Feeding a growing world population and adapting agricultural production to a changing climate is a significant challenge that can be mitigated through the use of new gene-editing technologies in crops. However, current regulatory processes are overly burdensome and confusing, have limited scientific innovation, and prevent the widespread production of genetically engineered (GE) crops. To address this, we propose the regulatory exemption of GE plants that have a previously-reviewed trait and mechanism of action, a unified and detailed web platform for applications for commercial approval, and the consolidation of federal regulatory communication to the USDA.

In early 2019, the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), California’s largest utility, filed for bankruptcy in anticipation of being held liable for the 2018 Camp Fire, the most deadly wildfire in California history. While PG&E is an investor-owned utility (IOU), it serves 5.2 million households across the northern two-thirds of California and plays a critical role in the state’s energy generation, distribution and long-term goals. As the bankruptcy unfolds and California lawmakers decide how to weigh in on these proceedings, we highlight several key topics for consideration: renewable energy, energy access, and wildfire liability. Regardless of the outcome of PG&E’s bankruptcy, it is in California’s best interest for lawmakers to establish a robust wildfire fund, coordinate energy purchasing and distribution among new local energy providers, and scale up the development of local energy storage.

As facial recognition systems (FRS) become widely available, a growing number of local governing bodies across the country have adopted these technologies. Without regulating how and when these technologies are used, the adoption of FRS by municipal governments has the potential to violate civil liberties and disproportionately harm marginalized groups. FRS may be an invaluable tool for law enforcement; however, best practices must be adopted to curb their misuse, specifically at the municipal level. We propose that cities considering procurement of FRS create an independent privacy advisory commission with a clear mandate, guaranteed cooperation from local government, technology expertise, and community stakeholder input.

The performance of superconducting qubits is degraded by a poorly characterized set of energy sources breaking the Cooper pairs responsible for superconductivity, creating a condition often called quasiparticle poisoning. Both superconducting qubits and low threshold dark matter calorimeters have observed excess bursts of quasiparticles or phonons that decrease in rate with time. Here, we show that a silicon crystal glued to its holder exhibits a rate of low-energy phonon events that is more than two orders of magnitude larger than in a functionally identical crystal suspended from its holder in a low-stress state. The excess phonon event rate in the glued crystal decreases with time since cooldown, consistent with a source of phonon bursts which contributes to quasiparticle poisoning in quantum circuits and the low-energy events observed in cryogenic calorimeters. We argue that relaxation of thermally induced stress between the glue and crystal is the source of these events.

The performance of superconducting qubits is degraded by a poorly characterized set of energy sources breaking the Cooper pairs responsible for superconductivity, creating a condition often called ``quasiparticle poisoning". Both superconducting qubits and low threshold dark matter calorimeters have observed excess bursts of quasiparticles or phonons that decrease in rate with time. Here, we show that a silicon crystal glued to its holder exhibits a rate of low-energy phonon events that is more than two orders of magnitude larger than in a functionally identical crystal suspended from its holder in a low-stress state. The excess phonon event rate in the glued crystal decreases with time since cooldown, consistent with a source of phonon bursts which contributes to quasiparticle poisoning in quantum circuits and the low-energy events observed in cryogenic calorimeters. We argue that relaxation of thermally induced stress between the glue and crystal is the source of these events.