Deaths by accidental overdose of opioids are rising sharply, due to a new source of more potent, readily available synthetic opioid drugs. Opioid overdoses have already caused the country’s overall death rate to increase in 2015, the first time since 1993, when the country was coming to grips with AIDS. And, “the worst is yet to come,” a drug court judge said during a panel at the 2017 AAAS Science & Technology Policy Forum, which was held March 27-28 in Washington.

Examples of “fake news,” such as a report that Pope Francis had endorsed Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, are the equivalent of a bad cold in the body politic, says Dan Kahan, a professor of law and psychology at Yale University. But much more troubling, he told a session of the 2017 AAAS Annual Meeting, are the “toxic memes” Trump has mastered that represent what he called “a cancer” on enlightened democracy.

The characteristics of gun violence, risk and protective factors, prevention, gun safety technology, and the influence of video games were identified as key research priorities by a committee of the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council, chaired by AAAS CEO Alan I. Leshner.

“The complexity and frequency of gun-related violence combined with its impact on the health and safety of the nation’s residents make it a topic of considerable public health importance,” Leshner said.