According to the U.N. Refugee Agency, over 30,000 people are forced to flee their homes every day. A new feature from NPR highlights one professor from Leipzig University that decided to take action on the refugee crisis, addressing the around 6,000 refugees living in her city.
Carmen Bachmann believed that as a professor, it was her duty to ease this problem, and she sought out to do so by providing advanced academic training to those in refugee camps. Listen to the full story above.
Bill Nye the Science Guy first debuted in 1993, bringing an entertaining and educational program to public television. After 100 episodes, the show went off air in 1998, but Nye has continued to hold a prominent place in mainstream scientific dialogue.
Now, Nye is going back to his roots with Bill Nye Saves the World, set to air on Netflix on April 21.
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is calling on U.S. President Donald Trump to work with the world’s largest scientific organization to ensure the free flow of scientific talent from around the world.
The latest response from AAAS comes just after President Trump’s executive order limiting immigration and travel from seven countries in the Middle East. AAAS’s CEO, Rush Holt, issued a statement emphasizing the need to keep U.S. borders open to scientists and students from around the world.
“Scientific progress depends on openness, transparency, and the free flow of ideas. The United States has always attracted and benefited from international scientific talent because of these principles,” Holt said in the release. “We know that fostering safe and responsible conduct of research is essential for scientific advancement, national prosperity, and international security. Therefore, the detaining of students and scientists that have already been screened, processed, and approved to receive a visa to visit the United States is contrary to the spirit of science to pursue scholarly and professional interests. In order for science and the economy to prosper, students and scientists must be free to study and work with colleagues in other countries.”
More than 12,000 academics, including 40 Nobel laureates, have added their names to an online petition condemning U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent executive order that institutes “extreme vetting” of refugees and limits immigration from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen into the U.S.
The petition cites the executive order as “needlessly cruel” and “discriminatory,” further stating that it could negatively damage scientific research in the U.S. and hurt the country’s reputation for academic excellence.
While not the only source of science, government funded research plays a huge role in the lives of many individuals. From something as simple as the weather apps underpinned by the National Weather Service to the Food and Drug Administration’s work on preventing Salmonella, this tax-payer funded research shapes lives and helps provide knowledge to make crucial decisions.
On January 23, word came from the White House that almost all U.S. scientific government agencies had been temporarily barred from communicating with the public via press releases, blogs, and social media.
It’s not currently clear how extensive the gag order is – with some reports saying that explanations of just published peer reviewed research are barred, while others citing a much more lenient scenario – but it is confirmed that almost all agencies, from the U.S. Department of Interior to the Department of Health and Human Services, received a memo restricting – to some degree – outreach to the public.
Even after the gag order was put in place, federal agencies such as the Badlands National Park continued tweeting on its official account with a stream of facts pertaining to climate change. The tweets have since been deleted, though the park did address the president in a letter on Huffington Post.
“We all need to understand each other and what we can do together to benefit the greater community.”
-Way Kuo
Way Kuo is president of the City University of Hong Kong. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, and a Foreign Member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and Russian Academy of Engineering.
He was the first foreign expert invited to discuss nuclear safety following the Fukushima incident. He argues that a holistic view of energy development is required, one that prioritizes the production and use of reliable energy sources over that of polluting and volatile ones. He maps out a policy that encourages and rewards the conservation of energy and efficiency in energy use.
You can meet Kuo in person at the 231st ECS Meeting this May in New Orleans, LA, where he will deliver the ECS Lecture, entitled “A Risk Look at Energy Development.”
Listen to the podcast and download this episode and others for free through the iTunes Store, SoundCloud, or our RSS Feed. You can also find us on Stitcher.
A new initiative that goes by the name, STEM the Divide, is looking to bring scientists out of the lab and into public office.
STEM the Divide is founded by the nonprofit 314 Action group (homage to Pi), which is focused on building a community for those in STEM and bridging the gap between scientists and public policy. The group’s main goals include: strengthening communications between the scientific community and public officials, providing a voice for the STEM community on social issues, and increasing STEM engagement in the media.
As a branch of 314 Action, STEM the Divide is dedicated to electing more STEM-educated leaders to the U.S. Senate, House, State Executive, and Legislative offices.
“There’s nothing in our Constitution that says we can only be governed by attorneys,” Shaughnessy Naughton, founder of STEM the Divide, tells The Washington Post. “Especially now, we need people with scientific backgrounds that are used to looking at the facts and forming an opinion based on the facts.”
This is a message to all voting members of The Electrochemical Society. The electronic proxy will arrive in your email inbox on Jan. 15, Feb. 15, and March 10. Candidates for the open officer positions within our governance structure are listed below.
Take a moment to review the full candidate biographies and election statements to make the most informed decision.
The voting deadline is midnight ET March 15, 2017.
Johna Leddy
“As president of ECS, I will ensure a steady flow of information and ideas about how to engage Free the Science. Information plus energy will set the research free.”
Stefan De Gendt
“Advancing science and technology is not just the mission of ECS, it should be the goal of every scientifically educated individual.”
Andrew Hoff
“Nearly two decades into its second century, ECS strives to enable and advance electrochemical and solid state science and technology exploration and knowledge generation through the active participation of its members.”
ECS, in partnership with the Toyota Research Institute of North America (TRINA), a division of Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc. (TEMA), is requesting proposals from young professors and scholars pursuing innovative electrochemical research in green energy technology.
Global development of industry and technology in the 20th century, increased production of vehicles and the growing population have resulted in massive consumption of fossil fuels. Today, the automotive industry faces three challenges regarding environmental and energy issues: (1) finding a viable alternative energy source as a replacement for oil, (2) reducing CO2 emissions and (3) preventing air pollution. Although the demand for oil alternatives—such as natural gas, electricity and hydrogen—may grow, each alternative energy source has its disadvantages. Currently, oil remains the main source of automotive fuel; however, further research and development of alternative energies may bring change.
The purpose of the ECS Toyota Young Investigator Fellowship is to encourage young professors and scholars to pursue research in green energy technology that may promote the development of next-generation vehicles capable of utilizing alternative fuels. Electrochemical research has already informed the development and improvement of innovative batteries, electrocatalysts, photovoltaics and fuel cells.
Through this fellowship, ECS and TRINA hope to see more innovative and unconventional technologies borne from electrochemical research.
The fellowship will be awarded to a minimum of one candidate annually. Winners will receive a restricted grant of no less than $50,000 to conduct the research outlined in their proposal within one year. Winners will also receive a one-year complimentary ECS membership as well as the opportunity to present and/or publish their research with ECS.
We’re wrapping up another year and reflecting on some of our top digital media of 2016. Check out the top five viewed videos and episodes of the ECS Podcast of the year.
The New Model for Scientific Publishing | watch
Free the Science | watch
The Critical Impact of Our Science | watch
Allen Bard in 1983 | watch
Why Join and ECS Student Chapter | watch
Khalil Amine on Next Generation Li-ion Batteries | listen
The Battery Guys | listen
K.M. Abraham on the Invention of Li-air and Other Lithium Batteries | listen
Science for Solving Society’s Problems Round Table | listen
Critical issues in Renewable Energy | listen
See the rest of our videos and download all episodes of the ECS podcast.
