SCIENCE MATTERS: A Unified Perspective

All earnest and honest human quests for knowledge are efforts to understand nature, which includes all human and nonhuman systems, the objects of study in science. Thus, broadly speaking, these quests (as well as the systems being studied) are science matters. The methods and tools used may be different; for example, the literary people use mainly their bodily sensors and their brain as the information processor, while natural scientists may use, in addition, measuring instruments and computers. Yet, all these activities could be viewed in a unified perspective—they are scientific developments at varying stages of maturity and have a lot to learn from each other. In this conference, we invite experts from different disciplines worldwide to share their experience and outlooks, and hopefully plan the future together. Many of the topics included in this conference are under the name of science and culture, science and art, science and society, etc. We do not think these descriptions are useful. For example, by saying “science and culture,” it implies that science and culture are two different things, which could be opposing each other. Instead, we view them as different aspects of the same thing the effort to understand nature, and a new word “science matters” is called for.  More…

Political Thought

I’d like to introduce the Center for the Studies of the Political Thought (ISCSP-UTL), a portuguese web-based platform that presents you a variety of useful information, including a nice Portuguese Political Dictionary. Unfortunately this page was closed by the lack of funds.

Global Warming and Political Decision

Global warming is probably one of the strongest territorializations of the risk society. The Intergovernmental Pannel on Climate Change (IPCC) has recently released a document directed toward policymakers. These are some conclusions that were pointed out:

” Evidence from all continents and most oceans shows that many natural systems are being affected by regional climate changes, particularly temperature increases.”

”A global assessment of data since 1970 has shown it is likely that anthropogenicwarming has had a discernible influence on many physical and biological systems.”

”Some large-scale climate events have the potential to cause very large impacts,especially after the 21st century.”

”A portfolio of adaptation and mitigation measures can diminish the risks associated with climate change.”

The complete document is available here.

Office of Technology Assessment

Video of the overview of the organization and process used by the former Congressional Office of Technology Assessment (1983).

Technology Assessment in Europe

 

  The following pages give an overview on technology assessment (TA) projects and their results from the different TA bodies in Europe. The reports from the TA bodies are supplemented by reports from the European Commission and other European Institutions, research institutions and others, where applicable.

These overviews are organised by subject area. The main division deals with technology areas, activity areas and problem areas. For every sub-area a short introduction is given. Every report, paper, etc. is briefly described and then a link to the relevant document is given.

STOA started to create these international overviews on TA projects in September 2004. New overviews will be added and old ones updated as and when necessary.

Technology areas

• Information and communication technology
• New materials, nanotechnology
• Biotechnology
• Energy technology
• Production technology

 

Activity areas

• Food supply and agriculture
• Renewable Energy
• Transport
• Industrial production
• Building and housing
• Health care
• Tourism
• Science and research

 

Problem areas

• Innovation
• Competitiveness
• Environment
• Health
• Consumer protection
• Privacy

Invitation

First of all, i’d like to welcome António Carvalho, our project’s newcomer, in www.scienceparliament.wordpress.com, hoping that the discussion around C&T issues for public policy could flow better with the richness of argument and enthousiasm that characterizes him.

Waiting for some engagement, it would be nice if we could discuss the case studies scope in  the new category – case studies – that i’m adding from now on. The main issues in discussion are around the parliamentary texts on nuclear power in Portugal and on the debate about ‘procriação medicamente assistida’ (medically assisted procreation). I’d like to invite you all for further discussion on these subjects…

Click here for an important issue on S&T legislation, provided by the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education. In this section of the MCTES site you may find useful information since the XIIth Constitutional Government.

The global information technology report

 

Now, more than ever, policymakers and business leaders recognize the need to create an enabling environment to support the adoption of technologies and spread their benefits across all sectors of society.The importance of networked readiness, especially at the national level, has achieved prominence on the public policy agenda, with the realization that the tools provided by ICT can help countries fulfill their national potential and enable a better quality of life for their citizens. excerpt  from the The Global Information Technology Report 2006-2007 of the World Economic Forum.

 

Politicians ‘ignore scientific results’

Politicians believe in research and trust researchers but are not making use of important scientific findings, a new study reveals.

Published: Thursday 18 January 2007 | Updated: Monday 22 January 2007 at

Liberating Science from Politics

the notion that science can be used to reconcile political disputes is fundamentally flawed

Daniel Sarewitz