Geolocation of possible DF-27 HGV missile launcher video to street corner in Zhuozhuo, China. DOD lists DF-27 among China's new conventional missiles but with nuke capability. If a range of 5000-8000 km, it would be an IRBM to shorter-range ICBM.

Video: x.com/xixi_2328857...

Future State #007 : The Ceiling Problem EVERYONE GETS A RETROSPECTIVE. So it seems! They’re going around.

Latest Future States newsletter on retrospectives, optimizing for bandaids and building convenient bogeymen, and the need to raise the ceiling of governance imagination. www.linkedin.com/pulse/future...

Rethinking climate regulation from the ground up I chat with Hannah Safford and Loren Schulman about designing federal policy that actually delivers decarbonization.

Loren DeJonge Schulman and Hannah Safford on rethinking climate regulation, plus launching the Center for Regulatory Ingenuity
www.volts.wtf/p/rethinking...

There’s a New Playbook for Cutting Power Prices Rob talks with the Federation of American Scientists’ Arjun Krishnaswami on a new report with practical steps governments can take to make electricity more affordable.

Arjun Krishnaswami on a new playbook states can steal from to make electricity affordable
heatmap.news/podcast/shif...

A new center wants to turn regulatory “big ideas” into results that actually work on the ground | Federal News Network The regulatory landscape around climate policy is shifting, and many agencies are left with outdated tools to manage modern risks. The Federation of American Scientists'

Dr. Hannah Safford on turning big regulatory ideas into practical results
federalnewsnetwork.com/podcast/fede...

Smart policy, no reading required 🎧

If your ears are aching to hear how we turn policy ideas into real world impact, these recent podcast features deserve a spot on your weekend rotation (and no, we won't tell anyone if you listen at 2x speed) ⤵️

International Bat Appreciation Day YouTube video by Federation of American Scientists

FAStagram www.instagram.com/reel/DXPEIdf...

YouTube youtube.com/shorts/84HkN...

(LinkedIn coming soon!)

For #BatAppreciationDay, we had Federal Data Policy Director Denice Ross tell us about her favorite federal database: NABat!

Links to watch in the replies ⤵️

Goodbye IRS Direct File, Hello Inefficiency It takes the average person over 9 hours and costs $160 to file taxes each year. IRS Direct File meant it didn't have to.

Everyone: tax returns should be easier to file in America

2021 U.S. Digital Service: bet🫡

Here's the story of the rise and fall of IRS Direct File
fas.org/publication/...

Sustaining Scientific Collections in the Age of AI Good information sources, like collections, must be available and maintained if companies are going to successfully implement the vision of AI for science expressed by their marketing and executives.

TLDR: When I ask AI for an anatomically correct image of a whale skeleton, I should get a real image and not a hallucination

Maybe these companies that are trying to profit off of AI for science, which they call their most exciting work, should also act as responsible stewards of data sources?

We’re looking to send a technologist to Congress. Is it you?

If you care about science and technology, AI, government capacity, “natural capital” (i.e., energy and the environment), and making science policy accessible to the public, we want you.

Learn more 👉 fas.org/career/congr...

What Did We Stop Questioning in Digital Government Delivery? Let’s see what rules we can rewrite and beliefs we can reset: a few digital service sacred cows are long overdue to be put out to pasture.

The problem with sacred cows isn't that they existed – it's that they have taken on new life as facts, even as the world changes around them.

@merici.bsky.social takes on the sacred cows of digital government delivery, and what we can win if we put them out to pasture.
fas.org/publication/...

Allies or Adversaries? Science Diplomacy’s Calibration in the President’s Budget Request Nestled in the cuts and investments of interest to the S&T community is a more complex story of how the administration is approaching the practice of science diplomacy.

After the President's Budget Request dropped earlier this month, @alexsrdanovic.bsky.social took some time to analyze it for its implications for U.S. international engagement and collaboration on critical science and technology priorities.

Here's what you need to know.
fas.org/publication/...

Signing off.

You shouldn't have to put your address in a random website to get your tax refund back.

Direct File was the people's princess.

Only three guarantees in life: death, taxes, and hating doing your taxes.

Today on Instagram, we dare to ask: what if Tax Day didn't have to suck.

RIP Direct File, we could've had something beautiful. 🧵

DOE’s FY27 Budget Request: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Surprise! It’s a double album drop with the release of both the President’s Budget Request (PBR to us, not Pabst Blue Ribbon) and the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Budget Justification for Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27) last Friday.

Our clean energy dream team broke down the good, the bad, and the ugly in the president's budget request-DOE budget justification double album drop ⤵️
fas.org/publication/...

when we finally drop the FAS mixtape you might change your tune🤔

your alarm bells should *always* go up when you read about ginormous effect sizes like this. in this case, the study looks at a pretty small number of album release days (10) and finds an increase of 18.2 fatalities nationwide on those days. I don't find that particularly convincing!

why the IRS killed a free, easy way to file your taxes

Some highlights from the episode:
- Our first user was a single mom who’d been paying $400+ a year just to file
- Direct File had a higher NPS than Apple and Starbucks
- We talked to DOGE several times and thought we had a chance

And, of course, lots of tax memes.

open.spotify.com/episode/2CTn...

It’s tax season and Direct File is dead. I went on the Killswitch podcast with @dexdigi.bsky.social
to talk about what we built, who killed it, and why I’m certain it’ll make a comeback.

Towards a People-centered Regulatory Democracy If properly implemented, a comprehensive reform program to accomplish regulatory democracy that is people-centered and power-conscious could be essential for addressing complex policy changes such as ...

The goal of regulatory democracy should be to surface and channel productive disagreement, not chase consensus. This is so good @jamesgoodwin.bsky.social !!

fas.org/publication/...

F.A.S. FEDERATION OF AMERICAN SCIENTISTS 307 Massachusetts Avenue, N.E. Washington, D.C. 20002(202) 546-3300 Frank von Hippel John P. Holdren Chairman Vice-Chairman FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE George A. Silver Secretary Robert M. Solow Treasurer September 25, 1980 Jeremy J. Stone Director PRESIDENT SHOULD TRIGGER ENERGY EMERGENCY LEGISLATION AND URGE DAY-A-WEEK DRIVING CURTAILMENT In preparation for the possibility that the Strait of Hormuz would be closed, the Federation of American Scientists called upon the President to invoke articles in the Emergency Conservation Act of 1979 so as to permit its preliminary provisions to be complied with before the shortfalls occur. Meanwhile, he should consider urging the public, in particular, to forego driving on a day of their choice (an action which could be made mandatory under the Act at a later stage if necessary and one that has many benefits.)

Even back in 1980, @scientistsorg.bsky.social was hitting folks up with hot Hormuz takes

This afternoon suggests the energy crisis isn’t over yet.

Future State #006: Back with a BUDGET! Or, where's all my analytic perspectives at? IYKYK For the years I spent in government, I spent some version of every fall (and weird Christmas-New Years updates) building and then, in early parts of the year, preparing to announce and showcase the Pr...

My state capacity stakes on the Trump Administration's FY27 budget: what's worth watching and what is...not cool. www.linkedin.com/pulse/future...

Towards a People-centered Regulatory Democracy If properly implemented, a comprehensive reform program to accomplish regulatory democracy that is people-centered and power-conscious could be essential for addressing complex policy changes such as ...

Check out my latest: Grateful to @scientistsorg.bsky.social for giving me the chance to outline a vision for what people-centered, power-conscious approach regulatory democracy might look like. fas.org/publication/...

From the archives: vintage "nuclear war is national suicide" sticker ~1970s-80s

All the King’s Weapons: Nuclear Launch Authority in the U.S. Is sole authority solvable, or is it truly the best system possible for nuclear launch authority? If the latter, should we accept that reality?

The president of the United States is the only person in the country who can order the use of nuclear weapons, commonly known as “sole authority.”

Despite its place in U.S. nuclear policy, sole authority has come under heavy scrutiny – for good reason.
fas.org/publication/...