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Tag archives: politics
Browsing the Milky Way at the IAU General Assembly in Honolulu
Kai‘aleleiaka: artist’s impression showing the Milky Way over Hawaii. (Courtesy: IAU)
By Hamish Johnston
Earlier this week the triennial XXIX General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) kicked off in Honolulu, Hawaii. Founded in 1919, the IUA has about 10,000 members based in 96 countries worldwide. About 3500 astronomers are attending this year’s meeting, which runs until 14 August and is hosted by the American Astronomical Society.
A long-standing tradition of the congress is the production of a daily newspaper for delegates and 2015 is the first year that an electronic version is available to the general public. You can catch up with all the daily news by downloading a copy of Kai‘aleleiaka, which is pronounced “kah EE ah lay-lay-ee AH kah” and means “the Milky Way” in Hawaiian.
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Former Indian president APJ Abdul Kalam was a ‘scientist and a statesman’
Missile Man: APJ Abdul Kalam delivering a speech in 2010.
(CC BY 3.0/Pushrakv)
By Tushna Commissariat
This week, India is mourning the loss of an esteemed leader – the country’s 11th president APJ Abdul Kalam, who died on Monday. Kalam was in office from 2002 to 2007 and enjoyed country-wide popularity, even post his presidency. Described by US president Barack Obama as a “scientist and a statesman” in his eulogy, Kalam was a physicist and an aeronautical engineer before he turned to politics, first acting as a science administrator and adviser for nearly four decades before his office run. Indeed, he was heavily involved in India’s nuclear tests and its military missile programme, earning him the moniker of “Missile Man”. In 2007 he was awarded the Royal Society’s King Charles II Medal, which is “awarded to foreign heads of state or government who have made an outstanding contribution to furthering scientific research in their country”.
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Muzzling scientists leads to mistrust of government says physicist MP
Canadian MP Ted Hsu believes in free speech for government scientists.
By Hamish Johnston at the CAP Congress in Edmonton, Canada
Yesterday I caught up with Ted Hsu, who is member of the Canadian parliament for Kingston and the Islands – and a former physicist. Hsu is a member of the Liberal party, which means he sits on the opposition benches. There he has been an outspoken critic of the current Conservative government over its apparent “muzzling” of scientists on the federal payroll. He believes that when governments seek to silence their experts it leads to more public mistrust of government.
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‘Physics across Canada’ tour kicks off in Edmonton
By Hamish Johnston
Greetings from Edmonton on the western edge of the Canadian prairies, where I am starting my “Physics across Canada” tour. The nation’s physicists are gathering here for the annual Canadian Association of Physicists Congress at the University of Alberta.
The congress opens today with a session that promises to be out of this world. Exoplanet expert Sara Seager of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is talking about the search for habitable worlds beyond our blue planet. I am really keen to learn more about the latest techniques for studying the atmospheres of exoplanets and I plan to record an interview about that very subject later this week.
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Hawking on 1D, Chernobyl fires, psychedelic science and more
By Tushna Commissariat
It’s not often that physics, or indeed a physicist, has much in common with pop music or exceedingly popular boy bands. But earlier this week, at an event at the Sydney Opera House titled “An Evening with Stephen Hawking, with Lucy Hawking and Paul Davies”, an audience member asked Hawking (who appeared in holographic form) “What do you think is the cosmological effect of Zayn Malik leaving One Direction?” Watch the video above to see what Hawking said to comfort the distraught fan and how theoretical physics truly may have all the answers.
Elect a physicist
Cast your vote for the Physics Party. (Courtesy: iStockphoto/TylaArabas)
By Margaret Harris
It’s the issue no-one is talking about in the run-up to the UK’s general election on 7 May, but I’m convinced that a brand-new party is set to make significant inroads on the British political scene, increasing both its overall share of the vote and its number of parliamentary seats.
“What is this bold new force?” I hear you ask. “Is it the Green Party? The Scottish or Welsh nationalists? The UK Independence Party (UKIP)?” My friends, it is none of these. Nor is it the Conservatives, Labour or the Liberal Democrats (the three parties that traditionally grab the lion’s share of seats at Westminster), or any of the parties representing Northern Ireland. It is something far more novel. More interesting. And above all, more able to solve the Schrödinger equation.
I’m talking about the Physics Party.
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Debating UK science
Science and the ballot box. (Courtesy: iStockphoto/stocksnshares)
By Michael Banks
Yesterday evening I went to the Royal Society in London to hear what the three main political parties in the UK have to say about science. The event was held because in May voters in the UK will be heading to the polls to choose their next government. The three parties had therefore sent their main science representatives to the Royal Society to spell out their intentions.
Chairing the debate was space scientist Maggie Aderin-Pocock of University College, London. She had the unenviable task of keeping science minister Greg Clarke (Conservative), Liberal Democrat science spokesperson Julian Huppert, and shadow universities, science and skills minister Liam Byrne (Labour) in check. For non-UK readers, it’s worth pointing out that the Conservatives have been in coalition with the Liberal Democrats since 2010.
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A day in the life of an astronaut, Hawking’s football conclusions, politics and science and more
“Good morning world” (Courtesy: Tim Dodd)
By Tushna Commissariat
For most of us, the life of an astronaut is one of excitement and adventure. Indeed, the mere thought of being a “real live astronaut” brings out the gleeful inner child in many, and photographer Tim Dodd is much the same. After purchasing a Russian high-altitude space suit from an online auction website, Dodd put together a series of photographs titled “A day in the life of Everyday Astronaut”, my favourite of which you can see above. Do take a look at the rest of the excellent series on Dodd’s website and follow him on Instagram for even more of the same.
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We are ill-prepared for climate-change risks
By Hamish Johnston
Today, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its Working Group II (WGII) report entitled “Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability“. Over on our sister website environmentalresearchweb.org, editor Liz Kalaugher has written a news-analysis piece about the report that looks at the major risks facing different regions of the globe; who is most vulnerable to change; and why we must build on early efforts to adapt to climate change.
Earth from space: adaptation to climate change is a global challenge. (Courtesy: NASA)
Kalaugher’s piece includes commentary from leading IPCC members, including Vicente Barros, co-chair of working group II. “In many cases, we are not prepared for the climate-related risks that we already face. Investments in better preparation can pay dividends both for the present and for the future,” says Barros.
Chris Field, WGII co-chair, adds “We definitely face challenges, but understanding those challenges and tackling them creatively can make climate-change adaptation an important way to help build a more vibrant world in the near-term and beyond.”
However, the report also warns that adaptation will be very difficult with high levels of warming. In that case, Field says that “even serious, sustained investments in adaptation will face limits”.
You can read Kalaugher’s piece here: “IPCC: world is ill-prepared for risks from a changing climate”.
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Days out at CERN, serendipitous songs, shaken scientists and more
By Tushna Commissariat
A peek into the Red Folder this week brings up the CERN Open Days – the biggest particle-physics laboratory in the world will allow people from all over the globe to roam its hallowed halls freely for this weekend. While the most exciting part of the event will undoubtedly be visits into the underground caverns that host the Large Hadron Collider’s experiments, a whole host of other activities for researchers, science enthusiasts and children are available. Also this weekend, as a part of the European Researcher’s Night festivities, CERN will be hosting events in Paris, Geneva and Bologna for their Origins 2013 event that looks at two big scientific discovers made in the past two years: the discovery of the Higgs boson at CERN and the latest Planck mission data. For those of you attending, “Speed-dating – close encounters with researchers” definitely caught our eye. Those of us not fortunate enough to be in any of those places can watch many of the festivities via a live webcast. And lastly, you can explore CERN from the inside on Google Maps with Street View.
