April 16, 2026

A Forest Service worker leads a tour of the Wind River Experimental Forest in Washington. (US Forest Service)

'It's just madness': Trump administration to close three-quarters of Forest Service research stations

At the end of March, the US Forest Service announced the closure of at least 57 of its 77 research stations. There's virtually no way for the Forest Service to continue to do research at its current level, which will almost certainly lead to poorer land management, writes Jessica McKenzie. Read more.

What this Norwegian 'close call' says about a world without New START

The Andoya rocket launch incident is an important reminder of the value of pre-launch notifications, which is especially salient now that New START has expired, write Jamie Withorne and Raven Witherspoon. Read more.

Python Cave tours? The ways disease jumps from animals to humans are evolving

The popularity of tourism to Uganda's Python Cave points to yet another way interactions at the animal-human interface—where outbreaks, epidemics, and pandemics start—are evolving, writes Georgios Pappas. Read more.

It seems Washington needs to be reminded of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

Washington is right to demand strong non-proliferation guarantees from Iran, writes Olamide Samuel. But it must treat the institutions that make these guarantees credible as something more than disposable tools. Read more.

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Building an audio experience for the Bulletin's journalism

The Bulletin has launched a new audio player feature for the automated narration of articles. Learn how the player works and get a behind-the-scenes look into its implementation from Adam Dombovari. Read more.

UPCOMING VIRTUAL EVENT

Expertise on Demand: AI in Journalism, Academia, and Thought Leadership

Evidence of AI usage is increasingly occurring in peer-reviewed academic works, and databases are starting to show evidence of AI hallucinations. At what point does algorithmic assistance become an intellectual liability? How can the public distinguish between expertise built on a career of education and experience, against an armchair expert using AI tools?

On April 22, join us as we explore these questions and more. This panel is hosted with the support of the Future of Life Institute. Register here.

EVENT RECORDING

Targeting Nuclear Power

This past Monday, the Bulletin hosted a virtual panel on growing concerns around nuclear power plants becoming targets in war, particularly in Iran and Ukraine, and the implications for the future of nuclear energy. Watch here.

IN THE NEWS

Is AI Pushing Us Closer to Nuclear Disaster?

Daniel Holz, chair of the Bulletin's Science and Security Board, spoke about the Doomsday Clock with Mother Jones' podcast More to The Story. Listen here.

Recent articles

• When the war in Iran comes home: Why the US isn't ready for increasing hybrid threats
• Will Trump nuke Iran?
• 'Radar holes' leave one in five Americans vulnerable to surprise tornadoes
• A conflict of attrition: Iran's bet on asymmetric warfare
• Trump's 'a whole civilization will die' threat against Iran exploits long-standing ambiguity over what Washington considers legal in war

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"A.I. does not have general intelligence. What it has is a lot of different skills."

— François Chollet, AI researcher, "How 'Jagged Intelligence' Can Reframe the A.I. Debate," The New York Times

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