Laser Manchester ci dice qualcosa a proposito? Nature 433, 184 (20 January 2005); doi:10.1038/433184a Science lobby urges UK to divert funds from military fields PHILIP BALL Public funding too focused on weapons-based research, says report.
[LONDON] Public
funding of science and technology in Britain is too focused on
weapons-based research. So claims "Soldiers in the Laboratory", a
report released this week by Scientists for Global Responsibility
(SGR), a lobby group backed by some of Britain's best-known researchers. The report, written by Chris Langley, a neurobiologist with the
Hertfordshire-based consultancy ScienceSources, asserts that up to half
of British public spending on military research and development should
be diverted to more socially useful activities. It recommends spheres
such as land-mine detection, conflict resolution, and water management. SGR, a group of 600 scientists whose supporters include physicist
Stephen Hawking and astronomer royal Martin Rees, argues in its report
that such a shift would benefit both national security and economic
competitiveness. It says that security would be better served by
addressing global poverty issues, and that some British engineering
companies would be fitter if they had to compete in non-military
markets. According to Stuart Parkinson, an electronic engineer and the
group's director, Britain spends 31% of its research and development
budget on military work, a proportion that is exceeded only by the
United States. The report argues that "the military sector has a disproportionate
effect on science, engineering and technology". Links between the
military and the academic world are increasing, it says, citing the
2002 launch of the Defence Technology Centres — collaborations between
industry, government and universities who work on defence problems.
Three such centres exist so far, involving 18 British universities. And
British companies with major interests in military research, such as
BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce, currently fund some academic posts. In a statement, the UK Ministry of Defence said that its weapons
research is geared towards making weapons more accurate and bringing
fighting to a "swift conclusion", reducing civilian casualties. Parkinson is not sure that the UK government will heed the report's
advice. But he feels that the time is right to raise such issues.
"Since the end of the cold war, discussion around military research and
development has almost disappeared," he says. "We'd like to reopen that
debate." --- [Quipo ISP - Questa E-mail e' stata controllata dal programma Declude Virus] [Quipo ISP - This E-mail was scanned for viruses by Declude Virus] |
-- www.e-laser.org Laser@inventati.org