The people of the Sub-Saharan region are participating in an historic shift in the ways they relate to science and technology. From Accra to Nairobi, from Lusaka to Bamako - Africans have gone from concentrating almost wholly on absorbing new technologies created by distant innovators to energetically and optimistically creating some of their own technologies, developed to an unprecedented degree by home-grown African innovators. The shift from absorption to home-grown innovation is happening across a range of areas:from agriculture and health-care to media, communications and commerce.
Renewable energy options, led by rooftop solar, have recently transitioned from a luxury good available to few customers to increasingly cost-effective and mainstream sources of electric supply within the reach of many. Technological, policy and business innovations, together with favorable public attitudes toward renewable, decentralized energy generation, are contributing to fundamental transitions in energy markets and leading to widespread concerns and predictions of an imminent "death spiral" for utilities. Are these concerns valid?
Across the federal government, there is increasing emphasis on the need to fund research that informs decision-making and responds directly to societal capabilities and goals. But the culture of program management in federal science agencies is still oriented to traditional approaches driven by expert opinion of leading scientists and expected to result sometime down the road in insights relevant to society. The Consortium for Science, Policy & Outcomes (CSPO) at Arizona State University hosted a series of informal exchanges between science policy practitioners (i.e.
Inform, Inspire and Entertain - these ideas are the crux of almost all science museum mission statements across the nation. But what happens when information becomes free, when Wikipedia can, with a couple clicks get you descriptions, animations and links to further resources? Are 'inspire' and 'entertain' enough? Ira and Brad will talk about programing that begins to add 'engage' to that list. While the idea is not new there have been few attempts at integrating engagement broadly into the science museum community.
Women now hold more than half of all American jobs, but they still make up less than twenty-five percent of the science, technology, engineering, and math or STEM workforce. And the numbers are even worse when it comes to the male-dominated field of computer science. Only last year a Yale study revealed that scientists at six major research institutions were more likely to favorably view a male job candidate than a woman with the same qualifications. Yet women are graduating in increasing numbers with STEM degrees, so why does this gender gap persist?
Humans are altering the Earth system at every scale, up to and including the global climate. Going forward, how will human ingenuity handle a warming world? We're all familiar with the doomsday predictions of more droughts, fires, floods and economic disaster, but what are the possibilities for thriving in a changed climate? Our species is innovative and adaptive-rarely more so than when responding to stress and conflict.
We live in an age where new technologies hit the marketplace at a rate that far outpaces society's ability to engage in meaningful political debates about their ethical, legal, and political implications. Synthetic biology, nanotechnology and Big Data are only a few recent examples. This coincides with a rapid deterioration of science journalism, i.e., the institution that has traditionally helped translate complex science for lay and policy audiences. This talk explores the future of societal debates about controversial science in our highly polarized policy environment.
Investment in Nanotechnology research is based on the promise of a transition to active nanotechnology, nanostructures, and nanodevices - everything from self-healing materials to molecular machines. But is such a transition really underway, and if so, then where and at what pace? What evidence can be gathered from large-scale analysis of global publications and patents? What insights can be gained by assessing the pace of transition and process of adoption for next generation nanotechnology?
Basic science is rapidly becoming an endangered species. Nowadays, publicly funded scientists cannot easily separate it from applied science, let alone insulate it from questions about its broad ethical, economic and environmental impacts. With policies for public engagement of science sweeping through the industrialized world, are we in danger of sacrificing scientific creativity for social responsibility? This talk will present evidence to the contrary.
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