Religion News in Brief (2016/11/06)
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Conatus News/Uncommon Ground Media Inc.
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2016/11/06
Anti-science is becoming an international “contagion”
According to Environment 360, British Labor MP Jo Cox was assassinated by a right-win nationalist last June after having tweets “about oceans, fishing, and trawler fleets” on her Twitter account.
Cox made reference to the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES), which is one “the oldest international scientific institutions in the world…founded in Denmark in 1902” to scientifically explore the oceans.
ICES scientists measure fish stocks. This can inform politicians in reasonable quotas for fishing. Nigel Farage described quotes as an attack on national sovereignty for Britain. These are but two of attacks on “science-driven policies of the EU” grounded in “the scientific process” and “evidence-based policy.”
Nobel Prizes for strange states of matter
According to QC Online: International, Nobel Prizes were awarded to three men – David Thouless, Duncan Haldane, and Michael Kosterlitz – with the possibility that their work could contribute to “more powerful computers and improved materials for electronics.”
In the 1970s and 1980s, their work showed the properties of matter’s stranger states of existence. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said, “Their discoveries have brought…theoretical understanding of matter’s mysteries and created new perspectives.”
The Nobel Prizes, co-won, came with monetary reward as well. It was about 8 million kronor. 4 million kronor to Thouless alone, and 4 million kronor to Haldane and Kosterlitz together. Haldane received the call about the prize. “My first thought was someone had died,” Haldane said. China National Genebank openingAccording to PR Newswire, China has officially opened the China National Genbank (CNGB) to facilitate and conduct international genomics collaboration for the provision to scientists around the world access to “the world’s most comprehensive and sophisticated biorepositories.”
The aim is to produce innovative research in human health and to contribute to “global biodiversity conservation efforts.” CNGBis a billion-dollar enterprise with over 47,500 square metres of coverage.
It was “initiated by China’s National Development and Reform Commission in 2011.” It was developed out of the Beijing Genomics Institute, which is the largest genomics organization. Ultimately, “the mission of CNGB is to preserve the essence of billion years of evolutionary history and deposit the life foundation of billions of people.”
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