Scientific research can change our lives for the better, but it also presents risks – either through deliberate misuse or accident. Think about studying deadly pathogens; that’s how we can learn how to successfully ward them off, but it can be a safety issue too, as when CDC workers were exposed to anthrax in 2014 […] … learn more→
Blog Archives
Defining dual-use research: When scientific advances can both help and hurt humanity
How to build a more organic internet (and stand up to corporations)
Internet access has become such a necessary tool for participating in society that it has been declared a “human right” by the UN. Alas, it is a human right not granted to 60% of the world’s population. To bridge this gap, big corporations such as Facebook or Google portray themselves not only as service providers, […] … learn more→
How Florida is helping train the next generation of cybersecurity professionals
Our increasingly connected and digital world is vulnerable to attack and needs more skilled professionals who know how to defend it. As connected devices proliferate, particularly smart devices creating what has been called the “Internet of Things,” the problem is getting worse. In 2016, there were 6.4 billion connected devices in use in homes and […] … learn more→
Helping universities combat depression with mobile technology
Depression is the leading mental health issue on college campuses in the U.S. In 2015, a survey of more than 90,000 students at 108 American colleges and universities found that during the previous year, more than one-third of them had felt so depressed at some point that it was difficult to function. More than two-thirds […] … learn more→
How to quickly spot dodgy science
I haven’t got time for science, or at least not all of it. I cannot read 9,000 astrophysics papers every year. No way. And I have little patience for bad science, which gets more media attention than it deserves. Even the bad science is overwhelming. 700 papers are retracted annually, and that’s a gross underestimate […] … learn more→
