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Right to Science?

By Guest PostOctober 6, 2012Scienceaaas, abuja, africa, african university, apa, article 15, benefit, bill ullman, cultural rights, deborah ehrenthal, delaware, developing world, doug buttrey, doug doren, economic, human right, institution, intellectual property, international covenant, jessica wyndham, mark barteau, nelson mandela, nigeria, nmi, rights, Science, scientific advancement, scientific inquiry, sepp, social, steve dentel, sub-saharan, Technology, tom powers, ud campus, united nations, university, workshop, world bank

Workshop helps to define the human right to benefit from science

Conscience. Expression. Property. Fair trial. Peaceful assembly. And science?

Yes, says the University of Delaware’s Tom Powers, the international community has declared that there is an inalienable human right to science.

In 1948, the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees in Article 27 “the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.”

The same right was reaffirmed by the U.N. General Assembly in Article 15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in 1966. (more…)

Heather Leslie: Measuring ocean health

By Guest PostAugust 16, 2012Environmentaaas, artisanal fishing, biodiversity, carbon storage, clean waters, coastal livelihoods, coastal place, coastal protection, coral reefs, david orenstein, ecosystem, gulf of california, gulf region, habitat, heather leslie, index rate, mangroves, Mexico, ocean, ocean condition, ocean health index, ocean species, salt marshes, sea ice, seagrasses, sustainable management

Sustainable management of a huge, complex and valuable resource such as the ocean requires a comprehensive metric that did not exist until now. In the Aug. 16 edition of Nature a broad group of scientists including Heather Leslie, the Sharpe Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies, describes the Ocean Health Index. The index rates coastal places, from regions to nations, on 10 goals: artisanal fishing opportunity, biodiversity, carbon storage, clean waters, coastal livelihoods and economies, coastal protection, food provision, natural products, sense of place, and tourism and recreation. Leslie recently answered questions posed by David Orenstein.

How does the Ocean Health Index’s focus on integrating human factors make it different and valuable?

Recognizing people’s integral roles in ocean ecosystems, this index evaluates how well the ocean provides 10 key benefits to people and how well we are protecting its ability to do so in the future. (more…)

Computer Scientist Developing Intersections of The Future With Fully Autonomous Vehicles

By Guest PostFebruary 21, 2012Science, Technologyaaas, ai driver agents, artificially intelligent, austin, austin robot technology, autonomous car, autonomous cars, british columbia, chaotic flow, computer scientist, computing system, coordinate, intersection, marvin, peter stone, simulation, stop sign, university of texas, vancouver, virtual intersection system, virtual traffic controller, wyatt mcspadden

AUSTIN, Texas — Intersections of the future will not need stop lights or stop signs, but will look like a somewhat chaotic flow of driverless, autonomous cars slipping past one another as they are managed by a virtual traffic controller, says computer scientist Peter Stone.

“A future where sitting in the backseat of the car reading our newspaper while it drives us effortlessly through city streets and intersections is not that far away,” says Stone, a professor of computer science at The University of Texas at Austin. (more…)

New Study Shows No Evidence of Groundwater Contamination From Hydraulic Fracturing

By Guest PostFebruary 21, 2012Environmentaaas, appalachia, aquifer, austin, barnett shale, british columbia, casing failure, charles chip groat, drilling operation, energy institute, fracturing fluid, gas, geologic units, groundwater contamination, haynesville shale, hydraulic fracturing, marcellus shale, natural gas, new york, north texas, northeast texas, oil, Pennsylvania, shale formation, surface spill, university of texas, vancouver, western louisiana

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Hydraulic fracturing of shale formations to extract natural gas has no direct connection to reports of groundwater contamination, based on evidence reviewed in a study released Thursday by the Energy Institute at The University of Texas at Austin.

The study, released at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Vancouver, British Columbia, found that many problems ascribed to hydraulic fracturing are related to processes common to all oil and gas drilling operations, such as casing failures or poor cement jobs. (more…)

Rise in Global Temperatures and Extinction of the Lizards

By Guest PostMay 29, 20101 commentEnvironmentaaas, andrew sugden, barry sinervo, brazil, carbon dioxide, carbon dioxide emissions, carlos frederico duarte rocha, chamaeleonidae, department of ecology and evolutionary biology, donald miles, extinction, fausto méndez-de-la-cruz, furcifer lateralis, global climate change, google earth, google scholar, ignacio de la riva, jack sites, lizards, Madagascar, Mexico, mexico climate-warming, santa cruz, sceloporus lizard, Science, united states, university of california

For many lizards, global climate change is a matter of life and death.

After decades of surveying Sceloporus lizard populations in Mexico, an international research team has found that rising temperatures have driven 12 percent of the country’s lizard populations to extinction.

(more…)

Tag Archives: aaas

Right to Science?

Heather Leslie: Measuring ocean health

Computer Scientist Developing Intersections of The Future With Fully Autonomous Vehicles

New Study Shows No Evidence of Groundwater Contamination From Hydraulic Fracturing

Rise in Global Temperatures and Extinction of the Lizards