"Groups that promote American competitiveness have long warned that the United States is slipping in all areas of science. The National Academy of Sciences, in an update of its landmark 2005 report 'Rising Above the Gathering Storm,' said last fall that the United States faced a future of economic decline if it failed to make significant investments in research in and teaching of science and mathematics." New York Times, Jan 21, 2011

"School cafeterias would have to hold the fries -- and serve kids more whole grains, fruits and vegetables -- under the government's plans for the first major nutritional overhaul of students' meals in 15 years…. The new guidelines are based on 2009 recommendations by the Institute of Medicine." Associated Press, Jan. 13, 2011

"Aiming to reform its policies, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has enlisted one of the biggest guns in the federal arsenal to help: The National Academy of Sciences." Scientific American, Dec. 1, 2010

"An 'insufficient consideration of risk' and 'a lack of operating discipline' by oil giant BP PLC contributed to the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history, according to a report from a team of technical experts. The report from the National Academy of Engineering represents the most comprehensive examination so far of the causes of the disaster." Wall Street Journal, Nov. 17, 2010

"The nation's foremost scientific body says a 30-year-old federal law that encourages universities to patent and license their inventions has helped drive the innovation economy with little or no adverse effect on the tradition of free academic inquiry." The San Francisco Chronicle, Oct. 5, 2010

"The effort to combat global warming has flagged as other crises have commanded the attention of politicians and the public. New reports from the National Academy of Sciences offer persuasive evidence that it would be folly to put off dealing with the problem any longer." New York Times editorial, May 23, 2010

"Public health groups and nutritionists are applauding an Institute of Medicine report that calls for the government to establish new federal standards that would cut the amount of salt that manufacturers and restaurants add to foods." USA Today, April 21, 2010

"Next time you see one of those television crime-scene investigators crack a case with high-tech analysis, better take it with a grain of salt. The National Academy of Sciences, the nation's most prestigious scientific organization, has surveyed the field of forensic science and found it grossly deficient." New York Times editorial, Feb. 21, 2009

"So here's hoping that our new administration and Congress will be guided in shaping the stimulus by reading John Maynard Keynes in one hand...and by reading [the National Academies report] 'Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future' in the other." Columnist Thomas Friedman, New York Times, Jan. 10, 2009

"The Food and Drug Administration asked an influential scientific group, the Institute of Medicine, to review the agency's rapid-approval process for medical devices after concerns that some devices were approved without enough scrutiny." Wall Street Journal, Sept. 23, 2009

"Before you can save the world, you'd better write a to-do list so nothing gets overlooked. Some of the world's brightest minds have done just that by laying out this century's greatest engineering challenges." Wired Magazine on the NAE's Grand Challenges of Engineering, Feb. 15, 2008

"The Institute of Medicine, the nation's most prestigious scientific advisory organization, concluded last year that the [FDA's] system for ensuring the safety of drugs needed an overhaul. Recent legislation enacted some of the institute's recommendations." New York Times, Dec. 1, 2007

"Following up on its influential 2000 report on medical errors of all kinds, the [Institute of Medicine], a branch of the National Academies, undertook the most extensive study ever of medication errors...The report found errors to be not only harmful and widespread, but very costly as well." Washington Post, July 21, 2006

"As early as 1979, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences reported with 'high confidence' that a 1.5 to 4.5 degree Celsius temperature increase was likely if carbon dioxide levels doubled. It was greeted by a chorus of skepticism. However, the past two decades have also seen the retreat of once noisy critics." CNN -- Feb. 10, 2006

"Overall, the panel has provided a concise and lucid review of causes and correlates of pediatric obesity and a cogent, well-thought-out set of recommendations. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in preventing childhood obesity, a considerable audience indeed." Darrell M. Wilson, MD, in a review of the IOM report Preventing Childhood Obesity, Journal of the American Medical Association, Feb. 22, 2006