Stopping intentional misuse of beneficial science and technologies will require applying the social and natural sciences, good communication, and international collaboration, panelists told a AAAS audience.

James Baldwin wrote, “Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor.” He was referring to high prices, but this statement could also describe the premise of a study in the 2 November issue of Science, which is that the poor often behave in ways that make it more difficult to climb out of poverty.

A key reason for this behavior, the researchers show, is that scarcity itself affects how people focus and make decisions.