The UK needs Science

Willets is cutting the science budget for the UK quite drastically, but we should be asking What else is the UK still good at ? Our manufacturing sector is in permanent decline, our financial sector has taken a massive hit, and our natural resources such as North Sea Oil and Gas are on the wane. On the other hand, UK space companies are a great success story and are experiencing massive growth. Even if space travel never really takes off, we should not forget the spin-offs that come from space research. Supporting scientific research might be one of the few comparative advantages the UK has these days. A short termist Conservative government might be permanently hamstringing us by cutting what little advantage we still have over most countries. lets not throw away one of the few smart things we did spend money in the good times. Our universities and scientists are still world class, lets protect them now and keep at least one comparative advantage to keep our economy going !

What exactly is the UN doing in Haiti ?

Does anyone else find it slightly mystifying that the UN is demanding even more millions now to deal with the current cholera crisis in Haiti? The earthquake was now 10 months ago, and yet again the funds poured in have already been enormous. Cholera, despite the fear it often conjures up, is actually a fairly simple disease to deal with ; to prevent it , give people clean water, toilets, and soap. For treatment, rest and rehydration with a simple sugar and salt solution. If the UN and the myriad of other agencies in Haiti cannot cope with this relatively simple problem without shrieking for yet more ‘emergency funds’, it raises serious questions about their planning, spending, and their previous ‘ work’ in this country. Given the earthquake and the resulting disruption in a densely populated country, it should have been ( and was ! ) obvious that a cholera epidemic was a distinct possibility . Given the poverty before the earthquake, enough NGO’s should have aided Haitians on this topic already, and other basic health and sanitation measures.
Basic sanitation is arguably the key component in maintaining health and extending life expectancy. The simple, yet groundbreaking discovery that germs cause disease was probably the greatest driver of population growth in the last century. If cholera wasn’t discussed repeatedly in the endless series of expensive ‘workshops’ that permeatated the NGO sector in Haiti, it should have been. If it was, perhaps in retrospect less money should have been spent on t-shirts and lunch allowances, and more money on actual demonstrations on how to save your life with a bit of sugar, salt and water and some preventative soap. What exactly have the UN and the NGO’s being doing in Haiti in the past ten months ? More worryingly for the international development model, what exactly have the UN and NGO’s been doing in Haiti in the past ten years ?

Is it time to Edit the 'Holy Books' ?

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/life/Your+tolerant+Tell+that/3509613/story.html

the above article makes an interesting point ; to paraphrase : though religions may evolve ( e.g become more tolerant in line with the advance of human rights - past decade excepted maybe ! ) ..religious texts do NOT evolve. The Holy texts are still full of hateful, violent passages that are used by extremists, just as much as peace loving passages are used by moderates to defend religion. Most of the material in the Holy Books was composed in the most barbaric, ignorant epoch in human history. It is time to put them in their historical context and admit that the books are a confused, contradictory mess that are cherry picked by moderates and extremists alike to justify almost anything. If most decent religious people wish to outflank extremists and save their faith from eventual demise, perhaps it's time to accept that the old books need some editing to bring them into line with what most of us would want from the future. I mean, Leviticus ?? Who was this guy, and who stomped on his balls before breakfast ? It's the most hateful , vile, irrational crap about killing just about anyone for offences as minor as accidently farting sideways whilst eating breakfast. I mean come on, the last time a political movement or other printed this kind of stuff, they had ousted the German government and were rounding up Jews. If religious people are serious about only following ' the good stuff' in the 'good books' , then maybe it's time they really edited them to become modern, good books.

The Real Reason to Fear Climate Change

POLITICAL INSTABILITY CAUSED BY FOOD SHORTAGES WILL BE FAR MORE DANGEROUS THAN RISING SEA LEVELS OR HURRICANES - BUT NEW VARIETIES OF WHEAT COULD SAVE US.

Two stories from last week deserve greater prominence, because they will dominate the next decade. Droughts and floods have taken a toll on the wheat harvests this year, particularly in Russia and Canada. What is worrying, the weather patterns suggest these reduced crop yields may now become the norm, as world population continues to skyrocket. Food riots in the developing world may soon also become the norm, whilst high food prices in the developed world may lead to a faltering economy and extremist politics. We'll be at each other's throats even as the water rises around our necks.

At the same time however, scientists have just mapped out the wheat genome. Just like new varieties of wheat helped bring about the Green Revolution of the 1970's, we may soon have new drought resistant varieties of wheat that may buy us some time.

Ultimately however, we may end up 30 years later in the same situation. Now what are we going to do about that ? There is a famous story about NASA spending millions on researching ink pens that would work in space - before realising pencils could do the job just fine. Are we looking too closely at the crops, and not closely enough at what they grow in ? Good soil can resist drought just as well as billion dollar heavily researched wheat. If soils are protected from erosion and rebuilt naturally with composting, the humus that is built up can nurture a crop through all but the harshest droughts. So next time you're about to throw a banana skin in the trash, spare a thought for composting.

Evolution is not just a theory - Every new breakthrough discredits creationism or intelligent design, so why does it persist. ? Because too many people don't read

Some of the latest research on evolution focuses on chicken embryos. Apparently evolution works by adding genes rather than replacing them, so in the early embryonic stages it is often possible to glimpse what an organism's ancestors may have looked like. The early embryos of many mammals often look remarkably similar. Specifically in the case of chickens, the embryo forms five main claws ( like it's raptor ancestors )in it's early stages, then later these disappear to give way to three main claws. The cumulative evidence is beginning to be so overwhelming, how can anyone doubt that evolution is a fact , not just a theory ? How can such irrationalism persist in the modern age ? Maybe too many people just don't like reading.

Homeopathic medicine for dogs ?

Don't get me wrong. I believe there is a place for some alternative medicines. Herbalism is the basis for modern pharmacology and so has validity, some naturopathic cures won't dent cancer but no doubt can help with minor problems etc...

The other day our dog was wolfing down a suspicious amount of food, so we strolled round to the pet shop to take a look at worming medicines. The first treatment the assistant picked out was a homeopathic medicine. Now, despite it's popularity,it's safe to say that homeopathic medicine has no basis in science. It's diluted to one part per million and supposed to work like a sort of 'vaccination'. 'Like is treated with like' , whatever that means. It's pretty much 'magic water' that you buy off a wild west salesman. That said, clinical trials have shown some limited success, though no more than can be attributed to the placebo effect, like most alternative medicines. So, homeopathic medicine works a little, based on the placebo effect.

Now answer me this, shop assistant : How the @!&% is a placebo supposed to work on a dog ?

How much anti-social behaviour in the UK is due to undiagnosed mental illness ?

For the past decade, i've occasionally pondered the rise of anti-social behaviour in the UK. Why have so many of my fellow British become so casually aggressive, violent and anti-social in so many ways? My wife made a point last week that has stayed with me. As a north American , she's much more in tune with the 'therapy culture' , something the British have never been comfortable with. Her point was that perhaps Britain is seeing a near epidemic of undiagnosed mental illness ( to varying degrees of course). Look at the amount of Brits who 'self-medicate' with drugs and drink, and suddenly this point gains plausibility. The now infamous video of a middle aged woman throwing a cat in a trash can for no apparent reason ( See BBC news UK ) really drove the point home to me . The woman was later identified, and a 'mob' cornered her at her house. But she didn't need a mob and retribution. In North America the first point that would have occurred to people is : ' My God - the poor woman is clearly ill . She needs help, she needs a shrink !' Perhaps that cultural difference in the reaction is itself a clue to why the UK sees so much more of this behaviour than somewhere like Canada.
A less extreme example ( since perhaps the cat woman was obviously nuts ) was the woman who urinated on a war memorial, performed a sex act there, then fled court. My reaction was ' regular saturday night in UK' , my Canadian wife's, quite seriously : ' What the hell is wrong with that woman , is she nuts ?'. At first, I laughed, then I thought : ' Maybe you've got a point. Maybe she is kinda nuts. And that's the real issue here.'

How far should cultural relativity go ?

Have NGO's compromised human rights too much in their respect for traditions and cultural relativity ? Have human rights been tainted in the eyes of the developing world because of their strong association with a sometimes unpopular West, and especially United States ? When W Bush preaches 'freedom and democracy' does it become discredited in the eyes of developing nations who have less robust traditions in this arena ?

On a related note, do NGO's tiptoe around local corruption because they have bigger battles with the IMF and World Bank ? And in doing so, do they miss the real front-line battle ? When Jeffrey Sachs dismisses the impact of local corruption on development, is he legitimately re-focusing the debate, or missing the real issue ?

In other words, on both counts, are development issues hamstrung by politics ? Should development be led by economists, or rather technicians and scientists who do not fall prey to these pitfalls ?

Why is Haiti so poor ?

Of course there is no one single answer to this, and history and politics play their part. But aerial photographs that contrast Haiti and it's neighbour the Dominican Republic are striking. Simply put, Haiti cut down all of it's trees ! The result is soil erosion and vulnerability to flooding. The recent earthquake was a blow to what was already the world's most challenged nation. Is the crucial importance of reforestation and natural soil fertility being overlooked in development efforts ? How many NGO's really focus on the ability of a nation to feed itself by protecting it's own environment ?

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An inspiring tale of how one rural African boy survived famine and created electricity with his own ingenuity

This is a great book for those interested in organic and sustainable market gardening.

My Memoir of Africa