Eurobarometer Special Surveys

Here is an interesting set of thematic studies done for various services of the European Commission or other EU institutions. These give the reader an idea of the general sentiment regarding science, technology, civil justice, mental health, and a whole host of other areas.

As a friend in Vienna pointed out, according to this, Austria is the most skeptical country in the EU with regard to science and nanotechnologies in particular. Given my upcoming appointment as a Research Fellow in Austria come New Year, I look forward to engaging with a more generally skeptical/critical audience! We don't have nearly enough of that, in Science and Technology especially.

Access the Eurobarometer Special Surveys here>>

Meanwhile, the clock is ticking faster and faster for my time here in the Netherlands.

So, gaming does NOT cause rickets.

As I ventured in the last blog entry, the story on games causing rickets was just plain "lazy journalism." The quote straight from the scientist who helped to write the report is now on record saying, "We do not say that gaming causes rickets."

How many times have we seen this happen? Come on, people. Be responsible--don't be moral panicking game haters. That's just "dodgy journalism."

Bill Leiss lecture series starts tonight

Mark your calendars. This semester Bill Leiss is in town and the School of Communication at SFU is hosting a lecture series titled, "Science, Up Close and Personal."
Bonus fact: Bill Leiss was my PhD supervisor's PhD supervisor.

All lectures are in HC 7000 (SFU Harbour Centre Vancouver Campus)

Wednesday February 28, 7:00PM-8:00PM

Topic: The New Science of the Mind and Brain

Already in the early 17th century, partisans of the new science of nature envisioned a series of innovations that would revolutionize the conditions of human life. Until now we have experienced them largely as external technologies. With the coming of genomics, however, science gets personal and intimate and, I suggest, the meaning of science for us changes dramatically as a result.

Wednesday March 14, 7:00PM-8:00PM

Topic: Science and Society in the Modern Period

In the eyes of its early partisans modern science was never just about new technologies that confer power over nature on us. It was also an Enlightenment project that would, it was expected, transform the very nature of human societies. As of now, science is universal but Enlightenment is not. This is, I suggest, by no means a trivial matter.

Wednesday March 21, 7:00PM-8:00PM

Topic: Science and Ethics: The Choices that confront us

For most people religion has provided the traditional foundation for personal and social morality. But a variety of factors, including the increasing presence of science in public life, seem to have eroded that foundation. Can a scientific world-view replace religion for this purpose? Can the religious and the scientific world-views be easily reconciled? I suggest there are no easy answers to these questions, and therein lies a whole series of important problems for us, especially where genomics is concerned.