On a gray London morning in January, I walked past familiar markers of institutional gravity on my way to the Royal Society. Stone facades. Heavy doors. Plaques engraved with names that have outlived the controversies of their eras. It is easy, in places like this, to slip into a kind of historical reverence that feels comforting, even anesthetizing.

Arthur Bienenstock, co-chair of American Academy project on the Challenges of International Scientific Partnerships, argues new legislation may endanger the U.S. science and technology workforce and limit the effectiveness of U.S. academic research.

Ira Katznelson and Samuel Issacharoff discussed the state of security and freedom and the role of fear in a modern democracy.

The crafters of the Constitution expected the size of the House to grow as the U.S. population increased. Citing the American Academy report on “The Case for Expanding the House of Representatives,” Kevin Kosar calls for Capitol Hill to consider the proposition.

William Henry Pickering, a Member of the Academy and an instructor of physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, photographed a total eclipse of the sun...

A newly released paper from the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, "Nuclear Power in Vietnam: International Responses and Future Prospects," explores the current and potential evolution of Vietnam’s nuclear program in light of regional geopolitical dynamics.

New report will be featured at the nation’s preeminent policy forum for state and federal energy policymakers, the 2012 National Electricity Forum.

A new study from the American Academy's Humanities Indicators project reveals trends among U.S. residents, and the impact of respondents’ political leanings, socioeconomic status, gender, and race.

Today the Academy’s Humanities Indicators launches its latest informational resource, the National Inventory of Humanities Organizations (NIHO).

The Academy recently launched a new informational resource: the National Inventory of Humanities Organizations (NIHO).

NASA astronaut Jessica Meir made history in October 2019 when she participated in the first all-female spacewalk. After 205 days in the isolation of space, she returned to a planet experiencing its own form of isolation: the global COVID-19 pandemic. As an astronaut and a marine biologist, Dr. Meir’s research into the impact of extreme environments has brought her to the depths of the Antarctic and the heights of space. At a virtual program, hosted by the Academy’s San Diego Program Committee, Dr. Meir described her research and her experiences in space and participated in a conversation with Brian Keating (University of California San Diego) about the perspectives that her work provides about our world.

Greater attention to consumer attitudes and behavior could speed adoption of alternative energy technologies that would save the United States billions of dollars every year.

On January 29, 2026, the Academy’s San Diego Committee, in partnership with the San Diego Natural History Museum, organized a discussion on the importance of science in our everyday lives and its impact on our future. The program featured Rommie Amaro (University of California, San Diego) and J. Craig Venter (J. Craig Venter Institute) in conversation with Peter Cowhey (University of California, San Diego). Judy Gradwohl (San Diego Natural History Museum) and M. Margaret McKeown (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit) provided welcome remarks. An edited transcript of the program follows.

A transcript from an interdisciplinary panel discussion on the importance of creativity in science, with participants highlighting how creativity and imagination fuel scientific discovery and how science inspires artistic expression. The conversation followed the presentation of the Rumford Prize to Andrea Ghez by Laurie Patton.

Academy member Douglas S. Massey discusses Ferguson and the meaning of race in America for the Bulletin’s new feature, “On the Professions.”

William Labov is regarded as the founder of variationist sociolinguistics, a discipline dedicated to understanding and researching language in relation to social factors that include region, class, and gender. Dr. Labov has worked to promote literacy for speakers of nonstandard dialects and to develop reading and teaching materials for these populations.

Richard Brodhead, president of Duke University, addresses the future of liberal arts education.

When Daniel Barron (Brigham and Women's Hospital) delivered a keynote address at an event with the National Association of Social Workers, he proposed ways to approach the use of AI to help social workers advance innovation without compromising compassion.

Andrea Ghez – a Nobel laureate and Professor of Physics and Astronomy at UCLA – is receiving the Rumford Prize, a storied science award given by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is being honored pioneering research on the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy that has revolutionized our understanding of the cosmos.