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Theme : science
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Nano Nano
Lord Sainsbury announced yesterday his new grants for public engagement with science, one of which is funding a new Demos project with Lancaster University. After See-Through Science, we are squaring up to our own challenge and doing some innovative public engagement experiments with a handful of organisations who have different approaches to 'science' and 'the public'. For more info on this project, which we call Nano-Dialogues, email me.Last night, I was part of another form of...
from : jackstilgoe
18th March 2005
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My Darwin Valentine
How could I have missed it?! While Hallmark stores everywhere hawked their chocolate hearts for Valentine's day, Darwin Day on February 12th, a celebration of 'science and humanity', slipped by as stealthily as some junk DNA.Of the hundreds of events from Cambridge to Kathmandu, I was sad to have missed the Phylum Feast in Ontario, Canada: "We celebrate Darwin's birthday with a potluck meal made up of as many kinds of organisms as possible, to remember our origin as omnivores and our...
from : mollywebb
15th February 2005
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Illness, Expertise and Charlie Hodgson's floppy foot.
There was some ham-fisted criticism of such policies on the grounds that they somehow undermined the authority of science. But, more interestingly, there were valid questions about how such attempts to engage publics should be implemented. Many people?s criticisms seemed to suggest that the top-down programme forced both patients and doctors to behave in a certain, prescribed way. This raises important questions?Should public engagement experiments be seen as instruments or opportunities? Real...
from : jackstilgoe
14th February 2005
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Nano travels
I'm in bitterly cold Washington DC for a couple of days of meetings on science policy, then on to Phoenix, Arizona for the inaugural meeting of the International Nanotechnology in Society Network.Yesterday, Dave Rejeski at the Woodrow Wilson Center hosted a seminar based around our See-through Science report. It was a high-quality discussion, with a group that included several of the leading lights of US nano policy. We explored some of the similarities and differences in the way nano is being...
from : jameswilsdon
25th January 2005
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Open Regulation
Interesting bit in Technology Review about regulation of GM crops in New Zealand. Relevant for our nanotechnology project.
from : paulmiller
24th January 2005
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Small was beautiful
Our little (sorry) event with the ICA on nanotechnology on Tuesday went really well. Especially interesting to hear the inside story from Tom Feilden of the Today Programme about the barrage of letters they got after he did his first piece on nano in 2003. These were mainly from scientists saying 'Don't talk about it!' in case it turns into another GM foods.
from : paulmiller
25th November 2004
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When I'm 124
Here's a strange interview with inventor extrodinaire Ray Kurzweil about the future of technology. He claims that in the future there will be little difference between a 30 year old and a 120 year old. Kurzweil himself is getting ready by taking a cocktail of 250 supplements to increase his lifespan.
from : paulmiller
16th October 2004
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Going global
I've been sent various links to international coverage of our See-through Science report, and it's fascinating to map how these ideas can travel.This editorial in Thailand's The Nation co-opts our arguments to criticise their Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, for his handling of the country's policy on GM crops.Our Guardian piece has also been reprinted in The Hindu - an Indian national paper - and the Sydney Morning Herald
from : jameswilsdon
14th September 2004
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See-through Science
A successful launch event today for See-through Science. Around 200 people gathered at the RSA for a wide-ranging debate about the governance of science and technology. Speakers included Jonathon Porritt, Julia Goodfellow, Barbara Young and Brian Wynne.I also wrote a couple of comment pieces based on the report: one in the Guardian and the other in the FT.
from : jameswilsdon
1st September 2004
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What one really said...
Bit of follow-on coverage today for a piece in the Independent on Sunday by Prince Charles about nanotechnology. He basically says that he didn't say anything about grey goo and that he was misrepresented when the story broke last year. He then goes on to cite a retired engineering professor saying nanotech might be the next thalidomide... is it just me or has he just done the same thing again?You can find out about the Demos/Lancaster project on nanotechnology here.
from : paulmiller
12th July 2004
