Make a comet in London; create a cloud in Italy or explore a volcano in the Canary Islands. It can only be European Researchers’ Night, back for the 8th year running in 350 European cities from Iceland to Cyprus, from Portugal to Turkey.
Listening to a BBC radio interview a few days ago, I heard an interview with John Burn, Professor of Clinical Genetics at Newcastle University. He was talking about how political will is needed to make full use of the great progress that has been made in gene technology.
The UK Department of Health announced this week that the salt reduction programme introduced ten years ago is working. The average Brit consumes 1.5g less salt a day. With an average daily intake of 8.1g there is still some way to go to reach the target of 6.0g, but estimates suggest that around 8.500 lives are being saved as a result of this reduction.
Population growth and global consumption must be addressed urgently, says the IAP, the body representing the world’s 105 scientific academies. In a rare joint statement signed by all 105 bodies, scientists across the globe call for “urgent and coordinated action” to address “two of the most profound challenges to humanity”.
There has been a lot happening in the fight for open access in recent weeks. The Wellcome Trust, one of the world’s largest research funding bodies, has announced it will soon be launching a scientific journal eLife, which will compete with the most elite publications such as Nature and Science.
A dramatic protest by scientists was staged in Westminster, London on Tuesday. At a mock Victorian funeral over 100 scientists, mainly organic chemists, carried a coffin with floral wreaths spelling out “SCIENCE”.
Many news articles and blog posts (including on the VA blog) are written about the rise of creationism in American schools. It was therefore heart-warming to read the headline “Oklamhama Anti-Science Legislation Fails again”.
Researchers hope that dialogue and communication will prevent the destruction of their experiments. A group of scientists at Rothamstead Research in the UK are conducting a trial in wheat genetically modified to repel insects. An anti-GM group “Take the flour back” calling for a mass action to “decontaminate” the site on May 27th – in other words, to destroy the crop.
White water rafting your sort of thing? How about hiking, biking, gliding or snow-boarding? Just about any activity that takes you into the great outdoors can also be an opportunity to contribute to science.
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