ScienceInsider

by Eli Kintisch

A few environmental groups have set up an online directory for the public to locate and contact specialists in ecosystem services. Meanwhile, universities have set up Futurity, a new portal for sharing science research news.

Today, President Barack Obama announced a new program to raise fuel efficiency standards to 35.5 miles per gallon in 2016, a change agreed upon as part of a previous deal with automakers and environmentalists.

Obama's nominee to head the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, occupational epidemiologist David Michaels (left), has come under fire from conservative critics emboldened by the president's falling approval ratings; Effect Measure has a good summary.

The National Research Council has published its recommendations on the role of engineering education in K–12 schools.

For the first time since the 1988 establishment of the treaty, the United States will send a delegation to the official conference on the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which will be held on 24–25 September in New York City.  President Obama announced today that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will lead the delegation.

Dennis Blair, the director of National Intelligence, today released a strategic roadmap for national intelligence that highlights, among other things, the country's need for a stronger defense against cyberattacks as well as increased partnerships with academia and industry to develop science and technology tools for intelligence purposes.