists, university extension specialists and professionals, and federal/state agency representatives with knowledge and expertise of water management in the West. The summit elicited opinions from 54 experts on pressing water issues and possible methods for addressing them. A follow‐on survey of 49 individuals increased the depth and breadth of perspectives collected. Summit and survey results show that water scarcity is a growing concern among water scientists and other experts. Increased water scarcity is leading to overallocated river basins, depleted aquifers, and elevated tensions between water use sectors. Summit and survey participants emphasized the need for increased integration—across research, extension, and education efforts; across the social and physical sciences; across uses (including ecological); and across surface and groundwater systems. These results serve as a sensing of what many of our colleagues believe to be the major western water issues over the next 30 years and, in some cases, possible solutions for addressing them. The expert opinions elicited through the summit and survey informed the creation of the Western Water Network, whose mission is to advance collaborative, proactive, science‐based water decision‐making that supports dynamic human and natural systems in the West. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To inform STEM education for benefiting emerging bilingual (EB) and English fluent (EF) students, the present study evaluated the order effects of integrating science and arts within a large-scale, ongoing effort investigating the efficacies of Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)-aligned Science Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) methodologies to provide more equitable opportunities to students to learn science through Arts integration (STEAM). The experiment examines the curriculum integrating order of implementing combinations of STEM and STEAM approaches in fifth grade life and physical science instruction, comparing (STEM → STEAM) vs (STEAM → STEM). Results: T tests and a three-way between-groups analysis of covariance examined the impact of instructional order, language fluency, and teachers' implementation fidelity. Findings indicate similar results in life and physical sciences, in which the STEAM first approach produced significantly higher science learning gains for both EF and EB students, revealing some higher learning gains for EF students, but with greater STEAM first order effect advantages for EB students overall. While EF students show higher learning gain scores in the high fidelity classrooms, the advantage of the STEAM first order is greater for EB students in all classroom fidelity levels and even within low to moderate implementation fidelity classrooms, as may commonly occur, such that the integration order of STEAM before STEM strategy is particularly advantageous to EB learners. Conclusions: The integration pattern of leading with STEAM and following with STEM offers an important opportunity to learn for EB students, and increases equity in opportunities to learn among EB and EF learners of science. Both EB and EF students benefit similarly and significantly in high fidelity implementation classrooms. However, the gains for EF students are not significant in low fidelity implementation classrooms, while in such low fidelity implementation classrooms, the EB students still benefited significantly despite the poor implementation. These results suggest that a strong compensating STEAM first order effect advantage is possibly involved in the implementation system for the EB population of learners. Teaching science through the arts with STEAM lessons is an effective approach that can be significantly improved through introducing STEM units with the STEAM first order effect advantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Domain-diverse research, that research which involves more than one domain of knowledge, has driven significant advances in science and technology. Recent interest has been shown in the United States for identifying and generalizing techniques for promoting success with such work. In this paper, an exemplar history of domain-diverse research is presented. Next, several forms of domain-diverse research are identified. A spotlight is cast on a particular type, known as "convergence". Convergence is a problem-solving approach that focuses on integrating the life sciences and medicine on the one hand, with the physical sciences and engineering on the other. Next, the design process is proposed as an organizing framework for domain-diverse teamwork. Finally, the need for research and training in the forming and running of such project groups is explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: In prior studies conducted in the United States, parents' gender-differentiated encouragement of science predicted children's later science motivation. Most of this research has focused on older children or teens and only looked at the impact of mothers. However, accumulating evidence suggests that gender-differentiated encouragement of science interest may begin in early childhood. Moreover, fathers may be more likely than mothers to treat sons and daughters differently in science-learning contexts. Methods: We examined 50 United States families with both a mother and a father (82% White; 98% with at least some college education) and either a daughter or a son (48–83 months; M = 62, SD = 9). On separate visits, each parent reads two books with their child. One was about life science and the other was about physical science. We coded parents' science-related talk during these interactions. Results and Conclusion: In contrast to our predictions, parents used higher proportions of science talk with daughters than sons, including higher average rates of overall science talk and specific types of science talk (e.g., science explanations, science-related personal connections, and science-learning talk). Moreover, most of the child gender effects occurred while reading the physical science books. Book topic and parent gender moderated some additional patterns. Book reading is discussed as a potential context for mitigating socialization experiences that traditionally disfavor girls' interest in physical science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4) is the most comprehensive report to date assessing climate change science, impacts, risks, and adaptation in the United States. The 1,500 page report covers a breadth of topics, ranging from foundational physical science to climate change response options. Here we present information on indicators and impacts of climate change in the human environment featured in NCA4 Volume II, focusing on: air quality, forest disturbance and wildfire, energy systems, and water resources. Observations, trends, and impacts of these aspects of our changing climate will be discussed, along with implications for the future. Implications: People of the United States are already being affected by our changing climate. Information on observed changes and impacts that affect human welfare and society, along with projections for the future, is highly valuable for informing decision-makers, including utility managers, emergency planners, and other stakeholders, about climate risk assessment, adaptation, and mitigation options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beginning with the marginalist revolution of the late nineteenth century, neoclassical economic theory developed by borrowing mathematical constructs from physics, but not the physics itself. Several scholars, including early ecological economists, recognized there was a need to incorporate energy and other resources into economic theory. In recent decades there have been attempts to fuse energy into aggregate neoclassical production functions, but these suffer from several challenges: they do not hold at an aggregate level; do not capture the dynamic evolution of the economy; ignore the universal flow of energy through all of the economy; and there is interdependency between variables. These challenges are largely addressed by energy-linked computable general equilibrium models, although their model formulations still understate the role of energy as the lifeblood of economies. Here I argue that the economy can simultaneously be studied in terms of physical units and monetary units. I contrast physical science and social science views on energy in economies, and demonstrate how thermodynamics and value theory can be used harmoniously with an example of the energy basis to capital formation in the United States. When used to study major transformation of energy systems, equations, or metrics, are required for each type of energy carrier in the economy. • Natural and social science perspectives on energy in economies are contrasted. • Economic activities should be simultaneously expressed in physical and monetary terms. • Energy is a conserved physical quantity, not a measure of value nor a metaphor. • Energy can be universally used to describe all physical activities in an economy. • An example shows value theory and thermodynamics can be combined in harmony. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]