Science and Technology

Unsustainable practices: Why electric cars are a failure of ambition

By Nicola Spurling and Daniel Welch Filed Under: Science and Technology Posted: March 5, 2014

A focus on ‘techno-fix’ solutions to climate change like electric cars simply perpetuate current unsustainable practices and represent a failure of ambition, argue Nicola Spurling and Dan Welch. In January David Cameron announced that his cabinet might trade in their limousines for electric cars. It was the latest in a stream of initiatives to promote the […]

Are trust issues driving fear of mass surveillance in Europe?

By David Barnard-Wills Filed Under: Featured, Science and Technology Posted: February 26, 2014

David Barnard-Wills argues that EU citizens don’t necessarily want to trade their privacy for security – and that policymakers should take their views seriously in determining surveillance practices. Fuelled in part by Edward Snowden’s release of documents revealing NSA and GCHQ surveillance practices, recent months have seen much media coverage of surveillance and European citizens […]

Care.data project tarnished by liberties and assumptions

By Jonathan Hammond Filed Under: Featured, Science and Technology Posted: February 21, 2014

The potential for Care.data to improve the health of the nation is hard to argue with, writes Jonathan Hammond. But he argues that a lack of patient control, security concerns and a lamentable communications strategy have tarnished the laudable aims of the whole scheme. Let’s start with some facts about Care.data. It is a programme […]

Reality check-up: Care.data is good for our health

By David Springate Filed Under: Science and Technology Posted: February 20, 2014

Amid the furore over the delayed Care.data scheme, the reality is that the storage of pseudoanonymised patient data is already common practice, writes Dr David Springate. He argues that a national primary care database will bring big benefits – and says the risk of individuals’ data being de-anonymised by big pharma companies or criminals is remote. […]

Don’t let early warnings on innovation arrive too late

By Hilary Sutcliffe Filed Under: Science and Technology Posted: February 19, 2014

A new approach to seeking out and responding positively to early warnings on technological innovations is needed, argues Hilary Sutcliffe, who warns we need to welcome them and be prepared to act if necessary. A must read for anyone involved in innovation is the latest volume of the European Environment Agency’s ‘Late Lessons from Early Warnings […]

Pickles-Paterson floods spat highlights true top-down nature of UK policymaking

By Danny Fitzpatrick Filed Under: Science and Technology Posted: February 13, 2014

A top-down centralised decision-making process and government functions working in silos are not new features of UK politics, writes Dr Daniel Fitzpatrick. But as communities across the UK experience misery due to flooding, it seems these deeply entrenched pathologies of policymaking are increasingly out of step with the ‘wicked’ issues that society is facing. The […]

Skip diving or food waste: which is the bigger crime?

By Andrew Balmer Filed Under: Science and Technology Posted: January 29, 2014

In the coming months, three men will face trial for vagrancy for taking discarded food from a skip. Dr Andy Balmer argues that the actual crime is systemic waste throughout the food production and consumption chain. The practice of ‘skipping’ or ‘skip diving’ features intermittently in the news. Often an intrepid reporter dons his or […]

Placing citizens at the heart of citizen science

By Michelle Kilfoyle and Hayley Birch Filed Under: Science and Technology Posted: January 22, 2014

Citizen science isn’t new, but new mobile technologies open up huge potential benefits for science, society and the environment, write Michelle Kilfoyle and Hayley Birch. It seems our modern addiction to smartphones, tablets and gaming is not just providing us with new means of communicating and killing time. It is also providing scientists with innovative ways in […]

Tough on crime? Lie-detector tests don’t hold all the answers for sex offender management

By Andrew Balmer Filed Under: Featured, Science and Technology Posted: January 15, 2014

The Coalition has decided to drop the privatisation of polygraph, or ‘lie-detector’ tests for sex offenders. But Dr Andrew Balmer believes that the continued use of this flawed technology within the probation service is misguided and the whole programme should be scrapped. Since the Offender Management Act was changed in 2007 to allow for the […]

Do we need a ‘new settlement’ with Europe – or just a better sausage factory?

By Clive Bates Filed Under: Featured, Science and Technology Posted: January 10, 2014

In seeking a ‘new settlement’ with the European Union (EU), the UK government is ignoring the existing rules and procedures that should already govern law making, argues Clive Bates. Here he focuses on a current example, the regulation of e-cigarettes, highlights the broader faults in the current process and offers some solutions. Otto Von Bismark […]