Policy Currents | The newsletter for policy people
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** Aug. 12, 2025
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Charting the Cosmos
Imagine you're traveling in another country, trying to meet up with friends or family. But everyone has a different map, in a different language, and none of the landmarks seem to match. It's easy to see how that might leave all parties confused.
That's more or less the situation in outer space right now. And as RAND's Jordan Logue explains in this new video, the stakes in space are obviously much higher than they are for any vacation here on Earth. ([link removed])
As humans venture farther into space--whether by guiding tourists on cruises around the moon or launching telescopes into deep space--there is a growing need for clear terms and definitions to describe different regions of the cosmos.
A new RAND study by Logue and colleagues aims to fill this gap. The authors outline four distinct astrographic regions: surface environment, near-body space, celestial neighborhood, and deep space. Their framework can help foster discussion among space professionals about how to map the final frontier in a practical and meaningful way. That, in turn, could improve decisionmaking as policymakers balance technological advancements with safety.
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Introducing the RAND Budget Model
Budget decisions made in Washington have a profound impact on people, businesses, and communities. That's why our researchers have launched the von Furstenberg Family Foundation RAND Budget Model Initiative. This effort provides new ways to understand federal spending and tax policy, using AI and machine learning in an open way. Our set of powerful analytic tools can deliver unprecedented detail into how the United States can reduce its debt, what changes to the tax code mean for corporate balance sheets and family budgets, the impacts of specific legislation, and more.
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Manipulating Chatbots to Make Them Better
Generative AI models sometimes make up facts. But just how far off the rails can they go? RAND's Aisha Nájera found out during a nationwide contest aimed at exposing AI's weaknesses. During the challenge, Nájera duped chatbots more than a dozen times. For instance, she tricked one into writing her a cake recipe that included a "generous dollop" of fire extinguisher foam. Each chatbot misstep provided a valuable data point for AI developers. Such information can help make AI models safer, more useful, and more reliable.
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** RAND Recommends
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- Most clicked last week: new data on how many Americans use GLP-1 weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy.
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- Teachers are almost twice as likely as similar working adults to report persistent stress. RAND's Elizabeth Steiner highlights these and other insights from a recent study she led on teacher well-being.
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- In Task & Purpose, RAND's Caitlin Lee discusses what the U.S. military is doing to change how it acquires and fields small drones.
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** Events
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Health Insurance for Veterans Age 65 and Over
Thursday Aug. 21, 2025 (Online)
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RAND's Disaster Recovery Tracking Tool
Friday Aug. 22, 2025 (Online)
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The Future of Fentanyl and Other Synthetic Opioids
Thursday Aug. 28, 2025 (Online)
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** Policy Minded, RAND's Flagship Podcast
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On Policy Minded, we pick the brains of the world's top policy experts. In each episode, RAND researchers join us for conversations that go beyond the headlines--bringing you insights you can't find anywhere else.
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