12/12/25: Policy Impact Undervalued by Universities, Social Scientists Say (Inside Higher Ed) Researchers believe their institution values publication in highly cited journals more than any real-world impact their work might have, a new Sage survey finds. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty-issues/research/2025/12/12/social-scientists-policy-impact-undervalued-universities#
12/12/25: China leads research in 90% of crucial technologies — a dramatic shift this century (Nature) China is leading research in nearly 90% of the crucial technologies that “significantly enhance, or pose risks to, a country’s national interests”, according to a technology tracker run by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) — an independent think-tank. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-04048-7
12/12/25: Pot Stocks Rise on Trump’s Plan to Ease Cannabis Restrictions (Bloomberg Law) President Donald Trump is expected to direct his administration to move to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug, according to people familiar with the matter, a move that could represent one of the biggest shifts in US policy toward cannabis in decades….Trump has discussed the idea with marijuana industry executives and officials, and is weighing pushing to reclassify marijuana to a Schedule III drug… https://news.bloomberglaw.com/pharma-and-life-sciences/trump-plans-to-push-for-cannabis-rescheduling-as-less-dangerous?context=search&index=2
12/11/25: Congress imposes new security restrictions on U.S. researchers (Science) The U.S. House of Representatives yesterday passed the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which contains some controversial new restrictions on research collaborations with China and other “countries of concern.” But the bill, which the Senate is expected to approve next week, drops other research security proposals that had drawn objections from the U.S. scientific community, and blocks a plan by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to unilaterally reduce the overhead payments it makes to grantees. https://www.science.org/content/article/congress-imposes-new-security-restrictions-u-s-researchers
12/10/25: A new preprint server welcomes papers written and reviewed by AI (Science) At most scientific publications, papers co-authored by artificial intelligence (AI) are not welcome. At a new open platform called aiXiv , they are embraced. The platform goes all in on AI: It accepts both AI- and human-authored work, uses built-in AI reviewers for baseline quality screening, and guides authors through revisions based on the chatbots’ feedback. “AI-generated knowledge shouldn’t be treated differently,” says Guowei Huang, one of aiXiv’s creators and a Ph.D. candidate specializing in AI and business at the University of Manchester. “We should only care about quality—not who produced it.” https://www.science.org/content/article/new-preprint-server-welcomes-papers-written-and-reviewed-ai
