Abby Olena

Feb 12, 2024 | the-scientist.com | Abby Olena |Elisa de Ranieri |PhDas a freelancer

From efforts to increase the transparency of the review process to initiatives offering training, there are many attempts underway to make better reviewers out of researchers. © ISTOCK.COM/ERHUI 1979 California State University, Fresno, biologist Ulrike Müller received her worst peer review when she was a graduate student at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.

Feb 12, 2024 | the-scientist.com | Abby Olena |PhDas a freelancer

We have to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. —Craig Roy, Yale UniversityThe quick switch to online classes that happened in March at most US institutions was enacted to keep students and staff healthy. But as institutions prepare for the fall, it’s not clear what science education in the 2020–21 academic year will look like.

Feb 12, 2024 | the-scientist.com | Abby Olena |PhDas a freelancer

And al’Absi isn’t alone. In an age of shifting political climates—namely, Brexit and policies such as US President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration—many researchers are rethinking how they approach international collaborations, as uncertainty abounds about the effects of limiting scientists’ global mobility.

Dec 7, 2023 | sinaiandsynapses.org | Abby Olena |Agustín Fuentes |Anebel Hernandez |Arvin M. Gouw

Last June, more than 300 people showed up for church services in Germany. What made this gathering so special, and drew so many attendees, was that the service was run entirely by artificial intelligence. As a rabbi, I think, “Well, AI’s not going to come for my job” – and then I read in the paper that 300 people came to see this AI, who appeared on a big screen in front of all the parishioners in St. Paul’s Church.

Nov 16, 2023 | sinaiandsynapses.org | Abby Olena |Agustín Fuentes |Anebel Hernandez |Arvin M. Gouw

American culture has a peculiar relationship with science – especially for a nation ostensibly built on Enlightenment ideals. Scientific knowledge, and how and whether it is filtered through the lens of faith, has increasingly taken the public spotlight as debates rage over education, and the urgency of political action on issues like climate change becomes increasingly clear.