Briefing

Scientists have found evidence of new brain cells sprouting in adults – a process that many thought only occurred in children

While randomising a deck of cards gets more difficult as you add more cards, it turns out that the same isn’t true for the qubits of quantum computers, which may prove surprisingly useful

Small, 3D-printed devices, designed to be implanted directly under the skin, could allow people with type 1 diabetes to produce their own insulin

Nature, Published online: 03 July 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-02021-y

A global map reveals the prevalence of thousands of genes that arm pathogens against antibiotics.

Nature, Published online: 03 July 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-02141-5

The comet-like body called either C/2025 N1 or 3I/ATLAS is now zipping past Jupiter.

body {background-color: #D2D1D5;}

Research & Developments is a blog for brief updates that provide context for the flurry of news regarding law and policy changes that impact science and scientists today.

A group of EPA scientists who signed an open letter voicing their dissent from Trump administration policies have been placed on administrative leave.

The letter, addressed to EPA administrator Lee Zeldin, was published 30 June.

As of Thursday afternoon, all 620 signatories are listed as anonymous. However, initially, more than 300 were identified as EPA staffers, and 170 of those staffers chose to be named, according to the Washington Post. Now, about 140 of them have been placed on administrative leave, according to The Hill, E&E News, The New York Times, and other outlets.

“The Environmental Protection Agency has a zero-tolerance policy for career bureaucrats unlawfully undermining, sabotaging and undercutting the administration’s agenda as voted for by the great people of this country last November,” wrote EPA press secretary, Brigit Hirsch, in a statement.

Marie Owens Powell, president of American Federation of Government Employees Council 238, EPA’s largest union, told E&E News that EPA’s actions were “disgraceful” and an “obvious retaliation for individuals expressing their beliefs. She added that the union is investigating its options for legal recourse.

As of Thursday afternoon, the letter also has 4,597 “supporters and endorsers” who had added their name to a running list. The letter outlines five primary concerns:

• That the EPA is undermining public trust by “promot[ing] misinformation and overtly partisan rhetoric.” The letter calls out the use of politicized terms such as “green slush funds” and “clean coal” in EPA messaging.
• That the EPA is ignoring scientific consensus to benefit polluters. The letter states that the “administration’s actions directly contradict EPA’s own scientific assessments on human health risks” related to mercury, asbestos, greenhouse gases, and PFAS.
• That the EPA is reversing previous progress made to protect vulnerable communities. The letter references environmental justice staffers being placed on leave earlier this year and billions of dollars of cancelled grants.
• That the EPA has dismantled the Office of Research and Development (ORD). The letter suggests that placing ORD scientists in regulatory program offices “will make EPA science more vulnerable to political interference” and that budget cuts will leave the office “unable to meet the science needs of the EPA and its partners and will threaten the health of all Americans.”
• That the EPA has promoted a culture of fear. The letter cites comments from private speeches, reported by ProPublica, in which Office of Management and Budget director Russell Vought stated, “We want their funding to be shut down so that the EPA can’t do all of the rules against our energy industry because they have no bandwidth financially to do so.” And, “We want to put them in trauma.”

—Emily Dieckman (@emfurd.bsky.social), Associate Editor

These updates are made possible through information from the scientific community. Do you have a story about how changes in law or policy are affecting scientists or research? Send us a tip at [email protected].

Text © 2025. AGU. CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
Except where otherwise noted, images are subject to copyright. Any reuse without express permission from the copyright owner is prohibited.

body {background-color: #D2D1D5;}

Research & Developments is a blog for brief updates that provide context for the flurry of news regarding law and policy changes that impact science and scientists today.

On 3 June, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a 940-page spending bill containing President Donald Trump’s domestic policy agenda. After the Senate passed the bill 2 days ago, it cleared the House by a four-vote margin and it will now head to Trump’s desk to be signed into law.

The bill provides trillions of dollars in tax cuts, boosts the fossil fuel industry, and dismantles incentives for clean energy, fulfilling Trump’s campaign promise to remake the U.S. energy economy in favor of oil and gas. 

“Congress has betrayed the working people of this country. This budget bill is the largest-ever transfer of wealth from working families to the ultra-rich and one of the most environmentally destructive pieces of legislation in U.S. history,” said Collin Rees, U.S. campaigns manager at Oil Change International, a clean energy advocacy group, in a statement. 

Some of the provisions that most concerned renewable energy and environmental advocates ultimately did not make it into the bill. A tax on future wind and solar projects was removed; the bill no longer mandates the scale of public land sales; and tax credits for companies building nuclear, hydroelectric, and geothermal power plants were not targeted by the bill, according to the New York Times. 

“America, get ready for a safer, stronger, more affordable, and Energy Dominant future,” Doug Burgum, secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, wrote on X. According to a 25 February report from the Clean Energy Buyers Association, repealing clean energy tax credits, which the bill calls for, would raise electricity prices for U.S. residents by nearly 7% on average by 2026.

Contained within the bill are provisions related to climate, energy, and Earth science that would: 

• Phase out tax credits that have been in place for decades incentivizing wind and solar power projects. “We’ll continue to build out renewables, but we’ll build out a lot slower,” David Carrol, chief renewables officer for ENGIE North America, a major power plant developer, told the New York Times. 
• Repeal tax credits for consumers who buy new or used electric cars, as well as incentives for businesses to buy electric trucks.
• Postpone fees on methane leaks from oil and gas operations.
• End tax credits for homeowners to upgrade energy efficiency in their homes. In 2023, 3.4 million Americans took advantage of these incentives, according to Rewiring America, an electrification advocacy nonprofit.
• Provide tax breaks for oil and gas producers.
• Rescind unspent funding from President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. 
• Mandate that millions of additional acres of federal land be made available for mining. 
• Provide tax breaks for U.S. producers of metallurgical coal (a form of coal used to make steel) and lower royalty rates for coal companies that mine on federal lands.
• Mandate oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico, the American West, and Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Reserve.

“This bill will be the most transformational legislation that we’ve seen in decades in terms of access to both federal lands and federal waters,” Mike Sommers, chief executive of the American Petroleum Institute, told CNBC. “It includes almost all of our priorities.”

—Grace van Deelen (@gvd.bsky.social), Staff Writer

These updates are made possible through information from the scientific community. Do you have a story about how changes in law or policy are affecting scientists or research? Send us a tip at [email protected].

Text © 2025. AGU. CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
Except where otherwise noted, images are subject to copyright. Any reuse without express permission from the copyright owner is prohibited.

These are the best Fujifilm cameras from beginner to professional grade, with some models potentially falling in price on Amazon Prime Day from July 8 to 11.

Spica is a binary star system that orbits over 250 light-years from Earth within the Milky Way.

Want to make the most of your Fujifilm camera? We’ve rounded up the best Fujifilm lenses, now with expected savings on Amazon Prime Day this July 8.