Science ; Future

Much of what IVe said would seem uncontroversial or even platitudinous to the scientifically-attuned audiences here in Newcastle this week. But there's one thing that scientific advisors in any democratic system must not forget. When really big and long-term policies are in contention – whether about nuclear weapons, nuclear power, drug classification, or health risks – political decisions are seldom purely scientific: they involve ethics, economics and social policies as well.Such discussions hould engage all of us, as citizens – and of course our elected representatives. Sometimes this has happened, and constructively too. The dialogue with parliamentarians led, despite divergent ethical stances, to a generally-admired legal framework on embryos and stem cells – a contrast to what happened in the US. And Lisa Jardine has chaired the HFEA, another fine precedent. But we've had failures too: the GM crop debate was left too late – to a time when opin ion was already polarised between eco-campaigners on the one side and commercial interests on the other.Scientists have a special responsibility to engage – though they should accept that on the economic, social and ethical aspects of any policy they speak as citizens and not as experts. But despite many worthy efforts, there are habitual grumbles that such inputs don't have much traction with politicians. For them, the urgent trumps the important. The local trumps the global. And getting re-elected trumps almost everything. Anything that gets headlined in the media, or makes their postbag bulge, will get attention.It's volume not quality that counts. So scientists might have more leverage on politicians indirectly – by publicising their research and letting the media do the campaigning – rather than by more official and direct channels. This is one reason – over and above the general cultural value of our findings – why â€Å"outreach† by s cientists is important. And there are special things universities teachers can do. We're privileged to have influence over successive generations of students.We should try to sensitise them to the issues that will confront them in their careers – ndeed, polls show, unsurprisingly, that younger people who expect to survive most of the century, are more engaged and anxious about long-term issues. We fret too much about minor hazards of everyday life: improbable air crashes, carcinogens in food, low radiation doses, and so forth. But the wide public is in denial about two kinds of threats: those that we're causing collectively to the biosphere, and those that stem from the greater vulnerability of our interconnected world to error or terror induced by individuals or small groups.The issues impel us to plan internationally (for nstance, whether or not a pandemic gets global grip may hinge, for instance, on how quickly a Vietnamese poultry farmer can report any strange sickness). And many of them – energy and climate change, for instance, involve multi-decade timescales – plainly far outside the â€Å"comfort zone† of most politicians. One issue that should be addressed is whether nations need to give up more sovereignty to new organisations along the lines of IAEA, WHO, etc.Final message Unlike our 17th century forebears who I cited at the beginning of this talk, we know a reat deal about our world – and indeed about what lies beyond. Technologies that our ancestors couldn't nave conceived enrich our lives and our understanding. Many phenomena still make us fearful, but the advance of science spares us from irrational dread. We know that we are stewards of a precious â€Å"pale blue dot† in a vast cosmos – a planet with a future measured in billions of years, whose fate depends on humanitys collective actions. But all too often the focus is parochial and short term.We downplay what's happening even now in impoverish ed far-away countries. And we discount too heavily the problems we'll leave for our grandchildren. We can truly be techno-optimists. But the intractable politics and sociology – the gap between potentialities and what actually happens – engenders pessimism. We need a change in priorities and perspective – and soon – if we are to navigate the challenges of the 21st century: to share the benefits of globalisation, to prioritise clean energy, and sustainable agriculture; and to handle the Promethian challenge posed by ever more powerful technology.To survive this century, we'll need the idealistic and effective efforts of natural scientists, environmentalists, social scientists and humanists. They must be guided by the insights that 21st century science will offer, but inspired by values that science itself can't provide. And I give the last word to a great scientist who was himself once the president of the BA – the biologist Peter Medawar: The bells that toll for mankind are like the bells of Alpine cattle. They are attached to our own necks, and it must be our fault if they do not make a tuneful and melodious sound.

Plate Tectonics and Weathering and Erosion Essay

Plate Tectonics and Weathering and Erosion - Essay Example Some territories of our planet suffer from annual earthquakes constantly, but it does not mean that population of these regions has got used to such events. In reality unpredictability and dreadful consequences of any natural disasters keep people in tension and fear, proving the fact that human life is fragile and unsecured. The main causes of earthquakes are the following: breaking of frail rocks and formation of hollow spaces in the Earth’s crust; volcano’s eruption; movement of tectonic plates, which collide with each other, causing heavy pushes. Making precise prognosis concerning the impending earthquake has been always rather complicated, however, nowadays scientist with a help of special equipment and methodic try to enhance people’s awareness and safety. Frequently, studying animals’ behavior can be very useful, due to their strange reactions before earthquakes. Hence, dogs start to wail and cats become more aggressive and even frantic. Noticing s uch changes in animals’ behavior, person gets opportunity to prepare himself for inevitable event. According to this, it is important to fix all furniture in the house and lay in a supply of primary necessities.

Write a tight, spare story Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Write a tight, spare story - Essay Example Henry was in his office when Alice, boss’s wife came into his room, she dressed to kill in a red tightly fitted dress. She stood there in front of his desk staring right into Henry’s eyes. Henry inhaled. He clearly knew what the woman was all after and the thought of it terrified him to his bones. He lit a cigarette to try and ease the tension that had started to build up. A chemical smolder build in his lungs, somewhat stinging the raw flesh of his body, through his throat to his nose making his eyes water. Exhaling into the dark room Alice was still there standing plotting on how to trick this man into her fantasy. After a while they chanted about all sorts of things and the relationship between them started to blossom gradually. That day was the beginning of their clandestine relationship. They began to meet often for dinner and would occasionally spend the night at restaurants without the knowledge of anyone who knew them. However, as time went by, the husband, the boss, began suspecting the two after observing some of the behaviors the two showed towards each other. He decided to hire a private investigator to look into the matter well. It was a fateful evening when Henry and Alice embarked on their affairs as usual in one of the most secluded hotels in town near the beach. The sky was calm and so was the breeze. The two were enjoying their lustful acts when the boss emerged all of a sudden in the hotel room they were! The two were perplexed and petrified beyond words; the bossed looked at them disappointed and then left without uttering a word. The following morning Henry was sacked and embarked on a journey back to London wondering where to

Loophole in the Legal System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Loophole in the Legal System - Essay Example More specific questions regarding the influence of race on jury decision-making have also emerged from this spate of well-publicised cases: How does a defendant's race influence juror's perception and judgement How does the racial composition of a jury affect its deliberations and final decision Is the influence of race on jurors the same in all trails What difference, if any, would it make if more of the lawyers representing criminal defendants were racial minorities Studies show that Justices of the courts who served from 1789-1962 were socially atypical of the average American background: they came from upper-class families, attended the best law schools, were white male and generally protestant (Abraham, 1962; Ulmer, 1973). This unrepresentative nature of the courts can challenge the legitimacy of an institution. A judicial system of white men can be seen as producing only white man's justice. Another reason one can posit for the desirability of minorities in the judiciary is assimilation. America's heterogeneous population is clustered in groups that thrive along racial, religious, and national-background harmonization (Gordon, 1964). With the Hispanic population growing at a rapid rate, with blacks, Native American Indians, Asians, Jews, and White Anglo-Saxons, America, as a nation, faces the problem of how these groups can exist alongside one another. The United States is a pluralistic society.

School's Pastoral Structure and Pupil Achievement Essay

School's Pastoral Structure and Pupil Achievement - Essay Example According to the report findings  Pastoral Care, rather than the aggregate of actions or exercises that employ its practitioners over time, in essence is the underlying impetus for the care in its implementation. Effective Pastoral Care facilitates optimal education by cultivating open communication between students and practitioners as well as carers and parents. Through discrete consultation and positive attention to the student's personal learning style, pastoral care serves to augment the greatest prospects for quality realisation of each pupil's best. When a pastoral curriculum   succeeds in promoting good relations and feedback in the academic process among all participants, it is an operative element of successful education of the whole person.From this discussion it is clear that  significant research currently indicates that academic structures operating under the auspices of pastoral care can quite easily relapse into an academic exercise less focused on aspects of st udent welfare than issues of social management and organizational expediency, carving a considerable gap between lip-service and actuality.  Distortions of pastoral care transpire when perfunctory notions of education seize control of the comprehensive discipline. The upshot is a dichotomy between pastoral care and the academic curriculum where the educational ambience, frustrated by an obsession with control, intensifies an instinctive power struggle on the part of young people who on the whole are naturally prone to test the limits of independence.   A study of student attitudes toward pastoral care shows that on average pupils mistrust its nuances basically as a further assertion of school authority over their lives (Power 75). When government mandates hold teachers accountable for pupil performance the temptation is to assert more control in the classroom. The National Literacy Strategy intervention may authoritatively approve interactive whole-class teaching but by all indications such policies drive practitioners to more autocratic styles of instruction with little occasion for student discovery and development of intellectual insights. Legislative impositions, deliberated from the inside, tend to repeat time-worn educational models from sheer precedent (Watkins 3). A survey of pastoral curricula across schools in a single London borough distinguished four diverse types: tutorial-centred, tutorial aimed at individual and communal learning, the pastoral curriculum integrated into the responsibilities of the faculties, and, finally, a pastoral curriculum strongly established as the academic culture (Best 19). In his article "Pastoral Care and the Millennium," Ron Best regrets that the 1988 Education Act ironically discourages any real progress on a pastoral outlook for the National Curriculum that might have been designed to advance the very expertise and competence that furthers individual initiative in the context of social accountability (Collins and McNiff 27). In terms of evaluating academic merit, intangible values whose worth is easily ascertained, are cast into doubt and abandoned with neglect. Instead

Property law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 3

Property law - Essay Example ie Plc and Target there would be both privity of contract1 and privity of estate2 between Leslie Plc and Target as they were the original lessor and lessee. By the action of Target assigning the lease to Ace the relationship between Leslie and Ace would only be on the basis of privity of estate as there is no contractual relationship between them. Similarly by Leslie selling the property to Rake there would be no privity of contract between Rake and Target or Rake and Ace3, only a privity of estate4. The further subletting of the lease by Ace to Simon creates neither privity of estate of privity of contract as there was no agreement with Rake to sublet the property. If Rake had agreed to the sublet then a privity of estate would have been created and Rake could enforce the repair covenant against Simon5. The differences that apply under privity of contract and privity of estate will affect the ability of Rake to enforce the covenant. Under a privity of contract all covenants bind6 whereas under privity of estate7 only the covenants which are regarded as typically part of the landlord and tenant relationship will be bound8. Privity of estate only affects the benefit and burden on the assignee and the landlord in respect of covenants that touch and concern the land9. Having established the relationship of the parties it is necessary to look as to whether the burden and benefit of the covenants can pass with the assignments. Looking first at the position of pre 1996 leases the general rule was that the original tenant could not pass the burden to the assignee. If the lease began prior to 1996 then the assignment of the tenancy would not absolve Target from the liability10 in accordance with the contract11. This would mean that Target would be bound by the covenants throughout the duration of the lease even though his interest has been assigned12. Covenants in leases are deemed to be made on behalf of the covenantor and his successors in title unless a contrary

Financial Accounting assignment Speech or Presentation

Financial Accounting assignment - Speech or Presentation Example payment of dividend to the preference shareholders is under the discretion of the board of directors of a company, whereas the interest payment for debentures is not under their control. Interests on debentures are tax deductible whereas dividend payments are not. In the case of a company going insolvent, debentures get preference over the preference shares (Harvard, 2009). A stock exchange placing will enable the company to raise the additional funds very rapidly. However the company has to also satisfy the demands of the common shareholders and a number of changes have to be brought in terms of the management and policies. There is also a possibility of another company placing a bid to acquire the company through the stock exchange. A stock exchange placing can also act an effective marketing for the company, as the more people will become aware of the business (Hobson, 2007). A rights issue is offered to all exiting shareholders, as opposed to stock exchange placing where the stocks are open to common public. The shares are issued based on a ratio, for instance, every share qualifies to buy another four shares, for a specified period of time. The shareholders can either accept or reject the offering. There is a possibility that the required capital may not be raised, as the shareholders may not accept the offering. However, the company does not run the risk of adding more shareholders and also taking the risk of mergers and acquisitions (Hobson, 2007 and Keef, 1992). The additional capital required can also be raised by not paying the dividends to the shareholders for the financial year. The main advantage of this method is that there are no additional costs involved in raising capital. However, it is to be noted that the shareholders may not be happy with this decision and it might have a negative effect on the potential investors (Frankfurter, Wood and Wansley, 2003). The net present value is computed by discounting the future savings to present values at