Letter from America: a memo to chief scientific adviser Sir Mark Walport |...
In the eighth of our series on scientific advice, Roger Pielke Jr identifies a few lessons for the UK's new chief scientific adviser from the experience of his counterparts in the White...
View ArticleWhy Monbiot's attack on Walport misses the mark
Sir Mark Walport is no corporate stooge. The lesson to take from George Monbiot's broadside is to leave advocacy to advocatesGeorge Monbiot pulled no punches in his piece yesterday on Sir Mark Walport,...
View ArticleHave the climate sceptics really won?
Despite recent fears of sceptics winning public debates, they are not all powerful, but have cast a spell upon their opponentsEarlier this week, Martin Wolf of the Financial Times announced that the...
View ArticleHow innovations such as goal-line technology make sport better | Roger Pielke Jr
People, especially the sports-viewing public, understand uncertainties just fineWriting in Nature last week, Nic Fleming argues that "the introduction of goal-line technology to football is likely to...
View ArticleAfter Haiyan: how to act on scientific advice that's politically inconvenient?
In the aftermath of typhoon Haiyan, debates over extreme weather require us to think harder about the relationship between the evidence, politics and institutions of scientific adviceThe proposal,...
View ArticleScience advisers should be supported, not sacked
A coalition of environmental NGOs is calling for the post of Europe's chief scientist to be axed. Roger Pielke Jr explains why this is a misguided and shortsighted proposalOn Tuesday, a group of...
View ArticleGovernment science advice: where are the honest brokers? Roger Pielke Jr
Scientific and political leaders need to focus more attention on the integrity of advisory processes, rather than taking sides in the political battles of the dayComplaints about the state of...
View ArticleErnest Moniz and the physics of diplomacy
In his pivotal contribution to the US-Iran nuclear negotiations, Ernest Moniz, US Secretary of Energy, offers a role model of how to integrate science and politics. He has been called President Obama’s...
View ArticleWhy discrediting controversial academics such as Bjørn Lomborg damages science
The anger surrounding the appointment of ‘Skeptical Environmentalist’ Bjørn Lomborg to a university post in Australia gives us a great opportunity to discuss academic intoleranceAlice Dreger’s new...
View ArticlePsephological pseudoscience
The electoral polls were wrong, as every election watcher in the UK knows. But sometimes it takes an American to tell us just how wrong. Roger Pielke Jr dissects the ‘science’ of polling. In 1948, the...
View ArticleFooling ourselves with science: hoaxes, retractions and the public
Recent controversies surrounding the public portrayal of science suggest that we are too reliant on its fragile findingsThe past few weeks have seen some remarkable episodes in science. Through a hoax,...
View ArticleIs science policy a theological matter?
With his latest statement on science, technology and the environment, Pope Francis has sought to change the debate on climate change. But his statement has broader significance for the way we think...
View ArticleIf we discover extraterrestrial life, what happens next?
The search for extraterrestrial life is seen as one of pure curiosity. But, as in other areas of science, we should worry about the consequences of success. Fifty years ago the era of robotic...
View ArticleCan anti-doping bodies maintain their scientific integrity? The answer is...
As the scandal over alleged state-sponsored doping rocks the sports world, we look back at the worrying 2010 case of Norwegian athlete Erik TysseThe allegations of systematic, state-sponsored doping by...
View ArticleGet ready for the coming wave of technologically enhanced athletes
Human augmentation will force sport to confront questions that it has so far resisted. So what improvements to the human body are acceptable in sport?Humans are improved by technology. For instance,...
View ArticleScience will never settle the question of sex and gender in sport
It is time for sport to turn to more practical ways than biological testing to determine eligibility to compete in elite women’s sports eventsIn difficult social or political contexts, we often hope...
View ArticleAfter April’s March for Science, what next for anti-Trump scientists?
To counter Trump’s administration, scientists need counter-propaganda, evidence-based alternative policies and political representationIt would surprise very few if surveys revealed that the vast...
View ArticleNike’s two-hour marathon project reveals technological inequities in sport
This weekend, with technological help, three runners will try to break the two-hour marathon barrier. This is a good time to ask who technology is forThis weekend in Italy three elite athletes...
View ArticleDonald Trump isn’t waging war on science. He just doesn’t care
Under Trump, US science policy is on autopilot and largely directionless. Here is how to tackle this lack of leadershipThe first time the word “science” appeared in a tweet by Donald Trump was on 13...
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