Ask a Scientist

Our monthly ‘Ask a Scientist’ column answers questions that come from UCS members and supporters.

Voters in Stamford, CT, line up to vote early in 2024, at a polling station

John Moore/Getty Images

September 11, 2025

Ask an Expert: Heading into Election Season 2025, What Are the Obstacles to All Votes Being Counted?

Guest Commentary

National Cancer Institute/Unsplash

August 14, 2025

Ask a Scientist: How Does Documenting Attacks on Science Stop Authoritarians?

Guest Commentary

The 100-Hour Weather & Climate Livestream

July 10, 2025

Ask a Scientist: How Livestreaming 100 Hours of Weather and Climate Moved Thousands to Action

Michelle Rama-Poccia
Bilingual Writer and Podcast Host, Union of Concerned Scientists

photo of a gloved hand holding a plutonium pit, which appears to be a gray metallic disc

US Department of Energy

June 12, 2025

Ask a Scientist: New Plutonium Pits for Nuclear Weapons Are Not Needed

Guest Commentary

Glenn Hunt/Getty Images

May 15, 2025

Ask an Expert: How Strong is the Case Against Fossil Fuel Companies for Climate Fraud?

Guest Commentary

protestors in front of the US Capitol on April 5, 2025

Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images

April 10, 2025

Ask a Scientist: A Hundred Days of Harm—How the Trump Administration Is Eviscerating Science and What We Can Do About It

Seth Michaels
Senior Science Policy Writer

Caroline Brehman/EPA, via Shutterstock

March 18, 2025

Ask a Scientist: What’s the Future for Trucks?

Guest Commentary

photo of wetlands, with streams meandering through patches of brown grass and a stand of trees on the horizon, set against a blue sky

February 13, 2025

Ask a Scientist: What Value Do Wetlands Provide?

Guest Commentary

Drew Angerer/Getty Images

January 14, 2025

Ask A Scientist: How Can Scientists Drive Change Through Climate Lawsuits?

Guest Commentary

ethylene oxide hotspots in MN

December 10, 2024

Ask a Scientist: Chemical Safety Matters for Real People’s Lives—The Ethylene Oxide Story

Seth Michaels
Senior Science Policy Writer

Getty Images North America

October 15, 2024

Ask a Scientist: How Close Are We to a Clean Energy Transition?

Guest Commentary

Poll workers assist voters on Super Tuesday at the First Ward Creative Academy, Mecklenburg County Precinct 13 on March 5, 2024 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Grant Baldwin/Getty Images

September 12, 2024

Ask A Scientist: How Can Science and Data Inform Fairer, Freer Elections?

Guest Commentary

Two women cook in a kitchen on an induction stove.

SolStock/Getty Images

August 13, 2024

Ask A Scientist: What Energy Solutions to the Climate Crisis Are Within Reach?

Guest Commentary

Man pushes man in a motorized scooter across flooded sidewalk.

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

July 16, 2024

Ask a Scientist: What Happens When Sea Level Rise Comes for Public Housing?

Guest Commentary

May 14, 2024

Ask a Scientist: Stopping Big Ag from Hijacking US Farm and Food Policy

Elliott Negin
Former Contributor

Exxon Mobile sign at gas station

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

April 9, 2024

Ask an Expert: What to Expect this Oil Industry Proxy Season

Elliott Negin
Former Contributor

Mitchell Johnson/Unsplash

March 12, 2024

Ask a Scientist: UCS Transportation Program Adds Equitable Mobility to Its Portfolio

Elliott Negin
Former Contributor

Cholla powerplant in Arizona.

Alan Stark/Wikimedia Commons

February 9, 2024

Ask a Scientist: Gas Power Plants Disproportionately Harm Marginalized Communities

Elliott Negin
Former Contributor

Daily Hampshire Gazette

January 16, 2024

Ask a Scientist: Can Election Science Ensure the Integrity of the 2024 Elections?

Elliott Negin
Former Contributor

farm runoff

Lynn Betts/USDA NRCS

December 12, 2023

Ask a Scientist: Fighting Big Ag Pollution with Maps and Math

Elliott Negin
Former Contributor

man standing on roof while holding a solar panel

Kindel Media/Pexels

November 16, 2023

Ask a Scientist: The US Has to Do More to Meet Its Carbon Emissions Reduction Goals

Elliott Negin
Former Contributor

plane with "scientific integrity" banner

October 16, 2023

Ask a Scientist: Building on Advances in Scientific Integrity

Elliott Negin
Former Contributor

September 14, 2023

Ask a Scientist: It’s Getting Easier for US Car Owners to Go Electric

Elliott Negin
Former Contributor

Pigs crowded into a CAFO

Mark Stebnicki/Pexels

August 10, 2023

Ask a Scientist: Will the New Farm Bill Transform the US Food System?

Elliott Negin
Former Contributor